I still play DnD but I’ve fallen head over heels for Fate and it’s potential in versatility... also I’d love to hear (/watch a vide about) your take on “narrative focused” rpgs like the powers by the apocalypse games and/or the forged in the dark games... they seem to be all the rage with the kids these days ... great content as always btw!!!
Powered by the Apocalypse is a big one on my list, and definitely something I've planed to look into. I honestly don't know if I've heard of Forged in the Dark, but it is going on my list now! Thanks so much for the support and suggestions!
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide Forged in the Dark are the games based on the Blades in the Dark rule set from evil hat, which are also similar/related to pbta ... I haven’t played either system but have skimed through some rulebook PDFs and am itching to try them.
I ran an Elder Scrolls game using Cypher that just ended and it was absolutely fantastic. It helps that the setting, while being high fantasy, does deal with a lot of crazy out there concepts that the flavor bits of the characters can delve into some pretty esoteric stuff. I also have to say, as a GM, the simple 1-10 scale is one of the best GM freeing mechanics I've ever played with. It was do easy to simple make a challenge rating for anything I needed in the moment.
You correctly predicted my thoughts about Pathfinder ^^ My group has trouble keeping track of the things they can do in DnD (at first tier) and there is NO WAY Pathfinder is the right fit. Fate though... sounds so much fun! I would really love to give it a try! More of these videos, please!
Fate has been a longtime favorite of mine, so I highly encourage it! I am hoping to release some Actual Plays of it in the nearish future, but until then, I do at leat have my How to Play Fate video to better explain it! Also, if you check out the Fate SRD RUclips channel, they have some wonderful Actual Plays that show off all the things the system can do!
Your Cypher System video is what brought me to your channel, and now I definitely know I’m staying tuned in the long run! I can definitely tell that you’re enthusiastic about what you’re showing us in the videos, which keeps me engaged more than anything. Keep up the good work!
I'm big on the World of Darkness stuff, and I have seen it adapted to Star Wars, which I haven't convinced anyone else to play. Ease of use is the best part, you have dots, you increase those dots, you use exp to get powers, and dots, and competitive stuff helps, combat or mental manipulation.
I've yet to look at WoD/CofD adapted for anything else that sound fascinating and really cool! I don't even like Star Wars all that much personally, but to think of it adapted into that system sound pretty rad!
As you probably have known. I been on Bing watch of these unique TTRPGs and Chronicles Of Darkness I had my eye on for the last couple of years now. I love the modern look, different character sheets. And HELL, WE GOT GUNS..
CofD is such a wonderful system, and one of the ones I've spent the most time playing, at least in the past. My How to Play Chronicles of Darkness video is still one of my faves. I really need to cover more of the supplements...
Thanks much! While I will definitely be branching into even more systems in the future, Cypher, Fate, and CofD/WoD are super close to me, so I'll always be doing more about them.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide can't wait to see more then. I've started a fresh Numenera campaign based on Magic: The Gathering world, and I use your Cypher video as a tutorial for all new players. There are not so many Numenera RUclipsrs out there (only Infinite Construct, and your vids are helpful too)
I would like to see your run downs of other systems like Savage Worlds, PbtA games like Blades in the Dark and Monster of the Week. And just for fun, Goblin Quest.
Oh, powerful master! Can you give us a guide of non-popular TTRPGs that are really cool to play...? Like the hidden treasures of the amazing world of roleplaying.
I've been really fortunate to get to know a few small, indie ttrpg developers over the last few months, so definitely expect some videos on their frankly awesome games to be coming pretty soon!
Some possible hidden gems ... Elite: Dangerous - does the computer game well while having a very quick, zone based space combat system and a really easy-to-learn dice system. Lancer - a good Mecha rpg that actually has playable Mecha customization and tactical options that uses a modified Shadow of the Demon Lord dice system. It's killed Battletech for me. Ascendant - a newer supers rpg that's entirely logarithmic and is a blend of old DC Heroes rpg and Marvel FASERIP. It's designed to simulate comic book physics and it really succeeds at what it does. Fantastic design.
First game I played was the Old (Classic) World of Darkness back in 1992. It was simple. Tons of lore and metaplot. When New World of Darkness (1st Edition, before 'Chronicles') came around I liked how it was more freeform- or less cookie-cutter, anyway- and how more balanced it was between the supernatural races. And you can easily modify any of the Storyteller system editions for other time periods and settings. In fact there is a Street Fighter game that uses this system, and some of the supernatural books have a 'Dark Ages', 'Wild West', and 'Noir' settings. You can probably take Sorcerer (a splatbook under the Mage sphere) and use that book for a DnD-esque Fantasy setting.
That's a really good list. I prefer lighter rules these days, but I've been doing this for 44 years over 160+ systems. And those are some fine choices, though I've never played Cipher somehow, but I hear excellent things from people I trust. Fate is one of my go-to systems. The thing is, it isn't so much a generic system that you slot your setting into. It's a toolkit filled with options that you optimize for your setting, and that's crucial for me, because I like yo "get real weird with it." The other one that's very specific is Blades in the Dark. The system encourages the style of play John Harper wanted. As such, it's not a generic system (though it can certainly be used for other settings), but my it's a masterpiece of game design. The other I would mention as a simple but effective (and fairly robust) system is the Year Zero engine from Free League that powers Alien, Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop, and Vaesen. It's simple and flexible, as is easily demonstrated by the fact that it runs all of the very diverse settings with a fair degree of aplomb. Alien and Tales from the Loop couldn't be more different in terms of setting, but it handles both gracefully. It's also nicely modular, making it super easy to customize.
I love the concept of FATE but I find it rough as a GM. You need to fluently know all of your players aspect so you can compel them, otherwise they will run out of fate points and then all that make their character cool and special is out of reach as they can't pay the cost to invoke. Cypher seems to be a pretty decent option to FATE...
That's a fair point! Fate takes a definitely change in approach. One thing I find that helps is encouraging players to suggest compels on themselves and each other. It feels a little counter-intuitive at first, for a player to do something that could work against them, but by offering up that weapon against themselves in less dire situations, it gives them the Fate points to spend when they need them. Plus, some players find it really satisfying to add those kinds of complications because it's narratively just way more interesting. But of course, it isn't for everyone. And I will never deter someone from checking out Cypher 😆
I know its a little late but i run fate regularly and something worth considering is that your players are allowed to compel their own aspects and let you sign off on it (IE you can go you character will need more pain for you get that sweet sweet fate point) So your players can put themselves in bad situations by following their aspects to their detriment and you can award fate for that. Takes a little getting used to for the players but some players will absolutely love putting their character through the wringer
In the other hand, you can ask your players to suggest compels! OR ask them to suggest ONE Aspect each to focus on for the current adventure, like themed episodes of a tv show.
Beautifully done video, you are a gifted instructor! As you asked about other systems, on the pure role-playing side (zero crunch), there are some GM-less RPGs. Two systems with many playbooks/card-decks online to provide countless genres are Fiasco and the newer Descended from the Queen system (original game: For the Queen).
Thank you so much! Funny enough, in the previous "10 RPGs in 10 Minutes" video I mention in this one, I do actually bring up Fiasco! I absolutely love that one! I haven't heard of Descended or the Queen system, but I am definitely going to have to look that up now!
I really enjoy exploring small publisher games. I haven't been buying for a few years but loved finding Don't Rest Your Head, Spirit of the Century, Dread, Fate, Fiasco, etc. It's also fun to explore older systems like Runequest, Tunnels & Trolls, Gamma World and Paranoia. Recently, Dungeon Crawl Classic has piqued my interest.
Fate is my personal fav. It's fun to run and I use it to help write stories. It's great for helping force you to use character attributes when writing. You can't NOT bring aspects into play.
This was a great video. Very informative and clear. It'd be cool if you could review a sci-fi rpg (preferably one that isn't just science fantasy/cyberpunk) or go into more horror-like games since you tend to mention playing horror a lot.
I would point out that Cofd does have supplements on how to play in several time periods around the world. But still if a play group doesnt want to play in the version of our world with some kind of color filter (I like blue the most) on it...... theres a lot of homebrew you gotta do.
I'm surprised that you didn't cover Powered by the Apocalypse or Forged in the Dark... those two fall in that mid-layer between D&D and Fate in terms of complexity and openness
To be fair, when I made this particular video I had only played a little of Masks, and none of the FitD games. They would have absolutely made the list if I made this video today
It's one of my go-to systems. Highly recommend giving it a try. I've got a How to Play Cypher video that covers it more in depth if you're interesting in looking deeper into the mechanics before making a purchase.
Cypher System is really cool but it is much easier to play different genres if you buy the supplemental books which can get pricy but are super worth it. I can't recommend that system enough
That is very true. They provide some decent mechanics and whatnot for different genres in the core book, but the supplements add so much that they feel almost essential if you *really* want to get into a game in that genre.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide completely agree and often to really flesh out a setting 2 or 3 books can be needed. To make fantasy settings godforsaken, ptolus, and gods of the fall all contain components you'd likely want and that gets really pricy even if you just by the pdfs for cheaper.
I may, indeed, be more fond of Pathfinder 1e than 2e (whoof: my poor brain kept confusing the editions' use of the same terms for slightly different things ... it's a GREAT system, but I just can't keep up with all the slight shifts over the years) you are quite correct: Pathfinder 2e is definitely a better stepping stone for players coming from 5e! Oh, and may I add (if you can find it) the MEGS system, used for the original "DC Heroes" (by Mayfair games) and, later, the Pulsar-published "Blood of Heroes". Rather simple to learn and very flexible!
What is your thoughts on GURPs? It is also the parent to the special system in fallout. When I played it what I liked was the percent die deciding the difficulty. It was simple in dice roles. I even like the percent more than d20.
Honestly, my last earnest interactions with GURPs was back in in the early 2000s, and I remember little. But honestly, I wouldn't mind checking it out again and getting more into it, though I couldn't even guess how soon that might be with the pile of things I am intending on checking out right now
Hmmm... Thank you! I'm now leaning on either trying Cortex Prime (Maybe Tales of Xadia as an already fixed example) or Fate, Dresden Files. I would love to try a more narrative rpg than 5e. How do Fate and Cortex differ? I think I like the idea that a player in fate (let's say a druid) can add an aspect to a room such as grappling vines. You've done a DnD port to one of these systems we can take a look at? Thanks for the cool video! Your style is extremely fun and informative!
So glad you liked the video! I would say Fate is much more set and narrative, with a huge focus on those aspects, as you said! Really fun system that's generally a lot easier to grasp if you're teaching new players. And Extras give you some nice customization to fit the game you're playing. However, it's hard to beat the customization of Cortex, but it does end up being a lot more work to build your own system and is typically harder for players to grasp (depending on what mods you use). No amount of Extras in Fate will really allow it to be as robust and customized as Cortex, but I still think some games I would prefer the straight forwardness of Fate. I would say give both a try if you can, but if you are lacking in time I would give Fate a shot, just because it is so much more approachable. I'll try to find the D&D Cortex sheets I made that were just as close to a direct translation as I could think up, but they were one of my first and I might honestly redo them
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide thank you for your in depth reply! I'll start with exploring Fate deeper first. But over time, who knows, I'm sure to give both a try...
Great video. But glad you brought this topic up. Several games I enjoy besides 5th Edition are OSRIC AD&D(Modern revamped free 1st edition for modern gamers) Then there is Basic Fantasy RPG and also Dungeon Crawl Classic and Mutant Crawl Classics as a friendly suggestion
I don't mind the 5e system, it's easy. But after having bought a few adventure books from them recently where it boils down to "You're the DM, you write it, you figure it out."* on top of the recent OGL debacle, I'm content not giving WotC any more money. *to be clear. I LOVE world-building and writing, but I don't need a $50 book to do that. I like Pf2e because at every level I feel like I can make an RP/ Character based decision for abilities that also play to the strengths I'm looking for. I like the idea of FATE but for the same reason you mentioned, I don't think my friends would. Not listed here but I'm also a fan of cyberpunk red for game mechanics, though, with prevailant/ easy character death, it makes d&d look like Disneyland.
Thanks so much. Also, this video made me so hungry for pizza that I literally made pizza some scratch after releasing this, so hungry was I for a quality slice.
I like the idea of Fate but I haven't been able to wrap my head around it so I feel that the only way I can get into it is if someone who is a seasoned player GMs me
I have a pretty good How to Play video on Fate that might help, but I feel you. There really isn't anything quite as solid and playing yourself to get a feel for it.
I've been thinking about checking out Fate with my group at some point in the future. What is the Pathfinder character creator program shown in this video?
GURPS can do anything. And ignore the "oh noes, it 2 hard" because it's only as complex as you make it. Never let someone else's self-sabotage gate you from a great game system.
I'm only really familiar with Blades in the Dark and Call of Cthulhu. These other are getting added to my "must check out" list immediately (especially Gumshoe, which sounds intriguing).
I love the mechanics of the World of Darkness and the character options, especially the bastet. But I am not all that into the personal horror and political intrigue. If I ever play it again I'll try and get the group to homebrew the setting to focus more on exploration. I am currently working on my own system that takes my favourite parts of the world of darkness and combines them with my favourite parts from Fate, plus a few things I always wanted to see in a game system.
I could name list of games which is more than few and then add these 5 systems and complain about how I want to play em all but First the covid. Second Long distance. Third life. So no time to play games that require People :^) also the last one really peaked my interest but I have yet to play Fate properly and only messed around with Cypher System (hard to get people to play)
When it comes to the world of darkness I like the Chronicles of Darkness rules more than the Old World of Darkness. As for settings well it tricky. The two Vampires have two different feel. The old Vampire the Maskarade has a lore of Cain and ancients vampires. It give a feel love ke SoIF or Dune where petty politics are a distraction from a distant disaster coming your way. One part of the setting is you can get so powerful as you are a 13th gen. This can have problems as it may lead to characters being overshadowed by the NPCs and there is almost nothing they can do to change it. If done right with the right players (some people may like this setting as a different game experience) it can give the player a fatalist feeling of having little power. However if done wrong it can be abusive. Vampire the Requpartis more shrouded in mistory as you do not know the origen of the kindred. You can ask the elders but they may lie to you or their memory is not accurate as time does it. Becoming more powerful is problematic as your die get more dangerous (only able to feed off vampire when lv 7. You can get powerful but do you want to? Werewolf the Apocalypse had an interesting lore that set the tone for most of the old world of darkness, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. The Wyld, The Weaver, and the Wyrn. One of the best Devils I read would be the Wyrm. Once again approached right it can be a deep game. Werewolf the Forsaken is also a showed of mystery although there is a lore about Pangaea, Luna and Father Wolf. The werewolves in this have little global concerns, and more local concerns. A Werewolf may only know as far as the horizon as their tribes are very territorial. It can be interesting as you have multiple different antagonist with different goals. Mage the Ascensions is a setting I love. It an interesting setting of old traditions up against the convention of the technocracy. At first the technocracy was the bad guy. But then you realized they have noble goals and in some ways they made things better. But they almost killed magik and that includes new technology. In a way Mage the ascension strikes me as a mature JRGP setting with magik coming back, the a power that be holding you down, and a true final villain that test your ideology with their morale nilasim. Mage the Awakening is more better at rules, as for one it has a better paradox system, and the more powerful your character the more problems come with it ( well until that one book). I do not care that much about Atlas mythos and think it would be better if they had multiple lores like vampire did. Thats my thoughts some even interchange the two. I never did that yet but may.
Add 7th Sea it's one of the easier and for me is mix of World of Darknes and othe systems but easier. Or Maybe 2D20- it is similar to 2D6 but with more depth, and Savage or Broken Compass as a movie style adventure systems, but I would argue that 7th sea is great for that too.
I've seen a lot of systems where "The player is the only one who rolls" is brought up, and I guess I want to know, is this actually a selling point for many people? Because personally I couldn't care less. Actually I slightly prefer it the other way (not like it's a dealbreaker, but it is a /slight/ preference), because of the feeling of symmetry. Like I don't care if NPCs or enemies are built like PCs (usually I feel it works out better if they're not), but I feel like having them interact with the world in the same way as PCs (with admittedly some bending allowable, since if they're not built like PCs there's nothing saying they don't have an ability that lets them do something a PC couldn't or not do something a PC could) lends a degree of immersion, and if the math is the same either way (unless you have an asymmetrical dice system, like dice pools or a hypothetical system where you use something like 4d6 drop the lowest for all rolls, it probably will be), I don't see the benefit of not doing it.
That's a fair viewpoint! Honestly, I like both styles for different reasons. You've already made points as to why the GM rolling can be great. On the other hand, if the GM doesn't roll, it allows a few things... If the players are facing some huge, terrifying threat, it can't be ruined by bad GM rolls. It can deflate what is supposed to be a huge, major battle when your BBEG is rolling like a chump and doesn't land a single hit. It gives your players clear targets. Your player knows the difficulty is set, and in the case of Cypher can choose how much effort (and thereby ability points) they want to put into their roll. Which leads right to the last point... It gives more player agency. If a player takes a hit, it isn't because some low-level baddie rolled really well, it's because the player flubbed and maybe should have used more bonuses to their roll. I don't want to write a whole essay here, but it just puts more of that choice and control into the players hands, which can feel really good when the GM has control over most everything else. Is it *that* much more agency when there are still dice rolls? I don't know, but it feels like it! I don't necessarily think this is inherently better than the GM rolling. That shared randomness between GM and Player can be great, and honestly, who doesn't like rolling dice? I just think it's a different style that suits different people.
Numenera is indeed the game where Cypher was born, however the Cypher system book has been tooled to be useable in just about any setting. The core Cypher book includes options for Fantasy, Sci-fi, horror, Superheroes, etc... A lot of its mechanics are generic and versatile, and optional rules for different settings help it fit into other settings pretty well. It isn't everyone's cup of tea, and there are definitely genres that I think it is a bit weaker in. But all in all, it's a nice semi-crunchy genreless system
For Fate I much prefer Strands of Fate 2e. Strands of Fate is THE toolkit Fate rpg. It incorporates a lot of ideas from various Fate games over the years as possible choices a GM can make when coming up with his setting. Strands also doesn't have the baggage of having Evil Hats name on it, as it's its own game and not dependent on Fate Core.
Tbh if pathfinder sounds like too much and 5e is way too little, I'd say try D&D 3.5. It has a charm that once you get into it you won't easily get bored, and customization (with a good dm) is almost infinite. It has way more and better expansion books than 5e, and a lot of third party content (and it's not that hard to convert something you like from 5e to 3.5).
I watched this video to see what you are into. I dont like 5E. Love pathfinder 1e still havent gotten into 2nd edition yet. I want to play GURPS 4th edition and Open Legend. Ive looked into all those other games. Why is it Chronicles of Darkness and not World of Darkness? I wanted to get into it but im not cool enough.
Pathfinder do not deserve any place for a replacement... because it is a hack and slash like D&D. Go in the dongeon, kill monster, steal their treasure... change your gear every four level.
If I recommend it, people will expect me to eventually do a video explaining it, and I don't know if I will have the time to edit a 4 hour How to Play Shadowrun video... :D
Haha! You said DND was balanced. I will agree that 5e is approachable oh, but it is not balance whatsoever. The system breaks between level seven level 10
If you wish 5e was more like 3.5 pathfinder 2e is the game for you. If you wish 5e was less like 3.5 Cypher System is the game for you. If you've ever picked up a D&D 2e product and realized THACO is the worst thing ever Cypher's System is still the game for you. Seriously, OSR devs probably have their hearts in the right place, but just obfuscating the terrible dice math systems from TSR era D&D is a waste of time. If you just want more character options than 5e Cypher System is the game for you. If you absolutely need to be able to pick from as many variations of "elf" as possible during character creation pathfinder 2e is the game for you. If you want more control in your leveling pace Cypher System is the game for you.
Honestly when you said Alternatives to DnD. I was not expecting you to go with a game that pretty much just DnD 3.5.99999. Weak start to the video. Then you went Fate and Fate 2.0. Glad you ended with Chronicles of Darkness.
I have with speed-reading read all of Fate Core System, Fate Accelerated, Fate System toolkit, dozens of those small, unsatisfying 50-page Worlds booklets each with weird premises, and some of the meatier 400-page 3rd-party game settings. I have played dozens of games. My impressions: --It's innumerate. Characters seem to be living in a world oblivious to the laws of physics. There are no falling-damage rules. Normally if you fall, the energy of your impact depends directly on height fallen, with a limit due to terminal velocity because of air-resistance. But in Fate the damage you suffer is "subject to the dramatic demands of the story" or some drama storytime nonsense like that. Who is this game written for? The same kind of innumerate people who removed Descending Armor Class by D&D 3rd-ed because "subtraction is hard" and they were too embarrassed counting down one-by-one to do subtraction as Common Core math demands. There is a general dumbing down of RPGs from the heyday and its birth from highly numerical board wargames. I should plead that people should try to upgrade their math and thinking abilities (for SF games, science) to match the RPGs, not dumb down the RPGs to match you! Seriously, it's a good way to weed out bad RPGs. Check for rules for falling-damage and other real physical hazards, and what they are going to do to a character. --It's a cushion for the emotions. Fate seems to be geared for people ill-prepared to accept that sometimes their characters will have bad breaks, or even die. The benefits and perils of a situation must balance out in a Fate Core economy, resulting in some ups and downs more suitable to a movie-plot than a real physical world. Venger Satanis, a notorious GM, says he runs games with at least 8-10 players and averages a character death every 3 sessions. Good luck seeing that in Fate! If you are close to running out of Consequence slots, you can declare a Concede and, somehow, the universe keeps you alive. This makes sense not to kill off the main character in a movie, since so much has been invested to put a character there and make him last two hours, but cinematic RPG is only a subset of the whole RPG experience. --Benefits and drawbacks aren't scaled. Players state what their characters intend to do, and the action is interpreted under one of the four Actions of Fate, fine. But any benefit from an Aspect, Stunt, or Aspect resulting from the environment offers you exactly the same thing: a +2 or re-roll. Any drawback offers the opposition the same thing: a +2 or re-roll. No +1's, no +3's, no 1/2's. My favourite RPG has a long table of tactical modifiers of all different magnitudes totalled to give a clearly understood percentile chance. Right or wrong, they attempt to quantify the relative effects of many different factors. Now there is some effort by the GM not to allow a "weaksauce" Compel, and make sure Aspects really are grand enough to be worth a +2, but tactical finesse in Fate, the marshalling to stack odds in your favour, is so chunky as to be meaningless.
Games like Chronicles of Darkness and the Alien rpg where each die has a built in 70%+ chance of failure makes the game not worth playing. In Alien for instance you roll d6s and only the 6's count as successes....WHAT? and the Chronicles of Darkness with it's 8 and above on a d10 BS. So great I have a hand full of dice and....oh shit, failed again because that's how fun is had.
[Big response incoming in hopes of giving you a little more interest in CofD! Reading over what I've written, I hope I don't come off as rude or anything. Just wanted to help clarify.] In CofD, for non-contested actions you only need ONE success. If you are rolling to do something your character is just pretty good at, you would likely have 4 dice. Your chance of getting the 1 success you need with 4 dice is 75.99% (someone else figured out the formula to calculate that, not me. I'm not that good at math lol). If it is an action you are pretty skilled in, say 7 dice...your chance of getting at least 1 success is 91.76%. If you have just TWO dice, which is a darn bad hand of dice to have...you still have a 51% chance of success. Spend a point of willpower to get 2 extra dice, and you're back up to 75.99%. So even if you have 5 dice for a roll, and the difficulty of the roll modifies your hand by -3, a decently tough task, you still basically have a 50/50 chance of success. The only times you NEED more successes are if it is extended, and then that is over multiple rolls...or a contested roll, in which case you are rolling against someone else who is dealing with the same dice. I'm not sure if you had someone run the game wrong where they required many successes or what, but I've never had a problem with folks failing in CofD any more than in D&D or any other games. In fact, when a group is smart and specializes to fill all the rolls, I would say I tend to have folks succeeding more often than I am prepared for. I know nothing of Alien RPG, so I can't speak to it.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide You won't change my mind but go for it. I've played these games and it's beyond frustrating rolling a bunch of dice and getting fucked for it and it's even worse when your dice pool is low. reality just doesn't function like that, even characters with novice ranked skills and attributes should succeed more often than the dice let you. "I'm a master of my craft with a specialty! I roll 12 dice and end up with one success ...and before you say anything like "that's an extreme case" no it isn't, I gave the game a chance and it's happened to me and my players more than a bunch which is why we quit playing it. The game should have a warning "Rules are meant to simulate characters that nothing ever goes as planned for, proceed at own risk". More dice does not mitigate 70% chance of failure, it's built in.
I still play DnD but I’ve fallen head over heels for Fate and it’s potential in versatility... also I’d love to hear (/watch a vide about) your take on “narrative focused” rpgs like the powers by the apocalypse games and/or the forged in the dark games... they seem to be all the rage with the kids these days ... great content as always btw!!!
Powered by the Apocalypse is a big one on my list, and definitely something I've planed to look into. I honestly don't know if I've heard of Forged in the Dark, but it is going on my list now! Thanks so much for the support and suggestions!
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide Forged in the Dark are the games based on the Blades in the Dark rule set from evil hat, which are also similar/related to pbta ... I haven’t played either system but have skimed through some rulebook PDFs and am itching to try them.
I play shadowrun using Fate rules. Works great. Loved the lore hated the crunch.
I ran an Elder Scrolls game using Cypher that just ended and it was absolutely fantastic.
It helps that the setting, while being high fantasy, does deal with a lot of crazy out there concepts that the flavor bits of the characters can delve into some pretty esoteric stuff.
I also have to say, as a GM, the simple 1-10 scale is one of the best GM freeing mechanics I've ever played with. It was do easy to simple make a challenge rating for anything I needed in the moment.
You correctly predicted my thoughts about Pathfinder ^^ My group has trouble keeping track of the things they can do in DnD (at first tier) and there is NO WAY Pathfinder is the right fit. Fate though... sounds so much fun! I would really love to give it a try! More of these videos, please!
Fate has been a longtime favorite of mine, so I highly encourage it! I am hoping to release some Actual Plays of it in the nearish future, but until then, I do at leat have my How to Play Fate video to better explain it!
Also, if you check out the Fate SRD RUclips channel, they have some wonderful Actual Plays that show off all the things the system can do!
You should definitely make another one for more games.
Your Cypher System video is what brought me to your channel, and now I definitely know I’m staying tuned in the long run! I can definitely tell that you’re enthusiastic about what you’re showing us in the videos, which keeps me engaged more than anything.
Keep up the good work!
Wow, cool, you just reviewed some of my favourites here - Fate Core, Cypher System, and Chronicles of Darkness 😎
The quality in these videos is amazing, you will go far with this channel
Thanks so much!
Really enjoyed this video, and some others of yours! I dont know why they arent blowing up!
I'm big on the World of Darkness stuff, and I have seen it adapted to Star Wars, which I haven't convinced anyone else to play. Ease of use is the best part, you have dots, you increase those dots, you use exp to get powers, and dots, and competitive stuff helps, combat or mental manipulation.
I've yet to look at WoD/CofD adapted for anything else that sound fascinating and really cool! I don't even like Star Wars all that much personally, but to think of it adapted into that system sound pretty rad!
As you probably have known. I been on Bing watch of these unique TTRPGs and Chronicles Of Darkness I had my eye on for the last couple of years now.
I love the modern look, different character sheets. And HELL, WE GOT GUNS..
CofD is such a wonderful system, and one of the ones I've spent the most time playing, at least in the past. My How to Play Chronicles of Darkness video is still one of my faves. I really need to cover more of the supplements...
I come here because you always talk about my favorite systems Numenera (Cypher), Fate. (And WOD now?). That's a bingo in my book.
Thanks much! While I will definitely be branching into even more systems in the future, Cypher, Fate, and CofD/WoD are super close to me, so I'll always be doing more about them.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide can't wait to see more then. I've started a fresh Numenera campaign based on Magic: The Gathering world, and I use your Cypher video as a tutorial for all new players. There are not so many Numenera RUclipsrs out there (only Infinite Construct, and your vids are helpful too)
I would like to see your run downs of other systems like Savage Worlds, PbtA games like Blades in the Dark and Monster of the Week. And just for fun, Goblin Quest.
Oh, powerful master! Can you give us a guide of non-popular TTRPGs that are really cool to play...? Like the hidden treasures of the amazing world of roleplaying.
I've been really fortunate to get to know a few small, indie ttrpg developers over the last few months, so definitely expect some videos on their frankly awesome games to be coming pretty soon!
Some possible hidden gems ...
Elite: Dangerous - does the computer game well while having a very quick, zone based space combat system and a really easy-to-learn dice system.
Lancer - a good Mecha rpg that actually has playable Mecha customization and tactical options that uses a modified Shadow of the Demon Lord dice system. It's killed Battletech for me.
Ascendant - a newer supers rpg that's entirely logarithmic and is a blend of old DC Heroes rpg and Marvel FASERIP. It's designed to simulate comic book physics and it really succeeds at what it does. Fantastic design.
the paranoia series is truly the dystopia of all time. I believe it is discontinued but man is it funny
First game I played was the Old (Classic) World of Darkness back in 1992. It was simple. Tons of lore and metaplot. When New World of Darkness (1st Edition, before 'Chronicles') came around I liked how it was more freeform- or less cookie-cutter, anyway- and how more balanced it was between the supernatural races. And you can easily modify any of the Storyteller system editions for other time periods and settings. In fact there is a Street Fighter game that uses this system, and some of the supernatural books have a 'Dark Ages', 'Wild West', and 'Noir' settings. You can probably take Sorcerer (a splatbook under the Mage sphere) and use that book for a DnD-esque Fantasy setting.
13:35 ok, this is too much, i'm having a TyranoSamurai Rex in my next campaign
This is super insightful! Thank you for making this!
That's a really good list. I prefer lighter rules these days, but I've been doing this for 44 years over 160+ systems. And those are some fine choices, though I've never played Cipher somehow, but I hear excellent things from people I trust.
Fate is one of my go-to systems. The thing is, it isn't so much a generic system that you slot your setting into. It's a toolkit filled with options that you optimize for your setting, and that's crucial for me, because I like yo "get real weird with it."
The other one that's very specific is Blades in the Dark. The system encourages the style of play John Harper wanted. As such, it's not a generic system (though it can certainly be used for other settings), but my it's a masterpiece of game design.
The other I would mention as a simple but effective (and fairly robust) system is the Year Zero engine from Free League that powers Alien, Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop, and Vaesen. It's simple and flexible, as is easily demonstrated by the fact that it runs all of the very diverse settings with a fair degree of aplomb. Alien and Tales from the Loop couldn't be more different in terms of setting, but it handles both gracefully. It's also nicely modular, making it super easy to customize.
Now I need to make a Fate system with Bagels as an important extra.
Bagels are an appropriate extra for pretty much ever setting, except perhaps the very worst of the apocalypses...
Butchers & Bakers: a Fate Core playset
28 years of playing D&D and then I found the Cypher System. I haven't looked back!
I love the concept of FATE but I find it rough as a GM. You need to fluently know all of your players aspect so you can compel them, otherwise they will run out of fate points and then all that make their character cool and special is out of reach as they can't pay the cost to invoke. Cypher seems to be a pretty decent option to FATE...
That's a fair point! Fate takes a definitely change in approach. One thing I find that helps is encouraging players to suggest compels on themselves and each other. It feels a little counter-intuitive at first, for a player to do something that could work against them, but by offering up that weapon against themselves in less dire situations, it gives them the Fate points to spend when they need them. Plus, some players find it really satisfying to add those kinds of complications because it's narratively just way more interesting.
But of course, it isn't for everyone. And I will never deter someone from checking out Cypher 😆
I know its a little late but i run fate regularly and something worth considering is that your players are allowed to compel their own aspects and let you sign off on it (IE you can go you character will need more pain for you get that sweet sweet fate point) So your players can put themselves in bad situations by following their aspects to their detriment and you can award fate for that. Takes a little getting used to for the players but some players will absolutely love putting their character through the wringer
In the other hand, you can ask your players to suggest compels!
OR ask them to suggest ONE Aspect each to focus on for the current adventure, like themed episodes of a tv show.
Beautifully done video, you are a gifted instructor! As you asked about other systems, on the pure role-playing side (zero crunch), there are some GM-less RPGs. Two systems with many playbooks/card-decks online to provide countless genres are Fiasco and the newer Descended from the Queen system (original game: For the Queen).
Thank you so much!
Funny enough, in the previous "10 RPGs in 10 Minutes" video I mention in this one, I do actually bring up Fiasco! I absolutely love that one!
I haven't heard of Descended or the Queen system, but I am definitely going to have to look that up now!
I really enjoy exploring small publisher games. I haven't been buying for a few years but loved finding Don't Rest Your Head, Spirit of the Century, Dread, Fate, Fiasco, etc. It's also fun to explore older systems like Runequest, Tunnels & Trolls, Gamma World and Paranoia. Recently, Dungeon Crawl Classic has piqued my interest.
Fate is my personal fav. It's fun to run and I use it to help write stories. It's great for helping force you to use character attributes when writing. You can't NOT bring aspects into play.
This was a great video. Very informative and clear. It'd be cool if you could review a sci-fi rpg (preferably one that isn't just science fantasy/cyberpunk) or go into more horror-like games since you tend to mention playing horror a lot.
I would point out that Cofd does have supplements on how to play in several time periods around the world.
But still if a play group doesnt want to play in the version of our world with some kind of color filter (I like blue the most) on it...... theres a lot of homebrew you gotta do.
I'm surprised that you didn't cover Powered by the Apocalypse or Forged in the Dark... those two fall in that mid-layer between D&D and Fate in terms of complexity and openness
To be fair, when I made this particular video I had only played a little of Masks, and none of the FitD games. They would have absolutely made the list if I made this video today
Please do a vid on forged in the dark!
Cypher definitely has me interested now.
It's one of my go-to systems. Highly recommend giving it a try. I've got a How to Play Cypher video that covers it more in depth if you're interesting in looking deeper into the mechanics before making a purchase.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide Thank you! I will do that!
Cypher’s great, my roleplay group use it for a superhero RP where we’re a group of superheroes on Mars
Very interesting comparison between ttrpg, thanks a lot. The next one will include cortex prime 😉.
Still wrapping my head around that system, but I do definitely hope to be covering it soon!
Cypher System is really cool but it is much easier to play different genres if you buy the supplemental books which can get pricy but are super worth it. I can't recommend that system enough
That is very true. They provide some decent mechanics and whatnot for different genres in the core book, but the supplements add so much that they feel almost essential if you *really* want to get into a game in that genre.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide completely agree and often to really flesh out a setting 2 or 3 books can be needed. To make fantasy settings godforsaken, ptolus, and gods of the fall all contain components you'd likely want and that gets really pricy even if you just by the pdfs for cheaper.
I may, indeed, be more fond of Pathfinder 1e than 2e (whoof: my poor brain kept confusing the editions' use of the same terms for slightly different things ... it's a GREAT system, but I just can't keep up with all the slight shifts over the years) you are quite correct: Pathfinder 2e is definitely a better stepping stone for players coming from 5e!
Oh, and may I add (if you can find it) the MEGS system, used for the original "DC Heroes" (by Mayfair games) and, later, the Pulsar-published "Blood of Heroes". Rather simple to learn and very flexible!
What is your thoughts on GURPs? It is also the parent to the special system in fallout. When I played it what I liked was the percent die deciding the difficulty. It was simple in dice roles. I even like the percent more than d20.
Honestly, my last earnest interactions with GURPs was back in in the early 2000s, and I remember little. But honestly, I wouldn't mind checking it out again and getting more into it, though I couldn't even guess how soon that might be with the pile of things I am intending on checking out right now
in summary: Pathfinder 2e, Fate, Cypher, Chronicles of Darkness
Hmmm... Thank you! I'm now leaning on either trying Cortex Prime (Maybe Tales of Xadia as an already fixed example) or Fate, Dresden Files. I would love to try a more narrative rpg than 5e.
How do Fate and Cortex differ? I think I like the idea that a player in fate (let's say a druid) can add an aspect to a room such as grappling vines. You've done a DnD port to one of these systems we can take a look at?
Thanks for the cool video! Your style is extremely fun and informative!
So glad you liked the video!
I would say Fate is much more set and narrative, with a huge focus on those aspects, as you said! Really fun system that's generally a lot easier to grasp if you're teaching new players. And Extras give you some nice customization to fit the game you're playing.
However, it's hard to beat the customization of Cortex, but it does end up being a lot more work to build your own system and is typically harder for players to grasp (depending on what mods you use). No amount of Extras in Fate will really allow it to be as robust and customized as Cortex, but I still think some games I would prefer the straight forwardness of Fate. I would say give both a try if you can, but if you are lacking in time I would give Fate a shot, just because it is so much more approachable.
I'll try to find the D&D Cortex sheets I made that were just as close to a direct translation as I could think up, but they were one of my first and I might honestly redo them
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide thank you for your in depth reply! I'll start with exploring Fate deeper first. But over time, who knows, I'm sure to give both a try...
Great video. But glad you brought this topic up. Several games I enjoy besides 5th Edition are OSRIC AD&D(Modern revamped free 1st edition for modern gamers) Then there is Basic Fantasy RPG and also Dungeon Crawl Classic and Mutant Crawl Classics as a friendly suggestion
I don't mind the 5e system, it's easy. But after having bought a few adventure books from them recently where it boils down to "You're the DM, you write it, you figure it out."* on top of the recent OGL debacle, I'm content not giving WotC any more money. *to be clear. I LOVE world-building and writing, but I don't need a $50 book to do that. I like Pf2e because at every level I feel like I can make an RP/ Character based decision for abilities that also play to the strengths I'm looking for. I like the idea of FATE but for the same reason you mentioned, I don't think my friends would. Not listed here but I'm also a fan of cyberpunk red for game mechanics, though, with prevailant/ easy character death, it makes d&d look like Disneyland.
I wasn't particularly enthused with any of the other systems in this video after 5e.
Thank goodness I have
D100 Dungeon.
Well you made me hungry for pizza now LOL but this video is great. Fate is an amazing system and my personal favorite.
Thanks so much. Also, this video made me so hungry for pizza that I literally made pizza some scratch after releasing this, so hungry was I for a quality slice.
I am now addicted because of JP reference.
I watched this and I am huge FATE fan and honestly I would play a Cypher game.
I like the idea of Fate but I haven't been able to wrap my head around it so I feel that the only way I can get into it is if someone who is a seasoned player GMs me
I have a pretty good How to Play video on Fate that might help, but I feel you. There really isn't anything quite as solid and playing yourself to get a feel for it.
I've been thinking about checking out Fate with my group at some point in the future. What is the Pathfinder character creator program shown in this video?
It is found at pathbuilder2e.com/ and is maybe the only reason I was confident enough to get into Pathfinder 2E when I did :D
Have you looked into Cogent Roleplay? It's in Alpha I think, and it some flaws, but it's an interesting take.
I haven't, but it is going on to my blackboard the moment I finish replying!
GURPS can do anything. And ignore the "oh noes, it 2 hard" because it's only as complex as you make it. Never let someone else's self-sabotage gate you from a great game system.
I really like Holy Lands RPG.
Great games. Maybe do GUMSHOE, blades in the Dark, call of Cthulhu, and shadow of the demon lord
I'm only really familiar with Blades in the Dark and Call of Cthulhu. These other are getting added to my "must check out" list immediately (especially Gumshoe, which sounds intriguing).
Personally, Im never going back to D&D 5E after Cypher...
Though, I do think it offers alot more RP potential then 5E or D&D in general.
Ars Magica, Rifts, Palladium RPG...
What a GREAT video!
I love the mechanics of the World of Darkness and the character options, especially the bastet. But I am not all that into the personal horror and political intrigue. If I ever play it again I'll try and get the group to homebrew the setting to focus more on exploration.
I am currently working on my own system that takes my favourite parts of the world of darkness and combines them with my favourite parts from Fate, plus a few things I always wanted to see in a game system.
I could name list of games which is more than few and then add these 5 systems and complain about how I want to play em all but First the covid. Second Long distance. Third life. So no time to play games that require People :^) also the last one really peaked my interest but I have yet to play Fate properly and only messed around with Cypher System (hard to get people to play)
When it comes to the world of darkness I like the Chronicles of Darkness rules more than the Old World of Darkness. As for settings well it tricky.
The two Vampires have two different feel. The old Vampire the Maskarade has a lore of Cain and ancients vampires. It give a feel love ke SoIF or Dune where petty politics are a distraction from a distant disaster coming your way. One part of the setting is you can get so powerful as you are a 13th gen. This can have problems as it may lead to characters being overshadowed by the NPCs and there is almost nothing they can do to change it. If done right with the right players (some people may like this setting as a different game experience) it can give the player a fatalist feeling of having little power. However if done wrong it can be abusive. Vampire the Requpartis more shrouded in mistory as you do not know the origen of the kindred. You can ask the elders but they may lie to you or their memory is not accurate as time does it. Becoming more powerful is problematic as your die get more dangerous (only able to feed off vampire when lv 7. You can get powerful but do you want to?
Werewolf the Apocalypse had an interesting lore that set the tone for most of the old world of darkness, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. The Wyld, The Weaver, and the Wyrn. One of the best Devils I read would be the Wyrm. Once again approached right it can be a deep game. Werewolf the Forsaken is also a showed of mystery although there is a lore about Pangaea, Luna and Father Wolf. The werewolves in this have little global concerns, and more local concerns. A Werewolf may only know as far as the horizon as their tribes are very territorial. It can be interesting as you have multiple different antagonist with different goals.
Mage the Ascensions is a setting I love. It an interesting setting of old traditions up against the convention of the technocracy. At first the technocracy was the bad guy. But then you realized they have noble goals and in some ways they made things better. But they almost killed magik and that includes new technology. In a way Mage the ascension strikes me as a mature JRGP setting with magik coming back, the a power that be holding you down, and a true final villain that test your ideology with their morale nilasim. Mage the Awakening is more better at rules, as for one it has a better paradox system, and the more powerful your character the more problems come with it ( well until that one book). I do not care that much about Atlas mythos and think it would be better if they had multiple lores like vampire did.
Thats my thoughts some even interchange the two. I never did that yet but may.
gurps
Add 7th Sea it's one of the easier and for me is mix of World of Darknes and othe systems but easier. Or Maybe 2D20- it is similar to 2D6 but with more depth, and Savage or Broken Compass as a movie style adventure systems, but I would argue that 7th sea is great for that too.
I've seen a lot of systems where "The player is the only one who rolls" is brought up, and I guess I want to know, is this actually a selling point for many people? Because personally I couldn't care less. Actually I slightly prefer it the other way (not like it's a dealbreaker, but it is a /slight/ preference), because of the feeling of symmetry. Like I don't care if NPCs or enemies are built like PCs (usually I feel it works out better if they're not), but I feel like having them interact with the world in the same way as PCs (with admittedly some bending allowable, since if they're not built like PCs there's nothing saying they don't have an ability that lets them do something a PC couldn't or not do something a PC could) lends a degree of immersion, and if the math is the same either way (unless you have an asymmetrical dice system, like dice pools or a hypothetical system where you use something like 4d6 drop the lowest for all rolls, it probably will be), I don't see the benefit of not doing it.
That's a fair viewpoint!
Honestly, I like both styles for different reasons. You've already made points as to why the GM rolling can be great. On the other hand, if the GM doesn't roll, it allows a few things...
If the players are facing some huge, terrifying threat, it can't be ruined by bad GM rolls. It can deflate what is supposed to be a huge, major battle when your BBEG is rolling like a chump and doesn't land a single hit.
It gives your players clear targets. Your player knows the difficulty is set, and in the case of Cypher can choose how much effort (and thereby ability points) they want to put into their roll. Which leads right to the last point...
It gives more player agency. If a player takes a hit, it isn't because some low-level baddie rolled really well, it's because the player flubbed and maybe should have used more bonuses to their roll. I don't want to write a whole essay here, but it just puts more of that choice and control into the players hands, which can feel really good when the GM has control over most everything else. Is it *that* much more agency when there are still dice rolls? I don't know, but it feels like it!
I don't necessarily think this is inherently better than the GM rolling. That shared randomness between GM and Player can be great, and honestly, who doesn't like rolling dice? I just think it's a different style that suits different people.
D&D 5E:
Aprochable? Yes. (at lest for players)
Ballanced? Don't make me laugh!
Palladium and Rolemaster and Steve Jackson games.
I mean isn't Cypher built for Numenera, which is scifi
Numenera is indeed the game where Cypher was born, however the Cypher system book has been tooled to be useable in just about any setting. The core Cypher book includes options for Fantasy, Sci-fi, horror, Superheroes, etc... A lot of its mechanics are generic and versatile, and optional rules for different settings help it fit into other settings pretty well.
It isn't everyone's cup of tea, and there are definitely genres that I think it is a bit weaker in. But all in all, it's a nice semi-crunchy genreless system
It's not that Deadpool isn't anime, it's the sentence "hided in the bushes." My phone wouldn't even let me type it the first five times.
For Fate I much prefer Strands of Fate 2e. Strands of Fate is THE toolkit Fate rpg. It incorporates a lot of ideas from various Fate games over the years as possible choices a GM can make when coming up with his setting. Strands also doesn't have the baggage of having Evil Hats name on it, as it's its own game and not dependent on Fate Core.
Tbh if pathfinder sounds like too much and 5e is way too little, I'd say try D&D 3.5. It has a charm that once you get into it you won't easily get bored, and customization (with a good dm) is almost infinite. It has way more and better expansion books than 5e, and a lot of third party content (and it's not that hard to convert something you like from 5e to 3.5).
isn’t cheese the default topping?
Try Shadow of the Demon Lord!
Thank you, now I want a pizza
I wanna take the mechanics of world of darkness, with the functiona dn planning of pathfinder 2, and shove them into dnd 5e.
I watched this video to see what you are into. I dont like 5E. Love pathfinder 1e still havent gotten into 2nd edition yet. I want to play GURPS 4th edition and Open Legend. Ive looked into all those other games. Why is it Chronicles of Darkness and not World of Darkness? I wanted to get into it but im not cool enough.
If you love hack and slash= D&D
If you love Roleplaying = Runequest.
And... all the others
Pathfinder do not deserve any place for a replacement... because it is a hack and slash like D&D. Go in the dongeon, kill monster, steal their treasure... change your gear every four level.
I find D&D 5E combat is boring as a player, but it's also the only part I feel confortable running as a DM.
No shadowrun, chummer?
If I recommend it, people will expect me to eventually do a video explaining it, and I don't know if I will have the time to edit a 4 hour How to Play Shadowrun video... :D
Fine I want PIZZA
You can cast fireball at level 5 :(
I wonder how many views this video got In the past two weeks after dnd started sinking.
Haha! You said DND was balanced. I will agree that 5e is approachable oh, but it is not balance whatsoever. The system breaks between level seven level 10
Look, if I speak ill of the dragon game the mobs come with their torches and pitchforks lol
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide oh I know. I have been directing people to alternate games at eve to for years now
If you wish 5e was more like 3.5 pathfinder 2e is the game for you.
If you wish 5e was less like 3.5 Cypher System is the game for you.
If you've ever picked up a D&D 2e product and realized THACO is the worst thing ever Cypher's System is still the game for you. Seriously, OSR devs probably have their hearts in the right place, but just obfuscating the terrible dice math systems from TSR era D&D is a waste of time.
If you just want more character options than 5e Cypher System is the game for you.
If you absolutely need to be able to pick from as many variations of "elf" as possible during character creation pathfinder 2e is the game for you.
If you want more control in your leveling pace Cypher System is the game for you.
Honestly when you said Alternatives to DnD. I was not expecting you to go with a game that pretty much just DnD 3.5.99999. Weak start to the video. Then you went Fate and Fate 2.0. Glad you ended with Chronicles of Darkness.
I have with speed-reading read all of Fate Core System, Fate Accelerated, Fate System toolkit, dozens of those small, unsatisfying 50-page Worlds booklets each with weird premises, and some of the meatier 400-page 3rd-party game settings. I have played dozens of games. My impressions:
--It's innumerate. Characters seem to be living in a world oblivious to the laws of physics. There are no falling-damage rules. Normally if you fall, the energy of your impact depends directly on height fallen, with a limit due to terminal velocity because of air-resistance. But in Fate the damage you suffer is "subject to the dramatic demands of the story" or some drama storytime nonsense like that. Who is this game written for? The same kind of innumerate people who removed Descending Armor Class by D&D 3rd-ed because "subtraction is hard" and they were too embarrassed counting down one-by-one to do subtraction as Common Core math demands. There is a general dumbing down of RPGs from the heyday and its birth from highly numerical board wargames. I should plead that people should try to upgrade their math and thinking abilities (for SF games, science) to match the RPGs, not dumb down the RPGs to match you!
Seriously, it's a good way to weed out bad RPGs. Check for rules for falling-damage and other real physical hazards, and what they are going to do to a character.
--It's a cushion for the emotions. Fate seems to be geared for people ill-prepared to accept that sometimes their characters will have bad breaks, or even die. The benefits and perils of a situation must balance out in a Fate Core economy, resulting in some ups and downs more suitable to a movie-plot than a real physical world. Venger Satanis, a notorious GM, says he runs games with at least 8-10 players and averages a character death every 3 sessions. Good luck seeing that in Fate! If you are close to running out of Consequence slots, you can declare a Concede and, somehow, the universe keeps you alive. This makes sense not to kill off the main character in a movie, since so much has been invested to put a character there and make him last two hours, but cinematic RPG is only a subset of the whole RPG experience.
--Benefits and drawbacks aren't scaled. Players state what their characters intend to do, and the action is interpreted under one of the four Actions of Fate, fine. But any benefit from an Aspect, Stunt, or Aspect resulting from the environment offers you exactly the same thing: a +2 or re-roll. Any drawback offers the opposition the same thing: a +2 or re-roll. No +1's, no +3's, no 1/2's. My favourite RPG has a long table of tactical modifiers of all different magnitudes totalled to give a clearly understood percentile chance. Right or wrong, they attempt to quantify the relative effects of many different factors. Now there is some effort by the GM not to allow a "weaksauce" Compel, and make sure Aspects really are grand enough to be worth a +2, but tactical finesse in Fate, the marshalling to stack odds in your favour, is so chunky as to be meaningless.
Games like Chronicles of Darkness and the Alien rpg where each die has a built in 70%+ chance of failure makes the game not worth playing. In Alien for instance you roll d6s and only the 6's count as successes....WHAT? and the Chronicles of Darkness with it's 8 and above on a d10 BS. So great I have a hand full of dice and....oh shit, failed again because that's how fun is had.
[Big response incoming in hopes of giving you a little more interest in CofD! Reading over what I've written, I hope I don't come off as rude or anything. Just wanted to help clarify.]
In CofD, for non-contested actions you only need ONE success. If you are rolling to do something your character is just pretty good at, you would likely have 4 dice. Your chance of getting the 1 success you need with 4 dice is 75.99% (someone else figured out the formula to calculate that, not me. I'm not that good at math lol).
If it is an action you are pretty skilled in, say 7 dice...your chance of getting at least 1 success is 91.76%.
If you have just TWO dice, which is a darn bad hand of dice to have...you still have a 51% chance of success. Spend a point of willpower to get 2 extra dice, and you're back up to 75.99%.
So even if you have 5 dice for a roll, and the difficulty of the roll modifies your hand by -3, a decently tough task, you still basically have a 50/50 chance of success.
The only times you NEED more successes are if it is extended, and then that is over multiple rolls...or a contested roll, in which case you are rolling against someone else who is dealing with the same dice.
I'm not sure if you had someone run the game wrong where they required many successes or what, but I've never had a problem with folks failing in CofD any more than in D&D or any other games. In fact, when a group is smart and specializes to fill all the rolls, I would say I tend to have folks succeeding more often than I am prepared for.
I know nothing of Alien RPG, so I can't speak to it.
@@TheDungeonNewbsGuide You won't change my mind but go for it. I've played these games and it's beyond frustrating rolling a bunch of dice and getting fucked for it and it's even worse when your dice pool is low. reality just doesn't function like that, even characters with novice ranked skills and attributes should succeed more often than the dice let you. "I'm a master of my craft with a specialty! I roll 12 dice and end up with one success ...and before you say anything like "that's an extreme case" no it isn't, I gave the game a chance and it's happened to me and my players more than a bunch which is why we quit playing it. The game should have a warning "Rules are meant to simulate characters that nothing ever goes as planned for, proceed at own risk". More dice does not mitigate 70% chance of failure, it's built in.