This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the RPG systems I run, but these are some of the ones I go back to over and over. My favorite genre is horror, but I enjoy almost any kind of game from goofy cute fun, to traditional fantasy, to just plain weird. I don’t run a lot of tactical combat, but I like to play around with how the rules impact the way stories play out.
Call of Cthulhu and Delta Green (BRP)
These games are based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. The system uses percentile dice and has been around forever. Call of Cthulhu is many people’s first experience of a horror game. Early scenarios and campaigns were set in the classic 1920s, but now there are scenarios spanning from prehistoric times out into the distant future. Delta Green uses the same system and mythos threats, but the players generally take on the roles of government agents tasked with protecting the world from cosmic horrors.
Gumshoe
Trail of Cthulhu, Fear Itself, Night’s Black Agents, Timewatch, Fall of Delta Green. These games use a point spend system and highlight mystery solving and cinematic action.
Fate (Core or Accelerated)
Fate is designed to be used for any game setting. Fate gives players a lot of narrative power. It’s a great system for those who enjoy cooperative storytelling. Fate Accelerated is a streamlined version of Fate Core and designed to get new players started faster.
Powered By the Apocalypse
Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills, Masks, Hearts of Wulin, Spirit of ’77, Night Witches, The Warren, Bluebeard’s Bride, Pasión de las Pasiones, Monster of the Week, Monsterhearts, World Wide Wrestling, Bury Mary, Kult, City of Mist. I love PBtA games for their versatility and the open, collaborative style of play they encourage. I apply the principles of PBtA games in almost everything I run and I’m pretty sure the games are better for it.
Carved in Brindlewood
Brindlewood Bay, The Between, Public Access, etc. The Gauntlet is making some of the most interesting games in the last few years.
Dungeon Crawl Classics, Mutant Crawl Classics, XCrawl Classics
If you love old school D20 systems where your low-level characters could die at every turn – or live on to reach heroic heights – these games are for you! If you play through a funnel adventure you almost always end up rooting for at least one of your characters to make it to the end.
Mörk Borg
CyBorg, Pirate Borg, Death in Space, Frontier Scum, and various other hacks. These over the top games are all simplified D20 systems at their cores. The design of some of the books alone makes them worth checking out.
OSR systems
Hypertellurians, Shadowdark, Old School Essentials, etc. If you’re as old as I am, you remember the earliest editions of Dungeons and Dragons. These games try to recapture the simplicity of those rulesets, while updating and improving some of the more outdated concepts.
Trophy Dark or Gold
Trophy uses a very simple system to tell interesting stories of (usually) doomed characters.
Year Zero
Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood, Vaesen, Alien. Free League’s Year Zero Engine is easy to learn, adaptable to many settings, and fun to run. I have had several of my best gaming moments running these systems.
Too Many Indie RPG Systems to Name Here!
Cthulhu Dark, Cats of Catthulhu, Necronautilus, Mausritter, Never Going Home, Fiasco, Dialect, Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast, Dread, Ten Candles, Motobushido, Moonlight on Roseville Beach, etc.
Is there an RPG system not on this list that you’d like me to run? I’m usually game to do so. Just reach out to me and we can discuss.