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I've started asking players a slightly different question during character creation, and it's produced some of my favorite NPCs.

Not "Who would mourn your character if they died?"

Who would be genuinely inconvenienced if they just failed to show up tomorrow?

The distinction sounds silly, but I've found that it gets people thinking about their characters differently.

I was preparing a small-town mystery campaign and asked everyone this before our first session.

One player said his character helped an elderly neighbor carry firewood every few days. Another said she was supposed to cover the evening shift at her uncle's shop. The third had borrowed a horse and promised to return it by Thursday.

Nothing dramatic. No murdered parents, secret enemies, ancient prophecies or elaborate personal quests.

Just three people who had something to do next week.

A few sessions later, the party was considering staying another night in a dangerous area to investigate something.

The player with the horse suddenly said, "Shit, I told him I'd bring it back."

Everyone laughed, but then they actually started discussing whether they should send word back to town.

That was a completely unplanned bit of roleplaying, and I loved it.

I've noticed that characters with enormous tragic backstories can sometimes feel weirdly disconnected from the world they're actually adventuring in. Their entire past is important, but nobody in the present seems to expect anything from them.

Meanwhile, giving a character an ordinary obligation immediately suggests that they existed before session one and will continue to exist between adventures.

I don't use these obligations as surprise punishments. If someone says their character promised to help repair a roof, I'm not going to burn down the village because they missed an afternoon.

It's more about making the world feel like it has a place for them that isn't reserved exclusively for heroic deeds.

And honestly, "Who is expecting you on Thursday?" has given me more usable material than several pages of backstory ever did.

I'm curious whether other GMs deliberately create these kinds of mundane connections, or whether you prefer to let them emerge naturally during play.

Forever GM by choice here. My current long term campaign is on break and nearing the final levels, so I'm looking towards my next. I've always been more in to SciFi than Fantasy, so that's where I'm looking. If I'm pouring my energy in to another long term campaign, I want the perfect system. But that's where I'm running in to problems.

The main things I'm looking for are:
1. Interesting combat, something deeper than "roll to shoot" then end turn.
2. Character building with meaningful choices every level, that doesn't kill you before Level 1.
3. Weapon customisation like suppressors, holographic sights and extended mags.
4. Decent variety of conventional weapons rather than wall to wall energy weapons.
5. Not strictly tied to a single setting. I'm a chronic worldbuilder and like to run my own settings.

My current main option is Star/Pathfinder. This hits the first 2 points dead on and I have some experience with the system. I have issues with point 3 and especially 4, but with system knowledge and a lot of time to prepare I'd look in to homebrewing some new weapons and customisation options. Point 5 is easy enough outside of the minor effort to pick a Deity list.

Another game I've played is Fallout2d20. The combat is interesting with Called Shots and Action Points, the character building is solid for a classless system and the gear customisation is fantastic. But running anything other than Fallout requires reskinning the entire game from top to bottom, without mentioning the range system. So this one isn't an option but might give some context, hopefully.

Many of the games I've found with solid weapons have puddle deep combat disguised by being "hyper lethal". But I want to run something combat heavy, with planet hopping mercenaries/adventurers, not a game where combat must be avoided at all costs. I've looked through the suggestion list and from the rules I've managed to find nothing has jumped out. Which is really the main problem, there are many good and highly recommended SciFi RPGs out there that don't fit my awkward preferences.

I'm fully prepared to be told there's nothing out there that fits 100% and Starfinder is close enough to my ideal system. But I have to ask, am I missing something?

Thanks for any help.

I'm planning to run an RPG campaign inspired by the universe of Wool / Silo (the Apple TV+ series), and I'm having a hard time deciding which system to use.

The setting takes place in a distant, post-apocalyptic future, after humanity retreated underground into massive silos. The technology level is quite unusual: the silo has complex industrial infrastructure, machinery, and computers, but everyday technology is relatively limited and access to information is heavily controlled. It's a society that feels more industrial and old-fashioned than futuristic, despite having some advanced technology. Think a self-contained, underground society where knowledge itself can be dangerous.

I'm currently undecided between Fate Condensed and Trail of Cthulhu (GUMSHOE), as both seem like they could be a good fit for the setting. I'd also be happy to hear about any other systems that might work even better.

For context, the campaign will be almost entirely focused on roleplaying and investigation, with a strong emphasis on social interactions, uncovering secrets, political intrigue, and exploring the mysteries of the silo. Combat will be extremely rare, especially considering how secure the environment is.

What do you think guys?

To preface this I should explain that I am more looking for a system that would need absolutely no computers or tech at the table, but still be crunchy enough for that to be fun. I have no issue with making things for my table and I am hoping for any input to find some streamlined system that is easy to play and run, but has some crunch for the players.

I make a lot of things for my games, so I absolutely wouldn't be against making things like a player sheet booklet like I’ve done for D&D, Nimble and 2D20 Fallout.

I'm thinking of running a classic "Town above a mega-dungeon" type campaign with a multi-generational cycle where adventurers delve into a dungeon, clear out some of the rooms of monsters, but then eventually perish. A generation passes, the townsfolk go through the cleared rooms to collect resources from the dungeon, upgrade the town, then send in a new group of adventurers that are a little better trained and better equipped than the previous one.

I'm all for homebrewing, but I'm wondering what system would be the best starting point for this type of game. Any suggestions?

I was sold on Orbital Blues thanks to a great AP and some amazing interviews with the creators. Sad space cowboys, gig economy survival, tragedy and comedy and pathos built into the rules - fab.

But the rulebook was a chore to read. The vibe of the genre was disconnected with the plain voice of the writing, which read like an unenthusiastic sales-pitch for the rules. No drama. No blues or soul or laconic tone. No excitement for the premise. Even with the amazing art of the book, I checked out.

Two questions:

1. For those who play it, how did you maintain the genre vibe and attitude of the premise?

2. What game would you recommend for the same vibe but a more engaging read (Scum & Villainy was suggested, but I find FitD games fun to play but not run).

All suggestions welcome!

Hi, guys!
I'm currently working on a ttrpg as a hobby/personal project and it's partially inspired by certain anime (in particular products like Solo Leveling and DanMachi) and I wanted to ask if someone knows about other anime-inspired games.

Mostly I feel like I need more inspirations beside the classic D&D and other very basic ttrpg I played recently, so any suggestion is welcomed.

Looking at systems to use to run a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure oneshot, but can't decide on anything. I want my players to be able to make their own stand abilities. There's a fangame but it doesn't seem that great.

Thank you for advice!

On September 18, as part of their Autumn Preview of upcoming products, Games Workshop announced their first in-house RPG in roughly 20 years; Necromunda Roleplay. They had products to show off and a promotional video of them sitting around playing it. It was due to come out by years end (most likely).

A couple weeks after the announcement, the articles about the game were removed from Warhammer Community (Games Workshop's official news site).

Today, 35 days after the announcement, they've announced Necromunda Roleplay isn't happening.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/ntkfvqdt/new-for-necromunda-in-2027/

I was wondering because in my personal conception of a podcast for live play a group of friends get together with a pre-existing idea and put it out there so their world/characters/acting gets seen. But usually people stick to something like D&D.

I was wondering if there were podcasts that had multiple systems, especially indie ones... mostly because I'd love to talk to them about the possibility of them doing some live play sessions of my game at some point. But I don't even know if people do that, or how I would begin searching for that...

So... here's the first attempt!