In part thanks toStranger Things, when many people think of Tabletop Role Playing Games, they think ofDungeons & Dragons.The famous game has more to thank for its continued success than the Netflix series, of course - it was the first commercially available TTRPG to exist and has been continually updated to reflect more current game-playing standards. But there is so much more to the TTRPG community thanDungeons and Dragons.
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WhileD&Dis based on high-fantasy inspired byThe Lord of the Rings,many TTRPG systems opt for a different setting altogether. There are TTRPGs for almost every genre - Sci-Fi, Mech, Horror, and even Dating Sims! Fans of TTRPGshave hundreds of options to choose from. Thanks to Actual Play podcasts - podcasts based around TTRPG gameplay - it’s easier than ever to get a taste for different systems before committing to a whole new rule book.
8Fallout: The Roleplaying Game
Fallout: The Roleplaying Gameis an officially licensed TTRPG version of the popular video game seriesFallout. Players can choose from six different origins familiar to theFalloutuniverse: Brotherhood of Steel, Ghoul, Super Mutant, Mister Handy, Survivor, or Vault Dweller. It’s like a fully customizableFalloutgame - keep it similar to the video games ormake it a whole new game!
The game only uses d20s and d6s, which will be familiar toDungeons & Dragonsplayers, but potentially a lot simpler. There’s also a token system that works for and against the players.
7Ryuutama
Inspired by the world of Hayao Miyazaki,Ryuutamais a breath of fresh air in the TTRPG world.It’s a ‘natural fantasy’ TTRPG written by Atsuhiro Okada and translated into English to bring the world ofRyuutamato an even wider audience.
LikeDungeons & Dragons,Ryuutamais inspired by Western medieval tales but takes a more laid-back approach to combat. While combat definitely happens, the central focus of the game is wonder, exploration, and companionship. The GM, or ‘Dragon-Person’, creates the world around the players, who go on exciting, feel-good adventures.
6Numenera
Numeneraisa science fiction TTRPGset on Earth one billion years in the future. There are said to have been eight worlds before the current one, and all of these worlds have risen, transcended, and fallen. Players play in the ninth world, one that is full of remnants of the past, strange relics to be discovered and explored.
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BecauseNumenerais so different from most TTRPGs, new players might find it difficult to adjust. It’s worth sticking with for just how unique the setting can be, and the incredible stories that can be told using the system.
5Deadlands
Deadlandsis an alternate-history TTRPGthat mixes features of the Steampunk, Western, and Horror genres to create something entirely unique. Set in the late 19th Century,Deadlandsadopts a ‘weird west’ setting thanks to the juxtaposition of the classic Western setting and the fantastical monsters that haunt America.
It’s also unique in that character creation and spell-casting are done using a standard 54-card poker deck, as well as the standard d20 system and ‘fate chips’ that determine a number of events in the game.
4Pathfinder
Pathfinderis a TTRPG fairly similar toDungeons & Dragonsbecause the original is based onDungeons & Dragons' 3.5E. It was initially created to make edition 3.5 of the popular role-playing game more compatible with previous versions of the game, before branching out into its own game altogether.
It uses the same d20 system asD&D, making it easy for fans to get a grasp on. Players take on the role of adventurers for the Pathfinder Society, and travel through the high-fantasy world as a party.
3Lancer
Fans of the Mech genre will loveLancer, a game that takeseverything to love about the Mech genreand rolls it into one spectacular TTRPG. Set thousands of years in the future, players take on the role of mech pilots with any number of motivations and interests.
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There are tons of Mech customization options inLancer, as well as player backgrounds, and a system/setting with room to tell any story the GM pleases. This makes it great for fans of the military sci-fi aspects of Mech, as well as those that want to tell heartfelt and interesting stories.
2Genesys
Genesysis an incredibly versatile system that can be used in a variety of different campaign settings. What makes it so unique is the dice pool, which consists of Positive Dice and Negative Dice.
Positive Dice represent things the character is good at - skills they have, training they have gone through, or any advantages they might have. Negative Dice, on the other hand, represent the disadvantages a character has. It’s a fairly simple systemthat encourages role-playingan imagination over strict rules and statistics, though there is plenty of that too.
1Monster Of The Week
Monster of the Weekis a system inspired by the campy, fun horror of shows likeBuffy the Vampire Slayer,X-Files, andScooby-Doo. It runs on the Powered by the Apocalypse system, a TTRPG system that strips tabletop role-playing back to the basics, making it fun and accessible for new and old players alike.
InMonster of the Week, players take on the roles of archetypical characters found in the TV shows that inspire the system - like ‘The Chosen’, ‘The Crooked’, ‘The Mundane’ (a character type based entirely around being comically normal), and ‘The Spooky’.
