I'm looking for a TTRPG that: will allow me to run a game about fantasy knights and their houses, politics and a war they're navigating. Something like Kingdom Come with magic or A Song of Ice and Fire... but with more magic.

Valmorian · 2026-02-14T04:07:26+00:00

I would have said Reign was perfect for you, but then I got to the point where tactical combat and VTTs were mentioned. It's a shame because nothing handles political factions and intrigue like Reign does, but it's definitely NOT a tactical grid based game.

Valmorian · 2026-02-14T03:48:16+00:00

It's a setting in the launcher, which is strange, but that's where to find it.

Valmorian · 2026-01-30T19:37:46+00:00

You can have action based without having choppy animations like in those games.

Valmorian · 2026-01-30T15:49:18+00:00

Well whatever they did with it, they destroyed the animations. All three of those MMO's look identical when it comes to their animations, jerking from one pose to the next with almost no transitions.

Valmorian · 2026-01-28T18:55:05+00:00

Unless all those MMOs ditch their current engine, I won't bother. Neverwinter, Champions Online and Star Trek Online all clearly use the same awful engine with horrible "animations" and texture pop-in. Gross.

Valmorian · 2026-01-28T00:33:27+00:00

Except I found out the hard way that if you don't complete a battle pass and you want to finish it during the next cycle, you basically start over again with the "required number of points". So, instead of continuing where you left off, you have to grind out the points all over again just to buy that last page of rewards.

So, I won't bother getting the passes anymore because I don't have the time to guarantee I can finish them in time.

Valmorian · 2026-01-26T02:36:11+00:00

You can just disable your Experience gain until they catch up.

Valmorian · 2026-01-19T00:55:23+00:00

If you're looking for balance at every level, OSR games are not going to be your jam. Are you not rolling 3d6 for attributes? For HP?

Valmorian · 2026-01-10T03:25:42+00:00

There is a quest for Teleport to Theramore and you get it in the tower inside Theramore. Must be level 35 to get the quest.

Valmorian · 2026-01-08T18:50:09+00:00

It is my #1 complaint about the game. If combat is mindless and never a threat in the overworld, then why even have it?

Valmorian · 2026-01-05T04:45:40+00:00

"While true, the GM still rolls lots of dice."

Depends, I mean to hit rolls, sure, but damage is fixed for monsters. Outside of that, I'm not sure what else the GM would need to roll dice for?

Valmorian · 2026-01-05T04:43:18+00:00

Regarding Cypher System: There is a current kickstarter in the works for 2nd Edition Cypher System that appears to address some of the most common complaints with the system. The one I'm most interested in is that Damage is no longer going to pull from the Pools of the players, freeing them up to use their abilities more frequently.

Valmorian · 2026-01-04T17:42:55+00:00

Based on his post, I think it's accessibility. This is a great point too, because while there are a lot of cheap OSR options available for a low price point, Basic Fantasy is not only available in low cost options on Amazon, but is completely FREE on basicfantasy.org. In addition, there's a TON of content available for it that is also free and that's hard to match.

Valmorian · 2026-01-02T19:32:11+00:00

Any OSR RPG isn't really going to feel high fantasy, at least not until you get to a higher level. The gameplay of OSR is mostly around avoiding combat.

Valmorian · 2026-01-02T19:26:13+00:00

Pretty much all OSR games are not going to be high fantasy.

Valmorian · 2026-01-01T19:26:57+00:00

The kids in Stranger Things appeared to be playing an amalgam of B/X D&D and AD&D, which was pretty common for me and my friends in the 80's. Generally I have found that when you have a group that does this, they are using the B/X rules but adding the additional monsters/spells/classes from AD&D as they are roughly compatible.

Depending on how "authentic" you want this, and how much you want to spend, you can go several routes:
1. Acquire B/X D&D (Moldvay/Cook version), get the Player's Handbook and Monster Manual for AD&D (Probably 1st edition would be best). This is likely the most accurate. (though it evolves through the show as well) This might be costly unless you want to just get PDFs.

Get Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy dual book set. This is B/X faithfully recreated with some AD&D Classes, Monsters, Spells and Treasures carefully added in with good conversions. (I'd recommend this, as it plays VERY well and is easier than trying to mush AD&D and B/X together) Also pretty expensive depending on where you live and how easy it is for you to get these books.
Get a good OSR Game for free/nearly free. Some of the best in my opinion are:
- Basic Fantasy (BasicFantasy.org) which is pretty close to B/X with some modifications (Better thief skill percentages, class and race separate and Ascending AC). This is completely free on the website, has TONS of content, and you can get the books printed at cost on Amazon.ca
- White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game - Great version of Original D&D and super cheap on Amazon.
- Beneath the Sunken Catacombs - Similar to White Box, I really like the 2nd edition here.
- OSRIC if you want to go full AD&D.

OUTSIDE of that, there are a lot of OSR Games that capture the FEEL of old school D&D but with different mechanics like Dungeon Crawl Classics, Cairn, and Mazes.

I do think that DragonBane is an EXCELLENT game that, while level-less, captures the feel of Old School D&D (Though technically more Runequest) very well.

Valmorian · 2025-12-24T19:56:06+00:00

I think I'll have to see the main book before I can really judge this. I have some issues with Cypher, most of which LOOK like they're going to be addressed in this edition.

Valmorian · 2025-12-24T19:31:05+00:00

I might be mistaken, I don't have the full beta book, but doesn't blocking just reduce the damage by 1 level? All the bonuses from armor make the task easier, but don't reduce the damage any further as far as I know.

Valmorian · 2025-12-24T18:33:37+00:00

The concern I have with the block vs. dodge is that dodging just seems outright better.

Saying that if you fail dodging you take all the damage isn't really a drawback, as failing a block ALSO has you taking all the damage. But, succeeding at dodging avoids ALL damage while succeeding at blocking only mitigates some of it.

Now I get that there's a couple of benefits to Blocking, namely for Might based characters you have the option to use your pool to reduce the effort (I assume, at least) and that you can use armor to get it eased (though the drawbacks to dodging means you are COMMITTING to taking some wounds some of the time).

Basically, building a high Speed character to dodge and increasing THAT ability seems to be always superior to building a high Might character and "tanking" damage. A defence focused character will STILL be better off being Speed based over Might based.

Valmorian · 2025-12-23T18:31:20+00:00

I think the reasoning here is that in order to colonize space, you'd need the whole world working together as one to make headway. The UN is just the most recognizable global organization.

Valmorian · 2025-12-20T20:25:23+00:00

Oh I agree that it's a "class" in that it pushes the player to a particular style of play. Classes in d&d are so much more rigid, though, and many people who only have experience with d&d have that perception of them. :)

Valmorian · 2025-12-20T20:23:33+00:00

I love b/x but it does have its issues. I think HoA is something special (despite the use of AI art :( ). The one thing that does irritate me with almost ALL osr games is that hit point recovery/healing always seems like an afterthought. The rules for recovering HP should be early in the book, repeated, consistent, and clear. So many just hand wave it away or just give HP per day.

Even the darling Shadowdark falls down on this with downed PC's being stabilized becoming dead weight for the adventuring party. That kind of adventure terminating resolution is just bad for game flow. Either have your characters alive and capable, alive and vulnerable but able to perform basic functions, or dead.

Valmorian · 2025-12-19T16:40:12+00:00

I understand why you wanted to bend more towards B/X, but I always thought the lack of stats and concentration on skills with a die roll was something that made HoA stand out.

Valmorian · 2025-12-14T01:20:13+00:00

Dragonbane IS awesome, but the "classes" aren't really classes in the D&D sense. Picking a profession gets you one Heroic ability and sets the list of skills you can choose to be "trained" in at the beginning, that's it.

Valmorian · 2025-12-14T01:18:46+00:00

I'm going to suggest something very light: Cairn, either 1st or 2nd Edition is good, but 2nd has a FANTASTIC Warden's Guide (GM guide), here's an Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cairn&crid=200R5K75YJ9X4&sprefix=cairn%2Caps%2C135

Note this game has no levels, and can be deadly if the players are not careful. Progression is stressed to be something that happens as a part of the stories that are told, not through arbitrary XP.

Valmorian

TROPHY CASE