Hidden gems in TTRPG you may not of heard of. Part 1

Hi Everybody, Scott here again. I was wracking my mind about something that you would hopefully find interesting and something that struck me was that a lot of people these days who have come into the hobby in the last few years, due to one reason or another, would only really have experience of 5e DnD. 

I have noticed that be it critical role, big bang theory or hell even Stranger things a lot of people have gravitated into the hobby through the curiosity of the TTRPG(tabletop roleplaying games) space brought about by these shows. Therefore I thought I would list what I feel are the hidden gems of the TTRPG, that I personally have enjoyed over the years. This list will in no way be exhaustive but I thought that by giving a few systems and general overviews of them I could pique interest and food for thought for you dear reader. Also looking at the prices of these books second-hand from eBay and the ilk I have been amazed at how costly purchasing these systems would prove, there are however PDFs readily available all over the internet for perusal or purchase (i.e. DrivethruRPG). So, in no particular order here they are.

Deadlands-The Weird West

One of my all-time favourites, many hours were spent in my teenage years with this beautifully written and massively diverse game. Described as a genre-mixing alternate history roleplaying game combining western and horror into one seamless and at often times nihilistic hybrid. The original(1st edition) was released in 1996 and was the one I played, written by Shane Lacy Hensley, hardbacked with a cover picture of one of the world's deadliest antagonists(Stone). The game is set in the USA in the last quarter of the 19th century (canonically 1876) where everything, historically, up until 1863 is identical to the real world. 

Unfortunately, an event known as "the reckoning" occurred and a conduit was created to a spiritual realm that unleashed all manner of malicious and downright evil spirits upon the world. These spirits known as "the Reckoners" feed on negative emotions, the strongest being fear and with sufficient levels of fear in any given locale the very environment begins to warp and alter becoming a cruel parody of the real world, literally Hell on Earth. I won't go into any more detail on the lore as I would be entering spoiler territory. I will however detail why I feel this game is so good.

Numerous interesting archetypes(like classes in DnD) The huckster- a magic user that has learned to manipulate the evil spirits and use them to power their magic, Gunfighters- like any good western movie these characters are masters in using a gun or rifle, expertly, to lay waste to their enemies, Blessed- those who use an absolute belief in a higher power, since there is evil upon the Earth, there is indisputable proof that a higher power exists and they use it to battle the Reckoners and lastly one of my favourite character archetypes.

 The Mad Scientist, these are tinkers, thinkers and makers that due to a strange quirk of how the power of the reckoners influences the real world have "worked out" the inner working of everything and with a cursory glance can concoct a way to make things work, they devise intricate plans and schematics that when looked at by any "sane" inhabitant of Earth seem gibberish and nonsense but when a Mad Scientist hammers a couple of metal plates together and hooks them up to a battery the thing just works, reminds me a lot of the way technology works for the Orks of the Warhammer 40k universe created by Games Workshop. It's not that the item should or could work but the Mad Scientist "knows" it will. There are numerous others but I felt these would give you a taste of the favour of character you can create and enjoy. :)

Talking of creation Deadlands has one of the most unique systems for character generation, it is also one of the most entertaining and expansive I have encountered. Most systems you encounter in the TTRPG genre involve variations on Roll x dice or spend x points for stat allocation. In deadlands, the character is generated using a standard 54-card deck of cards(2 jokers included) These cards based on suit and value determine the "trait"(i.e. stat) with traits ranging from xd4 to xd12(x is based on the suit) Also, if either (or both) of the jokers(Red and/or Black) is drawn during character generation the character will have special/supernatural powers. 

Another reason why I love Deadlands is that the deck of cards plays a major role in most of the mechanics within the game, an example being the huckster who basically plays poker against an evil spirit when attempting to cast a spell, another example is the trait quickness which, like initiative in DnD, determines the speed and quickness with which characters act. Everyone rolls their quickness at the start of combat and draws 1-5 cards from the deck, then the Marshall(Did I mention the DM/GM is referred to as Marshall in Deadlands) counts down from ace to two and each player can act on that card if they drew it during initiative. This leads to a fast and action-packed spectacle as people throw the cards upon the pile.

I also really like the way experience is handled, when characters are created they are a well-rounded and pretty tough "hombre" who has survived a fairly dangerous and unforgiving world. Each session every player draws 3 "Fate Chips" from a bag, we used a box of poker chips for this, red, white and blue chips, each being usable during the session to alter dice rolls or soak damage. 

The marshal also has the option to draw fate chips for any big bads or powerful creatures to help combat the players, also when the players spend fate chips a lot of the time the Marshal gets to draw for the creatures they face, signifying the fickle nature of fate. lol. If at the end of a session anyone has fate chips left they can cash them in for Bounty Chips, these chips serve the same role as experience points in other systems, which can be stockpiled and used to up trait(main stat) or aptitudes(secondary abilities tied to a main trait). At this point, the Marshal can choose to award extra bounty points for objective completion or exceptional roleplaying. 

The scale of bounty points grows larger in size based on the dice type in that trait or the number of dice of that type rolled(the x as explained above). With traits that the characters are poor at i.e. d4 in the trait, being faster and easier to scale up and d12 (being the best of the best in terms of power level) being hideously expensive and time-consuming to scale.

Have I mentioned that I love the lore of Deadlands, it is deep and immersive, plotted out in a general overarching narrative, where the world has and is literally going to hell, the character are seasoned veterans of these times, they have seen and done a lot of questionable things to survive, whereas in a lot of roleplaying systems you start your adventuring career as a fresh-eyed neophyte, starting a journey that takes a long and winding path, Deadlands takes a differing approach where you have reached the end of one path and discovered there is a new road to travel? ;)

I have kept the spoilers to a minimum in this overview because I feel that with Deadlands, discovering what is going on with and within the world is a lot of the charm it has to offer, especially to someone who has never heard or seen anything to do with this TTRPG. During the lifecycle of the game, there were 2 editions published in the 1990s and then an edition released in 2006 under the title "Deadlands: Reloaded" which I have never played, so it would be nice if you have had any experience of the Reloaded edition to let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comments below.

Well, I feel I have waffled on long enough about Deadlands, I originally wanted to give a list of a number of different game systems, I felt were hidden gems in gaming, in one blog post but having thought about it during writing this post I see now that each system I will name will take up a lot more than a few brief paragraphs in a post. So, I have decided to make my meandering think meat break it up into a number of parts, each I hope will provide you, the reader, with a spark of inspiration, or if you are a veteran deadlands player get those memories flowing.

 Anyway, as always feel free to leave a comment, suggestion or question in the replies.

Thanks for reading

Scott