Wizards of the Coast’s famous tabletop RPG has remained the most popular Role-Playing system for nearly a decade, with its streamlined rules and increasing accessibility through resources such as D&D Beyond and Roll20, it’s no wonder that the name “Dungeons and Dragons” is becoming synonymous with Tabletop Role-Playing Games. However, where D&D provides a good pool for new players to kick their feet and learn to swim in, inherently it’s limited in the kind of game that you might want to run. The worlds of Dungeons and Dragons may be myriad but eventually there’s only so much that you can homebrew into a system. So with OneD&D still just a growing light on the horizon, what better time to branch out and explore the rest of the Tabletop Gaming space?
Pugmire: D&D (Dungeons and Dogs)
Released in the middle of 5E’s heyday, Pugmire by Onyx Path Publishing is very congruent to D&D’s playstyle. The real catch of Pugmire however is its setting: a medieval society populated by anthropomorphic animals. Many years after an unknown catastrophe wiped out all of mankind, the Dogs of the world have evolved and formed their own society of noble breed lineages, adventuring out into the world and discovering the secrets of “The Old Ones.” Pugmire oozes charm, its character designs perfectly blending the cute features of man’s best friend with the silhouettes of noble knights, fearsome barbarians, and bright-eyed clerics.
Pugmire is built on much of the same principles as Dungeons and Dragons, possessing familiar stats and magic rules. Where the system takes its departures are where it’s most interesting, such as being able to choose from various “Tricks” that give your adventurer unique benefits such as “Puppy Dog Eyes” or “Huge Paws.” If you’re a fan of Dogs and Dungeons, then you ought to give Pugmire a shot!
Fate Core: The All-Purpose RPG
Like D&D 5E, Fate, an RPG developed by Evil Hat Productions, is streamlined and easy to pick up. The game uses its own dice marked with negative and positive symbols, after the dice are rolled success is measured by the amount of total positive results you get, typically modified by your character’s own skills. Fate is unique in that unlike other TTRPG systems Fate is not tied to any one setting or world, the rules are open for you to set your game wherever you want. The door is open for anything that wouldn’t already fit in 5th Edition’s sandbox.
Fate can be easily grasped with its rules being much more compact and lightweight than even D&D 5E, emphasizing more of a collective storytelling approach to RPGs and less on hard numbers. If you enjoy building a narrative together with your party members and your Gamemaster, then Fate is the perfect system for telling that story.
Mork Borg: Dark Souls meets Heavy Metal
If you want to escape from the complexities of modern RPGs and want to return to the “good old days” of dungeon delving then Mork Borg published by Free League is the perfect system to try. Mork Borg is an OSR-type game, meaning Old-School Renaissance, a play-style of RPG intended to more closely mimic the way that older RPGs are with less of a focus on using special or magical abilities and more focus on using your own head and cleverness to solve puzzles and survive in dangerous combat encounters. Because the characters have less abilities to memorize than 5th Edition, Mork Borg can actually be considerably rules-lite. Classes are even considered an optional gameplay mechanic.
Mork Borg’s world should feel familiar to fans of the Dark Souls video games, it’s a world on the brink of the apocalypse, the end of days are arriving and there is nothing that the players can do besides try to make a decent living while there’s still life to live. But along the way your party is likely to face off against inhuman monsters, mad kings, and all sorts of grim characters that challenge your players in unique ways. The art of the game even emphasizes its heavy metal influence and unique identity. Mork Borg is perfect for those gamers who are looking for more of a challenge.
Lancer: Across the Galaxy in a Metal Machine
Lancer by Massif Press takes the world of RPGs into the far future of outer space, the galactic human government known as “Union” enters a new age where the players take on the roles of Lancers, specially trained and authorized Mech pilots. The world of Lancer is large, your campaign could be taking place anywhere you want within the galaxy, and the system leaves itself open for you to create whatever planets or people you feel that you need.
While the amount of new rules and terms being introduced in this system can seem intimidating, Lancer actually makes itself relatively easy to pick up and understand once you’ve gotten going. The game has a smooth gameplay balance between its Mech Combat based missions and the inbetween downtime, a perfect mixture of opportunity between gameplay and roleplay. Lancer is an incredibly well constructed and unique system for anyone looking to go beyond fantasy.
The Oubliette 