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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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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.

A while back there was an interesting discussion brought up to me about the difference between people who play TTRPGs, and TTRPG fans. One being folks who treat TTRPG night as a casual hangout, and another who actually enjoys the hobby of TTRPGs and trying out new systems, mechanics. Most playgroups usually have a core of games they play (right now with my group, it's Daggerheart and VtM 5e.) But I admit as a GM, I'm curious about trying out new systems...which leads to my question-

"What is it that first catches your interest in a new system?"

Is it the mechanics? The concept? The people behind it? The artwork? A communal interest from the playgroup? I've had a few experiences with that myself, Daggerheart got me on board because it promised to be more focused on narrative building...and being published by the biggest RPG Live play group was an added point of interest. We got into Vampire because my players were all eager to try it, but couldn't find a GM willing to give the system a go. In the future we may do Mutant Year Zero, because one person in our play group mentioned wanting to play it. And I know there's an interest in Cyberpunk held back by scheduling limitations...

More recently, I've found it's artwork and setting that are what's got me interested in trying more. Vaesen is #1 on my list due to my love of folklore and mythology, Pirate Borg for Piracy, Dolmenwood for Fae myths, Coriolis The Third Horizon for Arabian Nights mythology...I'm trying to find a game based on hunting Youkai (aside from Ryukou's Guide to Youkai since I sadly can't find many reviews for it.)

I'm curious about what it is for more folks across the board, both die hard TTRPG players, and folks who are here more for the gathering.

Forever GMs, do you sometimes feel like you can never go back to being a player?

I've tried being a player in a handful of games over the years and I feel as though I can't do much more than one-shots as a player.

During long-term campaigns, I tend to notice when pacing is off. Like when players spend too much time preparing before opening a door or getting hung up on a minor detail.

I've been watching a few video game retrospectives lately. And a phrase that shows up a lot is "that's a good problem to have". Usually along the lines of "it makes me want more".

A few examples I can think of:

* The bonkers nature of Paranoia XP being chaotic, but a vacation from more serious games.

* Call of Cthulhu's lethality promotes players to be more cautious when playing.

* Warhammer 40k's Critical Damage tables leading to gruesome injuries that make for amazing stories.

Stuff like that. Something that sounds bad, but makes a game feel unique and memorable.

What the title says really. Given the price of books and international delivery especially (I live in a non-English speaking country) I was thinking of running a few games that I have the PDFs for without buying the physical books.

Has anyone tried this? It is annoying trying to find tables or reference rules during a game like this? I prefer books with post-it notes and bookmarks but it would save me a lot of money if I could switch to PDFs and my iPad.

I have a character that I really liked; her personality was close to mine, so it was more comfortable to play her because she ate whenever possible, especially chicken because she was a fox. So she ate whenever she had the chance, and she ended up making quite an impression on me. Is there a character you identify with so much that you never forgot them, and even after the campaign ended you kept remembering them?

For an example, I love game with hundreds of options available to players and DMs, specially feats/powers, mundane items and Monsters.

I'm also starting to like games with a higher level of deadliness, since that mean we need to think more carefully about actions.

HOWEVER, I game were death is easy and options are abudant seems like hell on earth to me.

Which are combos of things can make an amazing game become terrible very quickly?

I’m a psychology student in Brazil and were thinking of having a campaign with teenagers (specially trans teens, most in vulnerability), as a therapeutic experience. Do you know any systems or campaigns that we could use for that purpose?

I love Cyberpunk in almost all its forms. From the ttrpg, to the anime, to the videogame (which, I honestly think is the best one I have ever played). A lot of this love stems to the setting and the themes of the game.

Turning back to the ttrpg, I have a mixed feelings on the system. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I do feel it is slightly too crunchy and a bit unwieldy, especially in regards to Netrunning. With an experienced enough group you can get over these things and have an amazing time with it.

But, what if you have a group that simply played the game or watched the anime or saw that there is a new season coming up and has that rush to play something. The group who is not that experienced with TTRPGs, and for whom Cyberpunk RED might be a bit too much?

Well, for that group we have this absolute gem of a game here, CBR-PNK Augmented. Leaving aside this game’s apparent aversion to vowels, this game offers quite a tight package. And I do mean tight, as it presents us with a bare-bones minimalistic RPG powered by the Forged in the Dark engine. The size of the core rules for this thing? One freaking pamphelt, roughly one A4 page I guess.

It's short and sweet, punches way above its number of pages and might be one of the best way to introduce someone to ttrpgs, with some caveats that we go over in the review! I hope you'll enjoy it!

I am a huge star wars nerd so I mostly stick to Actual Plays in a galaxy far far away. I am a huge fan of Tabletop Empire's first one Dark Underworld, and their current story The Unnaturals is just as amazing <3

I really love how this group plays, and I especially love the way the whole thing is edited. Its like it still has that home-game energy, but look and sounds professionally made

While I’m waiting for new episodes, I’m looking for some other currently running actual plays that have a similar vibe. Would love some recommendations if you know of any, thanks!!!

Edit: Thanks for all the recommendations 🥰

Hello, I'm a long-time GM who has been running my first (and very fun) game of Vampire: the Masquerade 5e for the better part of a year now, and as my Coterie enters their final act, I've started to look forward to what comes next.

Games we liked:

Pathfinder 1e. This is what I cut my teeth on in high school. We probably played it a million different kinds of wrong, but I've got a lot of nostalgia for it.

D&D 5e, obviously. It's what got a lot of my friends into rpgs, but after nearly 10 years, everyone's pretty ready to let it rest.

GURPS 4e: A steep learning curve, but once we got it, our group \loved\ it. We played a Weird West game that became so beloved, we played our first and only sequel game years later. As a GM, it can be a lot to run, especially the social system IMO.

The aforementioned VTM5. Again, everyone is \loving\ this one. My players are getting into character and role-playing in ways I genuinely haven't seen out of them before, and the game is very narrative-focused, which I like. It feels much more like a collaborative storytelling effort than the traditional GM-Player dynamic to me.

Call of Cthulhu 7e: I've never not had fun playing this game, but I've never run it as the Keeper. Additionally, the high mortality rate means running a longer-form game can be difficult. The one time we tried, we party-wiped trying to climb a rope in session 2. Still, it makes for great oneshots.

Games we did not like:

Pathfinder 2e. Hot take, I know. Everything about this on paper should be fun, but it really just wasn't in practice. We called it quits midway through our third game because nobody was having fun, which is something that hasn't happened before or since.

Mutants Masterminds 3e. This is the first game I ever ran as GM. We had our fun with it, and I learned a lot, but the system really just wasn't for me. I find that we're seriously leaning away from d20 systems in general.

I'm looking for something with a gritty, street-level vibe. A skill-based system where combat is quick and deadly, that rewards roleplay and gives the players a more proactive role in shaping their story.

Systems I'm looking into:

The Burning Wheel, Mythras, Mage: the Ascension Revised, GURPS

Please let me know if you've played any of these systems, or know of another one that might scratch the itch for someone like me!