Jeffrywith1e:
Dungeon Fantasy (Powered by GURPS)?
Yes, but... DFRPG isn't D&D, it's D&D
esque. Specifically it's a
GURPS homage to Mike Mearls'
1 "back to the dungeon" and Monte Cooke's
1 response
2 to it of "Orc and Pie". It's all about handwaving town and any complex soci-political encounters, minimizing non-delving activities, and refocusing on "being dungeon delvers/hex-crawlers". You can run complex social and political campaigns using
DF/RPG buuuut, you have to add social skills and advantages back into the mix a bit more. I do so by just offering them as alternatives in each Template and then telling the Players, "social and political stuff will come up, as frequently as combat. Your PCs are primarily designed for combat, you need to take some of these alternate Advantages and Skills to not suck at half the game". Then I adjust the game mix based on the PCs they make.
Also I outlaw the Bard profession, it's not a balanced 'class' if you plan to actually have social encounters anyone but the Bard can succeed at, it's socially OP, so either the encounter is barely a speed bump, or only the Bard can make any headway and everyone else ends up thumb twiddling while they make with the scenery-chewing all encounter.
1 - Both 3e D&D designers. Mike was also instrumental in 4e and 5e D&D, Cooke went on to do other things.
2 - A
sarcastic response to Mike's Back To The Dungeon design philosophy, Cooke espoused more "non-dungeony" games, more social and political stuff, and not just as "side dishes to the meat and potatoes of dungeoneering/wilderness exploration".