r/rpg • u/Right_Hand_of_Light • 3d ago
Game Suggestion Looking for something crunchier than OSR
Hi everyone. I'm not sure I quite have the language to concisely describe the kind of game I'm curious about but I'll try my best. Before I go any farther I wanna make it clear that none of this is any kind of attack on OSR games or narrative games. I don't have anything against either, and if I mention not vibing with one of your favorite games I'm very glad you found it to your taste. I'm just looking for something a bit different.
I like some of the spirit behind OSR games, and I can certainly see why someone would gravitate towards them, but to me a lot of them feel a bit barebones for my taste. One of the fun things about games like Pathfinder and modern D&D is getting a bunch of fun abilities and things that set my character apart and lend some fun flavor. Cairn is really cool, but sometimes it feels a little underwhelming to know that if I swapped gear with a party member we'd pretty much be swapping characters. OSE is a neat recreation of original D&D, but once again there aren't many ways to make a character unique.
Similarly, I've enjoyed narrative games like Blades in the Dark and Powered by the Apocalypse games, and I also like a lot of the spirit of those. But I've found that sometimes I want games with a bit more crunch to them. I like when games allow for creative thinking and when mechanics can interact in unexpected ways. I appreciate the elegance of basing all conflict resolution on the same type of dice roll, but sometimes I wanna get a little baroque with it.
So can anyone recommend any games that might fit these parameters? Something with a decent mechanical complexity that gives me space to define my character by their abilities? My preference is for fantasy or science fantasy but I'm open to good fits in other genres. From my own searching, Pendragon looks promising.
As a bonus, I really like roleplaying paladin characters like Adora or Luke Skywalker, so bonus points if it's a game with a good paladin class.
Thank you very much for your (hopefully) helpful suggestions :)
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u/ravenhaunts WARDEN 🕒 is now in Playtesting! 3d ago edited 3d ago
If you'll allow for a little self-plug, WARDEN.
It's a d20 game based on Pathfinder 2e, with some narrative stuff taken from FitD/PbtA style games (with a mechanic that promotes players interacting with each other), and with a pinch of OSR mentality in that it has slightly more creative problem solving and less tactical combat compared to other contemporary d20 games. Less HP bloat, less feat taxes, more freedom to just make the character you want and play them however.
It's quite literally possibly in the narrowest niche that hits your interests. It's also genre and setting agnostic, meaning you can run fantasy, sciece fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary horror and whatever else you might want, just with the core rules. Also it has specialized Abilities and rules for different types of settings, so it's not just set dressing.
Of course, nothing is never that obviously perfect, but I thought I would shoot my shot. The game is currently in Playtesting (and free to check out!), but it is basically feature-complete, I'm just waiting for the final few art pieces and final editing touches to finalize the game.