(Wow this is going to really out me as a complete and utter nerd)
I have played uhhh 4 different systems? Which is Dungeons&Dragons (5e and 5e2024), Call of Cthulu, Pathfinder, and DieRPG (very briefly, rip scheduling problems) and I have Opinions about them.
So I think my favorite has to be Pathfinder. 1. Im insanely biased bc I played it for 4ish years with some of my friends in a VERY long campaign that literally ended last sunday. But also it provides a LOT of customization options w feats and also some strange subclasses that I have NOT explored at all. Pathfinder (and the dm that I played with, shout out to that guy) is the reason that I got into metamagic and now I will die for it. Also I prefer the bardic inspiration in Pathfinder as opposed to dnd because fuck u mean you get a point of inspiration?? Let me give you a temporary +4 to attack and damage rolls thats so much better. Also I could be wrong (havent played a dnd cleric in a while) but the channel energy is SO much better in Pathfinder I love it so much. AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE SPELLS. Wait. Most of the spells I like are from dnd 3e. Uhhhhh. We kinda mixed the 2 systems while playing, but final rebuke, I could give you a whole separate rant (ive thought about that spell WAYYY too much).
Dungeons and Dragons. The first system i ever played. Its so much less complicated than Pathfinder. Like. SOO much less complicated. You can literally tell by just looking at the character sheets. This is neither good nor bad, simply a thing to point out. Definitely better to start with than pathfinder. I have Feelings about the 2024 rules. So for pros, I do like how 2024 uses feats more than in the previous version. Feats are absolutely wonderful for customization and I will die on that hill. HOWEVER I absolutely HATE the fact that the subclasses only come in at 3rd level. One of my friends pointed out that it makes people less inclined to start campaigns with 1st level characters which is nice (first level is pretty boring in general), but still. And it doesnt really make sense w sorcerers because what do you meeeeaaaaaannnnnn your bloodline only starts showing up at 3rd level????
Now the systems that dont use d20s. Call of Cthulu. I didnt play this that much and ngl I never got the hang of it. Basically instead of rolling d20s as your main die, you roll percentile dice and each of your abilities has a number that you want to get below. I- I dont know how to use percentile dice??? Ive never actually had to use them so uhhhhh. My friend has told me how, I still dont really know. I think I could figure it out. Maybe. Anyway. CoC is kinda one that you are most likely going to die (the first game i played was a pre-made adventure, and all of us died. My poor wife and kids). If you've seen the rfth force of extinction, it kinda has a similar vibe to that, in terms of trying to roll as low as possible and everyone is going to die. Except CoC is Lovecraftian (hence the name) while i think force of extinction is more apocalyptic.
DieRPG is the one I have the least experience with (played it twice), but its also probably the easiest to pick up? Tbh the character i played was also VERY simple and VERY prone to bullshit, so that could've just been me. In DieRPG you mainly roll d6s, and (again similar to force of extinction) you have a pool and are trying to get a certain amount of successes. Each role also gets an extra special die depending on the role (i forgor the different corresponding ones as, again, played twice for a total of less than 15 hours), but I DO know what extra die the role of the fool gets! Its another d6. I loved playing a fool tbh it was so much fun. I got to make random things happen. I pole vaulted to a ship over 100 feet away. It was great. DieRPG is also the type of game that will probably end with you dying.
Anyway. Moral of the story: fuckin uhhhh
Ttrpgs are fun to play w friends and theres a lot of different ones out there. Ive played more, but these are the major systems ive played (ClueDon't i will always love you)
Other moral: im a big nerd and may send you another rant just for the spell "final rebuke" because I have thought about it so hard and I think i found a way to make it more balanced
ok this is a v good rant tysm dude. what is a percentile die
