In Tom’s ongoing quest to design the perfect RPG, he makes it a policy to ingest as many worthy RPGs as possible, studying the wisdom of many masters. His current to-read list is given below. Peruse it, and perhaps learn of something with which you were previously unfamiliar! Hyperlinks included for your convenience.
In A Wicked Age – Randomly generated sword and sorcery scenarios that can be readily strung together into complex and interesting campaigns!
Kill Puppies For Satan – Exactly what it sounds like. Experiment in unconventional storytelling.
Ganakagok – It’s a game based on Eskimo myth set in a world of endless ice locked in eternal night that’s about to meet with its apocalypse in the form of the first sunrise ever. Who the fuck wouldn’t want to play that?
FATE – One of the more elegant systems out there, from my limited personal experience with it. Extremely flexible mechanics. Third edition is as yet unfinished, but the second edition is available on the website. It’s also FREE FREE GO GET IT NOW IT’S FREE
Dogs In The Vineyard – This one is also somewhat tricky to explain, so here is a link to an RPG.net review of the game.
Marvel Universe RPG – Resource management rather than dice rolls. An interesting thought exercise.
Dragon Age RPG – Another intersting experiment in resources accumulation.
Weapons of the Gods – A high-action wuxia game. I’m told it has an interesting interaction between narrative and mechanics, and it’s developed by Jenna Moran, who is essentially operating on an entirely different wavelength from the rest of humanity. A wavelength of awesome. Can be found on Amazon.
Legends of the Wulin – The spiritual successor to Weapons of the Gods, with new and improved mechanics. Looks boss as fuck. Unfortunately not going to be released until later this month.
Nobilis – Another Jenna Moran production. I know next to nothing about it and plan on keeping it that way until I read the manual for the new edition, which comes out near the end of November. Everyone on the internets loves this thing, though.
I actually have several kajillion others, but I figure this list will get me through next year at the least.
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