Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
I had hope to goad @AmazonQueen into justifying her top 5+1 non D&D answer to this question, but I suppose I failed in my first attempt. I have been very curious.
My first favorite tabletop RPGs are Dungeons and Dragons generally, with some editions over others and a nod to the spinoff Iron Heroe. I like the D&Ds because they use lots of different dice and have good rules for an implied setting that I deeply enjoy, which is a Tolkien flavored range from Conan to Star Wars (I mostly prefer the austere side).
I don't care for the general discussion of D&D by the "always-online" crowd, especially if they (barf) discuss their characters as "builds" or get into flavor/balance arguments they came up with after a lengthy discussion with other always-online debaters. This is different from my question about what's your fave and why.
The D&D implied setting, played out with great diversity, is still the best for a combination of glorious conquest meets sufficiently complex rules to not seem like a board game, maintaining verisimilitude. Role playing is great, sure, but always in service of the game's verisimilitude to a compelling real-narrative or even memory. The scaling, at least between say levels 1-12 (my experiences) feels really fun, with the diversity of higher powers as an option makes it feel very open and motivating, even as any serious attempt by casuals never gets there ("D&D is the fantasy game that you will play D&D").
My second is Cyberpunk 2020. It too does its implied setting awesomely, even if it's, uh, unpolished.
What are your favorites and why them?
My first favorite tabletop RPGs are Dungeons and Dragons generally, with some editions over others and a nod to the spinoff Iron Heroe. I like the D&Ds because they use lots of different dice and have good rules for an implied setting that I deeply enjoy, which is a Tolkien flavored range from Conan to Star Wars (I mostly prefer the austere side).
I don't care for the general discussion of D&D by the "always-online" crowd, especially if they (barf) discuss their characters as "builds" or get into flavor/balance arguments they came up with after a lengthy discussion with other always-online debaters. This is different from my question about what's your fave and why.
The D&D implied setting, played out with great diversity, is still the best for a combination of glorious conquest meets sufficiently complex rules to not seem like a board game, maintaining verisimilitude. Role playing is great, sure, but always in service of the game's verisimilitude to a compelling real-narrative or even memory. The scaling, at least between say levels 1-12 (my experiences) feels really fun, with the diversity of higher powers as an option makes it feel very open and motivating, even as any serious attempt by casuals never gets there ("D&D is the fantasy game that you will play D&D").
My second is Cyberpunk 2020. It too does its implied setting awesomely, even if it's, uh, unpolished.
What are your favorites and why them?