GMing

After my life settles a bit, I'm planning on starting light campaign with a few friends. In selecting which game, as usual, I am not starved for choices. Here is my list so far with minor notes, in no real order.

1. Savage Worlds, Nescessary Evil. I've always liked Supers and having the PCs play villains appeals to me. As does the buy in price of the basic rule book, a scant $9.99. It has one drawback, one of the potential players is a bit of a power gamer with supers.

2. Savage World, Slipstream. Pure retro sci-fi based on the serials of the 30s and 40s. Lots of options for PCs and swashbuckling fun, but the drawback the one the 'for sure' players suffered "Bad GM Syndrome" in a sci-fi game. The Savage Worlds rules are light and easy to learn too.

3. Dungeons & Dragons 4e. Say what you want about 4e, but I like it. It plays well and it's easy to run. Also the fact that it's very board gamey works to my advantage as a lighter fun game. The main drawback is the cost of the PHB, $35 bucks is a lot of money these day, but I can run it using my own books to start.

4. Gamma World. Yes, that old classic. A new edition is due out in the fall as a stand alone product using the d20 rules. With the game being so new, the drawbacks are unknown.

5. Star Wars:Saga Edition. I've run this before and the players had a great time. Straight forward rules, and a setting known to most of the population of the US. Unfortunately, the publisher has dropped the license due to the economy. The rules are falling out of print.

That's how it stands at the moment. D&D is leading the pack, followed by Slipstream, Star Wars, Nescessary Evil and Star Wars following close behind. Where Gamma World will fall into the mix can't be guessed yet.