In December 2025, I posted about 20 RPG systems that I played that are not DnD – 10 fantasy systems, and 10 more systems that are not traditional fantasy. Since then, I’ve got to play a lot more RPGs, so it’s time for another round of mini-reviews. Not all of them are necessarily dark and dangerous, but I somehow had to come up with a distinguished title 😆

  • Black Powder and Brimstone: This is a standalone game based on Mörk Borg is set in a fantasy world where gunpower just became a (volatile and very explosive) thing. Not only that, it is set in a very German world. For me as a German that’s always a bit funny, these “fantasy” names and places that are all so very German. I also actually played this in German with a German group, which is something I usually never do, and which always feels quite alien to me. Regardless, playing this was really fun, and I love how dangerous it is. I played the Grenadier who has lots of bombs, and I find it particularly funny that every time you use a bomb, you have to roll to check that you didn’t accidentally blow off your own hands.
  • Crash Pandas: This is one of Grant Howitt’s one-page RPGs, and it’s a hilarious one. You play as racoons involved in illegal street racing in Los Angeles, and to play the game correctly, you need miniature cars. That makes it very board game-y for an RPG, but great fun. I played this with only one other player, which generally worked pretty well, we shared a car in the race and tried to be a complementary team. My racoon was the main driver, but also occasionally burst into singing Queen’s greatest hits and charmed all our competitors with that.
  • Delta Green: Delta Green is basically modern-day Call of Cthulhu. I liked this one-shot a lot, because it was taking place right here in Düsseldorf in places that I’m very familiar with (like the university campus). My character came with the character trait OCD, and when presented with an otherworldly device became so obsessed with it, that they went a bit insane. It was really fun to lean into that for roleplaying, and I think for modern-day adventures, this is a really cool system.
  • Forged in the Dark: I played a simplified version of Blades in the Dark in the standalone adventure Teeth: Blood Cotillion. This was a really fun story about a bunch of Victorian lady assassins (the players) against a bunch of douchebags and trying to find a mysterious shrine. The system itself was very simple, and in the case of my character gave me some interesting ideas to roleplay. I did however play it at the RP event I organize, where usually my brain is not at 100% capacity. I would eventually like to play a proper game of Blades in the Dark for comparison though.
  • Memento Mori: This RPG has one of the most fascinating, very twisted progression systems I’ve seen. In this game, you literally become corrupted. Set during the times of the plague, in this game you are shunned, but simultaneously also blessed with the strange ability to evolve. Whenever you attack, you roll black and white dice. When you roll a 6 on the black dice, something about your character evolves and becomes corrupted. You might forget your name, or the reason why you went on this journey, but you also get a new ability, like being able to jump from shadow to shadow. The character that I played in one of these one-shots literally became the Grim Reaper, wielding a scythe and a cloak, and having the ability to turn himself into sand. Very cool, very dark, very fascinating system.
  • Nimble: Remember that Daggerheart was supposed to be the easier DnD and failed? This is where Nimble succeeds! It started out as a rules hack for DnD 5e and became its own thing, and it’s actually a pretty cool, fairly lightweight and straightforward system. I really like the simpler character sheet and combat. No more frustrations of missing and attack, and much less math. The one-shot I played was really funny too, and left lots of opportunity for roleplay.
  • Pathfinder 2e: After many years of experience playing DnD and having been warned how much more complicated Pathfinder is, I have to say: it’s not. Honestly, it felt more or less the same as DnD from the level of crunchiness. Some things are just different. I do like that there’s a 3 action system, but what I didn’t like so much is the penalties that come with multiple attacks. It has the same problem that DnD is, if you miss, you’re just sad. Nimble does this a lot better. The adventure I played was really fun though.
  • Shadowdark: An Old School Renaissance kinda system, this is a very classic dungeon crawler. The rules are super simple, and you can create a character in a few minutes. The one-shot that I played was fun, I played a rogue that is a bit afraid of the dark, and this game is literally very dark (as in lack of light).
  • Trophy Gold: Trophy Gold is a variant of Trophy Dark, but where Dark is made for one-shots in which your characters are supposed to die, Gold is made for (small) campaigns in which your characters are supposed to accumulate gold. I played a one-shot of Gold though, in which 2 out of 3 characters almost died, but did gather enough gold to skedaddle out of the scary mine they explored. Interesting system, but altogether I would prefer to play one-shots in Dark.
  • Vaesen: Medium in complexity, I liked Vaesen both in regards to rules and setting a lot. It’s supposed to be horror, and the one-shot I played definitely had some scary creatures (but then again, I’m never truly scared when I RP) and a puzzle to be solved by working towards your strengths. I like the system especially also because it gives all players connections to each other, which made it a lot easier to roleplay with the other players on the table. A very streamlined system with a fascinating setting.

That’s all for now! Check back in a few months for more mini-reviews for more RPGs!