Since recording this video last night, Jorphdan has managed to resolve the situation with Hasbro: The copyright strike has been removed, but Jorphdan has also taken down the video. I've heard similar reports from others affected by this and, as I said in the video, it seems the situation is likely to mostly resolve while leaving only a bad taste in people's mouths. UPDATE: I've seen many people very confused by this. As I said in the video, although Jorphdan went the most public with this, he was NOT the only one affected by this. I'm not going to get into an argument about his specific video. The broader principle of "here's the rules... you uploaded a video? okay, now there are new rules!" being completely unreasonable is what I'm focused on (and what you should be focused on, too).
Hmmm, giving early access to some creators and encouraging them to do reviews while silencing others. Looks like a powermove to control the youtube comunity that hurt them during the OGL scandal. I had no problem with people accepting money from Hasbro to do reviews on their material... but this new fact certainly puts all that in a new perspective. Congrats on the ENNIEs.
If books weren't bought at Gencon, it would tell Hasbro that something is off. But people did buy. It is time to take measures to protect our hobby and creators
I'm guessing this was a case of different parts of WotC/Hasbro not talking to each other (yet again). While the D&D promotions team were encouraging people to talk about the book, the IP protection team were still operating under the normal rules for sharing full images of the book pages online (something I think is covered by it's copyright or OGL, or somewhere). The promotion team should have given the content creators a heads up that they could talk about the book but that broadcasting pages from it was out of the question (although to be honest the content creators should have been a little smarter and less amateur about this themselves - not saying it is their fault, but when ever do large companies like anyone broadcasting the high resolution internal images of the products? Always best to get full permission in writing first).
LOL at that casual flex. "I loved [Technoir] so much that I bought it... literally. [...] I bought the rights to Technoir to make sure it stays available, and it still is." If only all of us could save our favorite games this way. Congratulations on the Ennie awards!
Order of appearance: 20- Pathfinder 19- Blades in the Dark 18- Ars Magica 17- ShadowDark 16- GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15- Burning Wheel 14- Numenera 13- Mothership 12- Pendragon 11- Technoir 10- Night's Black Agents 9- Eclipse Phase 8- Call of Chtulhu 7- The Quiet Year 6- Microscope 5- Shock 4- Ten Candles 3- Alice is Missing 2- Infinity 1- Magical Kitties I would add Warhammer Fantasy or 40K-related... 2D20 games (if not already mentioned in original list)... HoneyCon (designed for quick yet memorable fun)... Cyberpunk... and it's not counting the deceased products that are still relevant... (Star Wars D6, Old World of Darkness, Feng Shui...)
Kinda surprised that Pendragon and Call of Cthulhu were listed but Chaosium’s other big game that falls between them in popularity, RuneQuest, wasn’t. RuneQuest is awesome at sucking people into the game by having players generate life events going back to their grandparents and puts a lot of emphasis on family and community in the game and lore.
WotC: Killing people's enthusiasm for a product that everyone WANTS to be excited about since 2022 (and before) by shooting themselves in the foot over and over.
@@pallenda To be fair to them, what possible incentive is there to learn from their mistakes when their mistakes have absolutely no consequence? Everyone continues to buy their stuff regardless. Of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows that's a foolish long game to play, buy WotC lives quarter by quarter, and aggressive protectionism is great optics and metrics for [this quarter]. 😅
@@guldcat1619 it did have consequences for the movie though. But for the books you qre totally right. Personally only way I buy any of the 2024 5e books is if the DMG us tge vest game master guide ever made. I will not hold my breath. 😃
Started playing MTG in 1994. Was out of the game by 1997. They killed that game almost 30 years ago. WOTC isn’t a great company anymore since Hasbro bought it.
Great video. Gary Gygax wrote in his book Master of the Game that “You can not master game mastery unless you run many different game systems, with different groups of players, in different settings especially conventions, and finally that you publish your own works” (paraphrased). Gary wasn’t an advocate for just D&D, nor of just buying and playing TSR products, he was a champion of gaming and gamers. Your promotion of other game systems, and genres is the healthiest approach for our hobby. The TTRPG hobby will go on, even if its largest and most well known game system fades or even disappears.
Congrats on that ENNIE!! I'm currently in love with two systems: everything that uses the Year Zero Engine (currently running a Coriolis campaign - loving it so much!) and Savage Worlds! You can literally run EVERY possible setting with it without learning new rules every time.
just for solidarity community wise i would also recommend: Basic Fantasy RPG (currently in 4th edition: and virtually free), Runecairn RPG, Heartseeker RPG, Mausritter RPG, Monster of the Week RPG, and Outcast Silver Raiders RPG.
Fantastic book Justin, my only "complaint" is I've had to slow down and leave some parts unread while I try and bed in all the ideas I've got from just the first two chapters! (and I've been DMing since the early '80's)
Always excited to see people encouraging more systems! There has never been a more deep and varied landscape of RPG systems than right now and there's some fascinating and innovative games out there. Always so frustrated when people try to beat DnD into something it's not meant to do instead of trying something new.
Cool list, I add quest, cairn, knave, skate wizards, troll babes, dogs in the vineyard, paranoid, dread and Warhammer fantasy. Congrats on the Ennies too.
Congrats on your Ennies! You’ve done so much for the community over the years. I’m glad you’re getting further recognition. Thanks for promoting other games, so many folks get stuck in Hasbro’s DnD silo.
Congrats on the Ennies. I'd like to make a shout out to Forbidden Lands. I bought the box set right around the time the new version of D&D came out. Definitely don't regret that decision. Forbidden lands is beautiful and the setting is captivating. Another shout out goes to Mothership RPG which you.mwntioned in this video. I love the dice system it uses. Actually in the process of merging the Mothership dice system with Forbidden Lands setting and exploration rules. Motherlands!
I'm 100% with you on the approach to the recent situation. WotC doesn't want content creators showcasing the PHB for DnD 5.24 by showing the product ? Ok then. Let content creators showcase other games instead !
OMG! The Alexandrian! I can't tell you how much your articles in the website/blog have helped me with pointcrawl and hexcrawl design. I literally owe you two multi-year long campaigns.
Congratulations for the Ennies, it is great that you get your totally deserved recognition! I'm also glad that Numenéra is in your list, the game surely has it's flaws but I love it... Both settings and system. I'm looking forward for the Gunslinger Knights setting now
What an amazing video, once again! For anyone interested in the world building games "the quiet year" and "microscope", you should also know that TQY has a sequel that might be even more fitting for making a fantasy world. It's called The Deep Forest and instead of a settlement of post-war folks, you play as a gathering of monsters that have 1 year until the civilized people invade their forest (or whatever other location you chose) ams try to kill them/drive them away. As a GM, you can make this world together with your players, and then have them BE THE INVADERS! The drama!
Great video by the way! I LOVE Cypher/Numenera but have also really enjoyed Blades in the Dark, Call of Cthulhu, City of Mist, Quest and Troika! the Magical Kitties game looks really fun too!
Well deserved on both of your Ennies, Justin. Your site, and this channel, have been treasure troves of knowledge for players such as myself. You've truly created an outstanding source of inspiration, wisdom, and imagination for the world.
I'm in love with call of cthulhu since i've first time played it. I've always struggle with creating my homebrew scenario until i've read about node-based design. It really helps me. Thanks for you work. Book is awesome!
Lots of great recommendations there! I particularly enjoy ShadowDark and Call of Cthulhu, but Mothership, Night's Black Agents and Pendragon all look excellent. I might add Classic Traveller (the 3 little black books, not the Mongoose versions) precisely because it *lacks* a universal task resolution system, and instead relies on the Referee to make interpretations and calls for every task. It may sound onerous but in reality it flows very smoothly.
First off I want to congrate you, you definitely deserve it. I have been reading your blog for a couple years now and fully support not only what you do their but also content like this, calling out the bs of wizards is definitely something I can definitely support and I love seeing these games get some screen time too. Also, in case you're interested, my favorite series of yours is all of your articles on blackmoor and od&d personally.
There are so many good games out there and on my shelf that I don't need to spend another dollar on any WoT$ee product. Current favorite game to run for my players is Shadowdark. We're loving it. Congrats on the ENNIES!!
Your book, blogs, and videos have completely changed the way I run my games... in a good way. I can't remember the last session I ran with my players not wanting more. Thank you for your hard work!
This is probably the best rpg related video I've seen in a long, long while. Both you disappointment with WotC and your enthusiasm for those other games really came through the screen. I couldn't help myself from grinning from ear to ear as you gave WoTC the metaphorical finger by plugging the great work of good people. Bravo Sir!
Congrats on the Enni! I’ve been using all your posts to help me write my next adventure for SVMP. Some outstanding sage advice. Thanks for all the help!
Congrats on the awards! The Alexandrian has been a go-to resource for me and my group for years now, so it's great to see your recognition growing! I really don't know what whoever at WotC/Hasbro made that copyright strike decision was thinking. You won't be the only content creator on RUclips who will decide not to risk discussing the new edition in light of it. Mind you, I'm done with WotC/Hasbro anyway - there's nothing I could imagine they could do at this point to win me back as a customer.
I've used Microscope to generate a solar system for a LANCER campaign and it was such a useful tool to get the players invested in the world. I've also used it to fast forward a campaign by a few years. It's great on its own and in my opinion an even better resource when paired with another game as you've suggested.
Congrats for the ENNIE ! I would have added Spire in this extremely inspiring list, but I will check out all these games I dont know about. Thanks a lot for the channel and the website, they are the best vault of rpg knowledge over the Internet - something one should never fail to recommand. (Woohoo, first comment on this channel !)
I'm glad to hear and see that I'm not the only one continually disappointed by WotC and their ability to keep stepping on rakes. Good on you for promoting other RPG's that people can check out. I know I have several from this list that I'm particularly interested in checking out now! D&D isn't WotC's it's ours, the communities. We don't have to play it with their ruleset to keep it alive.
Congrats on the ennie! Your book is fantastic and your web content helped me a lot in running Night's black agents. Great video! For all of you that want to play a sword &sorcery game I recommend the setting Beasts & Barbarians using the Savage Worlds rules. In comparison to Dnd the game feels more Conan-esque with PCS spending all their money, able to kill a demon but running from a bunch of random guards,warrior PCS without armour...
Justin, so glad to see you get more exposure as I've found your website blog to be the best blog for RPG thinking on the net. THanks for a bunch of recommendations today!
You are doing the RPG-gods work here! 🙏 Good job! P.S.: ♥I am a Blades in the Dark GM and we use it for everything. Not just for heists. We love this game. ♥Microscope is my second favorite game of all time, after Follow
Congratulations on the Ennies! Quite an interesting video. I moved away from DnD years ago because I found certain aspects too restrictive, and those seem to be mostly present still. My journey went through Rolemaster/Spacemaster/MERP, Traveller, Paranoia, Cyberpunk (R. Talsorian), Iron Kingdoms, Call of Cthulu, and GURPS, among others, before I discovered Monte Cook Games' Numenera, Invisible Sun, and Cypher System - I really like the MCG creative openness and focus on storytelling within them (especially the surrealism of Invisible Sun). As supporting material, I still buy RPGs from other systems, such as Pendragon, The Expanse, Altered Carbon, and Free League's One Ring and Vaesen. You gave me a couple of other systems to investigate, so thank you!
Congratulations with the two wins! I personally only play D&D because for the first time in almost 5 years, I am a player. I am collecting energy to figure out what I want to run next. Several of my candidates are among the 20 you mention. Great list!
Congratulations on the Ennie awards!! I'm currently playing two Traveller campaings and I recommend it so much! It is an amazing Sci-Fi focused ttrpg, with a bunch of character customization and a lot (I mean A LOT) of resources for the GM to advance the story with! It could also be the perfect Cyberpunk system, since it has so much variety in gear and upgrades for your character, it's really so much fun
Your site and your book are amazing resources and it was just a matter of time before an official stamp of community (and "expert") approval was delivered. Congrats. Seriously: I feel like I have a masters degree in gaming after soaking in your material.
I'm going to shill Lancer, just had a second print run, it's probably the best mecha TTRPG out there. It also comes with the free tool CompCon, which sets the bar for proper online support for a rules system.
Congratulations on the well-deserved Ennie for So You Want to be a Dungeon Master! I tore through it with my highlighter and pen -- it's been fantastic. Oh, and I'd throw out a recommendation for Electric Bastionland.
I'd have to make a saving throw to dodge the value being throw here, but you know what? I'm just going to take it. I'll be returning to this one frequently. Subbed
Great content from the Alexandrian. There are a plethora of great TTRPGs to play and the Alexandrian promoting those games helps inform those who may not be aware of all the great games that exist.
Congrats on that ENNIE, Justin! Can't blame 'em, really good book, I devoured it. Also recommending you Wildsea. You like Blades in the Dark, and you enjoyed UVG, so I think you'd enjoy the post-post Apocalypse where you sail the canopies of the mile-high forest blanketing the world with your chainsaw ship.
@@TheAlexandrian Oooh, exciting! My current Wildsea campaign used a lot of your wisdom on campaign structure, can only hope that you thoroughly enjoy the setting as much as we do :)
What great timing. I picked up a copy of So You Want to be a Dungeon Master last month. I haven't had much of a chance to do much other than leaf through it. Congrats on the award, I haven't heard anything but good things about it.
I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but I am long time fan and I have read and own your book. I was glad you were spotlighting some other non-WOTC games but I was very disappointed you didn't mention Delta Green. It ALSO won an ennie this year, maybe one of the most prestigious, best long form campaign. I hope you make a video about it or mention it in the future.
I have tried to stay away from any product from wotc. When you started with the with the PHB in hand, I was about to stop watching. I am glad I didn't. This is an excellent intro on investing games worth playing. I have played several mentioned and now I realize the your taste in games is close to mine. Will continue watching more videos on the future.
I'm gonna add to your extensive and great list :) Dungeon Crawl Classics - if you want to 'play DnD' but make it less videogame'y and more pulp fantasy where unpredictable is the norm and even the warrior class is so much fun to play. 'Without Numbers' games by Kevin Crawford's Sine Nomine Publishing - Mr Crawford has some really good d20 based games that will seem familiar on the first glance to DnD 5e players, but each of those games do something different. Theres Worlds Without Number - a postapocaliptic fantasy with a premise similar to Numenera, but can be played as a classic high fantasy if you want that, there's Stars Without Number which can cover most of SciFi tropes for you or Cities Without Number for people that want to dive into cyberpunk dystopia. Kevin has other games, but this series become his flagship for a reason. And you can get 95% of each of those full games for free on DTRPG!
I think it is worth to take a look at some OSR RPG. The light rules are a blessing. There are for example "Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook (Revised)" which a very complete, not long retro-clone of OD&D, and "Old-School Essentials" which is based on the 80' Basic/Expert rules of D&D. There are also Cairn, Knave and many others, which offer even simpler rules.
Right on, man. First, congrats on the double win. You deserve it. Second, having read, say, the history of TSR and knowing what happens when a large company takes control of a legendary pop-culture IP, I'd like to note that THIS IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. Who can forget the Pinkertons? Hasbro-WotC are severely lacking in customer good will right now--probably the worst time for that.
While it doesn't seem to be in your typical line of work, I'd love to see some review videos of the games you mentioned in this video. Getting the people I play with to try new games is worse than pulling teeth... in the 14th century. Maybe some review videos diving into more depth on some of the games would help. I'm most interested in Ars Magica (I have a little experience with 3rd and 4th eds but am just now dipping into 5th) and Pendragon, but the Magical Kitty game would really sing to some of the players and the Blades in the Dark would really appeal to another player who always plays rogues (I've mentioned CoC to him but w/o encouragement he won't leave his comfort zone of PF 1.0 / 2.0). Here's to many more ENNIE awards and many more years of your videos and other content.
I have no intention of ever moving to 5.5E. I have tales of the valiant on the way, as well as P2.5E, so I am ALL super good with fantasy TTRPG for years to come!
Awesome compilation! I'm a big Burning Wheel fan and can't recommend the game enough. You need to commit to the game, but once you've wrapped your head around it, it's like unlocking another level of TTRPG. BitD, Microscope, and Ten Candles are in my shelf as well but haven't seen the attention they deserve, yet. Btw, I'm currently chained to the radiator so I can't spend a 100 bucks on the Mothership Deluxe Set, and thanks to this video I'm flirting with Alice is missing AND The quiet Year as well...
Congrats on the awards. Great video, full of really good info. And was this whole video done in one take? I didn't notice a single cut. You sir, are good at this.
Goodness Justin, bringing the heat with that book toss. Then slamming down games I already know about and wanna play! I still want the 2024 D&D Core Rulebooks, but mostly because of the artist for the alt-cover PH and DMG 😬 Support local game shops, don’t buy direct, and play MORE games!
Great vid. Any and all enthusiasm for 2024 DnD has long been robbed of me since the fiascos of 2022/23 and on into this year. Officially dOneDnD (although I have been perusing AD&D 1E for the 50th and may run that). Love MCGs Numenera, such a great game, and Crane’s Burning Wheel too. So many fantastic games out there.
Your accolades are well-deserved. Whatever rewards you are given are well due. You're one of my go-to people for really good GM advice. Anyway, idk why people still put up with WotC's shenanigans. Like how much more will people take? I moved on from them earlier this year. I'm running DC20. It's a blast. I'm playing Blades in the Dark for the first time this weekend. I can't wait to play Mothership, Knave, and Shadowdark. And I'm genuinely looking forward to running Nimble 5e for some friends. I've even been eyeing Cyberpunk RED. OH! And of course, Call of Cthulhu was always a blast! I've decided I much prefer rules-light games. These games seem super interesting. I'm gonna take it one game at a time though, haha! I'll like this video though, so I can come back to this and find something cool to play. Again.. congrats on the nerd cred! You absolutely deserve it!
First of all, congratulations on your awards. Now I wanna comment on WOTC and the new D&D. It would seem to me that the reason WOTC is paranoid of reviewers is because they’re aware that there is a negative wave that many are riding on about their company. Even if this new edition of D&D turned out to be their greatest ever, that won’t stop many people from trashing it simply because they don’t like the company that made it. The success of this edition of D&D is essential to the WOTC financial. So the company is protecting their property from a disgruntled Internet “cancelling” the new D&D - because, well, they can. However, WOTC has not communicated well with its consumer/creatives (to say the least). We know (And they know as well) that It is ESSENTIAL that we don’t hate WOTC if we’re going to love D&D. WOTC hast to lighten up - get friendly - and show some love for it’s faithful gamer community. Peace and happy Gaming to all!🎉
For what it's worth, Jorphdan's copyright strike was removed and all is well. Ish. He unlisted his video and got a pretty good scare. Lawyers of wotc was quick... this time. The lack of communication and common sense in Hasbro/Wotc is really staggering. If I was a creator I wouldn't risk working with them.
If I were a D&D creator, I wouldn't review this game until SRD 5.2 drops, then proceed to show only those things that are fully protected by the CC license. It reminds people that you can play the game for free without illegally pirating anything, and protects the channel from Hasbro ineptitude in the customer service department. It's increasingly clear over the last year that the employees at WotC are good people who want what is best for their game, but after the Pinkerton incident on the MtG side and the reveal that Chris Cocks himself was ultimately responsible for the OGL fiasco that big daddy Hasbro and it's legal team are frankly anti-consumer.
I feel as a GM I really like Numenera as well. The hard sell is getting the players invested. The use of their "hp" to act in the game as well felt bad to them, specially on failed rolls. And the rolls for 17, 18, 19, 20 crits always felt clunky as well.... but the character creation is so cool! Monster sleek and awesome! CYPHERS! Oh well...
congrats JA!! Been a big fan for a while, and your Blades guide helped me run my best session of RPGs yet! Thanks for the other recc's, I hope to run Mothership and Alice is Missing some day!
I left 5E about 16 months ago and stepped into the world of the OSR. But it's amazing how WotC just seems SO determined to make sure I never come back.
Since recording this video last night, Jorphdan has managed to resolve the situation with Hasbro: The copyright strike has been removed, but Jorphdan has also taken down the video. I've heard similar reports from others affected by this and, as I said in the video, it seems the situation is likely to mostly resolve while leaving only a bad taste in people's mouths.
UPDATE: I've seen many people very confused by this. As I said in the video, although Jorphdan went the most public with this, he was NOT the only one affected by this. I'm not going to get into an argument about his specific video. The broader principle of "here's the rules... you uploaded a video? okay, now there are new rules!" being completely unreasonable is what I'm focused on (and what you should be focused on, too).
Hmmm, giving early access to some creators and encouraging them to do reviews while silencing others. Looks like a powermove to control the youtube comunity that hurt them during the OGL scandal. I had no problem with people accepting money from Hasbro to do reviews on their material... but this new fact certainly puts all that in a new perspective. Congrats on the ENNIEs.
That bad taste is just what Hasbro/WotC tastes like.
If books weren't bought at Gencon, it would tell Hasbro that something is off. But people did buy. It is time to take measures to protect our hobby and creators
Don’t report on D&D it isn’t worth loosing your channel
I'm guessing this was a case of different parts of WotC/Hasbro not talking to each other (yet again). While the D&D promotions team were encouraging people to talk about the book, the IP protection team were still operating under the normal rules for sharing full images of the book pages online (something I think is covered by it's copyright or OGL, or somewhere).
The promotion team should have given the content creators a heads up that they could talk about the book but that broadcasting pages from it was out of the question (although to be honest the content creators should have been a little smarter and less amateur about this themselves - not saying it is their fault, but when ever do large companies like anyone broadcasting the high resolution internal images of the products? Always best to get full permission in writing first).
LOL at that casual flex. "I loved [Technoir] so much that I bought it... literally. [...] I bought the rights to Technoir to make sure it stays available, and it still is." If only all of us could save our favorite games this way.
Congratulations on the Ennie awards!
I'm just happy I was in a position to make it happen! Technoir is too good a game!
(Hexnoir coming soon...)
@@TheAlexandrian That reminds me: what would it take to get more physical copies of Technoir (or at least a POD option) out into the world?
@@TheAlexandrian I have to admit that you got me interested in technoir, and I am going to search for it right now. What is or it's gonna be hexnoir?
Order of appearance:
20- Pathfinder
19- Blades in the Dark
18- Ars Magica
17- ShadowDark
16- GURPS Dungeon Fantasy
15- Burning Wheel
14- Numenera
13- Mothership
12- Pendragon
11- Technoir
10- Night's Black Agents
9- Eclipse Phase
8- Call of Chtulhu
7- The Quiet Year
6- Microscope
5- Shock
4- Ten Candles
3- Alice is Missing
2- Infinity
1- Magical Kitties
I would add Warhammer Fantasy or 40K-related... 2D20 games (if not already mentioned in original list)... HoneyCon (designed for quick yet memorable fun)... Cyberpunk... and it's not counting the deceased products that are still relevant... (Star Wars D6, Old World of Darkness, Feng Shui...)
Palladium Books should be on this list
Night's Black Agents is Palladium
Thanks man!
Kinda surprised that Pendragon and Call of Cthulhu were listed but Chaosium’s other big game that falls between them in popularity, RuneQuest, wasn’t. RuneQuest is awesome at sucking people into the game by having players generate life events going back to their grandparents and puts a lot of emphasis on family and community in the game and lore.
Step 1: Send in the Pinkertons.
Step 2: Pretend to apologize.
Step 3: Back to Step 1.
you are forgetting the OGL-debacle...
WotC: Killing people's enthusiasm for a product that everyone WANTS to be excited about since 2022 (and before) by shooting themselves in the foot over and over.
Funny how they never learns. Did the same with the D&D movie. Kinda sad as the movie deserved better.
@@pallenda To be fair to them, what possible incentive is there to learn from their mistakes when their mistakes have absolutely no consequence? Everyone continues to buy their stuff regardless.
Of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows that's a foolish long game to play, buy WotC lives quarter by quarter, and aggressive protectionism is great optics and metrics for [this quarter]. 😅
@@guldcat1619 it did have consequences for the movie though. But for the books you qre totally right.
Personally only way I buy any of the 2024 5e books is if the DMG us tge vest game master guide ever made. I will not hold my breath. 😃
I just ignore their products for now. There is a lot of stuff that is as much fun or more.
Started playing MTG in 1994. Was out of the game by 1997. They killed that game almost 30 years ago. WOTC isn’t a great company anymore since Hasbro bought it.
No mention of Free League Publishing?! I'm only half kidding. There are SO MANY great games out there. Grats on the Ennies.
You did all this in a single shot ? You are a monster.
Thanks for the no cut.
Couldn't believe what I was seeing, an Olympic worthy performance
Great video. Gary Gygax wrote in his book Master of the Game that “You can not master game mastery unless you run many different game systems, with different groups of players, in different settings especially conventions, and finally that you publish your own works” (paraphrased).
Gary wasn’t an advocate for just D&D, nor of just buying and playing TSR products, he was a champion of gaming and gamers.
Your promotion of other game systems, and genres is the healthiest approach for our hobby. The TTRPG hobby will go on, even if its largest and most well known game system fades or even disappears.
Congrats on that ENNIE!!
I'm currently in love with two systems: everything that uses the Year Zero Engine (currently running a Coriolis campaign - loving it so much!) and Savage Worlds! You can literally run EVERY possible setting with it without learning new rules every time.
Thank you! Those are some great systems to call your home base!
Love both of those systems, with SW being my favorite period.
Yesss Vaesen has my heart rn 🥲
Desperately trying to sell my group on the new edition of Twilight 2000 running on YZE
LOVED the Player's Handbook side toss... he he lol! YES! Ars Magica is one of my all-time favorites!
So stoked for Definitive Edition
congratulations. I've been reading thealexandrian for years, and re-read it whenever I need good counsel.
Thank you! Glad to be of eternal assistance! ;)
I love the lightning-round style presentation of this list. Really sells the point of how much great stuff is out there.
just for solidarity community wise i would also recommend: Basic Fantasy RPG (currently in 4th edition: and virtually free), Runecairn RPG, Heartseeker RPG, Mausritter RPG, Monster of the Week RPG, and Outcast Silver Raiders RPG.
Congratulations, man. And great RPG pitches.
Possibly the best RPG related video I have seen in a long time. A fantastic way of showing everyone how many games we can try. Thanks!
thanks!
To be fair, I would have ignored your video if the video was about D&D 5.5 PHB anyway. Love your videos and your channel.
Lol...same...
Fantastic book Justin, my only "complaint" is I've had to slow down and leave some parts unread while I try and bed in all the ideas I've got from just the first two chapters! (and I've been DMing since the early '80's)
That's the best kind of complaint! ;)
Thank you!
Always excited to see people encouraging more systems! There has never been a more deep and varied landscape of RPG systems than right now and there's some fascinating and innovative games out there. Always so frustrated when people try to beat DnD into something it's not meant to do instead of trying something new.
Cool list, I add quest, cairn, knave, skate wizards, troll babes, dogs in the vineyard, paranoid, dread and Warhammer fantasy. Congrats on the Ennies too.
Great suggestions! And thank you!
Congrats on your Ennies! You’ve done so much for the community over the years. I’m glad you’re getting further recognition. Thanks for promoting other games, so many folks get stuck in Hasbro’s DnD silo.
Congrats on the Ennies. I'd like to make a shout out to Forbidden Lands. I bought the box set right around the time the new version of D&D came out. Definitely don't regret that decision. Forbidden lands is beautiful and the setting is captivating. Another shout out goes to Mothership RPG which you.mwntioned in this video. I love the dice system it uses. Actually in the process of merging the Mothership dice system with Forbidden Lands setting and exploration rules. Motherlands!
I'm 100% with you on the approach to the recent situation. WotC doesn't want content creators showcasing the PHB for DnD 5.24 by showing the product ? Ok then. Let content creators showcase other games instead !
OMG! The Alexandrian! I can't tell you how much your articles in the website/blog have helped me with pointcrawl and hexcrawl design. I literally owe you two multi-year long campaigns.
That's awesome! I hope your next campaign is even better!
Congratulations for the Ennies, it is great that you get your totally deserved recognition!
I'm also glad that Numenéra is in your list, the game surely has it's flaws but I love it... Both settings and system. I'm looking forward for the Gunslinger Knights setting now
So many!!!!!! Analysis paralysis is real!!!
Savage Worlds opens up so much as well!
Love the eclectic mix of games old and new. Just one small cross section slice of the glory that is role playing games.
Congrats on the awards for your book and channel.Thanks for the review and recommendations. Love how you refer to "the fount of all knowledge"
Thanks!
What an amazing video, once again! For anyone interested in the world building games "the quiet year" and "microscope", you should also know that TQY has a sequel that might be even more fitting for making a fantasy world. It's called The Deep Forest and instead of a settlement of post-war folks, you play as a gathering of monsters that have 1 year until the civilized people invade their forest (or whatever other location you chose) ams try to kill them/drive them away. As a GM, you can make this world together with your players, and then have them BE THE INVADERS! The drama!
Great video by the way! I LOVE Cypher/Numenera but have also really enjoyed Blades in the Dark, Call of Cthulhu, City of Mist, Quest and Troika!
the Magical Kitties game looks really fun too!
Well deserved on both of your Ennies, Justin. Your site, and this channel, have been treasure troves of knowledge for players such as myself. You've truly created an outstanding source of inspiration, wisdom, and imagination for the world.
Thank you! That's very kind!
I'm in love with call of cthulhu since i've first time played it. I've always struggle with creating my homebrew scenario until i've read about node-based design. It really helps me. Thanks for you work. Book is awesome!
Node-based scenario design was born from Call of Cthulhu, so that makes sense! Thank you!
Lots of great recommendations there! I particularly enjoy ShadowDark and Call of Cthulhu, but Mothership, Night's Black Agents and Pendragon all look excellent. I might add Classic Traveller (the 3 little black books, not the Mongoose versions) precisely because it *lacks* a universal task resolution system, and instead relies on the Referee to make interpretations and calls for every task. It may sound onerous but in reality it flows very smoothly.
First off I want to congrate you, you definitely deserve it. I have been reading your blog for a couple years now and fully support not only what you do their but also content like this, calling out the bs of wizards is definitely something I can definitely support and I love seeing these games get some screen time too.
Also, in case you're interested, my favorite series of yours is all of your articles on blackmoor and od&d personally.
So many good games and of course you barely scratched the surface!
There are so many good games out there and on my shelf that I don't need to spend another dollar on any WoT$ee product. Current favorite game to run for my players is Shadowdark. We're loving it. Congrats on the ENNIES!!
The community is grateful for the mention of Ars Magica! Congrats again on the awards!
I was not expecting to see Ars Magica getting a shout out. Nice to see it again though!
Your book, blogs, and videos have completely changed the way I run my games... in a good way. I can't remember the last session I ran with my players not wanting more. Thank you for your hard work!
I'm glad it's in a good way. ;)
Congrats on running such a great campaign. It's such a great feeling to have players wanting more.
May I add some to that illustrious list?
EZD6
Dragonbane
Entity
Stranger Stuff
Tiny Taverns
Kult
Scum and Villany
Tales from the Loop
Dragonbane is soo good... my kids loves it..
This is probably the best rpg related video I've seen in a long, long while. Both you disappointment with WotC and your enthusiasm for those other games really came through the screen. I couldn't help myself from grinning from ear to ear as you gave WoTC the metaphorical finger by plugging the great work of good people. Bravo Sir!
Congrats on the Enni! I’ve been using all your posts to help me write my next adventure for SVMP. Some outstanding sage advice. Thanks for all the help!
You're welcome! Hope your adventure is a smash hit!
Congrats on the awards! The Alexandrian has been a go-to resource for me and my group for years now, so it's great to see your recognition growing!
I really don't know what whoever at WotC/Hasbro made that copyright strike decision was thinking. You won't be the only content creator on RUclips who will decide not to risk discussing the new edition in light of it. Mind you, I'm done with WotC/Hasbro anyway - there's nothing I could imagine they could do at this point to win me back as a customer.
Congrats on the awards! This is the first time I've seen your channel but I think I've heard your name around before.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest of the videos 'round these parts!
Congrats on the Ennie!
I’m glad to have found your channel today. I liked your video and will be checking out your reviews !
Thanks! Great to have you here!
My short list: Mothership, Dragonbane, Mausritter, Cairn, and eventually Draw Steel!!
Congrats on the wins! Well deserved. ^_^ I've got your "So You Want..." book on its way to my collection!
Hope you enjoy the book!
I've used Microscope to generate a solar system for a LANCER campaign and it was such a useful tool to get the players invested in the world. I've also used it to fast forward a campaign by a few years. It's great on its own and in my opinion an even better resource when paired with another game as you've suggested.
I fell in love with the alexandrian remix of waterdeep a few years back. You deserve those Emmies :D
Thanks! Glad the Remix was good to you!
Congrats for the ENNIE ! I would have added Spire in this extremely inspiring list, but I will check out all these games I dont know about. Thanks a lot for the channel and the website, they are the best vault of rpg knowledge over the Internet - something one should never fail to recommand.
(Woohoo, first comment on this channel !)
I'm glad to hear and see that I'm not the only one continually disappointed by WotC and their ability to keep stepping on rakes. Good on you for promoting other RPG's that people can check out. I know I have several from this list that I'm particularly interested in checking out now!
D&D isn't WotC's it's ours, the communities. We don't have to play it with their ruleset to keep it alive.
Congrats on the ennie! Your book is fantastic and your web content helped me a lot in running Night's black agents.
Great video! For all of you that want to play a sword &sorcery game I recommend the setting Beasts & Barbarians using the Savage Worlds rules.
In comparison to Dnd the game feels more Conan-esque with PCS spending all their money, able to kill a demon but running from a bunch of random guards,warrior PCS without armour...
Justin, so glad to see you get more exposure as I've found your website blog to be the best blog for RPG thinking on the net. THanks for a bunch of recommendations today!
You're welcome!
You are doing the RPG-gods work here! 🙏 Good job!
P.S.:
♥I am a Blades in the Dark GM and we use it for everything. Not just for heists. We love this game.
♥Microscope is my second favorite game of all time, after Follow
Congratulations on the Ennies!
Quite an interesting video. I moved away from DnD years ago because I found certain aspects too restrictive, and those seem to be mostly present still. My journey went through Rolemaster/Spacemaster/MERP, Traveller, Paranoia, Cyberpunk (R. Talsorian), Iron Kingdoms, Call of Cthulu, and GURPS, among others, before I discovered Monte Cook Games' Numenera, Invisible Sun, and Cypher System - I really like the MCG creative openness and focus on storytelling within them (especially the surrealism of Invisible Sun). As supporting material, I still buy RPGs from other systems, such as Pendragon, The Expanse, Altered Carbon, and Free League's One Ring and Vaesen. You gave me a couple of other systems to investigate, so thank you!
It's amazing that you won! You're definitely worth all the praise. Congratulations!
Congratulations with the two wins!
I personally only play D&D because for the first time in almost 5 years, I am a player.
I am collecting energy to figure out what I want to run next. Several of my candidates are among the 20 you mention. Great list!
Well deserved! Both book and channel are great! And very happy to see you using your voice to approve great games!
I absolutely love videos like this, I love reading and exploring new worlds and rules
Congratulations on the Ennie awards!! I'm currently playing two Traveller campaings and I recommend it so much! It is an amazing Sci-Fi focused ttrpg, with a bunch of character customization and a lot (I mean A LOT) of resources for the GM to advance the story with! It could also be the perfect Cyberpunk system, since it has so much variety in gear and upgrades for your character, it's really so much fun
Your site and your book are amazing resources and it was just a matter of time before an official stamp of community (and "expert") approval was delivered. Congrats. Seriously: I feel like I have a masters degree in gaming after soaking in your material.
Wow, thank you!
I'm going to shill Lancer, just had a second print run, it's probably the best mecha TTRPG out there. It also comes with the free tool CompCon, which sets the bar for proper online support for a rules system.
Love love that you shared all those games. It’s good to shift our focus to the good stuff.
Congratulations on the well-deserved Ennie for So You Want to be a Dungeon Master! I tore through it with my highlighter and pen -- it's been fantastic. Oh, and I'd throw out a recommendation for Electric Bastionland.
I'd have to make a saving throw to dodge the value being throw here, but you know what? I'm just going to take it. I'll be returning to this one frequently. Subbed
Ars Magica's my favorite RPG of all time. So good!
2:20 “Could I legally talk about this book?” so Chandler 😂
Great content from the Alexandrian. There are a plethora of great TTRPGs to play and the Alexandrian promoting those games helps inform those who may not be aware of all the great games that exist.
Congrats on that ENNIE, Justin! Can't blame 'em, really good book, I devoured it.
Also recommending you Wildsea. You like Blades in the Dark, and you enjoyed UVG, so I think you'd enjoy the post-post Apocalypse where you sail the canopies of the mile-high forest blanketing the world with your chainsaw ship.
Wildsea is on my To Be Ordered ASAP list. It does, in fact, look like exactly my kind of party!
@@TheAlexandrian Oooh, exciting! My current Wildsea campaign used a lot of your wisdom on campaign structure, can only hope that you thoroughly enjoy the setting as much as we do :)
Finally! Both those awards were well-deserved. Sad I missed you at GenCon this year, but perhaps next time.
congrats on the Ennies. all those and no mention of Traveller , cyberpunk, or DCC, but like you said at the end just scratched the surface!
What great timing. I picked up a copy of So You Want to be a Dungeon Master last month. I haven't had much of a chance to do much other than leaf through it. Congrats on the award, I haven't heard anything but good things about it.
Congrats on the wins; well earned!
Thanks!
I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but I am long time fan and I have read and own your book.
I was glad you were spotlighting some other non-WOTC games but I was very disappointed you didn't mention Delta Green. It ALSO won an ennie this year, maybe one of the most prestigious, best long form campaign.
I hope you make a video about it or mention it in the future.
I'm a big Delta Green fan. I haven't actually played the current edition, but it's on my list of games I'm hoping to run a campaign of in 2025.
I have tried to stay away from any product from wotc. When you started with the with the PHB in hand, I was about to stop watching. I am glad I didn't. This is an excellent intro on investing games worth playing. I have played several mentioned and now I realize the your taste in games is close to mine. Will continue watching more videos on the future.
I'm gonna add to your extensive and great list :)
Dungeon Crawl Classics - if you want to 'play DnD' but make it less videogame'y and more pulp fantasy where unpredictable is the norm and even the warrior class is so much fun to play.
'Without Numbers' games by Kevin Crawford's Sine Nomine Publishing - Mr Crawford has some really good d20 based games that will seem familiar on the first glance to DnD 5e players, but each of those games do something different. Theres Worlds Without Number - a postapocaliptic fantasy with a premise similar to Numenera, but can be played as a classic high fantasy if you want that, there's Stars Without Number which can cover most of SciFi tropes for you or Cities Without Number for people that want to dive into cyberpunk dystopia. Kevin has other games, but this series become his flagship for a reason. And you can get 95% of each of those full games for free on DTRPG!
Looking forward to the Mothership video! A video about Infinity would be great too, game looks cool but there's not much material about it online...
I think it is worth to take a look at some OSR RPG. The light rules are a blessing.
There are for example "Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook (Revised)" which a very complete, not long retro-clone of OD&D, and "Old-School Essentials" which is based on the 80' Basic/Expert rules of D&D.
There are also Cairn, Knave and many others, which offer even simpler rules.
Right on, man. First, congrats on the double win. You deserve it. Second, having read, say, the history of TSR and knowing what happens when a large company takes control of a legendary pop-culture IP, I'd like to note that THIS IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. Who can forget the Pinkertons? Hasbro-WotC are severely lacking in customer good will right now--probably the worst time for that.
While it doesn't seem to be in your typical line of work, I'd love to see some review videos of the games you mentioned in this video. Getting the people I play with to try new games is worse than pulling teeth... in the 14th century. Maybe some review videos diving into more depth on some of the games would help. I'm most interested in Ars Magica (I have a little experience with 3rd and 4th eds but am just now dipping into 5th) and Pendragon, but the Magical Kitty game would really sing to some of the players and the Blades in the Dark would really appeal to another player who always plays rogues (I've mentioned CoC to him but w/o encouragement he won't leave his comfort zone of PF 1.0 / 2.0). Here's to many more ENNIE awards and many more years of your videos and other content.
I have no intention of ever moving to 5.5E. I have tales of the valiant on the way, as well as P2.5E, so I am ALL super good with fantasy TTRPG for years to come!
PF2e is a banger
Congrats on the awards! Love the site and looking forward to buy the book!
Awesome compilation! I'm a big Burning Wheel fan and can't recommend the game enough. You need to commit to the game, but once you've wrapped your head around it, it's like unlocking another level of TTRPG. BitD, Microscope, and Ten Candles are in my shelf as well but haven't seen the attention they deserve, yet.
Btw, I'm currently chained to the radiator so I can't spend a 100 bucks on the Mothership Deluxe Set, and thanks to this video I'm flirting with Alice is missing AND The quiet Year as well...
Congrats on the awards. Great video, full of really good info. And was this whole video done in one take? I didn't notice a single cut. You sir, are good at this.
Amazing video!
And congratulations on the Ennies, they are well deserved!
That’s I that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s play some other TTRPGs!
Goodness Justin, bringing the heat with that book toss. Then slamming down games I already know about and wanna play! I still want the 2024 D&D Core Rulebooks, but mostly because of the artist for the alt-cover PH and DMG 😬 Support local game shops, don’t buy direct, and play MORE games!
*Literally throws the book* "This, is Pathfinder." *Draws out fancy box.*
Congrats Justin! They're well-deserved!
Thank you!
Great vid. Any and all enthusiasm for 2024 DnD has long been robbed of me since the fiascos of 2022/23 and on into this year. Officially dOneDnD (although I have been perusing AD&D 1E for the 50th and may run that). Love MCGs Numenera, such a great game, and Crane’s Burning Wheel too. So many fantastic games out there.
Your accolades are well-deserved. Whatever rewards you are given are well due. You're one of my go-to people for really good GM advice.
Anyway, idk why people still put up with WotC's shenanigans. Like how much more will people take? I moved on from them earlier this year. I'm running DC20. It's a blast. I'm playing Blades in the Dark for the first time this weekend. I can't wait to play Mothership, Knave, and Shadowdark. And I'm genuinely looking forward to running Nimble 5e for some friends. I've even been eyeing Cyberpunk RED. OH! And of course, Call of Cthulhu was always a blast!
I've decided I much prefer rules-light games. These games seem super interesting. I'm gonna take it one game at a time though, haha! I'll like this video though, so I can come back to this and find something cool to play.
Again.. congrats on the nerd cred! You absolutely deserve it!
You've got some fantastic games heading to your table! That's very exciting!
And thank you!
First of all, congratulations on your awards. Now I wanna comment on WOTC and the new D&D.
It would seem to me that the reason WOTC is paranoid of reviewers is because they’re aware that there is a negative wave that many are riding on about their company. Even if this new edition of D&D turned out to be their greatest ever, that won’t stop many people from trashing it simply because they don’t like the company that made it. The success of this edition of D&D is essential to the WOTC financial. So the company is protecting their property from a disgruntled Internet “cancelling” the new D&D - because, well, they can. However, WOTC has not communicated well with its consumer/creatives (to say the least). We know (And they know as well) that It is ESSENTIAL that we don’t hate WOTC if we’re going to love D&D. WOTC hast to lighten up - get friendly - and show some love for it’s faithful gamer community. Peace and happy Gaming to all!🎉
Congrats on the ENNIE, mate. I love your book.
Thanks! Glad you like it!
Congrats on the Ennies!
This is a fantastic video! Fast,fun, entertaining, with just enough crunch to pique the viewers interest
For what it's worth, Jorphdan's copyright strike was removed and all is well. Ish. He unlisted his video and got a pretty good scare. Lawyers of wotc was quick... this time. The lack of communication and common sense in Hasbro/Wotc is really staggering. If I was a creator I wouldn't risk working with them.
If I were a D&D creator, I wouldn't review this game until SRD 5.2 drops, then proceed to show only those things that are fully protected by the CC license. It reminds people that you can play the game for free without illegally pirating anything, and protects the channel from Hasbro ineptitude in the customer service department. It's increasingly clear over the last year that the employees at WotC are good people who want what is best for their game, but after the Pinkerton incident on the MtG side and the reveal that Chris Cocks himself was ultimately responsible for the OGL fiasco that big daddy Hasbro and it's legal team are frankly anti-consumer.
I feel as a GM I really like Numenera as well. The hard sell is getting the players invested. The use of their "hp" to act in the game as well felt bad to them, specially on failed rolls. And the rolls for 17, 18, 19, 20 crits always felt clunky as well.... but the character creation is so cool! Monster sleek and awesome! CYPHERS! Oh well...
awww no love for Rolemaster or Tunnels and Trolls? love the book, super awesome help and has changed how I'll GM in the future.
congrats JA!! Been a big fan for a while, and your Blades guide helped me run my best session of RPGs yet! Thanks for the other recc's, I hope to run Mothership and Alice is Missing some day!
Congratulations Justin!! You earned it.
I left 5E about 16 months ago and stepped into the world of the OSR. But it's amazing how WotC just seems SO determined to make sure I never come back.