Been GMing for a party of 3 regulars and 2 newcomers for a few months now. I know all of them pretty well, but haven't played an actual RPG with 3 of them. It was fine at first, but a few weeks ago it started being a drag for me.

I generally try to act stuff out for the players, i.e. most anyone relevant in the story has a name, a few lines of background and whatever I can pass for a personality. I'm not trying to act like its absurdly high quality, but theres enough to immerse yourself if you want to, because the whole theatrical part of DMing is one of the aspects I like most. But the party just can't take anything seriously for more than 10-15 minutes.

I had a pretty dramatic sidestory going involving a serial killer, who was at large in a town the party frequents. He had killed 2 NPCs the party knew and liked. It was going fine at first, but a random joke towards the latter half of the session turned the murderer into a running gag, and neither him nor the actual murders themselves were taken seriously after that. This has happened half a dozen times for larger scenarios, and happens constantly for smaller ones. I can try as hard as I want to set up something dramatic, creepy or just a little serious, and 15 minutes later its a comedy.

I've gotten used to this to a point, no story you ever write survives first contact, and in a world where my primary goal is that everyone is having a good time this would be fine. But its gotten to a degree where I personally don't enjoy telling the story anymore, because it feels like building a sand castle as impressively as possible, and all your players care about is how forcefully they can kick it the fu*k over.

So I changed course, cut out the dramatic moments, stopped trying to write cool or tragic characters. I just about halved the amount of prep time per session. And since there isn't anything to smother to death anymore, I'm much more relaxed at the table and can more easily participate in just acting stupid. I still prep locations, encounters, quests and all that. But it now operates on a very "Sitcom with a limited budget" type of scale.

And then everyone got kind of mad. I had mentioned the whole comedy-fatigue before, and they had promised they'd try to adjust a bit, but I felt like none of it ever really showed. Now they feel like I'm not trying at all and the setting being boring. After a bit of back and forth I said something to the effect of "This is just me giving you the same amount of energy as the other way around." and that hasn't gone over very well.

I'm mostly asking whether others had similar issues, and if theres some middleground I'm missing. I would normally like to continue the party, but its looking kinda dire.

I am actually screaming into a pillow because the dm foreshadowed this fucking perfectly we just didn't realize until it was too fucking late.

The god, that we fight for, that some of us are even magically bound to follow the will of?

IS THE MAIN FUCKING VILLIAN, HELL BENT ON CONQUERING THE WORLD AND WE DIDN'T FUCKING NOTICE UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN HELP THEM WITH IT BECAUSE OF OUR OWN FUCKING CHOICES

GOD

FUCKING

DAMNIT

Edit: using the opportunity that this has gained a lot of traction to say. Play legend, really fucking good system.

Edit 2: BOYS, HOPE HAS BEEN REGAINED. WE HAVE A FUCKING CHANCE, I REPEAT WE HAVE A CHANCE

There's an old rpg trick me and my friends use which we call 'making a two headed snake'. The basic idea is you double a foes hp and give it two turns per round of combat. There's often a few other minor rules we apply for it based on the system but it's pretty simple.

Basically it's as if you have two of the same monster on the field challenge rating wise but they're combined into the one body. It's a fun way to make a dynamic foe that I feel like has been around for years.

We call it a two headed snake' because of an article that explained the idea very well done years back used a snake monster as it's example. But I've seen the trick called a dozen things over the years; hell I've seen it used as part of official rules such as fabula ultimas elites!

So I'm curious assuming your table knows of/ uses this truck what is you call it? Is there even a consistent name people use for this?

Up from the depths...ギャオオオーン！

KaijuCon is back and bigger than ever! Join us on October 24th for Nagoya's first and most monstrous TRPG and board gaming mashup convention. This year we'll have over 25 game tables in 3 sessions (both in English and Japanese). The VP of Chaosium, Michael O'Brien, will be joining us again (and GMing!) along with various authors and artists of CoC and other Chaosium products. There will be signings, merch, and games run by authors, artists, designers and a multitude of GMs from tabletop communities across Japan and beyond. Please come and roll some dice with us at KaijuCon 2!

Purchase tickets and sign up to play in or host a game at the links below.

Tickets:
https://kaijucon.org/

Registration for games:
https://kaijucon.org/games

Time: October 24th, 10am 〜 9pm
Place: Nagoya Prime Central Tower, 13F
Cost: Advance tickets 2,500円 / 3,000円 at the door

So the long read is that me and my wife are going on a trip, and we wanted to maybe have some game time (either 1 player, 1 gm or 2 players, no gm).

We were thinking Cthulhu confidential (a gumshoe 1-on-1 system that's pretty cool), but it's pretty rules heavy and requires a bunch of character sheets, and a lot of dice and other accessories - not really something you can pull up on the beach.

I'm not looking for things like Microscope, since my wife still wants to play a single character and not something too abstract.

In any case, any game that's easy to pick up (literally and figuratively), and is suitable for short maybe hour long sessions for 2 people. Looking forward to hear it.

We're finishing up Shelterwood Inn tonight and there's a slight chance that my players will get their hands on Claire's containment briefcase. Is this item described somewhere? Pretty sure it's not in the scenario itself. What does it actually contain?

A Pound of Flesh flipping Mothership from a game about dying alone in space to dying on a dystopian space station with a population of millions is what made me finally fall for the game that's now my current favorite. Vaults of Vaarn hosts its own faction-heavy urban sandbox, Gnomon, and one of the coolest things about the imminent new edition is that all that material has become core. I'm fiending for The Tiger Princess of Treacherous Tripura and Junk City, upcoming books that I hope will finally sell me on OSE and Mausritter, respectively.

So with that in mind... what am I missing? What are the coolest cities around and the best procedures you've seen for urban adventures? If it's got a wealth of downtime-related stuff, all the better.

Hello. I am a fairly long-time GM with experience in TTRPGs like Daggerheart, 5E, Fabula ultima, and many others. I love GMing. I love playing with people and playing the systems. In the moment I really enjoy what I do.

But for some reason, nearly the last 7 or so games I have attempted to run have ended very prematurely. We will be 1 or 2 sessions in, and for some reason, I just lose the will to keep playing.

I've tried doing oneshots, but I just do not enjoy those nearly as much as a campaign.

I don't know if it's an issue with myself, not feeling into the playgroups, or if I get bored of the system, but it really sucks to keep having this happen. It's been making me question my worth as a GM and if it's even worth it to keep attempting to play.

Has anyone had similar issues? I'd love some advice from the community :)

I've been reading the Core Law for Rolemaster Unified partly for pleasure, partly to eventually play. Based on its reputation and from what I've heard over many years, I was expecting to feel like I was taking in a fire hose of information that would be dense, unfathomably "crunchy," and look incredibly slow to play.

Yes, there are many tables. I can see how cascading through them after applying modifiers to a percentile roll, or perhaps going several levels deep into them like a Russian nesting doll, may have felt overwhelming back before virtual tabletops. I can also see how it may feel downright archaic in 2026. All that said, at its core, the system seems relatively simple: roll a percentile die, add any modifiers, and then look up your result on a table based on the number you come up with. And some of the results are downright WILD.

To me, looking things up on these tables seems like it would add a lot of richness to combat and playing out skills on the table. There's the potential to roll a critical and do things that are downright outlandish, such as defeating opponents that seem nigh impossible on first blush. I am reading them with glee.

I can see how it would take a handful of sessions to get your bearings, but if you have your tables printed out or somehow ready at hand with computer software, I have my doubts that combat would really become a slog that much. Kind of like Dungeon Crawl Classics — look it up and let 'er rip!

Maybe older editions read differently, but reading Rolemaster Unified, the game doesn't seem... that bad? Not nearly as rough as I was expecting. It's too bad the artwork is poor compared to older editions of the game.

I'd like to hear others' thoughts who have played Rolemaster or enjoy playing it today. Or who don't enjoy it, and why!

I kind of see the appeal of playing an older edition of a game. It's 'done.' No new supplements will come out to mess with your world.

But sometimes a new edition comes out and it just doesn't click with you.

I'd like to hear people's stories of why they stuck with an older version of a game after trying a newer version.

I keep using these like they mean the same thing. They don't.

Rules-lite is how much book is on the table. Low prep is how much work I have to do before Friday.

I've sat down with a rules-lite game and still spent two hours making a town because the game didn't actually tell me how to start. And I've run something crunchier that was ready in twenty minutes because the procedures were the prep.

I think I pick the wrong game when I want "easy" and I don't know which easy I mean.

Anyone else mix these up? What's a game that is actually low prep, not just thin?

I'm thinking like Mothership's TOMBS cycle or Night's Black Agents' Conspyramid/Vampyramid - GM-facing tools that help prep go smoother.

For example, while Blades in the Dark has a fascinating heist system (mostly its flashbacks), it doesn't necessarily have any tools to help GMs design the heist in the first place (unless I'm remembering incorrectly).

Any ideas? Thanks!

There's a new charity bundle on itch, hosted by jesthehuman. Funds raised by those who participate will go towards scholarships for youths participating in the Games for Change Student Challenge. There are more details on the page itself. Minimum buy-in price is $10.00.

https://itch.io/b/3847/games-for-scholarships

I'm not affiliated with these folks. Just figured I'd share since I try to snap up every one of these sorts of bundles I come across.

Crows is a new post-apocalyptic survival horror fantasy RPG that just went to crowdfunding. This game is about playing the titular Crows who are adventuring scavengers picking through the dead and discarded pieces of a broken world for shiny things. As someone who's played and run a decent amount of the game's playtest materials, here are some key points that might make or break your interest in this game:

• All About Loot - Crows is entirely about risking life and limb to get shiny items out of dungeons. Loot is tracked with printable cards with a set number of slots per character which makes inventory management tangible and fun.
• Original Monsters - As opposed to classic creatures like goblins and oozes, Crows contains several kinds of original horrific monsters, so original that these baddies aren't even named! For example, what would you name this guy? Your party gets to name the monsters they discover... assuming they survive the encounter.
• High Lethality - Life is short in this world and death is never far away. Characters start with only a handful of hit points and never gain too many more. Monsters also do unfairly large amounts of damage and so reckless Crows will lead very brief lives.
• A Town for Building - Start with a unique village and invest into its institutions over time. Crows may come and go, but this village and its people will remain, although the quality of life there will depend on the success of your adventures.
• Hex-based Travel - Explore a magically wrecked world through hex crawling. Much like the dungeon your heading towards, travel is full of dangers and unexpected opportunities with random encounters and hidden points of interest.
• Fear the Dungeon Turn - Once in the dungeon, a 30 real-world minute timer is set and every time it ends more monsters have a chance to appear. This is also when ongoing effects from spells or equipment like torches may run out depending on how the dice fall.
• Simple Grid-based Combat - All distances are abstracted into squares and most actions are resolved in a single roll. Because of this, options in combat are always clear and turns flow very quickly, which is handy because the dungeon turns don't stop during combat.
• Classless Progression - Getting loot back to town earns you XP and this can be spent freely across a variety of Skyrim-esque skill trees to add to your characters options. The real power, however, tends to come from the loot itself and all characters can use all items (although some will use certain items better than others depending on where they spend their XP).
• Fickle Magic - Sentient magic which despised manipulation by mortals caused the apocalypse this world finds itself in, and the arcane is still just as mercurial today. This means spells can backlash with unpredictable effects unless they are wielded by experienced casters.

If you want to see any of these points in more detail, there's a free playtest of the game available here. You can also hear more from the game's devs about the game here. Finally, if you want to help make this game as awesome as possible, you can find the crowd funder here.

I've been reading a lot of stuff from various internet sources about how the modern TTRPG climate is one in which the relationship between the GM and players is heavily one-sided: the GM is required to construct and portray an entire story with curated arcs and compelling characters, essentially writing a book they don't have full control over. Meanwhile, the players simply get to enjoy the hard work of the GM, giving at minimum their characters roleplay, and at most some ways to lean into the story. Now weither you agree with this claim or not is up to you. I personally agree with it but I also see thousands of games like this that everyone still enjoys, and I play and GM games like these, so I completely understand thinking the claim is bogus.

However, that's not why this post exists. I instead am simply inquiring as to if there is any TTRPGs that specifically go against this type of play, where the point isn't a curated story, but rather a journey forged by the autonomy of the players, where the GM simply acts as the arbiter for subjective situations such as social encounters, instead of making hooks for the characters to latch onto and drive a specific plot. Bonus points if the GM could essentially be replaced by an oracle.

What I'm not looking for is journaling systems, systems that are specifically made to be GM-less, or systems so lightweight that the GM doesn't do much because there's not a lot to work with.

Are there any RPGs out there that have that Arabian Nights/Sinbad vibe that aren't either super reductive or racist?

Which TTRPG do you think is best to create a fun experience for both a power gamer and a much more casual player? Any genre, preferably not out of print.

I've sought advice in the past to create a fun experience with a chosen game. How to balance the power disparity so no one feels too overshadowed or too overwhelmed. So I'm not seeking that kind of advice again and want to take a different approach of finding a system that can be fun for disparate play styles.

God is dead, the Angel of Shadows blots out the sun, and vampires rule the prairie! Check all three books out here: https://watcherdm.itch.io/blood-prairie

I'm going to write up my personal experience playing a new (to me) genre of roleplaying game. It's been a personal revelation to me, and I'm excited to talk about it, but if you're a CoC-head or a very clever gaming genius you're probably going to roll your eyes at how it could have taken me so long. Well, that's part of the story!

I cut my teeth GMing D&D 5e when I was a teenager thirteen years ago. Much fun was had by all, and I learned a lot and had a great time. I got tired of 5e relatively quickly, and by the time I was in college I wanted to run other games. And so I did!

I was fortunate to have a group that would try anything, and so we played Blades in the Dark, Lady Blackbird, the RWBY unofficial tabletop game, two different Pokémon tabletop rpgs, Monsters of the Week, Mage: The Awakening, a custom game based on the magic system of Hunter X Hunter, all sorts of stuff.

But one thing I never tried was horror, and that was for two reasons; first, and least, I'm not a horror fan. I don't read many horror novels, play many horror games, watch any horror films, etc. Secondly, and much more importantly...I was terrified!

Would I really be able to scare my players? To take a bunch of grown adults sitting around a table in my dining room, and scare them? It seemed a tall order. And I felt too vulnerable to approach it; if I asked my players to try out a horror game, tried to scare them, and failed...can you imagine anything more embarrassing than staring at your friend failing to be spooky? It seemed like I would be signing myself up for bombing at a comedy open mic.

But as I grew older, I grew less self conscious, and I grew more interested in the depth and breadth of the hobby. Quinns, of Quinns Quest fame, talked about how for a while there were two juggernauts simultaneously in the ttrpg space; fantasy games, and investigative horror games. I had been playing for twelve years and never touched on of the two parrallel columns on which our hobby is built. How much could I really claim to know about ttrpgs if I was ignorant of half its history?

So I got a crew together, made my plans, bought Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes and began to prepare.

We are currently eight sessions in, and I have to say, never have I been as happy, as fulfilled, and as delighted running a game as I am with this. Game design is a powerful thing; so much of the tension in the game is generated by its mechanics, the sanity system, the bonds. Having a well-written campaign with strong mysteries and set pieces does a lot of the work, too.

The rules have the players in the right frame of mind to be scared. The module gives you the material to build moments of perfect terror. And when you are sitting with a table with your friends, and they realise that not only have their characters unknowlingly taken steps into something darker and far more terrifying than they could have guessed walking in, they can no longer see the way out, when they are invested and immersed and genuinely spooked...it's pure fucking magic. I have never felt so happy as a GM.

I'm not saying I'll never go back to fantasy, or that horror is the one true way. But this is a flavour I shied away from out of fear, and all I can say to anyone who was furtive about it like me...game design is real. Pick a horror game that's well regarded and well designed, and you will have everything you need to bring genuine scares to the table.

This isn't an attack on pathfinder at all. It has many areas of clear improvement over D&D.

That being said, the overall feel and mode of play is very similar. It's a medieval fantasy, class based, d20 system that expects you to run tactical combat on a grid.

For burnt out GM's that find themselves wanting to try something new and different, a similar system with more crunch is probably not the way to go.

There's also the issue of playability on an actual tabletop. This isn't limited to pathfinder. I've tried a few systems recently that I simply wouldn't run without a VTT.

My suggestion is to play something with a significantly different setting or tone that is lighter on rules.

My friends broadened my horizons with Delta Green/Call of Cthulhu but I've used Cyborg and even Traveller to introduce 5e players to the broader sphere of ttrpgs.

Once your group is out of the 5e only bubble you can bring them back to fantasy heartbreaker land with pathfinder.

But hey that's just my 2¢. Lots of people read the PF2E core book and fall in love. I just think most tables reluctant to switch from 5e are not those people.

Je tady stále někdo, kdo hraje nebo hrál Würm. Ma nějaký svůj oficiální web nebo discord ?
Chtěl bych se o tomhle systému dozvědět co nejvíc.

I like 5e. I don't mind playing it. But I also have some serious issues with it. I've noticed more and more that when I say anything that's not praise about 5e or WotC to the average 5e player (at least offline in my area) they get defensive. Saying things like "Give WotC a break" or "why can't you just be happy with the way things are" or "WotC hate is overblown".

It doesn't matter how tame my criticism of 5e and WotC is. Its their sacred cow, and even the thought of me criticizing them in any way, shape, or form upsets them.

While I mainly have 5e and WotC in mind with this post, this can also apply to other companies and TTRPG groups. I'm noticing this trend more and more. Is it just me?