My Top Ten Favourite Roleplaying Games



Matt, over at lategaming.com, has posted about his top ten roleplaying games. Actually, I’m finding it hard to pick ten top games. A few of these are purely nostalgic choices and some I haven’t even played yet.

Nobilis - Nobilis is my top game at the moment. I love the setting and I love how it plays, using counters instead of dice. Even the core book is beautiful. However it does have its faults: aesthetics over (clarity of) system.

Mage: The Ascension (1st and 2nd Editions only) - This is the game that has made me a long time roleplayer. I know, I know, White Wolf. The new Mage simply sucks pants and took everything out that made the original good in my opinion. I love the setting and flexibility of the system of the original game. In particular, I love the mystery of the 1st Ed, when the Technocracy were everywhere and scary instead of the well-defined and understood version in later editions.

Wraith: The Oblivion - Another White Wolf game, but one that was seriously overlooked. I loved the idea of your character’s Shadow and the really intense roleplaying experience it gave. I know a game of Wraith was often chaotic because of it, but that was it’s strength as it ended up more focused on character (plots were thrown out of the window the moment a Shadow character got an upper hand).

Fudge - Welcome to game design. Fudge and its many derivatives (Now Playing, FATE/STOC) etc is a simply great narrative-like system. It fit exactly the way I like to GM when I first discovered it and since then I’ve had a great time exploring all it’s nooks and crannies.

Call of Cthulhu - I’ve only played Call of Cthulhu at conventions and so far it has failed as a roleplaying experience. I never managed to get my roleplaying group to allow me to run a game either, they were already jaded with it before I discovered. But I’m a big H.P. Lovecraft fan and when I first poured over Call of Cthulhu I saw that they had really captured all the elements of the horror of his work. However they also accidentally took away much of the mystery and turned into a RPG cliche. Still, I dare to dream… :)

Universalis - I love Universalis for similar reasons to Nobilis. It takes roleplaying out of the game and into actual storytelling. Of the three games I’ve played so far of it, only one was disappointing.

Vampire: The Masquerade - I’m sticking this one on my list, mostly for it’s impact on my journey into the roleplaying hobby. It’s left a lasting impression on me. Even the new Vampire is pretty good despite the broken system.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - I’m getting embarrassed now. The third White Wolf game and the most munchy game ever. However, this was the first roleplaying game I ever played, and I can’t forget that first session.

Riddle of Steel - Fast unique speedy combat system and a quite elaborate world. I’m dying to play it.

SLA Industries - I have fond memories of SLA. Interesting world, great characters, over the top uber-violent combat and while I had some frustrations with the system, they were nothing compared to the pain of Shadowrun.

So as Matt says:

These are mine.

What are yours?