Forked Thread: The Best OGL Systems

[Darkwolf71]

Forked from: The best D&D books (Regardless of Edition)

If we're counting D&D-like OGL, I'll add in Arcana Evolved. Great setting, and mechanics that tied in with the flavor. It gets severe balance issues with casters/non-casters past about 11th level or so, but that does little to dampen my love for it.

-O

I thought this was worth of it's own thread.

What are the best OGL based rules sets? I do mean self contained games, not books that require the 'core 3'.

My nomination, Conan The Roleplaying Game by Mongoose Publishing.
I love this game, I just wish I could find a group playing it.

 

[The_Gneech]

Star Wars Saga Edition, hands down, knocks the rest outa the park (and any other cliches I can come up with).

BESM d20 was a neat take on it, and an admirable attempt to make a "point-buy yet level-based" system. Didn't seem to inspire much actual interest from anyone, tho.

Conan is neat but way too intricate for me -- when you get to the point where you have to know which skills were bought with class ranks and which with Int bonus ranks, you're getting way too granular IMO. Shame too, 'cause I really wanted to be amazed by it.

Cthulhu d20 was well-written and had a lot of nifty ideas, but a bit cumbersome to actually use. Ditto d20 Modern.

I heard lots of praise for Spycraft, but never had the opportunity to play it.

-TG

 

[Psion]

What are the best OGL based rules sets? I do mean self contained games, not books that require the 'core 3'.

Spycraft 2.0.

Great toolset for modern action/espionage gaming. Feats are actually balanced against each other, skills are important... and payed attention to, dramatic conflicts gives you conflicts other than combat, and NPCs are easy to make and flexible. Has become one of my favorite systems.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Mutants & Masterminds. Fast, smooth, flexible, powerful, appealing. . . attractive, and uh. . . affordable.

Um, yeah. That is a game I'm talking about there.

One of my all-time faves, actually. You can do superheroes with it, oddly enough. But you can also use it for just about any other type of game. Determine the power level, make the PCs [and NPCs, etc.] exactly as you wish to - no classes or whatever - and hey, there you go!

 

[jdrakeh]

In terms of popularity amongst gamers, both True 20 and C&C appear to have 'made it' big (both are released under the OGL and built on the basic mechanics of the SRD, despite some fans insisting otherwise).

For my money, though, nothing beats the Basic Fantasy RPG and Labyrinth Lord (the former a more traditional d20-ish game; the latter being a clone of BD&D made possible via the OGL).

 

[S'mon]

Well, my favourites are the simpler games - Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, Castles & Crusades. But OGL Conan is very, very nice.

 

[Obryn]

I mentioned Arcana Evolved already, but I have also had great fun with CoC d20 and with Star Wars Saga Edition. Both are excellent games, and emulate their genre well.

-O

 

[RandomCitizenX]

Mutants & Masterminds. Fast, smooth, flexible, powerful, appealing. . . attractive, and uh. . . affordable.

QFT. M&M is the best thing to come out of the OGL 3.x era in my opinion. There was a good stretch of time when it was the only thing my group wanted to touch.

 

[Azgulor]

#1 - Conan. This was the sword-n-sorcery game that I always wanted D&D to be. It is now the foundation rules set for all of my fantasy RPGing. Being OGL, I can incorporate other OGL and D20 material with little hassle.

Personal Note: By mixing in elements of Thieves' World, I can run what I'd term a "middle-fantasy" game that isn't quite as grim as Conan nor as high-fantasy as D&D.

#2 - Arcana Evolved. Great execution while deviating from Tolkein-influences and maintaining large compatibility with standard D&D. Also the enhanced & diminished spells are a great addition to the game.

#3 - A Game of Thrones. A faithful adaptation of the setting and first novel all wrapped in a D20-compatible rules set. I cherry-picked the Influence rules, Shock, and Fatigue for my Conan game.

Honorable Mention: Iron Heroes. Great in concept with some real innovations however by trying to keep the power level consistent with D&D the execution was too over-the-top for me. I did cherry-pick combat maneuvers and some of the skill tweaks for use in my regular games.

 

[Darkwolf71]

I mentioned Arcana Evolved already, but I have also had great fun with CoC d20 and with Star Wars Saga Edition. Both are excellent games, and emulate their genre well.

-O

Ah, CoC. How could I have forgotten it?

Good system, one of my favorite genres, and the familiarity of d20. In the end, I do prefer the classic 'BRP' rules over the d20, but it's still a great game. (In truth, I enjoy all versions, I'm a Lovecraft fanboy. )