My Favorite Things: Tabletop RPGs

I've been playing tabletop RPGs for more than three decades, so it's no surprise that I've played my fair share of different games. One of the cool things about growing up in the 80s and 90s was that it was kind of a golden age for pen and paper RPGs and there were a plethora of options for players, covering pretty much every genre imaginable. As a result, my game group and I had the opportunity to try out a lot of different types of games. The current tabletop landscape is shaping up to be the same way and the explosion of a whole bunch of new games in new settings can do nothing but good things for the industry. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, if you're interested in trying out pen and paper RPGs or if you currently play one and would like to try something different, you've got a butt-load of options available to you.

Anyways, onto my favorites. The list below is in no particular order and I'll discuss what I like about them and why they rank among my favorites. Some of these games I'll have touched on before in other posts but I'll try to go into a little more detail here. Also, I'd just like to say that you can't play a tabletop game without a good group and I've had the pleasure of playing with two awesome groups of people over my lifetime. Because I couldn't have experienced all these games without them I want to give big shout-outs to the group from my youth (Shaun, Greg, Paul B., the other Paul B., Paul L., Matthew and Colin), as well as my current group (Sam, Jessica, Brandon, Brock, Richard, James and Justin), thanks for sharing these experiences with me. I'd also like to say, that the preceding is all my opinion and should not be taken as the literal truth. If you disagree with me, that's cool everybody's entitled to their opinion. Now that all of that's out of the way, onto the list!

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition (TSR/Wizards of the Coast)
I may as well start with the only game on this list that I'm currently playing on a regular basis. AD&D 2nd Ed. was released in 1989 and that's about when I tried it for the first time. I played with some friends at school during lunch and even though the games themselves were kind of sucky, I genuinely enjoyed the experience. Many gamers nowadays tend to give this edition a lot of grief because of its often poor layout and somewhat convoluted rule-set and they're not necessarily wrong (except about THAC0, if you find THAC0 too complicated, there's something wrong with you). I fully admit that this game is not without its warts and much of my opinion of it is colored with nostalgia goggles but I still have a ton of fun playing it.

The game offered players a lot of character options, especially if you picked up the splatbooks that included different subraces and class specializations called Kits. The game also provided DMs with tons of great tools, alternate and optional rules, as well as about a dozen different worlds to set your game in (assuming you didn't make your own). The game was also suitably challenging and character death was a common thing but there was such a sense of accomplishment if you managed to get a character to a decently high level because you know you earned it. Also, I liked how the game was somewhat unbalanced (almost blasphemy these days), with different classes leveling at different rates and with some classes having an easier time at lower levels, with other not hitting their stride until much later.

Cyberpunk 2020 (R. Talsorian Games)
The next item on the list is quite different than the run-of-the-mill fantasy experience offered by D&D. I was introduced to Cyberpunk by my buddy who lived next door to me. At the time we didn't really have any sort of gaming group to play with (mostly because we lived out in the boonies), so we really only had each other. As a result, I never got to play this game with a group. This game also has the distinction of being one of the few games that I've never actually GMed.

So, what was so great about Cyberpunk? Well, it's a few things. First of all, the rule-set, particularly the rules surround firearm combat were some of the best I'd ever seen. The developers of the game apparently used real ballistic data from the FBI to craft the game's combat mechanics. This made combat much more strategic because you couldn't just barge into every situation guns a-blazing. The second thing was that the game encouraged players to give their characters their own sense of style and to have that be the driving factor in character generation rather than bonuses, gear or meta-builds. Finally, there's an aesthetic to the game that really appeals to me. I like the sort of near-future, dystopian, corporate-run world full of industrial espionage, cybernetics, flying cars and other crazy stuff.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness (Palladium Books)
You always remember your first. As I've already stated in a previous post, TMNT was my first RPG experience and I've loved the game ever since. As I mentioned in my post about Palladium Books, the rule system for the game is quite outdated and pretty clunky but there's definitely some strong points to the game.

Character variety is first among those strong points. Since the game revolved around vigilante mutant animals, the possibilities for interesting characters were endless. Basically all you had to do was name an animal and there was a better than average chance that you could be one. There was even a source book that allowed players to be mutant dinosaurs if they wanted (let that sink in for a second). In addition, since the game eschewed the typical method of character generation (pick your class/race), there was no limits on what you could make. Feel like making a smarmy camel mercenary with a penchant for assault rifles and a certain brand of cigarettes? Go for it. Or, would you rather make a short angry raccoon that like to punch people in the nuts because he's at the right height? Sure, you can do that to.

The other thing about the game that I love is that the combat system, while awkward and time consuming, was great for playing fights like you would see in action or martial arts movies. Like all Palladium's games, combat in TMNT is based on the opposed roll. I roll to swing at you and you roll to parry or dodge. While it makes combat quite lengthy, especially if you're playing in a large group, it also makes it really interesting as you get to plot out each action in detail.

The Palladium Fantasy Role Playing Game (Palladium Books)
Since I mentioned TMNT, I might as well jump on over to its older sibling, the Palladium Megaverse's fantasy offering. Pretty much everything I noted above regarding the combat rule system applies to this game as well, so I won't delve too much into it here. Once again, as was the case with most of Palladium's games, player variety was a priority. The base rule book provided players with 13 different races to choose from, as well as 25 different classes. There were also several supplemental books that allowed for even more options (in case you haven't realized it yet, player variety is a big thing for me).

The primary reason why I love this game was the world it was set in. While it utilized many of the standard fantasy tropes (graceful elves, burly dwarves, evil orcs), it puts them in this very original, dark fantasy setting that gave you enough information to get the lay of the land but made it vague enough so that a GM could put his own spin on it if he wanted to.

Star Wars: The Role Playing Game (West End Games)
Saving the best for last. When all is said and done this system probably ranks as my favorite because it hits all of the right buttons for me. Let's start with character generation. This system also avoids the standard pick your race, pick your class trope. Instead, it offers a number of different "templates" for players to choose from (Smuggler, Young Jedi, Wookie First Mate, Ewok Warrior etc..) but a player isn't bound by them by any means and if they choose can adapt an existing template to suit their needs or create their own if they wish. This is purely out of necessity, since the Star Wars universe is so expansive and varied, it would be too constrained by only allowing players the option of a dozen classes or races.

The rule system in this game is also fantastic. It's simple but is still able to cover every type of scenario, whether it's a shootout with stormtroopers, a speeder chase down the streets of Mos Eilsely, a dog fight in space between X-Wing and TIE Fighter squadrons or even capital ship combat. The system uses a unique scale system that allows for GMs to populate their set pieces any way they like. I know some people that don't like that the combat can be somewhat lethal but like I mentioned in the Cyberpunk section, it encourages more strategic play and offers players a little more to do than just roll to hit every couple of minutes.

Of course the main reason why I love this game is that it's frickin Star Wars and who doesn't love that?

So, there you have it. Those are my favorite tabletop RPGs of all-time. Feel free to share yours in the comments.