birdechoes:

Roleplay Recommendations:

Gumshoe– Gumshoe is not one game, but a rule engine that does a very particular job: ensuring a story gets told. Every rule, from Investigative abilities which let you gather clues without ever needing to test, to General abilities that let you shine only so many times in an episode, and the simple D6 dice mechanic, all allow for the GM and players to focus more on storytelling and character interaction than anything else. Games in this line range from Night’s Black Agents- a spy vs vampire shadow war, to Timewatch- a time traveling romp, all the way to its own take on the Cthulhu Mythos with Trail of Cthulhu.

Savage Worlds– Perhaps the perfect roleplay out there for GMs who like simple, malleable rule systems, and parties who like in-depth fight mechanics, to mix wonderfully and play nice together. This game also has the wonderful added benefit of making character advancement feel great, as making your stats better is actually tangible and overtly visible to a player. A “do whatever” system, it comes with core rules (which are like $10-15 on Amazon,) but no real setting. A make it yourself game at its core, but it does have quite a few source books sitting there that you can use for settings. I recommend Rippers, which is legit just Bloodborne.

Delta Green– Perhaps, perhaps the greatest roleplay ever made. Mechanics wise, anyways. Jam packed with a super easy character creation, a fight system so simple it blends flawlessly with the horror of the situation, awesome post-adventure story rules, and simple changes to the Call of Cthulhu sanity death spiral to make them even better than they already are! An impressive work of game design, and really my personal favorite game to run, and introduce new players to roleplay with.

Puppetland– Look, this one is weird. One hour playtime, no dice, NEVER out of character. This game is for silly, silly improv at its finest, and throwing in some creepy puppet horror into the mix. You may scoff at that hour time limit, but trust me, this amazing game turns your brain to mush after.

Hillfolk– A game for large parties only- 6-8 players. I… have never had so much fun not doing anything as GM. Ever. This game is designed around personal party drama; it’s called the Drama System, and it does its job damn well. Competitive, rude, and very intelligently designed, Hillfolk will make your players become little micro GMs while you sit back and watch as they backstab and have a great time trying to out roleplay each other. It also has some 40+ settings to play in, if you get its sourcebook.

Fate– I don’t think I have to talk Fate up too much. It’s tried, it’s true, and it’s free. Like Savage Worlds it’s a “do whatever” dice system, but it’s 100% free on Drivethrurpg. My favorite Fate setting is the Secret of Cats, where everyone is playing a kitty protecting their small town from awful horrors and ghosts.

Other Games Worth Saying Hi To– Cthulhutech, the Void, Eclipse Phase, Call of Cthulhu, the 40k rp line, English Eerie, Gumshoe one-2-one, and so many more. There are so many damn games that are all so fun to play.