# [[Tabletop Roleplaying Games]]
A Tabletop Role Playing Game is a ruleset and framework for participating as a character in a fictional world for the purpose of entertainment and comraderie. The "tabletop" qualifier refers to an RPG that is played in the physical world (as opposed to a virtual world as is the case for video RPGs), usually over a communal table.
## TTRPG Rule Systems
### Heavy on nostalgia: [[Old School Revival]]
![[Old School Revival#OSR games]]
### Rules light
Game systems with rules that fit into one page or a few pages. They are built for simplicity and speed, and therefore lend themselves well particularly well to one-shots. These systems also tend to be more story-focused.
- [[Alice Is Missing]] - [site](https://www.huntersentertainment.com/alice-is-missing): silent, text-based narrative system with cards instead of dice
- [[EZD6]] - [site](https://www.ezd6.com/): d6 system with simplified rules, optimized for conventions
- [[Fate]] - [site](https://fate-srd.com/); d6-based, story-focused RPG with high player agency and variable theme
- [[Fiasco]] - [site](https://bullypulpitgames.com/games/fiasco/)
- [[Honey Heist]] - [site](https://gshowitt.itch.io/honey-heist); silly one-page RPG about bears at a honey festival
- [[Index Card RPG]] - [site](https://www.modiphius.net/products/index-card-rpg-master-edition): d20 RPG with innovative mechanics to simplify combat and adventure creation
- [[Kids on Bikes]] - [site](https://www.huntersentertainment.com/kidsonbikesrpg): stats are assigned different polyhedral dice, about kids exploring strange mysteries like in Stranger Things
- [[Lasers & Feelings]] - [site](https://johnharper.itch.io/lasers-feelings); sci-fi one-pager about a threat in outer space
- [[The Witch Is Dead]] - [site](https://gshowitt.itch.io/the-witch-is-dead): You're familiars avenging a witch who's just been murdered. Go!
- [[Tiny Dungeon]] - [site](https://www.gallantknightgames.com/tiny-dungeon-2e/): minimalist RPG
- [[Warlock!]] - [site](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2503/Fire-Ruby-Designs): old-school British RPG with many careers and a lot of randomness
- [[Microscope (RPG)]] - [site](https://www.lamemage.com/microscope/): collaborative world- and story-building with a heavy emphasis on narrative roleplay
### More complex rules
These games are more suited for longer campaigns.
- [[13th Age]] - [site](https://www.13thagesrd.com/): story-focused, and players can use their relationships with "icons" (factions) to change the story
- [[Alien RPG]] - [site](https://www.alien-rpg.com/): sci-fi horror based on the [[Year Zero engine]]
- [[Apocalypse World]] - [site](http://www.apocalypse-world.com/)
- [[Blades in the Dark]] - [site](https://bladesinthedark.com/); [[Book/Six of Crows (series)|Six of Crows]]-esque urban noir about a party of scoundrels
- [[Balikbayan]] - [site](https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/balikbayan): Cyberpunk dystopian world based on Philippine folklore
- [[Castles & Crusades]] - [site](https://trolllord.com/castles-crusades/): Based on [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]] 3e. Higher power level than [[Old School Revival|OSR]] games.
- [[Call of Cthulhu RPG]] - [site](https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rpg/): Investigative [[H P Lovecraft|Lovecraftian]] stories with psychological horror
- [[Chronicles of Darkness]] - [site](http://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/chroniclesofdarkness/)
- [[Cortex RPG]] - [site](https://www.cortexrpg.com/)
- [[Coyote & Crow]] - [site](https://coyoteandcrow.net/); alternate future sci-fi where North America was never colonized
- [[Cypher]] - [site](https://cypher-system.com/): d20 system addressing [[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]]'s issues in encounter balancing, with a primary setting in a world that mixes science and fantasy (Numenera)
- [[Dungeons & Dragons]] - [site](https://dnd.wizards.com/): the most popular TRPG in the world, now on 5e
- [[Dungeon World]] - [site](https://dungeon-world.com/): capped progression to level 10, fronts as main movers of a world/adventure
- [[Ironsworn]] - [site](https://www.ironswornrpg.com/): Random table-heavy RPG with GM, GM-light, and GM-less play options
- [[Masks - A New Generation]] - [site](https://magpiegames.com/pages/masks)
- [[Modiphius 2d20]] - [site](https://modiphius.us/)
- [[Root RPG]] - [site](https://magpiegames.com/pages/root-rpg): About cutesy woodland creatures, but it's actually a highly political [[Powered by the Apocalypse|PbtA]] game with mechanics for backstabbing and deception.
- [[Pathfinder]] - [site](https://paizo.com/pathfinder): D&D 3.5e, but with more crunch. Now on 2e.
- [[Starfinder]] - [site](https://paizo.com/starfinder/): Pathfinder, but in space
- [[Shadow of the Demon Lord]] - [site](https://schwalbentertainment.com/shadow-of-the-demon-lord/)
- [[The One Ring RPG]] - [site](https://freeleaguepublishing.com/en/games/the-one-ring/): Sprawling medieval fantasy setting in the world of [[Lord of the Rings]]
## Other resources
- [[Elements of Tabletop RPGs]]: What's in a TTRPG?
- [[TTRPGs Games Index]]: Roleplaying games I've played in the last two years and all my notes from them
- [[Interesting TTRPG mechanics]]: Good ideas for mechanics that I've picked up from playing all these games
- [[TTRPG system families]]: Overarching groups of games that have some mechanics or themes in common
- [[TTRPG systems by their use of the OGL]]: List of TTRPGs, categorized by whether or not they use the [[OGL]].
- [[Shortlist of systems I want to play next]]
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