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this is your regular reminder that D&D is a bad game and you should not play it. There's plenty of other very good tabletop games out there and most of them are a huge upgrade in at least one area, usually several.
Here are several categories where D&D has messed up, along with some games that are vast improvements in that area.
- Character building! D&D is a mess of trap choices punish new players. If you want to build cool complex characters who still function properly...
- Character building! D&D is a mess of trap choices punish new players. If you want to build cool complex characters who still function properly...
...I recommend games like Double Cross, Panic at the Dojo, LANCER, or Spire.
- Balance! Some classes in D&D are strictly better than others (aka the quadratic wizards problem). If you want everyone in the party to feel like they can contribute, PbtA and FitD games are...
- Balance! Some classes in D&D are strictly better than others (aka the quadratic wizards problem). If you want everyone in the party to feel like they can contribute, PbtA and FitD games are...
...the current gold standard. Games like Fellowship, Blades in the Dark, Glitterhearts, Legacy, or Rhapsody of Blood. I'd suggest more FitD games but I've literally only experienced two of them and do not know the good ones off hand. Feel free to sound off in the comments.
Creativity! D&D is built on exception-based design, which means you can only do something if an ability says you can. It is a stifling system that only lets you work within a narrow space. Games like Nobilis, Fellowship, Fiasco, or Final Bid let you be as creative as you like.
Setting! D&D is a game built on a very specific set of assumptions, and while you can play around with those via gm fiat, its kind of a boring core to work with and has some weird eugenicist/imperialist leanings. There's lots of games with far more interesting worlds to explore.
Settings can vary so wildly and be so cool I'm gonna have to have multiple tweets on games with good settings. If you still want your medieval fantasy, games like 13th Age, Beyond the Wall, and my upcoming game Skull Diggers have very cool worlds to play in.
If you stray just outside of D&D like, you get to fun and silly fantasy worlds like those of Costume Fairy Adventures (my GotY 2018), Retail Magic, or Goblin Quest.
Or you can get some serious ones, like The Quiet Year, Malifaux: Through The Breach, or Shadow of the Demon Lord.
Or you can get some serious ones, like The Quiet Year, Malifaux: Through The Breach, or Shadow of the Demon Lord.
( Disclaimer: Shadow of the Demon Lord is mostly not know for its setting, which is actually Kinda Mediocre, but its a very good game and a version with a better setting is coming out soon, Shadow of the Weird Wizard, so I've gotta mention it in this thread somewhere )
And once you get really out there, some games have just incredibly settings. Do you want to be teens who fuck up a lot? Try InSpectres, Monster Hearts, or Breakfast Cult. Do you want time travel? Try Retrocausality. How about sci fi, like Hard Wired Island or The Sprawl?
