9 amazing fantasy RPGs that aren’t D&D

Love elves, orcs and dragons in your fantasy RPG, but don’t love D&D? No problem! Liv is here with a selection of unmissable fantasy settings for you to explore during your next campaign.

From classic sword-and-sorcery adventures to Arthurian questing with knights in a medieval age, as well as ways to roleplay in the worlds of Lord of the Rings, Warhammer and The Witcher, this list has it all. Whether you want to be a wizard slinging colourful spells, a metal warrior in a grimdark apocalypse or even a tiny mouse on a massive journey, you’re sure to find the perfect fantasy RPG replacement for the dragon game.

00:00 Intro
00:35 Pathfinder
02:19 Romance of the Perilous Lands
04:18 Heart: City Beneath
06:21 Pendragon
08:28 Mörk Borg
10:26 The One Ring
12:35 Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Soulbound
14:42 Mausritter
16:40 The Witcher RPG

Buy Pathfinder P2 here:

Buy Romance of the Perilous Lands here:

Buy Heart: City Beneath here:

Buy Pendragon 5th Edition here:

Buy The One Ring here:

Buy Warhammer Soulbound here:
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[TheDragonOfWhi]

I find it great that FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER people are just having a casual look about and seeing what other TTRPG systems are out there. It's just so great.

[cameronjohnson]

Something to add about Heart, it very directly addressed a huge problem with RPGs, character stagnation. In Heart (and Spire) characters become stronger as they become more doomed, culminating in a super move that will kill / retire your character permanently. So as a player you always get a climax that gives you a reset, it's pretty dramatic

[cmsd]

I will not be able to rest easy until I find out if there was a mysterious tenth rpg, stolen from this video at a crucial moment, raised by witchers and destined for greatness

[BarbarosaAlexander]

I liked "Rodents and Rurality". It made my language nerd smile.

Great video, too.

[ihatevnecks]

N I N E!

Hell yes, always love seeing a Pendragon namedrop <3 Such an incredible and still underrated game. Really appreciate Soulbound getting a mention too; it's easily my favorite (fantasy) rpg released in the last 5+ years.

I'd also throw in an honorable mention of Earthdawn. Long running game with very consistent mechanics across editions, so plenty of back material to use. One of those few games where the mechanics of characters are directly tied into the lore, rather than just being a loose representation of it.

[barbararowley]

If you’re going to try Mörk Borg I’d definitely suggest having a few extra characters stashed up your sleeve for when (rarely if) your first character dies horribly. You can definitely have a hilarious and very heavy metal adventure!

[Webhead]

I will forever be a champion of the Spire and Heart RPGs. Such an incredibly deep and detailed setting and a grimly-unique twist on stereotypical fantasy tropes. It is like a fever dream of Lovecraftian terror, unapologetic violence and the pyrrhic victories of people pushed to the point of desperation. It is the RPG embodiment of the expression, "It's better to burn out than fade away". I love it!

[galinor]

Mythras, Ruin Masters, Against the Darkmaster, Runequest, This list goes on and on.

[dndsl]

Interesting that you start your list with Pathfinder, considering it was originally conceived out of mass nerd-rage at Wizards of the Coast. Nice to see that it seems to have grown into it's own thing though. The One Ring and Mausritter sound interesting as well. Thanks for the new ideas.

[kendoyle]

Great open with the ominous hood and the "Hiya"

[driver]

So glad to see Soulbound get some attention. Even if you know nothing about the Age of Sigmar as a Warhammer game (this was s me), it is a great high powered fantasy setting, rich with lore to riff on, and with a really nice rules system that can have you chucking healthy handfuls of dice. It deserves a look just for its ruleset. 😃👍🏼

[jasonnewell]

Earthdawn! People need to check out Earthdawn! It was the game that opened my eyes to what a fantasy rpg could be if it shrugged off the limp tentacles of D&D. An incredibly well fleshed-out, dark fantasy setting, different races that feel like coherent people rather than a grab bag of character abilities, a crunchy rules system that allows you to be powerful, whilst still maintaining a sense of threat and danger. People need to check it out.

[talahar]

Addendum to Pathfinder: there's a version of Pathfinder based on Savage Worlds. If you aren't so much into rolling D20s, and want a more open character generation that also includes flaws for roleplaying opportunities, but less gritty rules details, it might be worth a look. The adventure path Rise of the Runelords has been adapted to the system, so that might be a good start if creating your own adventures isn't your thing yet.

[seanhillman]

I love that this is (mostly) not the same old things. Great list.

[brianschoner]

Nice list - all [NINE] of those are worth a look. I'd also recommend checking out Pelgrane Press' "Swords of the Serpentine", which is their low-fantasy iteration of the GUMSHOE system and works quite well.

[howardnenno]

There has been a number of the lists the last few weeks and this is the first one with multiple entries I had not heard of before. Picked some of them up to check out. Thanks for the recommendations.

[jasonnewell]

The One Ring is magnificent. I'm running a game at the moment, and all my players laud the rules system.

[Caitlin_TheGreat]

1. Pathfinder
2. Romance of the Perilous Land
3. Heart: The City Beneath
4. Pendragon
5. Mork Borg
6. The One Ring roleplaying game, 2E
7. Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Soulbound
8. Mausritter
9. The Witcher TTRPG

An interesting selection.
Heart, Pendragon, Mork Borg, and Mausritter are the ones I favor (going to take a look at Romance, though, it's new to me). Would have liked to see RuneQuest on here -- yes, the creator already has Pendragon on here, but they're notably different games and both are a magnificent breath of fresh air compared to D&D.

I've been trying to fit Mausritter into my group's rotation for the past year... I mean, there are a number of other things I keep doing instead, but it's one I really do want to play/run.

[stormy]

I absolutely loved my experience with Mausritter - highly recommend, especially if Redwall is your jam

[mitchellmcpherson]

I hope you cats try out Lancer RPG. Role play with giant robots, what’s not to love?