>>97611883
Pick one that you like the cover art for. Then go for it. TTRPGs are TTRPGs. Unless you're picking some hella unknown indie bullshit then whatever. They all play close enough to the same that you'll know whether you like playing them. Then after you've played one, you'll know what you want one to do differently.

>>97611883
Have you considered using a free quickstart or going to a FLGS and playing with some random GM before buying?

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>>97611883

>>97611883
BTW, you may ask your players if they are willing to skimread a couple of systems before committing to one. Particularly if they tell you what they liked or don't.
That way you can balance what you like and what they like, personally, I'd be deligthed to try diiferent systems.
As a DM (and I've gone from Burning Wheel to InSpectres, from Pathfinder 1 to Mothership, from GURPS to Mausritter), I usually talk with the members of the RPG club we have and reuse/adapt an adventure I know with the chosen system.
Yesterday we finished Eberron Forgotten Forge using Daggerheart system, it was a ablast ^_^

>>97611883
Depends on what kind of game you want to run.

>>97611883
JUST DO IT FAGGOT.

Pick one. Roll a die if you need. Even if you try five of them and decide none are to your liking you'll still be ahead and waste less time than on the AP.
>but my friends
Be honest with them and say you want to try out some new shit, run a 1-2 shot.

>>97611883
Why don't you ask your friends what they're interested in playing?

>>97612231
>>97612299
>>97613251
>>97613638
I want to play your average fantasy ttrpg, but not 5e. There are like 5000 options from rules lites, to old school, to japanese upstarts, etc.

>>97613790
Seriously just pick one you like the look of. The differences are nominal. Hell pick 5e who gives a shit. Nothing is gonna be a perfect fit before you even have played enough to know what you want.

>>97613790
Define the real decision (not just the obvious question)
Examine your thinking process looking for cognitive biases
Challenge your assumptions systematically (would your players agree to experiment 5 systems?)
Identify decision to take
Design multiple genuinely different options
Evaluate alternatives

>>97613816
Or draw a name outa a hat. It's a game to play not the fuckin' manhattan project. The difference between the worst possible and best possible decision is "meh" and the penalty for choosing poorly is "you played a game" which, coincidentally, is also the reward for picking correctly.

>>97613790
I'll choose for you. Get hold of the Dragonbane Starter kit, study it and play it. It's good enough to not be a waste of time, it's easy to learn, the lvl progression is interesting (not dead easy, not impossibly difficult), the high levels feel really powerful without being unmanageable for the DM and the minis, character sheets, dice and adventures are fun.

>>97613790
That's not an answer to what I asked.

>>97613897
I just want to point that the _audience_ you are asking. I'm pretty sure in this thread there are teenagers avid to have a blast playing DnD with their frind the whole weekend, control freaks who demand access to calendars and assign appointments so they know everyone is gona be present, resolutive DMs who make do with the players that appears and sensible moody demanding DMs who guiltTrip anyone deciding to abandon their table.
The ages probably vary between 14 an 50ish, the systems we know and love are many, and most of us don't see "learning" a new system as something difficult or demanding, it's just readyng BARELY enough to be able to sort through one adventure and coming out with sensible solutions when something unexpected arises.
In order to answer you, we'd need to know what are you willing to devote, what do you like playing, how are you going to read it who are going to decide whether it's worth it or not.
That's why everybody is making assumptions for everything you haven't stated.

>>97613970
Damn that's crazy, you still didn't tell me what's preventing you from asking your friends what they want to play. Why?

>>97613979
Entitled much? Also obviously the guy you just responded to clearly isn't the OP.

>>97614003
Indeed, I am entitled to whatever I decide I am, at all times. Answer me or die.

>>97613638
>>97613897
I don't think they care. As long as it's low commitment because no one has time for a campaign anymore.

>>97613853
Thanks for the suggestion.

>>97613816
is this some type of corporate decision training?

>>97614010
I also am not OP, dumpkiss.

>>97614062
Your funeral.

>>97614063
Are you testing chatgpt posts?

>>97613790
>There are like 5000 options
Roll d5000.

>>97611883
Retards will tell you otherwise, but this is what talking to your players and doing session 0 type shit is for. You collectively decide which genre, system, and story ideas sound best and choose whether you're doing a longer campaign or smaller set of sessions. If you're doing a one-shot because you're unsure which game's rules will best fit your intended experience, establishing that expectation up front will be better for you and your group.

I know that /tg/ make the systems they play (even moreso those they don't) a core of their identity but it's really not that deep.

All of the big and popular ones are good choices for a beginner group. That includes 5e.

>>97611883
You don't even have a group, so it doesn't matter one fucking bit anyway

>>97611997
honestly this is the best advice

>>97614022
That wasn't a suggestion. They made the decision. Go play the Dragonbane starter kit. Thread's over.

>>97611883
What is your preferred style of play?
Grab a generic system that matches that.

Ok good sirs, I have decided that I will look deeper into Dragonbane, Ryuutama, and Blades in the Dark. Thank you for participating, but now we can let this thread die a peaceful death.

>>97613790
Most OSR games are worthless. Skip em. If they're NSR, ignore them outright. Anything that tries to encapsulate characters as a couple stats and an inventory space is trash. Anything described as an "oddlike" is not worth your time. Almost everything built on the Mork Borg set of rules is likewise gonna be a waste of time.

So what you're going to want to do is grab a copy of Fantasy Craft and play that.

>>97611883
My, what a FAT DOG

>>97611883
You're never going to know what systems you like if you don't try any of them. Pick one you think you'll like and run it, if it sucks stop running it and run something else until you find some you like enough to consistently rotate in and out.

>>97611997
>TTRPGs are TTRPGs
Ah yes, it's a well known fact 5th Edition D&D is the exact same system on every level as Shadowrun which is also the exact same system on every level as FATAL which is the exact same system on every level as Thirsty Sword Lesbians. They're all the exact same games.

>>97613790
>3.PF1e
Play this if you want rules autism and feat autism without any sense of game balance.
>PF2e
Play this if you want a more boring version of PF1e that's more balanced where the only setting you can play without exhaustive rules tweaking and homebrew is the core one.
>SOTDL
Play this if you have a scat fetish.
>DND 4e
Play this if you like World of Warcraft and MOBAs.
>TSR D&D (Pre-3e)
Play this if you only care about dungeon crawls for loot and want to have to make up 5 trillion houserules to fix the broken ass systems
>OSR
Play this if you want to pretend you always knew about and enjoyed TSR even though OSR is a totally different beast. What system doesn't matter, they're all the same shit.
>GURPS
Play this if you're willing to pick out all the rules you want from like 5000 books.
>BIg Eyes Small Mouth
Play this if you want to kill yourself from the rules being incredibly vague and unhelpful.
>FATE
Play this if you want BESM but actually almost playable.

>>97615248
>I know that /tg/ make the systems they play
Could have just stopped there for me. One of them is in active development and I have heavy pull with the dev and also maintain the google sheets. A lot of the other ones are systems I've made or are so bloated with homebrew (Cough 5e cough) that they might as well be my own systems at this point.

>>97620291
Yeah, but do you do crossfit?

>>97617564
I fucking told you asshole, it was not a suggestion. You're playing fucking Dragonbane.

>>97620597
No, but I play games, unlike (You). You are not welcome in the ttrpg community.

>>97611883
>How do I get over system analysis paralysis and pick one to play?
There's no cure for being a cunt.

>>97620262
>Ah yes, it's a well known fact 5th Edition D&D is the exact same system on every level as Shadowrun which is also the exact same system on every level as FATAL which is the exact same system on every level as Thirsty Sword Lesbians. They're all the exact same games.
Eh. They're close enough. Don't pick a meme like FATAL but pick any mainstream game and the experience you have of playing it is gonna give you the same level of general familiarity w/ TTRPGs regardless of whether you picked Shadowrun, D&D, VtM or what-the-hell-ever. They're not that different. You'll make some characters, run an adventure, roll some dice, get some experience and maybe some loot. Fight some baddies. Blah blah blah. They really are pretty formulaic and not terribly different from one another.

>>97611883
Make a big list and roll on it. That's how I decide what to make my players play.

>>97611883
tell me your options and i'll do it for you

>>97611883
So what did you end up with OP?