Computer RPG Games

Personally i think Pathfinder is one of the better ttrpgs to make into a crpg. It has meaningful choice at almost every level and during play, while 5e kinda has neither of those. If you're interested in the Pathfinder games the second one (wrath) is way more polished, but adds the mythic system (basically a powerful extra class) on top of the base character building so it's a little more complex and difficult.

If you're interested there is a starfinder game coming out this year based on starfinder 2e (which is just Pathfinder 2e in space). I don't know much about the developer, but the system is more streamlined than 1e with a focus on mechanical balance and an action point system instead of the old style standard/full/bonus/etc system.

Yeah, for an alternative perspective 5e is great by crpg standards and tbh I think it is a great ttrpg, it just struggles due to its ubiquity and the fact that it's design inherently limited its expansion.

Ubiquity is easy enough to understand, it's so popular that a lot of people have gotten tired of it, especially given the limits.

And the limits are real. It was meant to be greatest hits edition, so every class is meant to feel unique. This is unique features, aesthetics, even spell lists, further expanded with subclasses. Then there was an attempt to balance classes. Also a great thing to do, but good balance is really difficult and they often chose tastes over balance (after a certain point martials fall behind spellcasters). Ultimately these and a few other elements resulted in the ability to choose between 9 (later 10) classes with a handful of subclasses, and that's more or less it for your character customization. Feats are an optional rule, and as such there aren't that many and most aren't much better than the ability score increase, except the handful that are broken. They couldn't really introduce new classes and they only added a handful of extra subclasses per class over the years. All this means that when you've played 5e for a while it's easy to find yourself in a position where your character feels pre-made, especially if you have a preferred archetype.

There are other less than perfect design decisions as well like balancing around a larger number of daily encounters than most players will experience ever, much less averaging at.

Popular alternatives tend to run into 3 categories, each with their own issues.

-You have 3-likes, such as pathfinder 1 (pf1) which has a ton of customization and typically so fucking little balance that if you're new you're going to want to ask someone to review every idea you have.

-You've got 4-likes like pathfinder 2e (which I personally wish I could play without having to dm), which often face criticism for being overly gamey and samey, they show their math and utilize known techniques to ensure balance. Character creation can feel dry, especially the books, but you have lots of options and it's hard to make a character that isn't useful and even harder to make one that doesn't need the rest of the party. I stand by that more people would like them if they gave them a chance.

-Then you've got more PBTA games where the rules are lighter and it's more focused on collaborative storytelling. Those who like them prefer them, but fundamentally it's just a different type of game.

Personally I'd love to see some more pathfinder style attempts at the 5e vibe, because I do think 5e captured the vibe of what a quintessential ttrpg could feel like. I just am kinda tired of it specifically.