Top 25 RPGs List is Up!

zacharythefirst · Post by **zacharythefirst** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:18 am

Over at my site and on the RPG Bloggers Network, I requested that people send me a list of their Top 10-25 RPGs of all time. I had hoped for 50 responses, but ended up with 150. It has been a fun project, and I hope it fosters some good discussion about some great games.
http://www.rpgblog2.com/2009/04/you-dec ... sults.html

For those who don't want to follow the link, here's the basic results:
Honorable Mentions: Boot Hill, Castles & Crusades, FUDGE, Cyberpunk 2020, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness.

The first 7-8 spots were pretty solid, then there was a bit of a vote drop-off, then spots 17-25 were fiercely contest, as were the honorable mention. All of the honorable mentions missed out on the Top 25 by 40 points or less.
Top 25 RPGs Project Final Rankings:
1) Basic/Original D&D

2) Call of Cthulhu

3) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition

4) Traveller (Classic)

5) Star Wars (West End Games/d6)

6) Dungeons & Dragons 3.0/3.5

7) GURPS 3e

8) Tunnels & Trolls

9) Champions

10) RuneQuest (majority of 85% favored 2nd edition)

11) Vampire: the Masquerade

12) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition

13) Gamma World (1st/2nd Editions)

14) Shadowrun 3e

15) Pendragon (Chaosium editions)

16) Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing 1st Edition

17) Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP)

18) Savage Worlds

19) Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

20) Amber

21) Rifts

22) Hackmaster

23) Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP)

24) Star Frontiers

25) Risus

(If you want to combine the D&D entries into a single entry, you can move the Honorable Mentions up accordingly).

More on the points system used (think AP Football) can be found here:
http://www.rpgblog2.com/2009/04/vote-fo ... -time.html
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Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:40 am

Interesting results. Intereresting to see the lower spots (20-25) where they are and games like Rolemaster, C&C, Mutants & Masterminds, True20, and Deadlands not make it. *shrug*
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:53 pm

Well, I think that given the inclusion of all RPGs (both in print and out-of-print), there list holds a couple of surprises but many are kind of expected.

M
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:54 pm

Disturbed to see SR3 on there.
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Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:39 pm

I was suprised at HM, SR, and Risus.

I think it depends on where the votes come from, too, and where the knowledge of the poll is most prominent.

Interesting, nonetheless.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:05 pm

Lord Dynel wrote:
I was suprised at HM, SR, and Risus.

I think it depends on where the votes come from, too, and where the knowledge of the poll is most prominent.

Interesting, nonetheless.

Yeah, the poll is far from being "representative", its just for fun.
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Hrolfgar · Post by **Hrolfgar** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:37 pm

As much time as I spend online, I can not believe I missed this. Fun idea, even if it is not scientific. Hey is there anyway you could post the actual votes.

I'm surprised by some games, Risus? that beat out C&C. Like Lord Dynel I'm surprised Rolemaster,M&M, True20, and Deadlands All missed the list.

No Stormbringer, Cyberpunk 2020 either.

I love Pendragon, but I'm surprised to see it ranked so high. I've never been able to find a group to run or play this game (an actual campaign)since 1985 when it was released. I guess it is an unplayed favorite.
Basic/OD&D seemed to be the current fad, but c. 1981 AD&D 1e ruled. That said I would still put it #1 on my list.

Call of Cthulhu would make my top 25 but I think it is an overrated game, but I'm not at all surprised to see it at #2.

I own 12 of the top 25. Never played 13 of the games including Hackmaster and Tunnels & Trolls which I own.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:47 pm

Good point Hrolfgar. I'll list how many I own, just for possible discussions sake.

1) Basic/Original D&D

2) Call of Cthulhu

3) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition

4) Traveller (Classic) and MegaTraveller and the new Mongoose.

6) Dungeons & Dragons 3.0/3.5

7) GURPS 3e and 4E

10) RuneQuest (majority of 85% favored 2nd edition) I own the Mongoose version.

12) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition

13) Gamma World (1st/2nd Editions) I own 2E.

14) Shadowrun 3e and 4E and 2E and 1E.

15) Pendragon (Chaosium editions)

16) Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing 1st Edition (I own second edition)

18) Savage Worlds (only in PDF)

19) Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition (PH only)

21) Rifts (its RIFTS, not Rifts.)

22) Hackmaster

23) Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP)

24) Star Frontiers (again, only in PDF, with the exception of one adventure)
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Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:43 pm

I guess time plays a little part, as in how long a game has been out. Another part would be sheer popularity, as in 4e's case. That leaves a few things still odd, but I attribute it to the circles the poll ran in.
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Traveller · Post by **Traveller** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:47 am

Of the top 5, the only one I don't own is Call of Cthulhu.
Of the rest of the group, the AD&D entries shall be combined in my mind, the d20 Fantasy and d20 Vista entries dropped entirely, and the honorable mentions moved up.

My list of games I own that appear on this list:

1) OD&D, B/X D&D, BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia D&D

2) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (both 1st and 2d Editions)

3) Traveller, MegaTraveller, TNE, T4

4) Star Wars (West End Games/d6)

5) GURPS 3e

6) Tunnels & Trolls (and Monsters!, Monsters!)

7) Champions (4th edition)

8) RuneQuest (2d edition, 3d edition in Monograph form)

9) Gamma World (all editions plus Omega World, d20 Gamma World in PDF only)

10) WFRP, 1st Edition

11) Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP and the version which uses colored stones)

12) MERP (1st and 2d Editions)

13) Star Frontiers

14) Castles & Crusades

15) FUDGE
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concobar · Post by **concobar** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:36 am

My thoughts are in red.
1) Basic/Original D&D #1.No brainer on this one. Can not even think of any game that could compete for first place.
2) Call of Cthulhu #5 Should be further down the list. I like the HP Lovecraft genre but the game was not that great.
3) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition #2 This game was better than CoC by a long shot but then I could be biased.
4) Traveller (Classic) #3 game of all time and should include the newer Mongoose publishing traveller which keeps the feel of CT very well.
5) Star Wars (West End Games/d6) #6 Fun system deserving a solid place on the list.
6) Dungeons & Dragons 3.0/3.5 #4 This would be my pick only because it got a lot of people back into the hobby. As a system i prefer C&C or D&D 4E.

The rest
7) GURPS 3e I do not care for Gurps at all.
8) Tunnels & Trolls Never played this game.
9) Champions never played champions. I played Villains and Vigilantes as a teen.
10) RuneQuest (majority of 85% favored 2nd edition) never played this game.
11) Vampire: the Masquerade did not care for this game.
12) Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition I would rate this one with AD&D 1st ed at #2
13) Gamma World (1st/2nd Editions) This game deserves to be higher on the list at maybe #7 or #8
14) Shadowrun 3e I like shadowrun. I have the 5th ed now which I think is maybe a bit better than 3rd but /shrugs.
15) Pendragon (Chaosium editions) I love the pendragon modules and source books. I use them with slight modification in my Greyhawk campaign. not sure this system deserves a spot in the top 20 when games like top Secret are not mentioned.
16) Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing 1st Edition The newer edition is a much better system.
17) Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP) never played this game.
18) Savage Worlds never played this game.
19) Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition would rank higher at around #6 because i think it is superior to 3rd ed.
20) Amber tried to play this once. once. I assume it is on the list for novelties sake.
21) Rifts MDC? blech!
22) Hackmaster Have not played this system but see it as a 1st ed clone from the small amount of material I have read.
23) Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP) I would have ranked this and all the role master systems at #7 or #8. I remember the systems as being complex but fun when I used to play back in the 80s. the crit tables were very funny.
24) Star Frontiers Should be a top 10 pick if only a #9 or #10. Was a great game, simple to learn and flexible enough to do anything really. I like percentile systems for sci fi.
25) Risus never heard of this game before.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:24 am

It seemed that they were very specific with differeniating between versions of D&D, and I think for good reason. It's still impressive that TSR games are #1 and #3, though I also feel that 2nd edition should be up there as well, in the Top 5. I feel 3.x is right where is belongs. MERP/Rolemaster I feel should be higher, because as I understand during the 80s it was the 2nd most popular RPG, and should still carry more weight than it is represented.

As for the rest, all I can say is "meh" - everyone has their opinions...mine included.
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LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

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tylermo · Post by **tylermo** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:43 pm

Where to start. Nobody will totally agree with anyone else's lists, but there were a few missing entries. I would have thought Shadowrun 2 over 3 to a degree. NO DEADLANDS?? Wow. Just my opinion, I suppose. James Bond rpg from Victory Games would have been a nice honorable mention at least. Although, I would have included it on the main list. Totally happy about Marvel Supes, Star Frontiers, Savage Worlds, Gamma World, Star Wars D6, and many others being on the list. Star Trek and Doctor Who(Fasa) were good source products, but system was probably too clunky for the list. Hell, I thought Last Unicorn Game's Star Trek was pretty good. Might have included that on a personal list. Twould have been nice to see C&C. Oh well. For this kind of poll, I was surprised to see many of my favorites.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:16 pm

I agree with you on a lot of those, tylermo. I actually loved the old FASA STRPG. I played played it with a TNG game, which would have been better suited by LUG probably. It sucks that there's no Star Trek RPG in the works. Oh well.
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Maliki · Post by **Maliki** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:47 pm

Interesting, I don't know how much stock I put the results, my list would be be quite different.
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zacharythefirst · Post by **zacharythefirst** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:42 pm

Maliki wrote:
Interesting, I don't know how much stock I put the results, my list would be be quite different.

Mine was, too.
Yeah, I mean, I was happy to get 150 responses, but they were almost all from bloggers and readers of the RPG Bloggers Network. Niche of a niche, if you will.

I'd have put Rolemaster on the list, but it was nice to have MERP on there. Since the list was dominated by a lot of influential older games, I was happy Castles & Crusades at least scored an honorable mentioned.

Ultimately, to each their own. It has generated some solid discussion about many different RPGs, so on that front, mission accomplished.
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tylermo · Post by **tylermo** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:12 pm

Lord Dynel, I thought I heard at one point that FASA's Star Trek was the DISTANT number 2 behind D&D. Even if that was true, I'm sure that number two spot changed a bit from time to time. Would like to think that WEG Star Wars eventually found its place in the top 3 or 5 in sales.

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Top 25 RPGs List is Up!

Top 25 RPGs List is Up!

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