Beyond D&D, What RPGs give you inspiration?

16 posts / 0 new
Last post
sciborg2's picture
Offline
Factol
Joined: 2005-07-26
Beyond D&D, What RPGs give you inspiration?

For me, I'd say Mage and Changeling more than any other. Mage the Ascension dealt with similar themes, and I ended up scooping a lot of old books up from people. I think Mage Traditions (plus the Marauders, Nephandi, & Technocracy) were simialr to the factions, though Mage took things to the next level in terms of subjective reality, more so than I or most of the players I've had would be comfortable with.

Changeling the Dreaming had cool ideas for incorporating the Fae, but honestly Changeling the Lost might be the best RPG to come out in recent memory. The premise of the game is people kidnapped by the True Fae, chaotic beings that make the Slaad look kind who subject their human slaves to tortures ranging from endless physical suffering to slavery to playing games with their hearts/minds.

Some changelings escape back to our world, only to find themselves replaced with simularcums. Figuring out how to deal with this predicament, and the constant threat of having the god like True Fae return for you, brings a suspenseful edge to the game. The fact that Changelings, no longer human, adopt the ways of their conquerors to an extent is also an interesting cultural commentary. One can use this as an alternate way of developing exemplars rather than mating, and it also makes the Outer Planes something these escapees might fear or lust for.

__________________

Health Resources: Register family with 911 services, so providers will have info prior to emergency/disaster. Also mental health info & hotlines, articles, treatment assistance options, prescription assistance, special needs registries, legal aid, and more!

ripvanwormer's picture
Offline
Factol
Joined: 2004-10-05
The supplement Axis Mundi

The supplement Axis Mundi for Werewolf: The Apocalypse was also very good for elementals and the like. And The Thousand Hells for Vampire: The Masquerade for the lower planes. The Dark Conspiracy RPG had a supplement called Proto-Dimensions that was essentially an assortment of creative demiplanes. 

Others? GURPS, Talislanta, In Nomine, Nephilim, Kult, d20 Modern, Ars Magica, The Primal Order, Elric!/Stormbringer, Wraith: The Oblivion, Rifts, Nightbane, Orkworld. 

 

 

Armoury99's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2006-08-30
Nice topic, Sciborg. I'll

Nice topic, Sciborg. I'll have to check out some of the games you've both mentioned.

For me however, lets see.... the books I find myself browsing when I'm feeling creative, bored, or suffering writers block (or just wanting to read):

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, which lead me into the hobby in the first place. Warhammer Rantasy Roleplay, because that's the first game I ever played. Call fo Cthulhu for what elder evils should really be like (and for in many ways being the antithesis of Dungeons & Dragons), and Kult for being so extreme and the nearest thing to Silent Hill RPG. Elric! (yeah, I never forget the ! either), for giving us law, chaos, multiverses, pan-carnate beings and other head-exploding ideas. Pendragon and Ars Magica, for getting their mythic medeival paradigm spot on (and AM's approach to a truly shared game). Legend of the Five Rings, for sheer colourful enthusiasm. Everway for its "fantasy-sliders" aspect (and art-based character generation, of course). Ex Machina for (thank god) taking the 80s out of Cyberpunk. Nobilis and Polaris, for being works of art and artful works.

 And Amber, because no game emerses me so deeply and makes me care so much... about killing my friends and relatives Wink

I was never really into the World of Darkness, more for lack of players/Storytellers who were a) competent, and b) willing to try it than any other reason. It doesn't really inspire me now, but did once upon a time. I probably think far too deeply about this hobby because of they showed me you could.

 

Rikutatis's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2004-12-23
I've had many

I've had many different favorite RPG's throughout the years. Most of them I don't play or care for so much anymore. Some of those that still inspire me today are Ars Magica, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage (for the same reasons sciborg already discussed, although I was comfortable with the level of subjective reality there), Lacuna Part I and Grimm. I should probably add Amber Diceless here as well, although the credit goes to Roger Zelazny and his Chronicles of Amber series, and not necessarily the game (although the game is pretty cool as well).

As far as D20 (but non-D&D) games are concerned, I really like Beyond Countless Doorways and Iron Kingdoms.

I haven't played the new World of Darkness games yes, but Changeling the Lost sounds awesome. I may need to give it a try in the future.

And Rip, which edition of Talislanta would you recommend? I always wanted to play that game, but it just never happened. For some reason 4th edition appeals to me the most.

BlackDaggr's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2007-11-15
I've really enjoyed

I've really enjoyed Changeling: the Dreaming, though I have not seriously checked out Changeling: the Lost. I also enjoyed Mage: Sorceror's Crusade - it had some of the medieval feel, and showed the tension between technology and magic. One variant of Mage that I enjoyed was Cave Mage - we were playing cave men at the dawn of pre-history. I also enjoy Werewolf: the Apocalypse, though that has less D&D applicability.

Other RPGs I enjoy include Champions and Call of Cthulhu, though neither is particularly good for D&D inspiration. Big Eyes Small Mouth is also tons of fun if you have a good GM.

I have also drawn inspiration from a few CCGs - Magi-Nation is a fun game with lots of interesting creatures and a vibrant culture. Legend of the Five Rings has already made the leap into RPGs, and has a tremendous amount of back-story. Even Magic: the Gathering has some interesting ideas with its five-color magic system.

 

Evil's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2005-11-12
Hmm seems like almost

Hmm seems like almost everybody mentioned Call of Cthulhu, it has a special place in my heart too. The Mythos itself is one of those things that make you think and think deep, and then shudder before moving on. It fills you with ideas and opinions, and we all know its effect on horror genre. I wish there was some way to implement the sanity factor in a less deadly way to PS, but I guess its impossible. Delta Green, recently re-released, and Cthulhutech, which is a nice little sci-fi-fantasy with the Mythos at its background(and robotech as its inspiration), are also good reads IMO.

WH40K universe, with all its dark grimness of grim darkness pf the far future, is also agreat visual inspiration. 

Cyberpunk, even though it is definitely 80s, was still a cool game with an attitude, and as PS fans, I think we all like that in our games.

 I liked the old WoD once, before I went to college where I played a Mage at my first con. I didn't like wielding a machine gun even though I was a mage.  Vampires did the same too. My main interest was the werefolf but saidly I never got to play a game. So my opinion is not on very solid ground, but I don't like the setting a lot. That said, I think the game's mixing and matching system of different abilities and magical forces to create different results was brilliant. The point buy system has its merits.

 I also liked Unknown armies from what I read and heard of it so far, but never actually got to play it. Reading the book will make you come up with the craziest of ideas, then create chracters and plots from it. A good read if you give the chance.

 Theres also battletech, or mechwarrior for the rpg name. It may not help you a lot with other games, but it still deserves a mention.

Anime Fan's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2007-06-13
Anybody here like to play

Anybody here like to play computer or game console rpgs? I've played about 9 games in the Final Fantasy series, several in the Dragon Warrior series, as well as various ones such as Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, Paladin's Quest, Rhapsody a Musical Adventure, and about 30 or 40 others whose names I can't recall off the top of my head! They're fun when you can't meet with friends for a paper-and-pen rpg session... and some of the stories are pretty memorable.

Jack of tears's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2005-12-13
4th Edition Talislanta is,

4th Edition Talislanta is, in my opinion, the most complete and well organized of the lot ... well worth the money for the endless hours of enjoyment it will provide.

 Otherwise, I love Little Fears, and have considered it a better game for evoking terror than CoC.  Deliria is a beautifully created game of modern fairietales, which can easily be used for other story heavy settings. (currently I'm using it to run a Star Wars game)  Asylum is an old game with vast potential if you enjoy playing mentally unstable characters.  All Flesh Must be Eaten is THE zombie survival game, as Dying Earth is the only system to use if you want to capture the poetic and hedonistic world of Jack Vance.  And, lastly, JAGS Wonderland provides an interesting and twisted version of the realms dreamed up by Lewis Carol.

 

Rikutatis's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2004-12-23
Thank you for the

Thank you for the suggestion on which edition of Talislanta to pursue, Jack of tears. I'll definitely give it a try at some point.

 I also checked out some of the games that you mentioned, as they all sounded very interesting. Little Fears reminded me a lot of Grimm. It's also about children that get trapped in dark and twisted fairy tale lands. And JAGS Wonderland totally blew me away! As I read, it quickly became one of my favorite RPGs of all time. It reminds me of Lacuna Part I (which is also very creative), except that it's more thorough in the treatment of its theme and it feels more like a complete product.

 I'm also a bit surprised no one mentioned Paranoia yet. It's a great game, I once had an entire prime material world inspired by it.

And I agree with those who mentioned Nobilis as a wonderful source of inspiration, especially if your campaign has a heavy focus on metaphysics.

Idran's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2007-06-10
Rikutatis wrote: I'm also

Rikutatis wrote:

I'm also a bit surprised no one mentioned Paranoia yet. It's a great game, I once had an entire prime material world inspired by it.

Haha, I have to know more detail on this now, because that sounds awesome.  What was it like?

Rikutatis's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2004-12-23
Idran wrote: Haha, I have

Idran wrote:
Haha, I have to know more detail on this now, because that sounds awesome.  What was it like?

 It was a long story, but let me try to sum it up.

The entire prime world was for all effects a dead magic zone of high and sometimes bizarre technology. In the past it used to be just a normal magic rich D&D world in which the magic users tended to be higher order citizens while those who did not yield magic were viewed as inferior or at best less gifted. A kind of mildly chaotic utopia of hedonistic wizards and sorcerers. A rogue modron (who was a reocurring NPC in my campaign) traveled there and manipulated some of the powerful wizards to create a magical construct/computational machine, in order to take care of the more time consuming and boring administrative tasks for them while they could just lean back and relax.

Of course, the whole cliche follows its course, the computational machine gains more and more responsability and sentience, while everyone becomes more and more dependent on it, technology develops, etc. It creates its own army of golems, uses technology to implement a planet-wide anti-magic field, persecutes wizards and installs a new regime in which magic has no place, everyone is equal, technology is to be the savior of the commoner, available to all, blah blah blah.

Naturally, things go wrong. The communist regime becomes a dictatorship ruled by the half-crazed and completely lawful machine that implements an incredibly complex legal system with laws for pretty much anything that a person can imagine - all in the name of making life more fair to the collectivity. No one can keep track of so many branching laws, legal loopholes and whatnot. Since punishment for not following the law is severe, a general paranoia spreads among the populace. Turning in "criminals" is profitable, desirable and _legal_, so anyone could be a spy for the machine.

Underground factions abound, including the league of merchants and bankers, who believe that life is not and should not be fair, and not everyone is equal. How many gold coins you have should dictate who is in power and who isn't. Everything should be simplified, streamlined, including the legal system. Magic should come back, after all it costs less to hire interns from the arcane college than to buy, build and maintain all that fancy technology. It'd just be more profitable.

Anyway, that was about it. I just wanted to have some 1984/Paranoia fun in my campaign. I generally avoid political themes in my games, but that was done mostly as a satyre, no message or nothing serious.

Idran's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2007-06-10
Aha, cool.  I figured you

Aha, cool.  I figured you went for a technomage or purely mage-type interpretation of it, but an inforced magic-free world is a really neat concept.  Did you play it straight like a 1984-type thing, or did you go for a more tongue-in-cheek setting like Paranoia?

Also, just so this isn't entirely an offtopic derailment: It's a weird one, but one setting I loved that really works well with Planescape is the short-lived Wizards (pre-TSR buyout) system/setting Everway.  One of the basic ideas was a system of interconnected worlds connected by a Stargate-like portal system; all Prime/demiplane-type areas rather than planes, in that they aren't infinite expanses or anything like that.  I've definitely taken a few pieces of inspiration from the worlds it used.  Besides that, there's not much since I've honestly never branched out very far from D&D, but I always try to glean ideas from the cosmologies of the settings of other systems where I can. This thread's already given me some ideas of new systems to look into for that.

Rikutatis's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2004-12-23
Idran wrote: Did you play

Idran wrote:
Did you play it straight like a 1984-type thing, or did you go for a more tongue-in-cheek setting like Paranoia?

Probably a mix of both. There was humor, but it was definitely dark. It was closer to original 1st ed Paranoia in feel I guess.

sciborg2's picture
Offline
Factol
Joined: 2005-07-26
so when is the 2008 edition

so when is the 2008 edition coming out for Nobilis?

__________________

Health Resources: Register family with 911 services, so providers will have info prior to emergency/disaster. Also mental health info & hotlines, articles, treatment assistance options, prescription assistance, special needs registries, legal aid, and more!

ripvanwormer's picture
Offline
Factol
Joined: 2004-10-05
JAGS Wonderland is amazing!

JAGS Wonderland is amazing! Everyone google it; there are free PDFs to be had.

Rikutatis's picture
Offline
Namer
Joined: 2004-12-23
sciborg2 wrote: so when is

sciborg2 wrote:
so when is the 2008 edition coming out for Nobilis?

 I haven't heard anything about it. But Eos Press has a history of long delays, so I wouldn't hold my breath. It's definitely worth the wait for that game though. Also, the first part of the Society of Flowers supplement is currently available for free at Eos website.

Planescape, Dungeons & Dragons, their logos, Wizards of the Coast, and the Wizards of the Coast logo are ©2008, Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc. and used with permission.