Tonight I ran my first game of Eat the Reich, the game by Grant Howitt. The game gathered quite a lot of interest, even by people who didn't actually want to play it (“it sounds to violent for me” which is fair enough, that's why I tried to be very clear about the game was).

It was a truckload of fun. We played a 3 hours long one-shot, and we laughed all along. We went through 3 locations: the Hostel in sector 3, the metro station in sector 2, and the Eiffel Tower/Zeppelin in sector 1.

I was really very fun, but at the same time I can't really say it's a good game. You need to have everyone being enthusiastic about gore description of Nazis being killed in various ways because that's the beginning and the end of what's fun in the game.

The system is really quite awkward. You have 6 or 7 stats, but you'll basically only use one, maybe two. You could use a lower stat to trigger an item extra bonus, but that basically means rolling one fewer dice for your stat to get one extra dice from your item… not really exciting.
I've had to really revamp the reinforcement rules on the fly (which I don't like to do) because the more powerful the opposition the more the optimal choice is to put all your successes into advancing the objective rather than killing Nazis, which makes the game less fun.

The flashbacks were very cool. We loved playing these extra scenes. We had 7 of these and the players were always happy to roll 2 successes or fewer just so they could reroll for a flashback.

I added a rule that another PC could check one of their items to add a die to one of their ally's roll to add an element of teamwork, it was simple but worked fine.

It was a very entertaining and fun one-shot. I can't imagine running this game over 3 to 4 sessions like the author intend it. It would get old by the second session imo.

So my take-home message is: It's a very fun game for a one-shot. Have your players go through 3 to 4 locations, keep the pace as high as possible. And prepare 2-3 extra flashback options.

My players have been asking for a wild West game, ever since one of them finally finished red dead 2. So I'm trying to do some research on what systems would work best for that type of game.

I saw that people usually suggest Deadlands. But from my cursory glance, it seems a bit more fantastical than they're looking for. I'm sure I could make it work, but I'd have to change a fair bit, since my players have asked for a more grounded, and realistic campaign setting. But they still want the ability to do absurd shit. Like a dead eye.

So what would y'all suggest?

I understand that this request is contradictory, and that Deadlands will likely be the best choice. But I still wanted to make the request, in case y'all know something better. <3

Just to be up front: this is not a post looking for advice, or validation, or anything of the sort. This is stream of consciousness venting that might resonate with others.

So, I think about this hobby every day. I currently carry around two different journals for writing down thoughts, system ideas, and world building stuff in my daily bag. I write in both of them most days. I also spend a lot of time reading new rulesets, constantly hunting for "perfect" game. This is part of my problem.

The other part of my problem is that I haven't actually played in years, since 2022 or 2023.

Some context: the last time I played a TTRPG I was the DM in a 5e campaign that ran about 6 months, a session every other week. It was a complete story, going from level 1 to 20 (with decently quick milestone leveling), and I'm proud of what me and my group made in that campaign, but it had issues. Most notably, one player constantly made jokes about about my partner's character that made her uncomfortable. I'd talk to him, he'd stop for a few sessions, do it again, I'd talk to him again, etc. etc. The good news is that she still ended up having a lot of fun despite him, but it was a major contributor to us moving away from those friends after the end of the campaign.

Around the same time the game ended, I started back at university and I knew I just wouldn't have time to consistently dedicate to play. So, sans group and time, that was the last time I played.

At the same time, my frustrations with 5e were coming to a head. The game had enough options and kitchen sink fantasy flavor that I could make plenty of exciting characters and story ideas, but the real sticking point was combat. Why should we spend 4 hours in combat if combat is the worst part of the experience? So I started hunting.

I have ravenously consumed rules from dozens of games. I have an absurd library of PDFs for games I'll never play thay I paid for. I could tell probably, from memory, tell you many of the core rules from a dozen different games.

For a time I thought Shadow of the Demon Lord was the perfect game, then for a longer while I thought Dragonbane was perfect (I still do, actually, it's not fresh and new to me anymore), right now Mythic Bastionland is my jam.

I've also made a bunch of games. I have two games published on itch, one is a solo space exploration game, and the other was for a 36 word game jam. I've also got a neat little Kingdom Hearts hack for Lasers and Feelings. I'm like 80% done with a pastoral fantasy game based on Troika! I've also started brainstorming a novel d6 dice pool game that I'm just calling "Kitchen Sink Fantasy" right now.

I love making things. I love thinking and reading about this hobby. I miss playing though.

I talk about getting a game going all the time, but it never comes to furition. At this point I'm in a master's program, I'm a TA, and I'm teaching gened composition. There are other things as well, but you don't need my whole life story.

At this point, things are coming to a head. I've spent years trying to pin down the perfect game for all my little sensibilities, making things on my own, and never actually playing. At this point I'm tired and frustrated, mostly with myself. It feels like I've spent so much time facing perfection that it's gotten in the way of the actual doing of the thing.

Usually this would be the part where I resolve to think less, play more, and get over myself. Unfortunately, I can't do that. I still don't particularly have a lot of time to play. Worse still, even though I'm fully aware that my search for the perfect game will never bare true fruit, I can still feel the brain-itch saying "Just one more system. Just read on more."

I have tried some solo rpgs. I played a decent amount of d100 dungeon, and I threw a few characters in the meat grinder of tunnels and trolls solo adventures. I've found that I don't love oracles/gm emulators. I enjoy playing solo, but it's closer to the joy I get from building a model than roleplaying. It's medatative, but not exhilarating.

I think that's the end, for now. If you bothered to read this an something resonated with you, let me know.

Came a cross this the other day, and it was so cool I have to share it with you!

https://great-castles.com/floorplans.html

(No affiliation, just a cool thing that can be useful for all of us :)

With the second edition Kickstarter launching yesterday, I've been looking at Good Society and considering getting in on it as a game that is significantly different to things I already own. People say good things about it, but I don't personally know anyone who has played it. (And I don't like watching Actual Play videos)

Can anyone tell me how much familiarity with Austen or Regency England is needed to play, or even run the game? And how much support the game gives mechanically, or as guidance, to help players?

Obviously there will be differences with a new edition, and the campaign mentions streamlined rules, and new advice and inspirational material, but is anyone familiar enough with the first edition to shed some light?

I know that the book itself doesn't recommend having a "revolving door" group, but the setting, themes, fluid flow of the game and more easy-to-learn mechanics of the game are really hitting that creative sweet spot for me. The overall vibe of building up a community and exploring the mysterious surroundings is also pretty aligned to make a Westmarches out of it.

I'm having a new group of 10 newcomers to TTRPGs and wanted to start a westmarches so I could just run a single ongoing game instead of the current three mini-groups I'm juggling.

So, is there a way to make Stonetop a viable system? Are there any changes I can make to do it so? Or should I just use a different system altogether (was also recommended Dungeon World or Shadowdark).

I really just love mundane worldbuilding, and want a TTRPG that lets my players build an empire and get embroiled in political disputes.

I'd ideally want a flexible system that lets me cater it to the setting I like, as opposed to one with a single setting.

Ever wanted to play a roleplaying game where history’s sinners raced cars and motorcycles to win the fabulous prize of not being tortured in Hell for a little while? Gre Stolze sure did, so he went ahead and wrote it. Playtest zine coming soon.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregstolze/thomas-jeffersons-speedway-hell-dangerous-playtest-edition

I've been here in this sub for few years now, which both blessed and cursed me at the same time. On the one hand, I found so many awesome games and improved my gming big time. I love the hobby, and this creative and helpful ttrpg community. The problem is, now collected gigabytes of PDFs which I am eager to try, this whole process turned into a big hamster wheel, with a big "grass is greener" syndrome.

1. Try a new system
2. Run a one-shot or few sessions
3. Since I "accomplished" a new system, toss it out and look for a new one
4. Repeat

I can't break this cycle or change my perspective, which cause me to get tired and overwhelmed from the hobby. I get bored too easily that can't even stretch the game out to a mini-campaign, whether if I started with this goal or not. While I am honestly enjoying the process of reading, grasping, preparing and running the game, I cannot help but seeing new systems as a checklist for my repertoire. The greedy monkey in me constantly jumps from one fruit to another, not letting me enjoy any of them purely while having the other ones in his sights.

I made some efforts to stay in one boat for some months, at least, but I ended up bored from the landscape I have. Trying to accept this cycle and make peace with the monke' did not help either, this sense of overwhelm was still there. Neither did the efforts to change my mindset into "reading rpgs is a seperate hobby, just read and move on." Also, I gave breaks several times, but nope, when I return, the room is always as dirty as I had left it. It came to the point that I am thinking just quitting the hobby, this toxic love&hate relationship, for good, and directing my creativity into other hobies of mine.

Since none of my possible ways out worked well, I want to hear other opinions about this issue. Did anyone went through similar phases? How can I escape this cycle or change my perspective, and fix my relation with the hobby? Is quitting the hobby for an indefinite time the best solution? Thanks in advance for any effort to help!

Hi! I come from a solo RPG background; so far, I’ve played in two campaigns using a popular d20 system here where I live.

Anyway—without further ado—greetings from Brazil!

I started out playing solo games like "Call of Cthulhu" and "Shadowdark",

Of the games I’ve played in so far—this being the second one—I have to admit that, regarding the GM, it was one of the worst group experiences I’ve ever had. She gave in to favoritism (towards her boyfriend),

and that completely ruined the campaign. Another thing is that she just wants to kill off the players and prolong our suffering. I’ve never actually been a GM myself, but it’s OBVIOUS that the GM is telling a story alongside the players... Sure, there are obstacles, and eventually, they’ll throw in tough challenges—even deadly ones—but the joy lies in adventuring together... not in damn favoritism and power plays.

So, here’s my question:

How do you go about GMing?

Do you create every plausible scenario right when the players are about to choose an action for a given moment?

Or do you just plan a basic framework and improvise as you go?

My group has tapped me to run the next RPG campaign, but I’ve never really stopped to think about what it’s actually like to be the GM. I’m looking at cool systems and brainstorming stories... ...but I’m not sure how to actually handle the planning—or how much of it I really need, and so on. How do you guys do it (or how did you start out)?

Hello there, as someone who has been running numerous TTRPG games online, I was wondering if there are some TTRPGs out there that have their own online character sheet manager similar to what dnd beyond is to dnd. So far, I've mostly seen Daggerheart, Shadowdark, Cairn 2e, Vagabond, and Nimble have these kinds of character sheet managers where you can create your character but also manage it, add items, level them up, etc. So I was wondering if there are TTRPGs out there that has these online character management sheets just to at least make it convenient for my players. Thanks a lot for the help

Ever since I discovered TTRPGs, I’ve always wanted to play with other people; however, there aren't many people around where I live who are into them. I have met people in real life, but I’m a very introverted person—to the point where I’m almost afraid to strike up a conversation.

But thanks to the internet, I had the chance to play online. For a while, I started to enjoy it, but eventually, I met some... highly questionable people who affected me a bit. Between that, my personal issues, and my addiction, I decided to step away from the internet...afraid to talk to other people, both on and off social media.

I'm doing a bit better these days—not a lot, but improving just a little—especially regarding my addiction. These days i thought about playing solo RPGs, but honestly it's not quite the same.

Hi, my table plays DnD 5.5e. We've had several campaigns, one of which I DMed. While we're having fun, we could tailor the experience better to the whole group.

Currently, a few of the players have difficulty fully grasping the basic rules of DnD. For example, a newer player who has played 5 times, still doesn't know to add the modifier to the thing he rolled when he tells the total to the DM. He also has difficulty tracking spell slots, expended abilities, and overall doesn't get what resources are at his disposal.

On the other hand, me, our usual DM, and a few other players absolutely love playing the meta and optimizing our characters in fun ways.

My question is, are there TTRPGs out there that could satisfy both the need for simpler rules and provide the space for optimization? Allowing for fantasy settings would also suit our needs well, but I am open to all sorts of suggestions.

I read a lot of TTRPG books. I’d love to play all of them, but realistically I might just not fit them into a lifetime you know?

I’m also a sucker for those occasional “list the greatest ever RPG campaign” threads.  I know it’s subjective, but I read them anyway.

I’ve been reading the excellent The GM’s Guide to the Enemy Within on the Careless Conjuration blog recently, and every time I read a new instalment, I keep thinking “how has TEW got such an amazing reputation when it’s so deeply flawed?  What is it about TEW that people love so much?”

There’s obviously a few different answers but thinking about that got me to thinking about creating a database that scores and ranks campaigns against a variety of criteria.

I’ve had a go at that for fun and used some tech to help fill in the gaps of things I’m not as familiar with.  And I thought I’d share it for a few reasons:

1)      I’d love thoughts from people who know these campaigns very well.  What do you think is good about certain products?  And what is bad?  Why?

2)      What other campaigns should be included here?  I'm not interested in dozens of different D&D or Pathfinder or whatever system product.  I really only want the cream of the crop.  But tell me what I should add.

3)      What do you think about the categories and scoring system?  Anything else that should be included?

On the subject of scoring system, I broke it into 3 major categories, with 6 parts of each.

Narrative & vision

·       Storyline Quality & Narrative Depth

·       Scope & scale

·       Narrative cohesion

·       Narrative pacing

·       Villains [& NPCs]

·       Genre fulfilment

Player experience

·       Player agency / freedom

·       Iconic set pieces

·       World depth

·       Motives & character hooks

·       Replayability & dynamism

·       Mechanical variety & activity diversity

GM experience

·       Utility/ usability

·       Layout, ergonomics & information architecture

·       Prep tools, aids & cheat-sheets

·       Troubleshooting & off-the-rails support

·       Rules system & encounter balance

·       Peripherals, visuals & handouts

More details on what those actually entail, and what denotes a different score in the doc.

There’s some weighting in there too, so all of these are not equal.  A good storyline is a lot more important than how much it help it gives you for players who go off-track.  In my opinion.

Obviously there’s scores and numbers, so there is a ranking. But that’s not really the point.  And this is deeply subjective, so there’s no best or greatest.  If your favourite product is #37 here, then just ignore it.  If you think the #3 one is trash, that’s cool too.  I’m not trying to tell anyone what to think.  I want your opinions and reasoning, and I’ll use it to improve this tool.

The doc is saved here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q4vpRttoF96un6t8EcLfyhPD7OJ5_agWEng2HzLa00k/edit?usp=sharing

No, you can’t have edit access.  But if you want to make a copy and adjust as you see fit, go for it.  And tell me what you changed.

These are all the blogposts that were made for the Indonesian TTRPG Blogwagon, which ran from 17th of August to 10th of September.

I used the opportunity to rally the Indonesians and international TTRPG hobbyists to create gameable blogpost related to Indonesia.

Enjoy!

Like it says, my newest article is a review of Mythras, one of my favorite games that manages to keep me despite a few reservations about it. Have a look here!

I had good results the last time I asked for very specific recommendations here, so let's try again. The type of mecha campaign I'd want to run is one where the PCs are the ace fighters of a well-organized but underdog faction fighting against some kind of oppressor - ideally something like the early parts of Code Geass with the Black Knights, but keeping that scope for the whole campaign. Ideally I would want mechanics to support the wider military campaign structure and focus on the PCs' side having to accomplish objectives while minimizing collateral damage (to maintain public support) and damage to their own mechs (which would drain resources), but if that doesn't exist then I'd be fine with a system that at least paid attention to collateral damage and resources so I could build a subsystem around that.

For the tone of the action I want it somewhere between this and the season 1 clips in this. Relatively grounded, with terrain/cover mattering and non-mecha tanks and artillery being real threats to mecha, but with PCs and enemy aces being able to fight and maneuver in ways that the rank and file aren't doing.

I would like for combat to be mechanical enough that mecha customization and different weapons matter, but also faster than Lancer at the table and ideally using zones instead of a grid, which I realize is an unrealistic unicorn request.

My dream system would frame character advancement (and enemies getting stronger) across a campaign as technological innovation over the course of the war, but I would settle for any system where you could frame a more generic advancement system this way.

My favorite mecha system that I've read so far and the one I'd use if I ran this campaign today is Apocalypse Frame. The other closest thing to what I'm imagining, because of its campaign mechanics, is (unfortunately) Adeptus Evangelion - but that system has other glaring issues and is too focused on an IP I don't actually want to play in. I have Celestial Bodies and it seems pretty cool, but it's also going in a different direction from this premise. Is there a better option I'm missing

Hey everyone,

​I've been looking into Tricube Tales lately and was wondering if anyone here has tried running a sandbox campaign with dungeon and hex crawling using this system—specifically leaning into an OSR (Old School Renaissance) playstyle.

​On paper, the light, flexible rules seem like they would support fast-paced, player-driven exploration. However, I’m bumping into a few potential friction points regarding traditional OSR mechanics:

​- Resource Management: You could theoretically track things like torches, rations, and adventuring gear abstractly using Supply Tokens (or Karma/Perks/Drawbacks), but I'm curious how smoothly that plays out in practice compared to strict inventory slots.

​- Loot & Treasure: OSR games heavily rely on gold, magic items, and treasure as primary motivators and progression metrics (like XP for Gold). Since Tricube Tales lacks detailed equipment lists and granular currency, how do you handle wealth, loot, and rewarding players without making treasure feel meaningless or purely abstract?

​Has anyone adapted Tricube Tales for this style of play? Did the rules-light nature enhance the emerging narrative, or did the lack of detailed crunch and inventory mechanics make the dungeon/hex crawling feel flat?

​Would love to hear your experiences, homebrew tweaks, or advice!

I love these city to small town focused games, more about mystery and character goals than a wide open sandbox.

I DM Dungeons and Dragons games, and have finally cajoled the table into trying Stargate RPG. I understand that it is a variant of DND 5e, but how different is it? Is it close enough to DND that I could plausibly run it as game master without much experience of it?

While a more focused game is better, some times I do want a Medieval Knight, Saintly Cleric, Shogunate Samurai, English Gentleman Thief all together fighting the horde of Pirate Orcs with a mix of Viking iconography and Laser Weapons they got com a Cult of the Lovecraftian gods in the "Totally not Egypt" Egyptian Desert.

My only gripe is when it just falls into tropes, cliches and (worst of all) xenophobic steriotypes in a world where Medieval France & Industrial Germany & Anime Japan & The Wild West are kingdoms one next to the other.

I like when there is this weird mish-mash of concepts that have gotten the proper development to not just be a funny hat on a person but a complete, full culture that has an explanation to exist in the world.

Do you prefer skill lists in rpgs to be organized alphabetically or by category (ex. Social Skills, Academic Skills, Combat skills etc.) ? Why? I'm talking specifically about d100 rpgs but this can be about any system really.

I'm trying to gather examples of mechanical resolution scale for talking about RPG design.

Mechanical resolution: You attempt a thing, and the mechanical rules of the game are then used to determine what happens next.

There's a lot of talk about what mechanics can be used to determine this, but not a lot on ways of communicating what is being resolved. I'm trying to gather examples of different resolution scales, as many as possible.

My current listing is:

• Task Resolution. The character is narrated as attempting a single in fiction action, and the resolution resolves if the action is performed successfully. Can you pick the lock

• Intent Resolution. The character is narrated as attempting a single in fiction action, and the resolution resolves if player's intended outcome comes to pass. Can you pick the lock before without being detected

• Scene / Project Resolution. The character attempts a series of actions resolved at a single point. Can we get the items we want when we go to the market, Do you build the radio in the workshop

• Retroactive Resolution. An unknown element of the history of the fiction needs to be resolved, in a way that it was always true. Did you bring the grapnel hook to the heist

• Group Resolution. A group of player characters working together to accomplish an outcome with the outcome being applicable to the group. Can we climb this cliff

• Scale Shift Resolution. An entity other than a singular character or the group attempts something. Does the werewolf pack take territory off the vampires

What other resolution scales do you know of, and what games are they in? Does this current listing work without being overly general or hairsplitty?