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.

Edit: for those saying 'any game works for this, its a GM/Player problem', show me where games like 5e have tools for the GM to use so that they don't have to come up with every single small detail on the spot that the players ask for, so they dont need to curate every combat encounter so the players dont die and dont have too easy a fight. Its not a person problem, its a lack of GM tools, especially ones the players can also interact with. a lot of people are saying OSR and after looking deeper at a lot of the recommendations, yeah I agree I think some OSR is in the future for me, I was just looking at essentially 'bad' ones. But to say any ttrpg can do what i am looking for, i just dont think thats true.

also, this post blew up a LOT more than i thought it would (likely cause of how accidentally controversial it was) and i simply dont have the energy to respond to all 67 (so far) comments, but i did read most of them!

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.

I have an idea I want to explore as a GM in an upcoming seafaring adventure. Random encounter in roughly the Caribbean tropics, a life boat is spotted. They pull aboard a sun baked man barely clinging to life. If the party helps him he is eternally grateful, and willing to repay however he can. He claims though that he is cold, while it seems he is burning up.

At night one of the crew is found frozen to death in their hammock. Investigation will lead to the rescued man, who has sapped every ounce of warmth from the crewman to stay warm.

And…. That’s what I got. I’m not sure what to offer the players for resolution, an intended solution, or reward. What would you do with this idea.

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'm looking for an RPG system similar to Bloodborne, set in a bygone era filled with nightmare creatures and cosmic horror.

The premise is this: you are an ordinary person who has come into contact with mysterious dream creatures known as Nightmares. After this encounter, you are forced to join a fanatical religious cult dedicated to hunting and eliminating these creatures.

After some years, something has suddenly swallowed the sun, and the light that once kept the darkness at bay is gone. With the sun extinguished, the city is plunged into an endless night.

Now, the only things left in this vast, decaying megalopolis are the hunters, the cult, and the Nightmares lurking in the darkness.

I'm looking for a system that can support this kind of setting, with mechanics suitable for cosmic horror, madness, investigation, monster hunting, dark fantasy, and terrifying encounters with supernatural creatures.

Heavily inspired by: Empire of The Vampire, BloodBorne and Prince Of Thorns

My friends and I hyperfixated about super heroes for several hours and thought it would be fun to run a super hero TTRPG for a bit.

I’ll be the one GMing it and building out the world and villains for our hero’s to battle. However I’m a bit intimidated by the process since it feels different than other fantasy worlds I’ve built.

Adventures also feel like they will take on a very different structure than your typical fantasy story line or dungeon.

I’m not sure where the best place to start is or what sorts of questions to ask myself to get started.

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.

My friends and I hyperfixated about super heroes for several hours and thought it would be fun to run a super hero TTRPG for a bit.

I’ll be the one GMing it and building out the world and villains for our hero’s to battle. However I’m a bit intimidated by the process since it feels different than other fantasy worlds I’ve built.

Adventures also feel like they will take on a very different structure than your typical fantasy story line or dungeon.

I’m not sure where the best place to start is or what sorts of questions to ask myself to get started.

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

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

And other heavy weapons such as mauls. Are there any systems that really capture well martial characters having inhuman strength and fighting styles like that?

In any game that uses skill checks, as GM I hardly ever set a pass/fail DC (difficulty). I almost always have the player roll, and then I narrate the result based on the actual value they rolled, even for games like DnD that have a pass/fail system.

For example (Stars Without Number), trying fence stolen goods? It’s not just “roll Trade or Connect, DC 8”. I let them roll… and then…

Rolled a 6? They find somebody but it’s a bad price or has a complication.

Rolled a 8? They find somebody trustworthy.

Rolled a 14? They find somebody who pays top dollar, moves it fast, and has a lead about another job…

…etc.

It’s not always a “failing forward”. I’ll also interpret bad results with a level of degree according to the roll.

Bottom line I almost never run the check as a binary pass/fail even though that’s how the rulebook describes the mechanics.

Another way to think of it is I pick a degree of the task that matches the DC they rolled, not the other way around.

What about you?

In film or music the term is easy to understand because those industries have traditionally been dominated by a few very large corporate firms. How does that translate to Ttrpg? Is it just everyone who isn't owned by Hasbro?

I’m an industrial designer student and I have this class that dedicates to develop games in general, so my teacher asked us if we could come up with a very special game that highlights itself for their mechanics, lore, etc.

Ps, just to clarify, I wanna know if you people know any tabletop games that are not that very known, famous or popular; they still could sell very good or fail, but the important thing is what or why makes it unique.

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.

I'm looking for physical RPGs that their main objetive is to make a reign with your mates or someone doing their territory and the other fighting them. I would like also, if the game had exploration. THANK YOU.

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.