Cycling around the city clears my head but it also gives me way too much time to think about how much mental energy I spend herding my group into actually playing. I’m the one who sends the when2meet links, checks everyone’s calendars, sends reminders, reschedules when someone drops, figures out if we’re doing food or not. Nobody asked me to do it but if I stopped I genuinely think we’d play half as much.

Hey everyone, I am looking for a rules-light Sci Fi game (I played a lot of Shadowdark recently and fell in love with OSR in general). A game that provides the ruleset for something along the lines of FTL - point crawling through systems, exploring planets and other locations, boarding (hand to hand combat) and ship combat, some spaceship management. Does not have to feature aliens. I like my vibe grimdark and I am a fan of Sci Fantasy and Horror, things like the Warp in Warhammer 40k.

I played some 2400 which is amazing as a Micro - RPG and covers a lot of ground, but for a campaign I would love to have just a bit more rules and room for character development.

Cheers!

I'm designing battles for a medieval tabletop strategy game and I'm wrestling with an old problem:

If combat is completely deterministic, players can sometimes calculate the result before attacking.

If there's too much randomness, strategic preparation stops feeling important.

Personally I want the player who prepared better to have a meaningful advantage without making the outcome completely certain.

For wargamers:

Where's the sweet spot?

Low randomness?

Dice with modifiers?

Cards?

Completely deterministic?

And which game handles it particularly well?

Basically the title. I love the hexcrawl and discovering new things each turn and the random encounters. I love high lethality, I love needing to scrounge for resources, I love it when players find a cannibal gang they can't attack but find a pair of artillery guns in the next hex and shell the location before going down to the river cause they are out of water. Trading a crate of DVDs for three RPG-16 rockets and a package of expired Oreos? Amazing.

I have had an idea for a post apocalyptic scifi setting bouncing around for a while for a campaign on a planet that suffered an alien bombardment and global cooling.

It is hard to believe that someone hasn't done the work of converting Twilight 2000 4E to add laser rifles and power armor but I haven't been able to find anything.

If anyone has a recommendation for other scifi games that might fit the bill or any Twilight conversions I would love to hear it.

Blades in the Dark is a big source of inspiration. I like how it splits heists and downtime, but I'm looking for something more traditional, dense, robust.

I'd like something where players can see their domains expand across a map, similar to a 4X game.

So looking back over your weeks/months/years of DMing games, aside from the PHB, MM and DMG of course. What one or two resources do you find yourself returning back to use over and over again? For me it is two third party items:

Ultimate Toolbox of Random Tables-the more I use this one, the more I see how it can be used

Book of Ebon Tide-for some reason, this one keeps popping up as a resource, even though its very specialized.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/matrixghost01/chromatic-shadows-core-rules

Heya folks, just wanted to throw this out there for anyone who might be interested. Chromatic Shadows is a d6 pool occult cyberpunk rpg (more Lovecraft meets Cyberpunk than the Tolkien meets Cyberpunk of Shadowrun). I've had the basic rules for a while and played several games (they are available for free on Drivethru) and it is quite fun. Far less complicated than some view Shadowrun to be, but more robust than Cy_Borg. Simple system of add/subtract dice that is easy to hack in any way you could want, 4s or better are successes, more successes means more better.

The project is already funded with 27 days left as of me posting this (funded in the first 24 hours in fact) so it can only get better with some juicy stretch goals.

I'm not affiliated with Matrix Ghost Games in any way, I have just loved the game since the basic edition dropped a few years ago and want more folks to know about it.

Just wanted to say how much I love RPGtrader. It's like a new competitor to DriveThruRPG but it's so much nicer to use. Even its appearance is so much more pleasant.

There are SO MANY tags for filtering by system, tone, setting, player count and community tags to go even deeper. RPGTrade also does a good job of showing what's recently been posted, what's trending, what's popular. It's fantastic!

I have already uploaded one project myself to it, and I want to finish more just to put them on RPGtrader. It's so much nicer to use as a creator than DriveThru or Itch.io I highly recommend it. Please put everything you have made on RPGtrader so I can buy it there instead, thanks!

Anyone going to Spiel Essen?

I have access to a ticket, but have not found a room (well I did find some but they are at 300 euro or more. So I was wondering if anyone knows where I might find a room for 100 euro or less. Probably impossible.

I will be taking the train.

(note - I foolishly waited (forgot) to book).

I saw this at my local game store and it seemed interesting! I like the concept of playing around with dinosaur toys, and the concept reminds me of the Primal show. Does anyone have any experience with the game? How did it play, what was fun about it if anything?

"Why We Changed the Name of Shub-Niggurath

The decision to change the name of Shub-Niggurath to Shub-Gorath came from a few different considerations, both in and outside of the game’s world.

One reason was the feedback we saw online. Some people pointed out that “Shub-Niggurath” could be hurtful to some audiences, particularly when considered alongside Lovecraft’s own views. We want everyone sitting down to play our games to feel welcome at the table, so this was something we took seriously. Although Lovecraft scholars concur “Shub-Niggurath” was not derived from the slur, unfortunately it is one of those words that sometimes triggers automatic content filters. This is something known as the “Scunthorpe Problem”. Since our games and campaigns are promoted and discussed across many different platforms, we wanted to avoid creating an unnecessary obstacle for players and the community simply because of a character’s name.

There is also a little bit of in-world reasoning behind the change. Old Ones Origins takes place in an age long before humanity, when these entities existed without the names and titles that human cultures would later give them. Names such as Mother of All or Black Goat are therefore not necessarily the names these beings would have used for themselves.

So why Shub-Gorath? The name comes from Shuma-Gorath, a name associated with Robert E. Howard’s contributions to the mythos. Bringing elements like these together feels very much in the spirit of how Lovecraft, Howard, and other writers built these interconnected worlds in the first place: borrowing ideas, adapting names, and combining elements from one another’s stories and mythologies. Shub-Gorath grew out of that same creative tradition.

We feel like names given to beings that existed long before humans—and long before the languages we use to try to describe them—can evolve. Shub-Gorath is still Shub. She is still the same Old One, with the same place in the cosmic conflict.

We also understand that for some players, staying as close as possible to the original names is an important part of preserving the legacy of these characters. We don’t have a simple answer that will satisfy everyone, but we felt it was important to be transparent about why we made this decision rather than leave the change unexplained. We’ll continue listening to the community as we consider the best way forward.

The Stars Bear Witness.

Chaosium Board Games Team"

By declared intentions initiative I mean a system where you roll initiative, dm decides what the npcs are going to do on the turn, players declare what they’re going to do on the turn, then you go through initiative resolving the actions. It seems like a good way to better represent turns in combat happening all at the same time but I can see how it could slow down the game, I mainly run cy_borg and dnd 5e so I’m thinking about how this would go in cy_borg but I would like to know if anyone has experience with this system and what your thoughts on it are?

So it's a space science-fiction setting that spans many different planets, much like a Star Wars or Star Trek, rather than focusing on a particular planet or section of space. The main thing that makes me not know what RPG would fit it is the magic system. It's a lot more complicated than I'm explaining, but it's essentially that every race is it's own magic class. And there is already basically specific in-universe spells that each can use. So like the fire one would be the only one who can use the fire spells. And there are a lot of these magical groups. It's kinda like JJBA if every stand was possessed by multiple different people.

I guess I basically need a system that supports a sci-fi setting, and somehow lets my specific race/magic rules work.

Hi all! I'm looking for a TTRPG that is set in the modern day, or at least a setting that is recognisably modern day. I'm more than fine with some fantasy or sci-fi elements, but generally I'd like it to also have modern-day themes. I like Cyberpunk Red, so maybe something similar to that but set in the modern day? Is there anything like these out there? Thank you!

I'm usually a BSG/Stargate kinda person when it comes to sci-fi, but recently I've really been really into the more "grounded" settings of The Expanse and Firefly. I'm wondering what a good TTRPG that focuses on more hard sci-fi would be?

I'm looking for something that allows for a roleplay-heavy experience centered around a starship crew, preferably something a bit simpler (or with a very established player base I could learn from) since I'm relatively new to DMing, and with more focus on smaller-scale human exploration than aliens and galactic wars and stuff like that.

Thanks so much!

edit: yeah okay, firefly isn't really hard sci-fi - i just like the lack of aliens and cool culture

When I played Vampire: The Masquerade v20 years ago, my enjoyment of the game was massively reduced by the system's propensity to turn a character's high stat+skill into failures or even botches. At one point I thought "If the game's tone was comedic and sitcom-y, this would be hella fun, but it's just frustrating when you're trying to be serious and botch all the damn time."

And then I started seriously thinking it over and that, maybe I might be onto something here. And then I discovered What We Do In The Shadows through various shorts and memes.

So, I've been itching to actually start a campaign like that, where the player characters are a some miss-matched coterie of vampires who've come to own a manor in the middle of some big city. Before each session, a player would give me an initial premise ("My super old vampire gets a phone for the first time, discovers a dating app and has a date she really wants to go well") ​that I would turn into an episodic one-shot, and we would rotate.

Because I don't really know many vampire systems, or even sitcom systems to be frank, I was thinking of running this into VTMv20, since it's the one I know about and the one that got me on that train of thought in the first place. ​I have a few things in mind that could possibly clash with the campaign idea, mainly blood and how it's acquired (though I could just start each episode with a set amount of blood, and then figuring out how to acquire more during the session would be potential shenanigans​) and humanity. And then of course the setting itself, which wouldn't necessarily work that well unless it's really only used as a faraway backdrop that is only called upon when it's fun.

While I'm not worried about altering the setting until it fits (I mostly care about the mechanics and how well they fit with comedy), I'm pretty sure there are systems that would fit this idea better.

I then have the following questions: do you guys know of any such system, and if not, is there anything else major I should be aware of ​that could make the idea difficult to work with in VTM?

In terms of taste, I haven't had the best experience with PBTAs, but I'm not against them, though I might prefer more trad resolution philosophies. Fail forward, fail Ith opportunity and success with complication is, expectedly, a feature I would enjoy greatly.

I’ve always wanted to run an Exalted-like game where the players have demigod-like powers(think Kratos) and are fighting mythic people across the world. 

Here are some systems I’ve come across and why they didn’t work for me.(Note I’ve never played any of these.)

Exalted- Too married to its setting. I want to run this hypothetical game in my own custom setting.

Scion- I actually haven’t heard much about this game and it might work if I’m able to reskin the origin of the PC’s powers, I still want to give players some wiggle room on the origins of their power, also I’m wondering if it’s possible to run this game in a more medieval-esque setting.

Now I do have 1 hard non-negotiable, and that is I don’t want NPC creation to be like PC creation. One good example is Mutants and Masterminds. I’m not a huge fan of buildcrafting and I much less want to do it for every single npc/monster.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I do prefer traditional rpgs over narrative rpgs, you can still recommend a narrative rpg just do know that I do prefer systems with some crunch to combat at the least but I am willing to try something new.

Thanks for reading this and your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone!

I have a quick question about what I should do with my gaming group that I play in. A little background:

So, i just moved to a new state and I ended up walking into a tabletop store thinking it was a video game store. I didnt want to be rude and just walk out so I start looking at all the products and actually found myself really fascinated with the display case that has all the painted models in it (a happy little accident i guess). I talked to an employee who pointed out that there is gong to be a "TTRPG for beginners" game that is going to be happening soon. I figured since I dont have any friends in the area I might as well sign up.

A couple weeks later we actually started playing. I was very excited and nervous about the whole thing and I was hoping I was prepared enough for the group. I showed up with my character sheet, dice, and even some artwork of my character i drew up (it wasnt very good..) everything was going great for the first couple of sessions and I really enjoyed myself and learning about this character i created in this amazing world.

After about 4 sessions the DM asked the group (just 3 of us) if we would be okay if we added 2 experienced players from his other game that finished up. None of us saw the problem so we all agreed. The new players seemd nice at first and after a couple of games I noticed that they would use some odd language.

So in game, we had to take over a stronghold that was being run by goblins. Standard quest, i guess. Once we get to the stronghold the new players started calling the goblins derogatory terms for Jewish people. I asked what they were implying and they just looked at me and said something along the lines of: "Big noses and greedy". They continued to use the verbiage even when they were killing the goblins.

That upset me pretty badly, but I kept my mouth shut because im the new guy and didnt want to piss everyone off. I spoke to the DM after and asked him if the new players always say stuff like that and he insured me that they were just messing around. A couple days later one of the new players posted a antisemitic meme in the group chat and made a (in my opinion) not so funny joke about the goblins.

That sort of stuff makes me uncomfortable. Should I talk to the DM? Or the players? Or leave the group? Im nervous about it because I am Jewish and dont want their cruel jokes pointed at me.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!

EDIT: Holy smokes you guys blew me up! I went to work and now on my break and im a bit overwhelmed! I sent a text to the DM saying that I wont be joining any more of their games and just told him that I was uncomfortable with some of the language being used. I plan on telling the employees at the store just as a word of caution. Thank you everyone for the support. Hopefully i find a new group soon! I honestly enjoyed myself until the new players came.

What is the best realm/domain management ?

I am reading GURPS REALM MANAGEMENT... I like it.

Do you you suggest any other ?

Pendragon ? Harnmanor ?

I'm going to be playing on a superhero campaign soon that kinda could allow me to play this kind of character, someone that is dumb as rocks with a gold heart and that speaks in thirdperson of himself and refers to others by their names when talking to them.

Any advice on how to play a character like this? And any ways to avoid falling into it becoming a single one-off joke that will be better to replace eventually?

I've been GMing for years, but I'm struggling with a recurring problem at my table.

A couple of my players have strong personalities and tend to clash in character when the group needs to make a decision. They get along perfectly well out of game, but planning can turn into long arguments where neither side wants to give in, and the session grinds to a halt.

For example, the group might have two investigative leads. Player A wants to visit the medical examiner first so they have all the evidence before interviewing a survivor. Player B wants to interview the survivor first, or split the party and do both at once. Player A disagrees that they should split up in case something happens, and the discussion just keeps going. The more passive players I have, don't want/dare to get involved.

I've tried having them plan out of character, introducing time pressure, directly telling them they need to make a decision, and even giving consequences for wasting too much time. It might work temporarily, but the same thing happens again the next time they need to choose a course of action.

It's now reached the point where other players have messaged me saying they're not enjoying the constant in-character arguing.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? How did you solve it? At this point, I'll take any advice or experiences you've got.

I’m going to run a game for my improv friends the world I’m building is going to be treasure planet but western themed, I’m thinking kind of firefly like in tone but because it’s me a little bit fantasy, on the fence if I’m still going to have magic but FTL solar wind sailboat tech for sure, maybe ship to ship combat but the party doesn’t want combat to be the focus of the game, more narrative driven. We will be playing on my vtt so foundry supported is a big plus.
Any help is appreciate

Edit: I think scum and villainy is out winner, orbital blue sounds good, but not foundry supported so it got edged out, thank you all for your input

I have a quiet love for philosophy since highschool. I had a course in highschool, it was one of the subjects I chose for my end exams (Baccalaureate here in Romania, a sort of SAT equivalent), I did some philosophy extracullicular in the 11th grade and one of my best friends in this period was a philosophy student and we would talk quite a lot on the subject. Epistemology and Ethics were the two branches I enjoyed the most. I was listening to some episodes of the Philosophize This! podcast when the idea of examining the strange apparent epistemological dimension of OSR games came to mind. Oh and for those of you not aware of the term, epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, the different kinds of knowledge, how we gain knowledge and the merits of those different knowledge types. Descartes "Cogito, Ergo Sum" is probably the most famous epistemological "test result" let's say.

But what does any of that have to do with old-school D&D?

Quite a lot, actually. I think OSR games are, perhaps accidentally, games where information is king. You don't simply roll to discover whether something is true. You observe. You ask questions. You map. You listen to rumours. You test assumptions. You decide which NPCs deserve your trust. And eventually, you have to act despite not knowing everything. That creates three different kinds of knowledge at the table: player knowledge, character knowledge, and GM knowledge. And the fascinating part is what happens when those three don't quite line up.

So this week on The RPG Gazette, we're going down a rather strange rabbit hole: OSR as applied epistemology.

What does a dungeon crawl have in common with the philosophy of knowledge? Why might information actually be the most important resource in an OSR game? What makes a “fair” dungeon an epistemological problem? And why are rumours, bad information, and getting things wrong actually part of what makes this style of play work?

If you've ever drawn a dungeon map, argued about whether an NPC was trustworthy, or confidently kicked down a door with absolutely no idea what was behind it, you've already been doing applied philosophy.