The first question is, how great and memorable is the story? A great RPG must have a great story with a solid plot that is creative, original, and immersive to the player. Most great RPGs have an open plot instead of a linear plot. This allows for many different ways for the game to end. A good story also contains lots of quests for the player, with a vast array of items, locations, and character choices.

The second aspect of a great RPG is playability. The difficulty of a game should be hard enough to challenge most users, but easy enough to where most users can also succeed in completing the game. There should be an ample amount of game balance in both the difficulty and the rules. The rules should be lightweight enough to where they do not bog down the game, but precise enough to add solidarity and substance to the game.

The third aspect is actually the first aspect that most people notice and that is appearance. Video games and computer games are very visual. The graphics should be modern enough to attract the user. The artwork should have a definite style that can carry the RPG into further expansions of the game. And when it comes to PC games, hopefully the graphics are beautiful but efficient. Efficiency helps them function on more than just the latest and greatest PC system.

10 top RPG games 2011 – Here is a list of the best RPG games in 2011, Dragon Age 2, Fable III, Mass Effect 3, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Two Worlds 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dungeon Siege III, Diablo III, and Guild Wars 2. If you have a chance to play them, pay special attention to the story, playability, and appearance of each game. They are the main factors that come into play when discussing the top RPG games. The fourth factor is simply the preferences of each individual player. That, though, may be the most important factor of all.

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.

Skills Matter - Whenever I played D&D, Star Wars, or any other d20 game, skills always seemed like an afterthought. In D&D, the combat powers I received from leveling were always more important. In Star Wars, feats and powers always seemed to be more important.

In Spycraft, your skills are the lifeblood of your character. The skills are extremely well thought out and designed. There are really no ‘must have’ skills. There is a more level playing field with the skills and each one seems to have good overall value. It isn’t like every other d20 game where everyone in the group has to get Perception and Stealth because everything else is worthless.

The skills do matter more in the game because the game makes it that way. The game makes skills more of a focus. It will take players and gamemasters time to figure out how to use these skills properly. But we discovered several sessions into the campaign that the skills start to come together better and better.

Unique Gear System – The gear system is Spycraft is one of the most unique gear systems of any roleplaying game. The system is very versatile and allows players to choose both specific items for their character, as well as design specific and unique items for their characters.

In your average game, players are going to choose a primary weapon and a set of armor. Those are often your most important pieces of gear. After that you will get your adventuring gear which comprises all of your non-combat stuff. That is what most games do, but not what Spycraft does

During the first session of play, the player character were attempting to get into a sold out championship hockey game. They had many options on how to try and get in, but one player used one of his gear gadgets and was able to acquire tickets to get the group into the game. He spent his gear pick, got the tickets, and they were in.

There was another piece of gear that one of the characters had. He used gear picks to get a cane that was capable of injecting tranquilizing toxin into a target. This gear wasn’t something that was listed in the book. It was something that the player was able to design for his character using gear picks.

You Can Have Fun Without Combat – Spycraft is completely capable of being a game that is fun without combat. It definitely has the rules and crunch to do a lot of combat, but it also has rules for other types of games. If you’re creative, you can run session after session, never get into combat, and still have a ton of fun.

During one part of the first session, two of the player characters encountered two armed NPCs. They were able to use their skills to convince some people working in the law enforcement arena that the other NPCs were there to cause problems. The security and law enforcement personnel took care of the two armed NPCs, and the player characters continued on their way.

Overall – I am fairly impressed with our first taste of Spycraft v2.0. I was a little concerned that there would be too many rules for me to deal with, but the game is very well thought out and put together. The more I read the book, the more I realize they really designed the system to fit a modern spy setting. I believe it does this exceptionally well, and I’m looking forward into delving deeper into the game.

1 – Dungeons and Dragons – If you only know of one game, or have only played one pen and paper RPG; Dungeons & Dragons is probably it. It is the grandfather of all pen and paper roleplaying games. And it remains the top dog to this day.

2 – Shadowrun – Maybe they’ll be able to balance this game a little better in 5th edition. Other than that, the world has spawned a pen and paper RPG, a first person shooter, multiple other video games, and there are even talks of a movie. Great setting, great game.

3 – Star Wars (D6) – I think there is only way to play Star Wars and that is using the D6 system. It is simple, short, sweet, and to the point. The system gets the job done and lets you enjoy the wonderful universe that George Lucas has created for us.

4 – Call of Cthulhu – The ultimate game in providing player death. This game is the number one horror genre game ever created for pen and paper roleplaying games. The only time I’ve ever been truly scared was during a session of Call of Cthulhu.

5 – Delta Green – One of the most underrated roleplaying games ever, in my opinion. Anyone who hasn’t got this game owes it to themselves to pick it up. It’s a great conspiracy theory game with a bit of an X-Files feel towards it.

6 – Deadlands – This old weird western game was designed on the precursor to the Savage Worlds system. Eventually, it became the flagship product for that system. If nothing else, the game has a unique setting and is helping popularize a great rules-lite system.

7 – Mechwarrior (Battletech) – I rank this game so high because it was the first roleplaying game that I ever played. I loved the miniature combat in this game. The actual roleplaying rules weren’t that great, but for a newbie they worked just fine.

8 – Palladium FRPG – A great storyline and background shrouded in a horrible system. Maybe sometime before I die Palladium will upgrade and completely overhaul their rules system… but I doubt it. Regardless, the game is great even with all the rules problems.

9 – Marvel Superheroes – This game will remind you why you like random character generation. It’s so fun to randomly create superheroes and see what you come out with. Plus, you can play some of your favorite Marvel superheroes as well.

10 – Rifts – Holy overpowered classes and items. Someone needs to work on rebalancing this game, unless that is what makes it so popular. It pretty much is a kitchen-sink game that has everything in it.

Honorable mentions: Vampire, Mage, Werewolf, Paranoia, Spycraft, Gamma World, Cyberpunk 2020, Warhammer FRPG, Earthdawn, and Hackmaster.

I only put games on this list that I have played. There are some other great games that I have heard of, but if I haven’t had a chance to play them I can’t vouch for them. This is my own personal list of the top RPG games of all time in the pen and paper genre.

10 – Gamma World – It’s a post-apocalyptic game, but not in the style of Mad Max. This game fit more into the style of a science fantasy game. You could play all sorts of random mutant creatures, in addition to playing people that were mostly normal.

9 – Vampire the Masquerade – The first in a long line of products from White Wolf where you played the role of ‘the bad guy’. This game explored what it was like to be a vampire in the modern world and lead the way for products such as Werewolf, Mage, Changeling, Wraith, and many other great games.  Remember to use some Vampire Music to get yourself in the mood when playing this game.

8 – RuneQuest – This game was considered as one of the ‘Big Three’ at some point. The big three being D&D, Traveller, and RuneQuest. It provided a different setting and system than other fantasy roleplaying games at the time.

7 – Champions – This was the original comic book / super hero roleplaying game. Many others have followed, like Marvel Super Heroes, Mutant’s and Masterminds, Heroes Unlimited, and more. But Champions was the first game to break the mold and put the player in control of a comic book super hero.

6 – Tunnels & Trolls – This game was created in 1975 making it older than the author of this article, as well as older that all other roleplaying games (except for one!). Also known by its shortened name of T&T, this game has long played second fiddle to the original fantasy roleplaying game.

5 – GURPs – Any setting you can possibly think of, this game probably has a supplement book for it to fit the rules system. GURPs stand for the Generic Universal RolePlaying System. Although quirky and not without its flaws, the system was probably the first ‘rules-lite’ system ever invented that could be used with multiple settings.

4 – Star Wars – May perhaps be the most popular roleplaying setting of all time. It definitely is the most popular setting that was derived from a movie and placed into roleplaying game form. You have to pick which edition you like though! There is d6, d20, and Saga Edition.

3 – Traveller – Not as famous as its other space opera buddy, Star Wars. This game, however, did come out as a roleplaying system before George Lucas’s creation did. Traveller was first created in 1977 and has been going strong ever since. The game is definitely considered one of the ‘original’ RPGs.

2 – Call of Cthulhu – A unique entry into this list. This horror-based roleplaying game is based off of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. There really isn’t a popular, comparable game out on the market now. Instead, different gaming companies have chosen to create Call of Cthulhu in a variety of different systems under a variety of different publishers.

1 – Dungeons & Dragons – The most famous pen and paper roleplaying game of all time. This fantasy game still dominates the market with all of its various incarnations, from the original D&D to 4th Edition. D&D creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson are legends in the industry, just as the game itself is.

This list tends to be a little bit more biased towards older games. If you split up the different editions and counted each edition, for each game, as a separate game, this list would look very different. Overall, it gives you a good idea of the general popularity of specific pen and paper roleplaying games since the creation of pen and paper roleplaying games many years ago. What do you think of our list of the ten top RPG games of all time?