**Come here and talk about anything!**

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This post will stay stickied for (at least) the week-end. Please enjoy this space where you can talk about anything: your last game, your current project, your patreon, etc. You can even talk about video games, ask for a group, or post a survey or share a new meme you've just found. This is the place for small talk on /r/rpg.

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The off-topic rules may not apply here, but the other rules still do. This is less the Wild West and more the Mild West. Don't be a jerk.

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This submission is generated automatically each Saturday at 00:00 UTC.

**Come here and talk about anything!**

​

This post will stay stickied for (at least) the week-end. Please enjoy this space where you can talk about anything: your last game, your current project, your patreon, etc. You can even talk about video games, ask for a group, or post a survey or share a new meme you've just found. This is the place for small talk on /r/rpg.

​

The off-topic rules may not apply here, but the other rules still do. This is less the Wild West and more the Mild West. Don't be a jerk.

​

----------

​

This submission is generated automatically each Saturday at 00:00 UTC.

Modiphius just announced a new Wolfenstein roleplaying game that'll adapt The New Order and The New Colossus. It'll be crowdfunding in Q3 2026 - I've shared more details here: https://www.wargamer.com/wolfenstein-the-roleplaying-game/announced

Title pretty much days it all! What is the part of GMing that frustrates you? From prep to "see you next week", what gets on your nerves? Please avoid system specific gripes. Thanks!

I've recently started struggling with burn out as a forever DM. To be clear I do love DMing, often more than being a player, but lately the role hasn't been as joyful as it once was and I caught myself finding excuses to reschedule my sessions. I'm very light on prep, but even looking over my notes made me anxious and restless.

So I decided to take a break. I figured that a few months away from the DM screen would do me good. The problem is that I can't stop thinking about DMing! Every book I read or show I watch, I catch myself coming up with plots, characters, table pitchs... it's like there's a program in the background of my mind, constantly churning out ideas. But when I do sit down to try and make those ideas reality, that old anxiety comes back. Just thinking of writing a campaign outline has me exhausted. I don't feel like I'm ready to DM again but that part of my mind won't take the hint and rest.

I have no idea of what to do. I've spoken with a couple of friends who also DM, but they couldn't relate. I'd really appreciate some advice.

Yesterday I used the wrong wording when describing this, but basically I come from not knowing anything other than Baldurs gate 3, the fact that the show stranger things showcases dungeons and dragons, and that Cyberpunk 2077 has a book in the files, when I suggested playing with my friends they point blank refused to make character sheets alone at home and send them to me, and because I see them once very 2-3 months I didn’t think it would be ideal to use 3 hours just making characters and then wait 3 months.

After this I asked my discord friends (friends I play sea of thieves with) if they knew anything about roleplaying games or DnD, they said no, that they've never played it. I searched on amazon for “dungeons and dragons book” and saw 500 page books and thought it was a little too much homework for a sunday night for friends I see every 3 months and have no experience with it (and neither did I have experience with it). I do not have a hobby shop near me. So to me at that moment, I just decided to make my own board game roleplaying party game frankenstein and mix games I knew that use dice (baldurs gate and mario party). I do not believe this should be problematic. I had no other solutions at hand because I didn't even know what terminology to look for on google.

After all that when I wanted to share and publish my little weird creation is when I found out what “TTRPG” even meant, and all the other terms like “one-shot”.

How would you make the hobby more marketable for total outsiders? for your average joe who doesn't even know what “cyberpunk” is? Or for your friend who doesn't know how to hold a controller and doesn't play games?

Edit: I edited the question to clarify Im asking about perspective on the hobby being hard/easy to find. Not on my own personal project. Thank you!

Hello fellow perma GMs!

I have an inkling to prep a modern urban fantasy campaign (apocalypse keys).

I would love for political/geopolitical issues to play a role in the setting, but real world politics feel very heavy right now.

Are there any good modern world ttrpg setting books that I could look into for inspiration? Thinking about an "alternate earth" situation or something similar. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Hey all — I've been running in-person games for a while and got tired of juggling index cards and spreadsheets for initiative, so I built a web-based tracker called RollInit.

What it does:

• Initiative order and HP tracking with a clean, real-time UI
• DM creates a session, players join with a short code — no accounts needed
• SRD monster lookup — search and add monsters straight from the SRD with stats pre-filled
• Hidden monsters and private rolls that only the DM can see
• Dice roller built in

Multiple views:

• DM View — full control with hidden monsters, HP management, and all the knobs
• Player View — clean initiative order and visible info, no spoilers. Great for a shared table screen or player phones
• Dashboard View — compact, at-a-glance layout perfect for a second monitor or streaming overlay
• Spectator View — read-only link you can share with anyone watching along

Works great for:

• In-person games — pull it up on a tablet at the table, players follow along on their phones
• Streaming / actual plays — use the dashboard or spectator view as an OBS source so viewers can follow the action

It's completely free, no sign-up required. The DM gets a private link and players just punch in a join code.

Check it out at https://rollinit.app — happy to hear feedback or feature requests.

Images: Rollinit Preview

Hi again everyone,

I’m about to start a campaign for two friends and we’re going be starting out with Pulp Cthulhu rules with the backup being Monster of the Week if it’s too crunchy for what’s intended to be a low-prep, supernatural investigation.

We’re using a setting I had already developed for other purposes, so I’ve got 25+ npcs, 25+ mysteries, tons of lore, reference art and what have you all ready to go, so I know the place like the back of my hand so that type of prep is forgone.

It’s meant to be a mix kinda like a blend of Gravity Falls and Alan Wake (with a dashes of Twin Peaks, Lovecraft, Tim Schafer, Stephen King, analog horor and so forth). Sometimes the mystery is goofy, sometimes horrifying, sometimes both, but its probably gonna be weird. Gameplay wise, they got a weird town to explore, odd folks to meet, and mysteries they can pick up and down as they please. Sometimes that’ll mean one big mystery, sometimes a few small ones, with the occasional mundane task as pallet cleanser.

Now, we went with Pulp Cthulhu because we're all familiar with the system to some degree, its got a mechanics and skills to keep things a little grounded, and there's optional rules from Basic Roleplaying if I wanna spice things up. It’s little more free form in structure too, here’s a character with a bunch of skills (and maybe psychic powers), do as you please. The worry is that it's still Lovecraft game and isn't a setting with Cthulhu mythos (there's stuff similar and more) and it might require too much prep in making stat blocks or too crunchy. That latter concern was led to my thought that, “Well, let's start with crunchy rules than go lite rules if needs be as compared to the other way around would be worse."

Said lighter option is Monster of the Week. Now, I just got the core book a few weeks ago and finished reading through it a week ago. It’s great, but it is built in mind with monster slaying as the focus, npcs with set roles as hindrances or aids, highly emphasized rules like monsters only being killable by their weakness, lens focused on PCs’ being badass and not the mystery, and shorter campaigns in mind (or at least more a revolving door on PCs). Now, before you skew me, I know there’s optional rules for phenomena investigations, and suggestions for change ups to the formula like friendly monsters or goofy scenarios. But there is standard forumla and that standard is more Supernatural/Buffy vibes and slaying monsters (at least) most of the time rather sometimes slaying monsters.

Could the system work focusing more on the mysteries and less on the slaying? Almost certainly, but I'm not comfortable with playing outside it's standards when I'm so new to its rules. Still, it is the current backup, and I would like to run it regardless at some point.

Now, there are some other options I'm aware of, but most of them have their caveats theoricatically. "Theoricatically" cause I either don't own or haven't read any of the following systems in-depth enough to proper assess. (Oh, and yes, I have looked the subreddit’s lovely list of suggestions)

- Kids on Bikes: Made in mind with PCs being kids (PCs are ages 23 and 55 I think) and with town being crafted with the players (not that I wouldn't mind them expanding on my weird ass town, more lore the better in my book, but if its suppose ground-up, uh, too late)

- Brindlewood Bay mystery system: Now I know this more as the Public Access system, but my understanding is that players create the solutions to the mystery in this system? Super neat, but not what I'm looking for here.

- Vaesen: Super cool, but it's cases are solved on the assumption that you can talk to or that creatures you face are intelligence. I don't think that's gonna work stuff like my Frankenstein-revived Spinosaurs that's trying swim in the lake. Also late 1800s, this is set in the mid to late 2000s.

- Gumshoe & Bubblegumshoe: Don't know a whole lot, but the big selling point is that it's generic and players always find all the clues, right? Never been an issue in my games personally cause I usually make it so PCs have at least always have 1 clue and a lead where to go next, what they find instead helps either speed up the process or allows for a better conclusion (like in games where you will get the normal ending, but you can get better endings if you search more throughly or get lucky)

- Savage Worlds: Again, very cool, but I'm already working my way through the system for other reasons and seems like it would require a lot of prep work, which is a sentiment I've heard elsewhere. Still, I'd call it my 3rd option.

- Pine Shallows: Heard the creator selling it as simpler Kids on Bikes, which doesn't solve the potential issues I might with the latter. At least I already own it? (Horah for itch bundles)

- Over the Edge & Something Is Wrong Here: Heard these are closest thing to "David Lynch the RPG", but Lynch and Twin Peaks by extension in this case is only one of the many influences, not the main. It's more LucasArts adventure X Persona arugably so if knows a good system for that nonsense I just combined, hit me with it.

- The Unexplained: Literally just spotted this one, never heard of it before. By a brief skim of the description it has potential. Anyone heard about it or tried it?

Now, we'll be probably fine with either Pulp Cthulhu or MotW at the end of the day, and we do have these several others as great alternatives in an emergency (if I'm willing to throw out my beloved setting), but if I've got something wrong about the above or you know of a system that might just work perfectly, please share! Hell, if I do got it right with Pulp Cthulhu with MotW as a backup, that'd also be a great assurance.

I play lots of games, but if anyone wanna guess the last game I played:

Song - Black Blade by Blue Öyster Cult Book - Swords Against Death Movie - Killer Klowns From Outer Space

Edit: pick a song, book and movie acting as clues to your last played game!

Edit 2: We have a winner with /u/Able-Book587

Most every roleplaying system today almost entirely neglects the subject of how, exactly, to roleplay. "The 4D Handbook" is the first book I have read that provides extensive guidance on the subject. At its core, 4D roleplaying is a style of gameplay where players try to get into character as much as possible and stay there as long as possible. The book doesn't just say "get into character"; it tries to lay out a framework for how to do that and how to get better at it. Moreover, in today's world of livestreams and actual play, "getting into character" is often taken to mean wearing a costume and doing professional voice acting. That is not the case with 4D roleplaying.

Regarding the definition, the authors admit that the "as much as possible" element is doing a lot of heavy lifting, as the degree to which one can get into character and stay there will be highly dependent on the table, the system, and the players. However, there is a growing number of people on YouTube (and in the wider community) who want to push the boundaries of "as much as possible" as far as they can go, and in doing so, actually talk about how to become better roleplayers in the context of pursuing this goal. This is refreshing because "becoming better at the RPG hobby" today may often be equated with having an expensive gaming table, an elaborate gaming room setup, lots of painted miniatures, projection setups, and/or 3D terrain. None of those things necessarily deepen immersion, and may actively distract from it. In contrast, 4D roleplaying costs nothing, and as such harkens back to roleplaying’s traditional status as an inexpensive hobby.

For those looking for greater immersion, this book provides concrete guidance on how to move toward obtaining it. For example, it describes the importance of playing in a high-trust environment, a willingness to accept feedback, avoiding cross-talk, table-talk, and most out-of-character conversations in general. It even covers how to choose a roleplaying system that facilitates in-character play (for example, one that does not require the rulebook to be referenced at the table or for the GM to search for notes to facilitate the game), and maintaining player sovereignty over their character.

This book advocates for short player turns, often only requiring the player to speak two to three sentences before play passes to the next player. But what does a player need to say? The book has recommendations on that, including how to "anchor" your character's actions in the world while discouraging "test-driving" player turns, negotiating actions above the table, or taking turns by committee. Instead, it discusses signaling and queuing other players through in-world actions. This sort of material is largely absent from player handbooks today.

Of course, this book is not a manifesto on the "correct" way to play. If you don’t follow these guidelines, you are in no way playing "wrong". This book just provides one possible toolkit for those who want to deepen their RPG immersion, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in pushing further into in-character play at their table.

"The Beginner's 4D Handbook" is by James Bacon and Mike Melnick and is currently available for free on DriveThruRPG here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/549599/the-beginner-s-4d-handbook

Hey all! Rosemary, creator of Varsity 2, the sports anime ttrpg, here. After getting several requests for an easily fillable character sheet, I finally bit and made one. Here it is! I'll probably tinker with it more over the next few days as my current playtest progresses.

Hope it's useful for you!