Pivot your D&D group to a different system — something built with combat in mind

James D’Amato Real Drama is a podcaster, game designer, and writer. ultimate rpg guide Series published by Adams Media. for 10 years he hundreds of different rpg For One shot podcast,

If you love Dungeons & Dragons but you’re curious about the thousands of other tabletop role-playing games on the market, it can be hard to know where to start. Especially if you really enjoy crunchy, technically difficult rule systems, picking up a new game is a big commitment – especially if you enjoy War, That’s why we’ve been searching for alternatives that cater to different tastes!

In my first piece for Play Gamez, I addressed the needs of people who want more role-play – story and narrative design – in their TTRPGs. But the biggest draw for the D&D player base is its combat system. For many people, it isn’t worth picking up another game until they know their characters can kick ass. While these games also provide a good role-playing experience, they focus heavily on action. If you love taking the initiative, you might find a new love on this list.

statistics

To make things more digestible, we’ve specified statistics for the games on this list.

Average Session: Average duration of a session.

Difficulty: It just tells you how hard it can be to pick up this game for the first time if you’ve only played D&D.

Crunch: It tells you how mechanically complex a game is. For reference, D&D 5e would be a ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚪ on this list.

XP: Learning some RPGs will actually make learning others easier. A game with a high XP stat can be a gateway to mastering dozens or hundreds of others.

Wushu: The Ancient Art of Action Roleplaying

Image: Daniel Bayen

designed by daniel bayen

Average Session: 1-2 hours

Difficulty:

Crunch:

XP:

inspired by martial arts movies, Wushu: The Ancient Art of Action Roleplaying About detailed action. It has a very simple premise: The more detail you add to the description, the more powerful your work becomes. All rolls are done with the d6 die pool, which means that the more detail you add in the description of how your character is trying to jerk off, the more dice you get to roll.

Whereas wushu It lacks the mechanical depth and character customization of most of the RPGs on this list, yet it happily encourages creativity through its action sequences. While this game won’t help you choose another system, as it’s very similar to a unicorn, you can learn a lot of new storytelling skills that you can apply to other games.

Feng Shui 2: Action Movie Roleplaying

Image: Atlas Games

designed by Robin D. Law, published by atlas games

Average Session: 2-4 hours

Difficulty: ⚫⚫⚪⚪⚪

Crunch: ⚫⚫⚫⚪⚪

XP: ⚫⚪⚪⚪⚪

Feng Shui 2: Action Movie Roleplaying A love letter to the martial arts and action movies of the Hong Kong genre. Its mechanics encourage emulation of the genre, guiding players to imitate the movies. supercop, drunken MasterAnd Yes ma’am. The result is a fast paced game that teaches you to think like an action hero.

Players choose from dozens of “character archetypes” such as The Karate Cop, The Everyman Hero, or The Scrappy Kid and customize them with a long list of “shticks”. These abilities are what guide the players to respect the style and make their playing memorable. For example, “Immediate Weapon Dexterity” grants a bonus every time a character uses an everyday item as a weapon, but only for certain attacks. Players must constantly search for new items in the environment in order to get bonuses. What was initially a one-off gag becomes an ongoing joke that is able to keep scenes feeling fresh and fun season after season.

original book of feng shui 2 The player is packed with options. Like wushu Up front, learning this system won’t open many doors to other games, but playing it once will make you look at combat in a whole new way.

Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game

designed by christopher badell, dave chalker, cam bank, Philippe-Antoine Ménard; published by bigger than games

Average Session: 2-4 hours

Difficulty:

Crunch:

XP:

Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game gives players exactly what they need in a superhero RPG: deep customization. It starts with the superpowers themselves, which range from your run-of-the-mill enhanced speed and flight to bizarre ones to the ability to turn rain into spiders. The game’s capabilities are designed to be adapted and reworked to fit a player’s vision. The actual mechanics are presented with simple meta tags; Once you understand them, you can adapt them to any concept.

guard Battle speed and excitement are also controlled through the “scene tracker” system. As the initiative progresses, the tension continues to rise – unlocking stronger character abilities and interesting twists. This ensures that things are always getting more exciting as each battle builds to its climax.

It is important to note that this game only has fighting rules. Whatever happens outside of battle is hardly supported. But if your whole group really cares about fighting, you can expect sentinel comics Would be a great fit. It’s loosely based on the Cortex system, so learning it will help you branch out into other Cortex-powered games.

Phoenix Dawn Command

Designed by Keith Baker, Published by together studio

Average Session: 3-4 hours

Difficulty:

Crunch:

XP:

If you’ve used the Eberron setting for D&D, you already know and probably love Keith Baker’s work. Phoenix Dawn Command One of their lesser-appreciated projects, but if your role-playing sounds like a combination of creativity and strategy, this might be the hidden gem for you.

character in pdc There are warriors called Phoenixes who can die, then be reborn stronger, up to seven times. In fact, that death mechanic is so integral to the game’s lore that it’s the only way to level up. there is no question of If your character will die, but When they will die and What That sacrifice would have meaning.

pdc‘S The other major departure from traditional D&D tropes is that it Uses custom decks of cards to represent characters, allowing players to choose where and how to make their greatest moves. Jumping from multifaceted dice to cards is too long a jump for some players, and pdc You don’t have any major expansions or copycats to build an experience with. However, the boxed starter set has everything you need to start an incredible campaign. If you like games where you work as a team to make difficult strategic choices, pdc Fits into your group like a clenched fist inside a well-worn glove.

lancer

Image: Massif Press

designed by tom parkinson-morgan And miguel lopezpublished by massif press

Average Session: 3-4 hours

Difficulty:

Crunch:

XP:

lancer Perhaps one of the most mechanically rich mecha RPGs ever published, and in my opinion it stands as the gold standard for the sub-genre today. It empowers players with a tremendous level of customization, allowing them to create truly unique war machines with unique abilities. The combat system itself is rich, with several different layers for players to walk through and fight in as they please.

lancer splits itself between ultra-crunchy combat and narrative-focused downtime mechanics. So even groups with a mix of “role players” and role-players will find that there is something here for everyone. It also offers character creation and campaign support through an app lancer Website.

Currently, there’s nothing quite like lancer, This would be a huge adjustment coming from D&D. However, it is a relatively new and popular game, so there is a good chance that you will see many new games under the Lancer-powered license in the coming years. You can get started with the free version, which is available for download now.

lancer

Prices taken at the time of publication.

pathfinder second edition

Image: Paizo Publications

designed by logan bonner, Jason BulmahnStephen Radney-McFarland, and mark sefter, published by Paizo

Average Session: 3-4 hours

Difficulty:

Crunch:

XP:

Original stitcher Was literally based on D&D. stitcherThe second version, released in 2019, updates the original concept with mechanical innovations, but it still features fictional heroes battling monsters for treasure. It rewards a staggering number of character options and mechanical depth.

If you want something different enough to feel fresh, but not too different from what you’re used to, pathfinder second edition It’s a great choice. You can also easily branch to other Paizo products, such as Starfinder.

make a pot

designed by Joaquin Kyle “Macapatag” Saavedra

Average Session: 3-4 hours

Difficulty:

Crunch:

XP:

If you want a big change, make a pot it is, The game is described as a “tactical martial arts battle drama” RPG inspired by the culture and mythology of the Philippines. As a result, it looks and feels completely unique, focusing on heroic and dramatic characters who kick ass.

When making Kadunggannon, the protagonist players control in this game, you’ll find choices on par with the rich and rewarding mechanics of D&D. however, make a pot The mechanics are there to emphasize the “war drama” part of the pitch, ensuring the action scenes are dripping with grounding character paths with conviction, inference, and intricacies. Simply put, the game hits hard physically. And Emotionally by Design.

make a pot Designed for grid-based combat with rules for movement, terrain, and spheres of influence. Players have access to over 25 martial disciplines when building Kadungganan, and they all take advantage of that tactical system. This is a game that thrives with a group that fights thoughtfully. If you’ve ever prided yourself on a well-kept fire pit, you’ll find a lot to love here.

Finally, GMs, or Umalagads, will find that the system provides great support for the role, providing clever, varied, and easy-to-reference enemy statblocks. With several basic enemy types each having a range of subtypes, you have plenty of options to challenge your band of Kadungganan. There’s a lot to learn, but it’s all presented in a way that’s easy to understand.