We independently assess all our recommendations. Purchases through our links may earn us a commission.
In case you haven’t heard, COVID-19 boosted Dungeons and Dragons‘ sales by 33% back in 2020. Couple this with the popularity of D&D shows like Critical Role and you can see how Wizards of the Coast are making bank while we’re trying to have fun and stay safe at the same time.
But let’s be real, 2020 is eons ago and by now, some of us who are still playing D&D on a semi-regular basis are probably bored of the system and want something new to spice things up.
If you’re tired of medieval Europe-inspired fantasy adventures in Toril, here are a few tabletop RPGs you can play that aren’t D&D in both the literal and figurative sense.
Not only are these games clearly not D&D, but their genres, settings, and inspirations are different enough from D&D that you’ll actually feel like you’re playing a different tabletop RPG and not a D&D clone.
1. Call of Cthulhu
Who doesn’t love a horror-themed tabletop RPG? Dungeons and Dragons may have a horror module in Curse of Strahd, but it’s still a very D&D-ish type of adventure that leans more towards campy horror than existential crisis horror.
For some real dread, you’ll have to check out Call of Cthulhu. As you can guess from the title, Call of Cthulhu is inspired by H.P Lovecraft‘s story of the same name and it lets players loose on a world filled with terrifying beings from beyond our world.
Their mission is to uncover the mysteries of the Cthulhu mythos which is why they’re called Investigators in this game.
The game approaches leveling in a vastly different, but still intuitive, way from Dungeons and Dragons. In D&D, leveling up is done through earning XP or completing story milestones. In Call of Cthulhu, you level up your character’s skills by having them perform skill-related activities.
The more practice your character gets, the better they are at performing that skill.
Investigators can pick up a copy of the Call of Cthulhu ruleset here. For Keepers of Arcane Lore, that’s Cthulhu-speak for dungeon master, you can find your rulebook here.
2. Coyote & Crow RPG
There’s no rule that says all tabletop RPGs have to be based on European culture, but many of them do because Lord of the Rings was. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, however, there are other stories to tell and other cultures to base them on.
Enter Coyote & Crow, a tabletop RPG set in an alternate future where Native American land was never colonized.
In this future, a climate disaster caused a long Ice Age that prevented the colonization of the Americas in the 1400s and gave people purple marks known as the Adanadi. With training, the Adanadi can be harnessed to gain superhuman powers.
Coyote & Crow currently has an introduction story for players and DMs interested in checking out the setting. Players take on the roles of heroes in training who have to work together to keep local factions from tearing each other apart.
The game takes place in Cahokia, Coyote & Crow‘s alternate universe version of St. Louis, Missouri.
If you like the introductory story, you can get a digital copy of Coyote & Crow‘s rulebook here. It’s a beautiful book with over 400 pages of fully colored art that you’ll love, especially if you liked Black Panther.
3. Fate Accelerated Edition
Tabletop RPGs tend to have a lot of rules that make it harder for players and DMs alike to learn how the game works and keep the pacing brisk enough that no one falls asleep at the table.
That’s why Fate Accelerated takes the Fate Core system and trims it down to the absolute basics. The game is designed for 3-6 players and is meant to be easy to pick up and play. It’s also kid-friendly and new player-friendly so players don’t get intimidated by the game.
Another great thing about Fate Accelerated is how flexible it is. You can easily take Fate Accelerated‘s system and mash it together with your favorite fictional world.
It doesn’t matter if you set the story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or on the dunes of Arrakis because it will work. As long as players understand the basic rules, they can build their favorite fictional character as a player character in Fate Accelerated.
Luke Skywalker cutting down Harkonnens? Sure, why not. Just get your copy of Fate Accelerated here and you’re good to go.
4. Basic Roleplaying
Basic Roleplaying is another plain and simple tabletop RPG system that allows you to easily meld it with any fictional setting. It uses a skill-based percentile system and has fast-paced combat that you’ll love if you’re sick of how long it takes to crunch numbers in a D&D session.
The rules for Basic Roleplaying are quite short for a TTRPG, just 40+ compared to Dungeons and Dragons‘ 300+ page Player’s Handbook, so it’s easier to run and leaves more room for you to DM however you want.
Unlike many basic systems, Basic Roleplaying is a tried and tested game that has served as the core of big tabletop RPGs like Call of Cthulhu.
You can get a free copy of the entire rulebook here.
5. Deadlands
Deadland is dead in two ways: It’s set in a desert and it’s full of undead beings.
It’s set in a fictional 19th-century U.S. where undead beings known as Reckoners threaten to end humanity and take over the world.
The Reckoners were summoned by local Native Americans in an attempt to push out European colonizers from their land. However, the Reckoners are interested in taking the world for themselves by turning it into a hellscape of fear and terror.
Players can choose to play as Hucksters, Shamans, Gunfighters, Lawmen, Blessed, and Mad Scientists to uncover the true nature of the Reckoners and send them back to where they came from.
The game is primarily set in the “Weird West” but has modules that let you play in other major U.S. cities. You can also change the setting from a strictly Wild West-type scenario to one with more prominent steampunk elements.
You can grab a copy of Deadlands here via their Kickstarter page.
6. The Star Wars Tabletop RPG
Grab your lightsabers (which are kind of real, by the way) because we’re going on an adventure in a galaxy far far away.
The Star Wars TTRPG isn’t a single game but three distinct modules that tie into each other. Fantasy Flight Games divided the game into Force and Destiny, Edge of the Empire, and Age of Rebellion to try and do justice to the breadth of Star Wars‘ fictional universe.
In Edge of the Empire, players get to live out the experiences of smugglers like Han Solo and see what life is like for regular people struggling to get by.
Age of Rebellion puts you on the side of General Leia Organa and her rebels so you can experience the high-stakes of politics and war. Meanwhile, Force and Destiny lets you explore the path of a Jedi and connect with Force.
You can choose where you want to start by selecting any of the modules available here.
7. Wanderhome
Wanderhome is the cutest little tabletop RPG you’ll ever play. It’s perfect for players and DMs who are tired of learning rules. You won’t need to do math, bring dice, or have someone run the game.
Please, if you’re a player, let your forever DM know there’s a way for them to play and that you’ll all be adorable animals together.
Wanderhome is set in Haeth, a cozy Miyazaki-esque world where you can meet whimsical characters and let your imagination run wild. Who plays these characters? Your fellow players, of course!
The game places a heavy emphasis on the collaborative component of TTRPGs by letting players interact with anyone and anything in the environment and leaving it up to other players to choose how an NPC interacts with a fellow player.
What you get is a more dynamic experience that forces everyone at the table to hone their DM-ing skills.
Wanderhome is available here.
8. Dream Apart
It’s not every day you see a tabletop RPG based on Jewish culture and experiences which makes Dream Apart a refreshing D&D alternative.
Dream Apart has you playing as a Jew living in a shtetl, a small rural town in the Eastern European countryside. Life in the shtetl is simple and complicated at the same time.
Your quiet rural life is under threat of major cultural changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution and supernatural beings from the Unseen World.
Like Wanderhome, Dream Apart is a dice-free, DM-less game that anyone can play together.
You can get it in a 2-in-1 book with Dream Askew here.
9. Kamigakari: God Hunters
Kamikagari: God Hunters is an urban fantasy tabletop RPG where players try to protect unsuspecting civilians from Aramitama, evil spirits hellbent on harming mortals.
If you can picture your player character as a Demon Slayer in modern Tokyo, that’s kind of the same vibe as Kamikagari: God Hunters‘ setting.
Player characters are known as God Hunters which are regular humans who have been blessed with supernatural powers through legendary artifacts. Sometimes, these artifacts aren’t just armor or katanas, but the crystallized souls of heroes.
The game has a flexible approach to character creation that lets you mix and match “classes” and choose any weapon you want. It never locks you into situations like “You’re class X so you have to know Y and only do Z.” that’s common in Dungeons and Dragons.
It also has more options for customizing weapons and other gear. After defeating opponents, you can use their “drops” to improve your items which makes it easier for you to fight your next opponent.
While it’s a cool game, it’s also harder to start than the others listed here because of how daunting the text is. The English version of the game was translated from Japanese so the text can be a little dense in some parts.
You can find Kamikagari: God Hunters here.
10. Thousand Thousand Islands
Thousand Thousand Islands is a tabletop RPG that is completely system-neutral, meaning that it doesn’t come with its own ruleset and it’s up to you to choose which TTRPG system you want to play it with.
You can use D&D rules, which you’ve likely mastered by now, or Basic Roleplaying if you want to keep things simple.
The game is composed of a series of zines that each focus on a different historical period and region of Southeast Asia. Some of the zines, such as Stray Virassa, have a distinctly Indochinese flavor while others, like Korvu, have a more south Southeast Asian vibe.
You can find Thousand Thousand Islands‘ zines here.
