Ten Great RPGs That Are Probably Not In The ‘Top Ten’
Here is a list of ten pen and paper roleplaying games that are good, but probably aren’t in the top ten list of most gamers. You can compare this list to our ten top rpg games ever made list. There are two that made both lists. Can you guess why?
1. Vampire – This game, as well as other World of Darkness games, should probably be ranked higher on the overall list, but never had a ton of experience with these games. It still is the number one LARP’ing game in the world though, since there are people out they LARP’ing the game that don’t even know it (Goths, or Vampire LARP’ers? You decide). This game made number nine on our own personal list, but I’ve seen it miss the top ten on many others.
2. Mage – A pretty inventive, free-flowing magic system. I remember reading this book at a bowling alley for the first time and thinking, “Dang, you could do anything with these characters?!” If you could think it, you could cast it. Provided that your character had the ability to do it, that is.
3. Werewolf – Probably one of the toughest and baddest creatures in White Wolf’s World of Darkness setting. Playing a Werewolf was badass because you could go from normal people mode to crazy killer mode in the blink of an eye.
4. Paranoia – One of the only games where the pre-made adventures were often better than player created adventures. This game had the unique idea to give characters clones of themselves so death meant even less than it normally does in a roleplaying game (which isn’t much).
5. Spycraft – When Spycraft came out with version 2.0, it was such a huge leap over the previous version. It has become one of the best modern pen and paper roleplaying games of all time. It is also one of the best skill-based roleplaying games ever created.
6. Gamma World – This game reminds you how fun random character generation can truly be. Set in a post-apocalyptic setting, it pretty much allows you to run a Mad Max, anything goes type of setting for your characters. The game has been around forever and has like six or seven different editions of the game. This is the second game that made both this list and our ten top RPG games list ever. Although we put it on our top ten list, it often isn’t on many others.
7. Cyberpunk 2020 – A very lethal, near future game. The game is cool because it is pure cyberpunk. No trolls, orks, or magic, just pure guns and chrome. Yet another game which system completely falters in the face of the world setting, but a great game.
8. Warhammer FRPG – Warhammer is better known for their MMORPG and their tabletop wargaming. However, they have a pretty good pen and paper roleplaying game as well. Their character class system is one of the most unique systems in roleplaying games.
9. Earthdawn – Now has a Third Edition being produced by RedBrick Limited. The game is a great alternate fantasy setting with a lot of background and support. It also has a very unique and streamlined dice system and combat system.
10. Hackmaster – Best critical hit tables ever. I remember running this for our gaming group and just hoping that every time someone made an attack roll, it was a critical hit. You never knew what part of your body was getting mauled or completely chopped off.
As I stated in the article, the majority of these games are very good and you won’t see on other people’s top ten lists. Vampire and Gamma World are the two exceptions. Every once in a while those two will creep onto top ten RPG games lists, but for the most part they often do not. All ten of these games are great games though and deserve their kudos.
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Tagged With Best RPG, Best RPG Game, Best RPG Games, Best RPGs, Cyberpunk 2020, Earthdawn, Gamma World, Hackmaster, Mage, Paranoia, Pen and Paper Genre, Spycraft, Top RPG, Top RPG Game, Top RPG Games, Vampire, Warhammer FRPG, Werewolf
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