Has Hasbro Broken D&D for you? Let's suggest other systems for people to try!

[Lazer]

Good job Retry! Yup, I have added it to the first post.

[psuedenim]

PF2e bundle up

Humble Bundle

[Aethera]

Kobold Press is also working on their 5e-esque system, though I've forgotten the name. I expect it wouldn't be hard to find, but I don't think they're done yet. They only announced it when WOTC started making noises about the OGL, so they may not have it ready yet, but I think it was supposed to be a way to collect 5e third-party stuff and make it cohesive somehow?

[HotsuSama]

Called 'Black Flag' at the moment. I think they'll be opening up playtesting in a month or two.

[Lemming23]

Originally Posted by HotsuSama

Called 'Black Flag' at the moment. I think they'll be opening up playtesting in a month or two.

End of February, though you can sign up now.

[Retry]

Echoing HotsuSama, the project has been called "Black Flag," however what its final name will be is unknown. I sort of dig Black Flag to be honest.

They've been working on it in the background since last summer but pounced on the OGL nonsense to bring it to light. The system is basically going to be KP's take on 5e allowing compatibility with any 5e sources and products. What that actually means - I haven't the slightest.
I'm quite the fan of the stuff KP makes, so I'm eager to see what this system has to offer.

[Inuvash255]

I suppose scrubbing the WotC off of 5e's math isn't too-too hard. Numbers are numbers, and dice are dice.

[Aethera]

Originally Posted by Retry

What that actually means - I haven't the slightest.

I believe it means it will be "5.5e" (*air quotes*), the bigger and better approach, much like Paizo released Pathfinder as "totally not our improved 3.75e". I'm looking forward to seeing it in play, though I'm not sure I have the right response time to be a playtester. We'll have to see how it goes.

[ShadowcatX]

Originally Posted by Retry

[*]Deviant[*]Old/New World of Darkness (OWoD/NWoD)

I would like to point out that "NWoD" was renamed Chronicles of Darkness (CofD) in 2nd edition. Defiant that you linked to is one of the many CofD options.

I mention this because the systems are quite different and even if NWoD left a bad taste in people's mouths (it did mine) CofD is worth checking out.

[cybersavant]

Stars Without Number / Worlds Without Number / Cities Without Number [[ forthcoming ]

basic book free, deluxe fairly inexpensive

[Strangemund]

As someone whose been shilling Cypher to almost everyone I have ever met (*winks at Retry*), I highly reccommend the system.

It's simple to play. Simple to run. Its got all kinds of settings attached to it.

You have Numenera, which is scifi fantasy where magic and science is a blurred line in this futuristic sword and shield setting.

You have The Strange, which is all about a clandestine order of dimension hoppers trying to stop reality eating evils.

You have Predation, which is literally about living in a world with DINOSAURS!

You have the Core Cypher Book, which will help you homebrew whatever genre of game you want.

And in March/April, you'll have Cthulhu meets the Appalachian mountains book, Old Gods of Appalachia, which I will be running here, and loving every second of it.

Highly reccommend you give it a try at least once!

[Acathala]

I rejoice in the fact in the move that WotC used to try and quash competition, has resulted in creating more competition and turned away players. I've seen the writing on the wall for a while now, which is why I haven't played or bought D&D products in a long time. Given that the person in charge of WotC, used to work for microsoft, I think we can expect microtransactions to be a thing for D&D in the near future. I also don't trust them with the OGL. The management don't understand the hobby or the myriad wonderful people that play it.

[Ildrahil]

This one is completely different from D&D but it is a such a good RPG system I had to give it a plug. Has anyone ever tried King Arthur Pendragon? Greg Stafford considered KAP as his crowning achievement. It is an awesome system and a true role playing game. Everyone starts out as a knight, although there are different ways to build your knight. A knight of the court, a knight of the joust, a knight of the art of love are all options.

There are some really good scenarios developed too. Heck, there is a whole campaign that starts out before Arthur's birth and goes through his downfall. This is a game where one starts a PC and if you make it through the whole campaign you probably have that PCs grandson or great grandson. Each PC starts with a castle as his fief and he has a lord. As time goes on he/she becomes a counselor, gains power, perhaps more land, has a family, ultimately dies and your son or daughter (your next PC) carries on. Sadly, it is a low magic system. In fact, players can't even be magic users in the latest version. I believe the last version that allowed MUs was two or three version ago.

[Snicker]

Someone mentioned Mutants and Masterminds 2E earlier in the thread. I would feel remiss if I didn't mention that the third edition (i.e., Mutants and Masterminds 3E) is available. The jump from 2E to 3E is fairly easy, but the newer version takes some of the clunk out of the mechanics.

I hesitate to recommend it to someone looking for a D&D5E alternative, since the systems are very different in mechanics and feel despite both being D20 systems - M&M is far more mechanically complex and almost infinitely flexible. I will say that if you have been trying to fit the square peg of 5E into a round hole for a while now, but still want to maintain that heroic, light-hearted, and "flavour is free" feel, then M&M3E goes even further in that direction, even mechanically reinforcing it.

[Horseman]

I've only played a handful of systems outside D&D, but I've played all the D&D version back to the Basic Set, but not OD&D.
If I didn't use 5E, I'd be happy to go back to Advanced D&D or maybe even 2E assuming those are still available.

Frankly, could have stopped right there and been happy with it, but we did 3E, 3.5 and 5E because people wanted it and the OGL was in place. Hasbro can shutdown OGL, but they'll kill the game line. Making a ruleset is not where all the work and creativity is, it's the story.