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.

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.