What makes it your favorite? Do you want to play it? If so, what’s keeping you from doing it?
For me, it’s Burning Wheel.
I bought it purely based on aesthetics back in 2008ish, then got the supplements, then Gold, then Gold Revised, with the Codex, and the anthology…
I blame it for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardcover RPGs. :P I also like the graphic design, I like the prose (even if it’s divisive), and it has both interesting lessons you can plug into other games (like “let it ride,” letting success or failure stand instead of making lots of little rolls) and arcane systems that pique my interest (like the Artha cycle, which makes roleplay, metacurrency, skill rolls, and advancement all intersect). I genuinely like reading it for its own sake.
I haven’t played it because… well, since it’s not D&D, that immediately makes it harder to get people interested, sadly. It’s also a bit daunting, given its reputation as a crunchy system. But I have a group of players interested in trying new things, and fewer other games calling for my attention, so hopefully I’ll get a chance soon. :)
I’ve heard so many crazy stories about RIFTS that I’ve always wanted to play it. But none of my friends wanna play it, and I’ve also heard it’s an absolute nightmare of a game system to actually play it.
Yeah, it’s rough. I never liked the mechanics. I love the different settings and world building. However, it’s not balanced in the slightest. You can play a glitter boy pilot or a Russian peasant in poverty. Same starting points. It takes a strong gm hand to balance it.
I collected nearly all the books for a long time and love the setting, but I’ve rarely been able to play it. I have heard there’s a version called Savage Rifts that has better mechanics, but I’ve never looked into it myself.
Friends of mine have played both and prefer Savage by farrrrrr.
That was converted to Savage Worlds and it’s a great high adventure system.