TOP 10 BEST Obscure TTRPGs

The Penitent goes over the top 10 best obscure TTRPG systems. In the video, she'll tell you what qualifies as obscure, but we've also pasted it here:

What does obscure mean? For the purposes of this list it's any game with less than 10,000 search queries on google in 2021. Which means no D&D, Shadowrun, Starfinder, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars RPG, Blades in the Dark, Vampire: the Masquerade, Stars Without Numbers, Apocalypse World, Cyberpunk Red, The Dark Eye, or Warhammer 40K.

Also: no Deadlands, Delta Green, or Mutants and Masterminds. No Tales from the Loop (it has a TV show now). No PBTA games, no World of Darkness or New World of Darkness games, no generic systems, and no games based on existing IPs (we already have a video about this!! Go watch it!!)

[samdoorley]

For me it's Ars Magica. A fantastical historic setting, an interesting approach to player balance, and a compelling approach to domain management. But BY FAR, the magic system is it's best feature. It's so good. Really crunchy and flavorful, flexible and interesting, but not overly complex. If you want to play a non Vancian magician, you have GOT to check it out.

[benjaminbrand]

So glad I stumbled on this channel! One obscure system I just started is "Fixers from the Floorboards" a recent game where you play as little people who secretly live within the walls of normal buildings while trying their best to remain hidden.

[alexiss]

I live across the street from the guy who wrote Legendmaker. It's a d10/d100 system but feels heavily inspired by the earlier editions of DnD. Character creation is a little confusing to me but I'm also spoiled by systems that are super beginner friendly like 5e and Cypher so maybe it isn't actually that hard. Had the pleasure of playing a couple of sessions with him recently. Magic is pretty interesting in that you can cast it at any level right from the start, just with a decreased chance of success that lowers as you level up. I think it also costs a little HP every time you cast, but I don't play a mage so I may be remembering wrong.

[jackbraaten]

You make a solid impression.
Good work!

[taltamary]

Thousand Year Old Vampire: solo journaling rpg tracking the life of a vampire until its demise.
Lancer: advanced mechs in a near-bright future.
Wicked Ones: cartoonly evil monsters who manage a dungeon and raid their surroundings.
FIST: paranormal merceneries in the cold war era if every action or horror movie set in it was secretly true.

[Webhead]

Unisystem in general feels very underrated these days, especially Cinematic Unisystem. While it (and, honestly, most other RPGs) has largely been replaced by PbtA for me, I have to respect what a blast all those games were and how neat the design was.

City of Mist and Ten Candles are some games I really need to give a shot, though. I've read plenty about them but have not yet jumped in.

Some other fascinating, often surrealist and relatively obscure recommendations include: InSpectres, Don't Rest Your Head, Lacuna, Never Going Home, Atomic Highway and Wushu

[alicemursteinlesbefaen]

cool to see you mention kids on bikes! im currently playing kids on brooms, which is a magical school adventure version of the same system

[orio]

A couple others to check out; Trash Pals (a game about garbage seeking animals seeking... Garbage. It's got a limited continuous play-ability but it's great as one shots). Briar & Bramble (the closest you're getting to a Watership Down game), and Thirsty Sword Lesbians which, despite the title, is actually REALLY wholesome. It's all about the bonds you create between players and npcs set to whatever setting your heart desires.

[Caluardo]

The Tales From The Loop RPG doesn't have its own TV show; a TV show was made based on the same artwork that the RPG was based on. It's a small, but I feel significant, difference. Most people who watch the show won't know the RPG exists.

[peterdickinson]

I'd add Unknown Armies, Everway, and Maelstrom to the list.

[Duhad]

Honestly I have to go with All Flesh Must Be Eaten (using the same Unisystem that Witchcraft uses) or one of the various Cinematic Unisystem games like Buffy, Angel and Army of Darkness which trade out the hyper lethal combat for a much more flashy and heroic style of game.

[ravendreaming]

Ooooh love this. And agree with your definition!

[SurprisinglyDeep]

I thought this would be about semi-obscure TTRPGs like the Warhammer TTRPG, the pen and paper Warhammer 40k TTRPGs, Gamma World, Dungeon Crawl Classic and/or Tunnels and Trolls.

Good video though.

[ericrose]

I got gifted a copy of "An Atlus of the Horizons" (written by Benjamin Williams) some years ago, and have no idea how to play it. HELP!