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Magic_Hat
2018-08-12, 02:16 AM
So a friend of mine just introduced me to D&D 3.5, and I like it. I want to get more into tabletop rpgs, but don't know where to go. I'm basically looking for recommendations. I've mentioned D&D which is medieval fantasy but I'm open to any genre. Just what games/editions do you like and what's the general world or genre. I've heard of Mutants & Masterminds (I think that's what it's called). Is it any good and what's it like.

Money is kind of tight for me now - I was able to find the core books in 3.5 for cheap so I might have to ask a stupid question: are there enough free source materials online for the systems you suggest that I don't have to buy the core books now?

Draz74
2018-08-12, 08:14 AM
D&D 5e is the most popular system right now. You're sure to get it recommended (and for all its faults, it's the system I play most these days). It has free Basic Rules, although IMO they're pretty limiting compared to the full books.

Mutants and Masterminds 3e is a favorite of mine, but to be honest, a lot of what I like about it is the relatively complex character creation process. It almost requires a spreadsheet. That's fun for me, but not for a lot of (new) players. On the plus side, enough of its rules are free (d20herosrd.com) that you can definitely play it without the books. It's primarily intended for superhero-genre games.

Once suggestions start rolling in, you're going to find that there are a LOT more choices than you bargained for. If you can narrow down what genre and complexity level you'd like to find, you'll get a less overwhelming number of suggestions.

zlefin
2018-08-12, 08:26 AM
one nice thing about pathfinder (which is basically dnd 3.75) is that the material is freely available online; though it's unclear how the future will shake out as pathfinder 2 is currently in testing with a playtest available. original pathfinder material will still be around, but it's unclear what the community size will be; but for now it's still medium-sized.

d20pfsrd.com is one site with a lot of the pathfinder stuff.

Knaight
2018-08-12, 09:18 AM
I'll need to come back to this thread when I have a bit more time to write, but here's a couple of quick highlights before the inevitable list of 20 games - they'll get more detailed in a future edit. These have a bit of variety price wise, but I will say that "core books" is mostly a D&D thing. It's very rare for the rest of the industry to have more than one core volume, which has all the rules. There's a few other games which have two, and a lot that have expansions to their core books, but normally you just buy the one book and are done. They're often cheaper than D&D manuals too, mostly because glossy magazine pages, lots of full color art, etc. is rare.

Fudge: My preferred generic system. Core rules are available as a free .pdf file, core rules plus a bunch of expansion material is available in hardcover. Fudge does a lot of things right, but the core of it is that it has a very solid mechanical core. There's a short list of adjectives called the ladder which is used to rank skills, attributes, difficulties, and all sorts of other things, and a zero centered curve which allows for all of these to be used together. It also has the single best system for handling variation in size that I've seen. Plus there's 40 pages of example characters in a wide variety of genres, which is something Fudge did in 1995 and I've yet to see in other generic systems.

Microscope: A bit of an odd game. There's no GM, and the players are making the history of a setting, working at three different scales of detail and jumping all over the timeline. The rules are mostly structural, both in establishing how this timeline is detailed (which is really helpful) and in who does what when, what degree of direct cooperation is valid when, what people respond to and who makes that content, etc. One book, it's something like $9 in PDF and $20 printed, and that second figure includes shipping.

Hollow Earth Expedition: Sometimes you just want to play the pulpiest pulp game that ever was, and HEX (HEE is just a terrible acronym, so everyone uses HEX) is basically that. The system mostly gets out of the way, providing enough structure to run a game while not being well suited as the focus of the game. Instead the focus of the game is gonzo pulp content, and HEX delivers that in spades. There's the pulp archetype pregenerated characters, there's occult nazi groups to fight, there's dinosaurs, there's all the fun pulp vehicles (zeppelins, ornithopters), and there's even a setting if you want to use it, involving explorers on an expedition to the hollow earth. Print and .pdf, something like $40 for print, $15 for .pdf.

Warbirds: Warbirds hooked me on the promise of mechanics for WWI-WWII style dogfighting, to fill a niche I already liked (flying ace games can be a lot of fun). It had that to be sure, but it also has the honor of being the only premade setting I've ever considered running a game in, instead of just stealing parts of or ignoring while I use mechanics. The short version is that it's set in the Caribbean islands, after they've been spirited away by a freak storm to the eye of a gas giant. It has the whole floating islands and airships aesthetic, which is fun, but it's the alt-history influences and the thorough research on the Caribbean islands themselves that really sells it. Plus it has a fun system for playing celebrities and the implications therein, including an explicit scandal mechanic.

Qin: The Warring States: This is wuxia in mythic China, set in a mythologized version of the Warring States period. It's by far my favorite wuxia game, mostly because it's dripping in flavor. For instance, it has five attributes: Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, and Wood, all of which have roughly the meaning you'd expect if you're familiar with the source material. It has a whole fun system for ridiculous wuxia stunts, it has a magic system that really feels like mythic China (technically it has several specialized ones running in parallel, including internal and external alchemy), and just everything about it furthers what it is.

Chronica Feudalis: A medieval history game, and through that alone surprisingly rare. Fantasy is a well covered genre, which CF neatly sidesteps. The game had three main points going for it - one is that it's just well written and a blast to read, compliments of actual good editing and a conceit where it's treated as if it were a document found in a monastery, written by a very chatty and completely hilarious monk. The other two are a design around four subsystems, combat, chases, parley, and subterfuge, each as detailed as the others; and a very nice system for tool use in the context of all four of these subsystems. One book, $15 in .pdf, something like $30 printed.

Nemesis: Nemesis is on this list less because I like it specifically (though I do), and more because it's part of a family of games that I like, and a good introduction to said family. It's a modern action horror game, available as a free .pdf only. It's also one of the One Roll Engine games. ORE is at its core a dice system, a slightly weird one that's very robust, can be fiddled with in a lot of cool ways, and which just tends to produce interesting design. ORE is also generally the work of one person (minus one game), who has a bit of a distinctive flair for settings and style.

Epimethee
2018-08-12, 09:36 AM
You don't know what you bargained for. The possibilities are almost endless, not only in terms of setting but also on the types of rules you could find out there.

You will find almost any setting, adaptation of tv series, from Dallas (seriously) to Star Trek, and cutting edge science fiction like eclipse phase, medieval fantasy as if it rained, and almost any proposition, from Little Fears, play the nightmare of small children, to Cathulhu, what if Cthulhu was seen by cats... That's not even scratching the surface, at most looking the huge ball of stuff from a huge distance.

Then you go on the specific of the systems. Very roughly, you have the tactical systems, close to D&D, and more narrative propositions, were fighting is really less essential and telling a tale is more relevant.
In a way, D&D helped to fix a lot of tropes that some designer enjoy to distance themselves from, so really you have an awful lot of possibilities.

You will certainly find here a collection of long lists of games, and it may suit you. But really you should try the other way around: what did you like in the game? What were the parts of the rule that were less satisfactory? Then we could give you some suggestions of rules systems that will certainly also bring an amazing diversity of setting. They would help you consider the huge diversity of role-playing world and make some informed choices.

Knaight
2018-08-12, 09:47 AM
You will certainly find here a collection of long lists of games, and it may suit you. But really you should try the other way around: what did you like in the game? What were the parts of the rule that were less satisfactory? Then we could give you some suggestions of rules systems that will certainly also bring an amazing diversity of setting. They would help you consider the huge diversity of role-playing world and make some informed choices.

If all you know is D&D the long lists are likely better - there's a certain level of personal experience needed to really assess your own tastes, and just trying multiple things to pick up that experience is really part of the process. Getting some idea of what's out there at all is the first step to understanding what's out there that you would like.

Epimethee
2018-08-12, 09:57 AM
@Knaight: I never intended to criticize the list as a tool, it was my first intention to write one myself, and also I liked some of the game you have chosen.

I mostly intended to prepare the OP to the afflux of really different games and systems he would certainly receive after his question and to suggest he organise a bit his travel across the many possibilities peoples would surely be kind to offer.

Knaight
2018-08-12, 10:15 AM
I mostly intended to prepare the OP to the afflux of really different games and systems he would certainly receive after his question and to suggest he organise a bit his travel across the many possibilities peoples would surely be kind to offer.

Fair enough. There's certainly room for the list to get intimidatingly large, assuming the nine games listed so far don't already hit that point.

Thrawn4
2018-08-12, 11:17 AM
Vampire: the Masquerade is a Classic

I would also like to point out that drivethrurpg offers comparatively cheap PDFs.

LordCdrMilitant
2018-08-12, 02:00 PM
I like Dark Heresy and Traveller.

I think the second edition of DH is better than the first.

Anonymouswizard
2018-08-12, 03:57 PM
Qin: The Warring States: This is wuxia in mythic China, set in a mythologized version of the Warring States period. It's by far my favorite wuxia game, mostly because it's dripping in flavor. For instance, it has five attributes: Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, and Wood, all of which have roughly the meaning you'd expect if you're familiar with the source material. It has a whole fun system for ridiculous wuxia stunts, it has a magic system that really feels like mythic China (technically it has several specialized ones running in parallel, including internal and external alchemy), and just everything about it furthers what it is.

Seconding this, and pretty much anything the creators Le Septeme Cercle is a well researched mythic historical RPG (except Kuro, which is a mixture of Japanese mythology and cyberpunk). The rules aren't the best in the world (Qin is probably the best of the lot), but they're functional and the settings and treatment of magic and myth certainly make them worthwhile.


My own recommendations.

Unknown Armies: an urban fantasy/horror/Stolze game by John Tynes and Greg Stolze (primarily Stolze as of 3e). Magick is real and postmodern, most magic users are either crazy and obsessed with something (the city, movie cliches, clothing...) or intentionally acting in accordance with an archetypal role. The rest have relatively little magickal power. But magick isn't all powerful, and even the most powerful Occult organisations are in danger of being wiped out if the authorities catch wind of them. Just be prepared for weird, while you're unlikely to be invading Yggdrassil at the head of an army of blood hounds there's quite a few interesting artefacts and situations, and we're not even talking about the Glorious Pumpkin yet (it's an platonically beautiful pumpkin and many people want to eat it, but nobody's managed to cut it yet).

Shadowrun: it's fairly well known, essentially cyberpunk plus D&D races and wizards. Manages to blend it together fairly well, but netrunning is a pain.

Victoriana: take Steampunk, add a cosmological Order/Chaos duality, throw in D&D races (plus Beastfolk) and magic, swap out most real world religions for expies, and change history just a tad. It's something that should be a mess but comes together, and there's more than enough room for multiple magicians or technologists in the party. Plus no netrunning. On the downside it's a somewhat crunchy system, and you need two easily distinguisable sets of dice (modifiers only ever increase your dice pool, never decrease it), but it boils down to roll stat+skill+modifiers in d6, count the 1s and 6s, reroll any 6s, and subtract your 'black' successes from your normal ones to see if you've passed. Plus you can play an orcish train engineer. Why wouldn't you want to play an orcish train engineer?


...Yes, I did include Shadowrun entirely to make a joke in my description of another game. It's worth checking out, but I definitely recommend Unknown Armies and Victoriana over it.

Faily
2018-08-12, 05:59 PM
Star Wars (by Fantasy Flight Games): Like Star Wars? Try this game! I've personally tried West End Games' old Star Wars RPG, as well as d20 Star Wars, and in the end, I found FFG's system to be the most fun system to run with Star Wars. The custom dice might look a bit intimidating at first, but I ran a 3-session long one-shot adventure with 4 players completely new to the system and already by session 2 things were going very smoothly, and most important of all: everyone had fun with the system and enjoyed it (to the point where they want me to GM it more! Agh! What have I done, roping myself into GMing more like this?!)

Magic_Hat
2018-08-12, 06:49 PM
Mutants and Masterminds 3e is a favorite of mine, but to be honest, a lot of what I like about it is the relatively complex character creation process. It almost requires a spreadsheet. That's fun for me, but not for a lot of (new) players. On the plus side, enough of its rules are free (d20herosrd.com) that you can definitely play it without the books. It's primarily intended for superhero-genre games.

I'm not sure if I want anything complex at this point. I guess I should say games that are easy to pick up for people who are still new to tabletop RPGs.


You don't know what you bargained for. The possibilities are almost endless, not only in terms of setting but also on the types of rules you could find out there.

You will find almost any setting, adaptation of tv series, from Dallas (seriously) to Star Trek, and cutting edge science fiction like eclipse phase, medieval fantasy as if it rained, and almost any proposition, from Little Fears, play the nightmare of small children, to Cathulhu, what if Cthulhu was seen by cats... That's not even scratching the surface, at most looking the huge ball of stuff from a huge distance.

Then you go on the specific of the systems. Very roughly, you have the tactical systems, close to D&D, and more narrative propositions, were fighting is really less essential and telling a tale is more relevant.
In a way, D&D helped to fix a lot of tropes that some designer enjoy to distance themselves from, so really you have an awful lot of possibilities.

You will certainly find here a collection of long lists of games, and it may suit you. But really you should try the other way around: what did you like in the game? What were the parts of the rule that were less satisfactory? Then we could give you some suggestions of rules systems that will certainly also bring an amazing diversity of setting. They would help you consider the huge diversity of role-playing world and make some informed choices.

Well part of this thread is just suggesting your personal favorite it. If you love it there's a chance I might and I can go from there. If you want me to narrow it down than simplicity at this point is a plus. In terms of genres I willing to try any (sub)genre: fantasy, medieval, sci-fi, horror, modern setting, superheroes. Sorry, I know that doesn't help.


Vampire: the Masquerade is a Classic

I would also like to point out that drivethrurpg offers comparatively cheap PDFs.

Yeah I've heard of Vampire. I'm willing to check it out. I'll also check out drivethrurpg.

Mr Beer
2018-08-12, 06:59 PM
I play D&D settings because I like pseudo-mediaeval fantasy but use GURPS rules because the combat system is far superior to D&D.

Max_Killjoy
2018-08-12, 07:00 PM
HERO 4th and 5th edition.

Peelee
2018-08-12, 07:06 PM
Knighte of the Old Republic. Not pen and paper, but it's a d20 system and knowing how that game worked was how I was able to get into 3.5. It's a fantastic game, and arguably the best Star Wars game ever, even if it's not exactly what you were asking for.

LibraryOgre
2018-08-12, 07:26 PM
Hackmaster is something of my go-to, and it has a free basic game (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/104757/HackMaster-Basic-free?affiliate_id=315505) that covers 4 races, 4 classes (more, if you count each priesthood as a separate class), and the first 5 levels of the game. It is a crunchy and fairly gritty lowish-fantasy setting in the style of D&D. A well-integrated skill system, roundless combat system, active defenses... it hits a lot of my happy buttons. There's also Basic Plus (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/109622/HackMaster-Basic-Plus?affiliate_id=315505), which is only $10, but adds more mechanics and 5 more levels to the game.

d6 is an older system, with Fantasy (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/20448/D6-Fantasy?affiliate_id=315505), Space (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/20447/D6-Space?affiliate_id=315505), Adventure, (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/20446/D6-Adventure?affiliate_id=315505) and a few other options fairly cheap. A skill-driven, classless, system, it's a good introduction to the ideas. There's also a lot of old Star Wars stuff under a very similar rule system, so if you're a Star Wars fan, it provides some accessibility to it... and it's about $3 for PDFs of one of the systems. Bill Coffin, a friend of mine from his Palladium days, also produced Septimus (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/63991/Septimus?affiliate_id=315505), just before old West End Games went belly-up, and it's still free, AND includes the d6 system rules.

I'm also a fan of Savage Worlds. (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/92743/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe?affiliate_id=315505) It is another generic system, and one I find easy to teach people, and with a lot of flexibility. Like a lot of generic systems, it may not be the best for any given scenario, but it is usually an adequate one. I often use it to to make hacks applicable to specific settings... Mass Effect (http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/p/savage-worlds-mass-effect.html), Elder Scrolls (http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/p/the-savage-scrolls-savage-worlds-hack.html), and Dragonlance (http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2014/09/savage-lance.html), for example.

And there's my own ODE (http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2013/08/ode-one-deck-engine.html), which is completely free and REALLY basic, but all it requires is a deck of cards.

Thrudd
2018-08-12, 07:38 PM
For general use, I like the D6 system from West End Games it's a generic that has books for fantasy, science fiction and modern adventures, and originated with the first Star Wars RPG. It's also available free. http://opend6.wikidot.com/

For D&D-likes, I like the retro-inspired games "Adventurer, Conqueror, King" and "Dungeon Crawl Classics" (and it's sibling "Mutant Crawl Classics").

I have warm feelings for "Feng Shui (and now Feng Shui 2): Action Movie Roleplaying"(particularly 80's/90's Hong Kong action movies, but crosses into Hollywood stuff from that period, too).
It's a totally cinematic game about playing out crazy action movie scenes and fights, with a default setting that describes how any and every sort of action movie character can end up in a group in the same place, fighting ninjas, robots, ninja robots, cyborg apes, mobsters, shaolin monks, cannibal mutants, a sorcerer, or all of them.

Chad Hooper
2018-08-12, 11:20 PM
I'm going to ignore what the OP said about simplicity above and throw in my absolute favorite, Ars Magica.

::editorial comment::The core mechanics of the d20 system are essentially the core mechanic of Ars Magica converted to a 20 sider with the very cool magic system amputated.::editorial comment\::

The idea of "balancing" the game by hindering different skills/classes is thrown out, and balanced by, "everyone plays a Magus in rotation". Magi get super powerful but only over time. Much of their progress is in the lab or library, and one "adventure" per Season may annoy some of the "lab rats".

In a perfect group, full-on Troupe-style play, every one takes a turn in rotation as Storyguide. All of the group creates the Covenant, the mages' collective home and power-base, together, along with the "grogs", the menials, guards, and other hangers-on that a settlement of wizards may need/attract.

Each player (and SG) also creates a Companion PC, a non-Magus character they play when between turns playing their Magus and being Storyguide. Here is where the rest of the "adventuring party" gets filled out, where you get your character types like the hunter, burglar, etc. There are also "shield grogs", personal bodyguards to the Magi, which a player may run for a session or two when needed/fitting.

The fact that the Magi have fifteen Arts to spend points on at creation, and that the names of those arts are in Latin (:smallconfused:) tends to intimidate new players. The fact that posters to Ars Magica forums tend to use Latin greetings and closings in their postings makes it even more so, but I guarantee you, the stereotype that you have to speak Latin to play Ars Magica (or that the game has to be played entirely in Latin!) is entirely untrue.

The default setting is, IIRC, 1220 Mythic Europe (Europe as it was believed the world worked then) but I've played/SG'd in enjoyable Sagas set in late Viking age Scandinavia and Briton both. (Think Dragonslayer the Movie as what a Covenant in it's Winter would look like).

All that said, the core rules for 4th edition are still available as a free PDF at atlasgames.com, and the sourcebooks for the setting are available through your local library or the internet, as the history of Europe is a very rich source indeed.

Nifft
2018-08-13, 06:58 AM
If you've got budgetary concerns...

Eclipse Phase is effectively free, in that you can either buy the book or download the book free -- the torrent was seeded by the authors, so unlike many "free"-by-stealing books, this one is morally unencumbered as well. Also the setting is great and the game is fun.

There are a decent number of high-quality Retroclones (which might also bear the label "OSR" => Old School Renaissance), many of which are available as single complete volumes for cheap. One that I have enjoyed is Dark Dungeons, which might have a 2nd edition by now.

Anonymouswizard
2018-08-13, 07:25 AM
There are a decent number of high-quality Retroclones (which might also bear the label "OSR" => Old School Renaissance), many of which are available as single complete volumes for cheap. One that I have enjoyed is Dark Dungeons, which might have a 2nd edition by now.

My personal favourite is Lamentations of the Flame Princess, there's an artless version for free, and the codebook is only £20 in hardback.

I personally didn't like Dark Dungeons. It was going okay but then Black Leaf died, our cleric started practicing witchcraft, and we all got saved by a missionary and had to burn our books.

Faily
2018-08-13, 08:09 AM
I'm going to ignore what the OP said about simplicity above and throw in my absolute favorite, Ars Magica.

::editorial comment::The core mechanics of the d20 system are essentially the core mechanic of Ars Magica converted to a 20 sider with the very cool magic system amputated.::editorial comment\::

The idea of "balancing" the game by hindering different skills/classes is thrown out, and balanced by, "everyone plays a Magus in rotation". Magi get super powerful but only over time. Much of their progress is in the lab or library, and one "adventure" per Season may annoy some of the "lab rats".

In a perfect group, full-on Troupe-style play, every one takes a turn in rotation as Storyguide. All of the group creates the Covenant, the mages' collective home and power-base, together, along with the "grogs", the menials, guards, and other hangers-on that a settlement of wizards may need/attract.

Each player (and SG) also creates a Companion PC, a non-Magus character they play when between turns playing their Magus and being Storyguide. Here is where the rest of the "adventuring party" gets filled out, where you get your character types like the hunter, burglar, etc. There are also "shield grogs", personal bodyguards to the Magi, which a player may run for a session or two when needed/fitting.

The fact that the Magi have fifteen Arts to spend points on at creation, and that the names of those arts are in Latin (:smallconfused:) tends to intimidate new players. The fact that posters to Ars Magica forums tend to use Latin greetings and closings in their postings makes it even more so, but I guarantee you, the stereotype that you have to speak Latin to play Ars Magica (or that the game has to be played entirely in Latin!) is entirely untrue.

The default setting is, IIRC, 1220 Mythic Europe (Europe as it was believed the world worked then) but I've played/SG'd in enjoyable Sagas set in late Viking age Scandinavia and Briton both. (Think Dragonslayer the Movie as what a Covenant in it's Winter would look like).

All that said, the core rules for 4th edition are still available as a free PDF at atlasgames.com, and the sourcebooks for the setting are available through your local library or the internet, as the history of Europe is a very rich source indeed.


Gonna toss in a +1 to Ars Magica as a recommendation. It's a fun game. :smallsmile:

Yora
2018-08-13, 08:18 AM
I am supporting the opinion that for non-tactical fantasy campaigns, the only game you ever need is Barbarians of Lemuria. You have four attributes and four combat skills and you roll 2d6 and at your appropriate attribute or combat number to the result.
Skills and classes are covered together as careers. If a roll is not fighting, then you add your careers to every roll you can justify your career is useful for. Putting more points into Thief makes you better at thief stuff. And even points in farmer or slave get added to rolls to interact with farmers or slaves. There's also a super simple magic system that needs the GM to say what spells are possible or not, and that's pretty much it.

Very easy to learn, fast to play, and quick to set up.



Knighte of the Old Republic. Not pen and paper, but it's a d20 system and knowing how that game worked was how I was able to get into 3.5. It's a fantastic game, and arguably the best Star Wars game ever, even if it's not exactly what you were asking for.
That's Star Wars d20 Revised Edition. Though it was followed by Saga Edition that did some considerable streamlining and is generally regarded much higher.

LibraryOgre
2018-08-13, 08:31 AM
Since Ars Magica has been mentioned, I'll endorse it, too, but with a couple notes.

1) It is not a simple game, as mentioned, but you should probably get it to reference for ideas and mechanics.
2) This goes double because Atlas offers the 4th edition core rulebook for free as a PDF (http://www.atlas-games.com/arm4/). It's not the current edition, but it is a very good edition.

If you want to get experience with lots of games, playing them is best... but reading well-crafted games is another good start. Ars Magica is a very intentionally crafted game... they have a specific setting they are emulating, the rules go towards that setting. It can make it hard to use that game for another setting, but it also provides a really good look at rule design as an art form designed to evoke certain themes and consequences, rather than 3.x and their attempts at mechanical balance.

avalkauskas
2018-08-20, 10:32 AM
If money's tight, go to DriveThruRPG and you can get a bunch of great RPGs on the cheap (and some completely free). Many have a model of pay what you think is far for the PDFs.

If you are getting into RPGs a few entry level suggestions would be:
- Tiny Dungeon
- Fate Core
- Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok
- Dungeon World
- Fiasco

Arbane
2018-08-21, 12:22 PM
Here's a few. Free, fun, and rules-lite, at least compared to D&D3.5

RISUS, the Anything RPG (http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm)
Danger Patrol! (Buck Rogers-style pulp Sci-Fi) (http://www.dangerpatrol.com/)
Dungeons the Dragoning 40,000 7th Edition (http://lawfulnice.blogspot.com/) (Maybe save this until you've read more RPGs so you'll recognize the things it's parodying.)
Roll for Shoes (http://story-games.com/forums/discussion/comment/438050) (Silly)
Godbound (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185959/Godbound-A-Game-of-Divine-Heroes-Free-Edition) (An 'OSR' fantasy game: 'What if Exalted was based on OD&D instead of Vampire?')

And I just found this. It's free, but I'm including it purely as a curiosity, as it's decidedly not rule-lite.
Glyphs RPG Blueprint (http://www.glyphsrpg.com/)

JeenLeen
2018-08-21, 12:27 PM
Mutants & Masterminds is fun and pretty simple, as others have noted. And has a free online source. Just be aware that it is very easy to make a brokenly powerful character: players should work with DM to make a fair and balanced PC.
Your experience with D&D should translate well. There's some big differences, especially with how health works, but all-in-all it's similar mechanically.

I'm not sure of the cost, but I've found In Nomine to be one of the most elegant mechanics I've ever encountered. It's also potentially very offensive to religious sensibilities (you play as angels or demons), but I think it's foreign enough to actual real world religion that a devout theist can play it without offense. (But I can see those who fear games as diabolical having a field day with that one.)

KillingTime
2018-08-21, 01:10 PM
Dark Heresy, and the other FFG 40k RPGs have all been a lot of fun.
1st Ed was great fun, but they perfected the system through the release of the other games, so that by the time they got back to 2nd Ed it was really very good.
If you like grimdark sci-fi you should definitely give it a go.

Ratter
2018-08-21, 01:14 PM
Ok so an RPG I fell in love with at first sight with recently was Legend, by Rule of Cool, the character creation was customizable while still being relatively easy (excluding choice paralysis). It seems balanced (though I dont know how true that is), the levelling system with tracks is unique and the best part? ITS ALL FREE

http://www.ruleofcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Legend-1.1.pdf

a sheet: http://www.ruleofcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Legend-Sheet-1.16-Interactive.pdf

there are also printable sheets on their website.

SO IN RECAP:

PROS:
Customizable,
reasonably balanced,
unique characters,
simple character creation,
that 3.5e feel,
can be high or low magic,
ITS FREE

NEUTRAL: Monsters and characters work on the same Level system
GMs discretion on item costs and how money works

CONS: Can't find a DM for it so you need friends to learn it

Cluedrew
2018-08-21, 01:33 PM
Fair enough. There's certainly room for the list to get intimidatingly large, assuming the nine games listed so far don't already hit that point.

Dungeons and Dragons (Family of Games)
Pathfinder
d20 Modern
World of Darkness (Family of Games)
Call of Cthulhu
Traveller
ShadowRun
Microscope
Mutants and Masterminds
Paranoia
Mouse Guard
BESM
Roll for Shoes
Burning Empires
FATE
GURPS
Monsters and Other Childish Things
Earthdawn
Eclipse Phase
Exalted
HackMaster
RuneScape
Rifts
FEAR
PTA
Legend
Apocalypse World
Don't Rest Your Head
STaRS
Questlandia
FATAL (Don't play)
• Savage Worlds
o Super Powers Companion
• Scion
• Star Wars
o Star Wars Saga Edition
o Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
o Star Wars: The Role Playing Game
o ? Age of Rebellion
o Star Wars d6
• Iron Kingdoms
• War Hammer 40 000
o Dark Heresy
o Rouge Trader
o Deathwatch
o Black Crusade
• Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG
• All Flesh Must be Eaten -> The Walking Dead
• Fiasco
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Everyone is Luke
• Hero(es?) System
• Champions
• Continuum System (related: Narcisist)
• Spycraft
• Serenity RPG
• Gamma World
• Top Secret
• Bunnies and Burrows
• Kill Puppies for Satan
• Maid
• FU
• Delta Green
• Doctor Who: Adventures in Space and Time
• Gumshoe
• Adeptus Evangelion
• Fallout Games
o Fallout PnP, Exodus & SPECIAL RPG
• mmortails
• Kingdom Hearts
• cthulhutech
• Toon
• HERO
• Torchbearer
• Violence
• RISUS
• Witchcraft
• Armageddon
• Das schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) German
• Dungeons: The Dragoning
• Anima/Anima: Beyond Fantasy
• Numenera
• Bliss Stage (X)
• Dread
• Paladium (Rifts?)
• REIGN
• [Fantasy Heart Breakers]
o Fifth Cycle
o Hahlmabrea
o Of Gods and Men
o Darkurthe: Lengends
o Legendary Lives
o Neverworld
o Pelicar
o Forge: Out of Chaos
o Dawnfire
• TORG RPG
• Kobolds ate my baby
• Legends of Five Rings
• Riddle of Steel
• Blade of the Iron Throne
• One Roll Engine
• Flashing Blades / En Garde
• Chivalry and Sorcery
• Nobilis
• Magical Burst
• Tenra Bansho ZERO
• Ironclaw
• Atomic Robo: The Roleplaying Game
• Burning Wheel
• Monster Hearts
• Mythender
• Fantasy Craft
• CORPS
• Twilight Imperium: The Roleplaying Game
• Montsegeur 1244
• Prime Directive
• True20 System
• Engle
• Cyberpunk {2020, ???, 3rd, 2077}
• Midnight (D&D setting?)
• Wrestling
o WWE - Know Your Role
o WWF Basic Adventuring Game
o World Wide Wrestling (PbtA)
• Mermaid Adventures
• Palladium's Heroes Unlimited
• Champions Hero System
• Mayfair's DC Heroes RPG -> Blood of Heroes
• Squadron UK (formally: Golden Heroes)
• Wild Talents
• Supers & Supers, Accelerated
• Villains & Vigilantes
• Marvel Superheroes
• Marvel FASERIP
• Marvel SAGA
• Truth & Justice [Trait modifier system]
• Triumphant
• Aberrant
• Brave New World
• My Life with Master
• Smallville
• Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine
• Little Terrors
• Laminations of the Flame Princess
• Dynasty
• AGE
• RemiNES
• Alea Iacta Est
• Stars without Number
• Atomic Highway
• Alternity (+Star*Drive?)
• Spirit of the Century
• Basic Role Playing (BRP)
• WaRP (?)
• Crimson Exodus
• Boot Hill
• Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier/Showdown
• Clockwork Dominion
• OGL Wild West
• Sidewinder Recoiled
• 13th Age
• Renaissance
• Dune
• Rivers and Lakes
• Trials of the Magi
• Engine Heart
• Valiant Universe
• Song of Ice and Fire RPG
• Derby Day: Ghosts of Albian -Golf
• Domains of War
• Adventures in the East Murk
• Alpha Chronicles
• Atlas Adventure
• Angry Flowers
• Battle Tech: A Time of War (Mech Warrior)
• Calvin Ball
• City of Heroes
• Conspiracy X
• Corporia
• Cosmic Patrol the Igre Agenda
• Dark Nova DC Adventures
• Dragon Age RPG
• Drama (Experimental)
• Giest
• Promethean
• God Like
• Macho Women with Guns (+Batwinged Bimbos From Hell +Renegade Nuns on Wheels)
• Unity Harbinger
• Mental RPG
• Monkeys on Juice
• Tunnels and Trolls
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG
• Feng Shui (d6-d6)
• One Ring (d10 + Eye of Sauron & Rune of Gandalf)
• Night Shift
• Black Earth
• Clockwork Symphony
• Call of Cattulhu
• Secret of Cats
• CORTEX
• Kenshin
• Legends of the Wulin
• Silhouette
• Rolemaster (var. Spacemaster)
• Stage RPG
• ACKS/Adventurer Conqueror King
• Banner Saga
• Kult
• Danger Squadron
• Twilight 2000
• Tephra
• Space: 1889
• Swashbuckler of Seven Seas
• Warbirds
• Monte Cook Presents Bruce Cordell's The Strange RPG (or just The Strange)
• Harvesters
• Warrior Rogue and Mage
• Shadows
• Witch Girl Adventures
• Qin: The Warring States
• Tribe 8
• Dog eat Dog
• Shock: Social Science Fiction
• Withering Heights
• Silver Age Sentinel
• Myriad Song (with Cardinal System)
• Freemarket
• Fall of Magic
• Sagas of the Icelanders
• Bulldogs!
• Diaspora
• Mindjammer
• Fate Worlds
• Star Blazer Adventures
• Nova Praxis
• Strange Stars
• Dawning Star
• Dark*Matter
• Amber /Amber Diceless
• Aira
• Continuum
• Emperor of the Fading Suns
• Fringeworthy
• Immortal
• Multiverser
• Nephilim
• Obsidian: The Age of Judgement
• Power Kill
• SenZar
• Sovereign Stone
• Unknown Armies
• The World of Synnibarr
• Zero
• Katanas and Trenchcoats
• Terra Incognito
• Danger Patrol
• Barbarians of Lemuria
• Reve: The Dream Ouroboros
• Magic World
• Mythic Iceland
• Tales of Gargenthir
• Empire of the Petal Throne (or Tekumel)
• Grimm
• Streetfighter
• Puppetland
• Valley of Eternity
• Maelstrom
• SLA Industries
• Nights of the Crusade
• A Wanderer's Romance
• The Fantasy Trip
• Top Secret S.I.
• Teenagers From Outer Space
• Star Frontiers
• Tales of the Floating Vagabond
• Fantasy Age
• Barbarians of Lemuria
• Venture City
• Dreamtime
• Dark Continent
• Legend of the Burning Sands
• Cube d3
• Mountain Witch RPG
• Lady Blackbird
• Spirit of 77
• Straight to VHS
• Extreme Vengence
• Three Days Until Retirement
• Action Movie Would
• Hong Kong Action Theater
• Theatrix
• Mage Knight
• Heroclix
• Synapse
• Stalker
• JAGS Wonderland
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness (-> Heroes Unlimited)
• Primetime Adventures
• Lone Wolf
• Stormbringer!
• Low Fantasy Gaming
• Basic Fantasy
• Apes Victorious!
• Final Stand
• Cryptomancer
• DEGENESIS
• Over the Edge
• Singing Cowboys
• Dragonmech
• Castle Falkenstein
• Steven Universe RPG
• Fantasy d6
• Broadsword
• Labyrinth Lord
• Dungeon Squad
• Old School Hack
• Red Box Hack
• First Fable
• ? deadEarth ?
• Wasted: A Post-Apocalyptic Pub Crawler
• Mistborn Adventure Game
• Prowlers & Paragons
• Shadow of the Demon Lord
• Open Legend
• Dead Stars: Universal Decay
• Fragged Empire
• Chromestrike
• Splittermond
• Mythic Roleplaying, Word Mill's
• Schlock Mercenary's Planet Mercenary
• Starfrontiers
• MARS Space by FASA
• Chronica Feudalis
• Godbound
• OVA RPG
• Gatecrasher
• Ryuutama
• The Sprawl
• Leverage: The Roleplaying Game
• Blades in the Dark
• Hollowpoint
• Nemesis (I didn't already have that?)
• Eclipse: The Codex Persona
• Resolute, Adventurer & Genius
• Open d6 |d6 Open, d6 Fantasy, d6 Action, d6 Space
• Black Company RPG
• Masks: A New Generation
• Icons
• Godlike
• Capes
• Wearing the Cape
• Strange Synergy
• Jadeclaw
• Furry Pirates
• Black Hack
• Part-Time Gods
• Camp Myth
• Lasers And Feelings
• Ninja Burger: The RPG
• Gratuitous Anime Gimmick
• M.A.G.U.S.
• Last Word
• Victoriana
• Bleak World
• New Gods of Mankind
• The Witcher: A Game of Imagination / Wiedzmin: Gra Wyobrazni
• Space Dogs RPG
• ERA
• Bushido RPG
• The Morrow Project
• Afterman
• Runequest
• Lazers and Feelings / Swords and Scrolls
• Perfect Unrevised
• Castle Falkenstein (or was it just an adventure?)
• 7th Sea
• The Skeletons
• Microlite20
• Rocket Age
• De Profundis
• Uncharted Worlds (P.b.t.A.)
• C°ntinuum: roleplaying in The Yet
• Cerulean Seas
• Tribe 8
• Heavy Gear
• On the Edge
• Animonde
• Mekton Zeta
• Chris Perrin's Mecha
• MechWarrior/Classic Battletech RPG/A Time of War
• Wield!
• One Last Job
• In Normine
• Palladium Robotech RPG
• Jovain Chronicles
• Aliens RPG
• Deadlands
• Albedo
• Iron Heroes
• Dragonstrike
• Remnants
• Mecha Aces
• Beat to Quarters
• Epyllion ("My Little Dragon")
• Forthright Open Roleplay
• Golden Sky Stories
• InSpectres
• MASHed
• Masks
• Motobushido
• Puppetland
• The Warren
• World of Dew
• Dawn of Worlds
• Desolation (Ubiquity)
• Follow
• Aftermath by "FGU"
• Blood Tide
• Fantasycraft
• Deliria
• The Skeletons
• Diana: Warrior Princess
• Bloodlust
• Legendary Realms
• Symbarum
• Double Dross
• HOL - Human Occupied Landfill
• Pokethulhu
• Abandon all Hope
• GateWar (rules heavy)
• Phoenix Command
• Hollow Earth Expedition (Ubiquity)
• Regime Diabolique (Ubiquity)
• 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars
• Ninjas and Superspies
• Starfinder
• Keltia
• The Laundry
• Fantasy Hero (Champions)
• Strike!
• Otherkind
• Zweihander
• Technoir/Mechnoir
• Genesys
• 9th Age
• Talislanta
• Munchausen
• Urban Shadows
• Urban Jungle
• Anima Prime
• Bhailadam
• Death Before Dishonor
Sorry about the odd formatting, it didn't copy over quite right.

Jay R
2018-08-21, 03:18 PM
If you like swashbuckling adventures and musketeer movies, then Flashing Blades.

It has classes that are based on actual classes. Where you were born and who raised you. You are a Noble, Gentleman, Soldier, or Rogue. In the Caribbean supplement High Seas, this is expanded to include Sailor, Marine, or Pirate.

There are five dueling styles. If you learned Italian style, your thrusts and lungers are better. Spanish style has improved slashes, etc. [The game was written in the 1980s, and there is no authenticity to the style descriptions.]

Each character has an Advantage (title, wealth, lackey, favor, contact, etc.) and a Secret (secret loyalty, sworn vengeance, secret identity, duelist, inveterate gambler, etc.). These make the characters unique, and are the key to fitting a swashbuckling persona.

The main characteristics are Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Wit, Charm, and Luck.

The skills are a big part of the game. Each class has three skills that cost 1 point each, a set of what you might call "class skills" which cost 2 points each, and the rest are 3 points. So it costs a Rogue 3 times as much to learn Heraldry than Cutpurse. Once you buy a skill, your ability is based on the associated characteristic, plus experience. Each skill or fighting weapon goes up individually, based on how much you use it.

Social status is real, crucial, and part of what you're striving to earn.

The game's biggest weakness is, being made in the early 1980s, the assumption was that all players would be guys, and there are no female character types. I invented Actress for as player in my game, though it would be easy to play a Noble or Rogue as a woman.

It plays quickly, feels right, and lets players act like swashbuckling heroes.

Anonymouswizard
2018-08-21, 04:11 PM
I am going to put in a recommendation for Das Schwarze Auge/The Dark Eye, with the cravet that it is in no way rules-light (in terms of heaviness the 5e core rules are somewhere between 5e D&D and 3.5 D&D).

In the latest edition characters are built on a point budget, with Culture and Profession packages to make it simpler. It's relatively low fantasy, magic is weak but nonhuman creatures aren't uncommon, and all elves are spellcasters. Casters are balanced by starting effectively 140-180 points behind everybody else in exchange for magic and some benefits related to their Tradition, the same for Blessed Ones (essentially clerics, who have stronger but more limited powers than spellcasters).

In addition outside of combat, and even for combat spells, every skill check is rolling 3 Attribute checks against two or three Attributes, for example Courage/Intuition/Dexterity. Attribute checks are a simple 1d20 under Attribute, and for skill checks you can use your skill points to reduce the numbers you roll.

But the key thing is the incredibly detailed world. Imagine that instead of making lots of different settings the designers of D&D focused everything on one. That's the level of detail Aventuria has. Although much of the information hasn't been released in English that (the bits that have get you to roughly 'new editions Forgotten Realms' level), but there's sourcebooks on almost every country in the pipeline.

Louro
2018-08-21, 04:44 PM
I'm liking Warhammer 40k. Although the setting is pretty... disturbing.
I'm definitely trying Dungeons the Dragoning 40k at first chance.

I won't suggest paranoia. Mechanically beautiful on a brilliant scenario. Best ever game but requires some complicity between DM and players.

AshfireMage
2018-08-21, 10:01 PM
To add/agree with what others have said, I think it's best to try lots of things if you get the chance- after all, you might absolutely love something that you would never have thought of normally!

That being said, here's some criteria to consider, since sometimes it's hard to know what the right questions are when you're new

1. It looks like you said you prefer on the lighter end of the "how many rules" scale, but it's a consideration, definitely!

1a. How much do you care about the game being "balanced"- ie, does it really matter to you that most options are going to be equally powerful by whatever metric you want to use? Or do you not care as long as the game functions?

2. What genre- sci fi, fantasy, slice-of-life, etc? You can get an rpg for just about any kind of story you want to tell, and it's a fast way to narrow down your options

3. Do you prefer something fairly setting-independent, or something with a setting baked into the mechanics? At one extreme, we have something like GURPS, which is designed to be completely generic- you're supposed to be able to find rules for literally anything you might want to include in your game. Others, such as the World of Darkness games, have the lore and mechanics intimately tied to each other. While changes the setting are possible, you're definitely have to make a conscious effort to get away from the published universe, and will have to make a lot of houserules if you want to do something radically different. I'd say most editions of D&D I've seen are somewhere in the middle.

3a. If you do want one with at least some level of setting established, do you want it to be an original property created for the game, or do you want it to be Franchise: The RPG?

4. If you have any idea whatsoever, how many people do you think you're likely to be playing with? Some systems do large groups better than others, for example.

5. You said you're looking to do it on the cheap, but how much money you're looking to spend is definitely a good question. Apart from free games, the cheapest usually hit the balance of "old enough that you can find plenty of used copies" and "not so old they become a collector's item"

5a. Is it important to you to have the book available in a specific format? There are numerous RPGs that are only avalible as PDFs (unless you want to go to the trouble of printing the rules off yourself), and others that aren't legitimately available in digital format. If storage space is an issue, or like me you really like having a hard copy at the table with you while you play, it's something to think about.

6. Does the idea of having a lot of additional content (be it lore, mechanical things like new classes or abilities, or both) available in expansion books appeal to you, or do you want something that's a bit simpler/broader in it's rules and/or a less developed setting, but all contained in just one or a couple volumes?

7. For lack of a better way to say it, what "content rating" are you looking for? Obviously, how it works out in practice heavily depends on the group you play with. But again, there's a spectrum. If you (or anyone you think you'll be playing with) is a child/teen or has delicate sensibilities, something like Demon: The Fallen or Warhammer 40k is probably a bad choice.

Kadzar
2018-08-22, 12:24 AM
My primary recommendation would likely be Stars Without Number (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/230009/Stars-Without-Number-Revised-Edition-Free-Version). It's a good sci-fi game, and the free version has everything you need to play and run the game, with the deluxe version basically just adding in some non-essential setting options. And you can use supplements from the previous version with minimal conversion needed to add in more stuff later, if you want. Or you can take things from OSR games and convert them for use in Stars Without Number (with possibly a light reskin to make them sci-fi). Or you could even run a different sci-fi game entirely and still use many of the world creation rules and adventure seeds and faction rules in a completely different system.

My second recommendation would probably be Dungeon World (http://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/) (there doesn't seem to be a free PDF version of it anymore, but there's an SRD kind of like what 3.5 and Pathfinder have. You can at least grab the playbooks (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_Fz4m5hcoieW1GRVVaNnRfbnc/view) from the site (http://www.dungeon-world.com/)). Dungeon World sort of emulates an older version of D&D, but it's mechanical workings are a bit different. A lot of it is based on the GM reacting to what the players do by making certain moves in response, such that there isn't any sort of initiative rolls in the game; rather, making attacks or doing actions in the presence of enemies puts characters in danger of attacks. Also, there are a lot of situations where you might be required to choose one or more things that happen to you from a list, and sometimes that comes down to which bad thing doesn't happen to you. The game is based on another game called Apocalypse World. It's kind of different, but fun.

Third is a game called Mazes and Minotaurs (http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/revised.html) (also here's the DriveThruRPG link (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/11095/Legrand-Games-Studio), which I think has a few newer bits that aren't on the original site). Mazes and Minotaurs posits a world in which Greek mythology, rather than medieval fantasy, inspired the first roleplaying game, and basically goes wild with the notion. The collected works try to emulate not only the systems of earlier D&D, albeit with much more streamlined mechanics than early D&D ever had, but also the culture of a game that was built up over the years by magazines and supplements, parodying the odd nature of some of those additions, while also recreating the fun and whimsy of it all. And it's all free!

And I think I'll end it for now with Talislanta (http://talislanta.com/?page_id=5) (DriveThruRPG Link (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12115/Steve-Sechi). I'm pretty sure the site has all these and more, but DriveThruRPG has print options in case you're into that). Talislanta is a weird and fantastical setting, where you can play a bunch of different humanoid races that don't exactly have any direct analogs to more traditional fantasy ones. Like, dozens of them. Also, the system is pretty streamlined, and has a nice thing where, the more skilled you are at the task you're doing or compared to your opponent, the more likely you are to critically succeed, whereas you can't critically fail unless you're very unskilled or facing a very tough challenge. And there's 5 (main) editions to choose from, all free!

iTreeby
2018-08-22, 03:48 AM
For simple R.P.Gs there are two that stand out in my mind. FATE and Blades in the Fark. What both of these games have in common is their attitude about narrative freedom and their relative simplicity

In FATE you can basically play anything that you want to as a group,. Player characters have narrative powers based on their descriptions, I liked playing vector city (a super hero style add on) very much every time I got to play it.

Blades in the Dark Is a game where failure is used to create narrative struggle. You can make bad things happen to your character for extra dice and every roll you make has a chance to complicate the situation. The default setting is fantastic, it has a very Dishonored feel to it.

YohaiHorosha
2018-09-19, 09:26 AM
Some advice for the OP, beyond what was already given.

First, welcome to the hobby!!! This hobby is fun, amazing, creative, and immersive. And there are literally billions of things to explore.

To that end:
1) don't buy anything yet. Seriously, there's SO many games, and the choices are overwhelming. The volume of games out there makes categorization difficult. And you don't even know what you truly like about the hobby yet. Do you like combat simulations? Investigations? Setting exploration? I can go on and on.
2) go to conventions (cons). Lots of cons. Local, not local, online, not online. Cons cons cons. Try games. Like, lots of games. With different gms, different styles, different settings. Each time explain 1) you're new 2) you're exploring playstyles 3) you're trying new systems and setting
3) don't ever stop exploring

I'm going to echo some things already said.

1) decide what settings you want to explore. The choices are endless, but you're kinda looking at modern, low fantasy (low level tech, low level magic), high fantasy (magic magic magic), future/sci fi/space, apocalypse, horror, pulp (basically whatever world you want, except you can't google and, generally, no cell phones, so the ability to communicate over distance on a spur...so if someone is missing, you can't just text them...or if trouble is coming, you have to race to the place), superheroes, historical fiction with fantasy elements (ancient china, Mesopotamia, etc with mystical elements), -punks (steampunk & cyberpunk as examples, which tend to focus on oppressive societies and how this technology helps some people cope, some people rebel, some people oppress), weird (look, a society of vaguely anthropomorphic insects acting like sentient beings...or cats) and mash-ups (zombies meet cowboys in the 21st century, wuxia meets cowboys meets steampunk). Like, this list scratches the surface. Start with a thing you know, and go from there. Work your way thru them, figuring out what you do and don't like. For example, I prefer modern (with mid fantasy), pulp, high fantasy. My partner likes anything with horror and high fantasy. My best friend plays exclusively high fantasy. Another friend does pulp and modern only.

2) explore what you want to play. Do you want to explore, kill things, win glory? (Dnd and pathfinder are big name examples). Do you want to exist in a world that is slowly driving you mad? (Call of cthulu). Do you want to be a an investigator hunting clues to solve a crime? (Pelegrane Press/Gumshoe). There are 100s of questions about what we want to actually play that lead to specific mechanics and game systems to support it. Most systems do the things they're meant to do very very well, highlighting the type of play it's meant to highlight, but failing to do other things. For example, powered by the apocalypse (pbta) games are great at telling stories about characters in specific roles, but not great at customizing your barbarian, your 21st century psionicist, or your 25th century scavenger. Pathfinder is great at board tactical combat, but not great at finding a clue about the whereabouts of your sibling that's been captured with little evidence. Yes, you can hack any system to do anything, but mechanics matter towards the types of stories you tell. Explore roleplay types. If you realize you love combat simulation, don't play Monsterhearts (a pbta setting). If you realize you like fantasy settings but get bored by all the combat specifics, find a game and setting that fit.

3) figure out what level of crunch you tolerate. Crunch is generally defined as the number of steps you have to take in order to decide an outcome. Generalized as light, medium, heavy. People will argue what is more fun, better, satisfying, etc. Heavy crunch takes monumental effort to understand, sterotypically consulting lots of charts and rolling lots of dice, but not always
People who love it LOVE IT, but that number of people don't dominate the hobby as much as they used to. Medium crunch is generally some form of streamlined mechanics that exist, must be interacted with, but aren't the core of what's happening at the the table. Light crunch is generally a few rules, basic resolution mechanics, and get on with telling your story. Figuring out your crunch tolerance and desire is one of the hardest things in roleplaying. Scouring these forums, you see countless people dealing with crunch tolerance issues (i want more crunch/less crunch than the other players in my group).

As you explore settings, mechanics, and crunch, you'll be able to whittle down your question from "what do i play" to "i want a light crunch wrestling game focused on wrestling careers" or "i want a heavy crunch high fantasy storytelling game where combat isn't as important as other fantasy elements" or "I'm exploring cyberpunk, what's out there and what styles do they cater to?" Or "i want a gm-less storytelling game".

Best of luck!