With the explosion in popularity of actual play podcasts, tabletop gaming is bigger than it's ever been. The flagship tabletop RPG is, of course, Dungeons & Dragons; a fantasy system with roots in old-school war gaming. The main focus of D&D is combat. Players gain experience by killing enemies, making their characters stronger. However, for many, what makes the medium great isn't combat. It's, you know, role-playing.
Tabletop gaming is known for spiriting players away to other worlds, giving them the opportunity to tell personal, collaborative stories. And when it comes to this, there are far better games than D&D. Anyone experiencing fatigue with WotC's iconic tabletop game owes it to themselves to check out some of these worthy competitors!
10 World Wide Wrestling
At first glance, a professional wrestling RPG might seem like an odd idea. And it is. It totally is. Yet, somehow, it works. In World Wide Wrestling (or WWW), the players will work matches, cut promos, and develop heated rivalries as they steer their careers in whatever direction they desire. The GM is the "booker", setting the players up in matches against one another, against NPC wrestlers, as part of a tag team, or whatever works for their wrestling show.
Because the players will often be sitting around waiting to wrestle, WWW also has a number of mechanics to keep those on the sidelines involved. Players might step in as commentators, managers, or rambunctious audience members when they're not actively wrestling. They can even choose to interfere in other people's matches!
9 Gumshoe
Mysteries in tabletop games can be rough. The players can't be expected to be geniuses, and sometimes, neither can their characters. In Call of Cthulhu, which is a classic investigative game, GMs will generally include multiple avenues of investigation for each mystery. If the players fail to spot one, well, maybe they'll find another. But maybe not.
With Gumshoe, as long as a character is in the right spot and has the right ability, they will always find the clue they need. Instead, the drama comes from more interesting situations. There are lots of different Gumshoe games to choose from. We highly recommend Trail of Cthulhu and Bubblegumshoe.
8 Monster Of The Week
Monster of the Week (or MotW) is the perfect game for anyone who's ever wanted to hunt cryptids, vampires, ghosts, or aliens in a modern fantasy setting. It's based on the successful Powered by the Apocalypse system, giving it a low overhead workload for GMs, as well as an easy-to-understand set of rules for players.
And because MotW is based on this elegant system, it allows a fantastic level of freedom and collaboration in storytelling. Its mechanics are meant to simply guide the story. No one rule is too obtrusive or overly complex. It also puts a nice focus on investigation and actually hunting monsters, instead of just fighting them.
7 Lancer
Lancer is a premier mech RPG, with solid mechanics and a wide fanbase for hacks and homebrews. Players take on the role of Lancers; elite mech pilots in a distant sci-fi future. Lancer is known for its incredibly deep mech customization, as well as its very solid hex-based combat rules.
Lancer also has deep lore with a focus on corporations, as well as a companion site with equipment details, great digital character sheets, and helpful tools for DMs. And, we would be remiss not to mention the amazing art throughout the book. Anyone interested in mechs or extravagant sci-fi settings should definitely give this game a look.
6 Shadowrun
Shadowrun is a classic game with a storied history. It's a crunchy, rules-heavy cyberpunk game set in a world where some humans have morphed into fantasy races - elves, orcs, etc. The game takes place on a future Earth, so it's great for those who want to play in a cyberpunk version of their hometown.
It's also great for groups that enjoy extremely deep mechanics, with tons of options for equipment and weapon customization. However, groups that prefer simpler games with fewer moving parts to keep track of might prefer Lancer or Stars Without Number. The rulebook for Shadowrun has always been thick and daunting to new players, though the most recent edition does streamline things a bit.
5 Pathfinder
For those who want to change it up from D&D, but are still enamored with the fantasy setting, Pathfinder is a wonderful alternative. Its rules are a tad crunchier than D&D's, but once the GM and players get a feel for things, it proceeds smoothly. Classes are richly detailed and filled with customization options. Plus, the writing is top-notch compared to D&D.
Take monster races, for example. Rather than making them one-dimensional, Pathfinder fleshes out creatures like goblins with their own culture and motivations. It may be tough at first to make the transition from D&D to Pathfinder. There's a bit of a learning curve involved. It's a worthwhile shift, though. It may be a bit more old-school, but it's a wonderful system with great writing and art.
4 Stars Without Number
Stars Without Number is a sci-fi space opera RPG with a focus on exploration. It's an amazingly designed RPG, not only in terms of the beauty and clever layout of the book but also in terms of its streamlined mechanics. For those who want to run a sci-fi game but don't know exactly where to start, this is a perfect jumping-off point.
Stars Without Number features rules for psionics, starship construction, and just about anything one would expect to find in a cool sci-fi setting. One of our favorite aspects of the game is space combat, where each player is responsible for various crises and different areas of the starship, keeping them all involved.
3 Mutants And Masterminds
Plenty of people have wondered what their powers might be if they were a superhero. Mutants and Masterminds is here to help answer that question. At first glance, the game's thick rulebook might be intimidating. Things can get pretty crazy with its tables, such as its systems for distance and scale, which quickly get up to interplanetary levels.
However, like other entries on this list, the fun really starts once a particular group manages to wrap its head around the rule set. Though daunting at first, the game is ultimately very elegant. There are a ridiculous number of possibilities for different superpowers — it's no stretch to say that essentially anything you can imagine can work in Mutants and Masterminds.
2 Call Of Cthulhu
In D&D, the player characters can become god-like damage sponges. At higher levels, players can have hundreds of hit points. In Call of Cthulhu, the maximum HP for a player character is more like fifteen. That's because it's a Lovecraftian survival horror RPG.
Because combat is so brutally realistic, it tends to be the final resort for players (at least, for those who wish to survive). Rather than focusing on combat, most Call of Cthulhu adventures are investigative in nature. The characters use their wits and skills to solve mysteries and invent creative solutions — all to turn back the tide of the cosmic clock. Games are often historical and rooted in reality. One adventure might take place in the 1920s New York, the other in prehistoric Egypt, 18th century France, etc.
1 Blades In The Dark
Blades in the Dark is a streamlined fantasy crime RPG that highly values player freedom and collaboration. It features simple character creation, elegant RP-focused mechanics, and interesting lore that's completely open to interpretation. Blades players take on the roles of daring scoundrels in the haunted gothic city of Duskwall. The group comes together to form a gang, pursuing whatever goals are most interesting to them.
They might execute assassinations, clandestine heists, magical rituals, or so on. The GM is encouraged to take a hands-off approach, allowing the players to freely pursue their own goals. Drawing inspiration from Dishonored, Blades also includes a system for progressing the world around the players. Everything they do has an impact on the haunted city.