*[caveat] (Destiny)

by Harmanimus , Monday, May 21, 2018, 11:08 (2177 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Early DnD was literal wargaming. The character and story aspects developed later. I would actually suggest it wasn’t until 3e that DnD became more about Role than Roll. Obviously it varies by group, but traditional DnD considers the story stuff incidental. (Though in context I think 5e is probably the best DnD has ever been in balancing the different draws and providing flexibility)

You mentioned other varieties that are less mechanically heavy. What would you recommend? I have no interest in sticking rigidly to the rules.

To go as light as possible but still some mechanical resolution system, I would suggest Fudge or Fate (alternately presented as FUDGE and FATE) as a jumping point. They are based around fudge dice (d6 with two +,-, and _ faces each) and tend to be statistically like. Fate is fully skill focused. They’re mechanical systems and are not settings, so you can overlay whatever fantasy setting you want.

More recently Fantasy Flight Games has put out Genesys (I am slowly building a Destiny setting/conversion out of it [emphasis on slowly]) which takes their Star Wars system (Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, and Force and Destiny) and leaves their narrative dice system in place. Drawback is proprietary dice, but usually a group can get by with one or two sets. Highly modular, additional suppliments are being released/developed. The core book has suggestions for 5 or something generic settings/tones.

Free League (Fria Ligan) has a pretty interesting way of doing rules and are pretty fluid. I am a fan of Tales from the Loop. But have heard positive hings about the different mechanical decisions in Mutant: Year Zero and Coriolis. Worth looking into, though it might require leg work if you are looking for a traditional fantasy experience.