**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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I have bought some Vampire dice and some DM screen from them around 2 months ago from their EU website and asked to be delivered to my adress in Germany.

The products in question were listed as available in stock.

They still have not send me my products. When I email them all they send me is BS emails like we went on holidays sorry we will send in 2 days then a month passes by.

At this point I think I have been scammed. In any case, bad customer support/service, do not shop at Renegade Studios.

I have an itch to run a fantasy campaign, but I don't want any of what has become "typical" fantasy. I want something that feels more strange, something in the line of Oz, Neverending Story, or Labyrinth.

I already have Troika and Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland (though I don't know all the Odd-likes).

I'm interested in systems that work well for this sort of thing, as well as settings and GM inspiration.

So I'm gonna be 100% honest about what this is, I'm tired and I'm frustrated and I'm sad,and I wish to engage in some retail therapy. I want to buy a new game, I'm not super picky on what that game is, just something I do not currently own, and that I will read and probably, maybe, possibly, play one day.

There really isn't a style of play or genre that I do not enjoy, but, as I said earlier, tired and frustrated and sad,so don't really wanna be combing the sites looking for something that catches my interest. So, I'm outsourcing my coping mechanisms to y'all.

Pitch me a game, I don't care about the system, I don't care about the genre, I don't care about the style of play, I just want something.

So if you have that game, that you really wish more people were playing, that company that needs a little bit of financial help, or just that pet system that you recommend in every post, whether it fits or not, now's your opportunity to sell someone on it.

Sell me a game, and I'll probably buy it.

Edited to note, I may not be picky about basically anything here, but I do still want something a little bit more than just a game title. Like if you're gonna pitch a game, at least tell me a little about it please. If I had the mental and emotional bandwidth to go do my own research, I wouldn't be posting this. If that sounds lazy, demanding, entitled, you're not wrong, not even a little bit

(Mods, please remove if not allowed)

Is there a Canadian equivalent to Drive-Thru RPG that I can order printed media through?

I recently bought some stuff on Black Friday that I had been holding off on for a long time, due to the world going to hell. Between the weak Canadian dollar and tariffs, it is becoming unfeasible to buy anything through DTRPG any more.

My order came to about $200 US. That’s $277 Cdn. Then, I got dinged $63 in tariffs on COD. So my $200 US order ended up being $330 Cdn. 😕 I can’t justify doing that much more.

Is there any “print in Canada” options like DTRPG? I don’t mind having to pay more for exchange rate, but tariffs make it essentially paying that exchange twice. And before anyone says, just buy the PDF’s and print them yourself, the Staples in my part of the world are VERY touchy about printing ANYTHING that isn’t an original document - it it’s licensed, it’s often plutonium. Plus, they aren’t going to print a hard-backed copy of GODS OF THE FORBIDDEN NORTH 😆

Any ideas from Canadian gamers?

looking for a game. Maybe I'll play it. can be anything.

As an opposite to my last post, I'm curious!

Edit: Could be visually, rules-wise, your personal opinion, whatever.

Wondering if people had any recommendations for a ttrpg system that works well for a survival game. I've been playing D&D 5e for 4/5 years and i really enjoy it but it doesn't really lend itself well to survival mechanics. If anybody has any recommendations for systems that do (ideally keeping the fantasy theming so i can run it in the same world as i usually do) please let me know! Thanks in advance!

I am not even sure if I am wording this question right.

Reading about a bunch of RPGs coming from a DND 5e background, and reading posts on here, I have discovered tons of cool systems.

However trying to find more games to play I hit a road block that seemingly both ends of the narrative/simulationist divide don't really click.

Fate and PBTA from what I have read seem cool, but are kind of too loose? Obviously the more open structure is to facilitate great stories. However it doesn't FEEL like there is that gameyness I love from having a set number of tools and stats at my disposal that I picked from a list if that makes sense? Part of why I put "trad" in quotes since this seems to be related from how I have heard the term used in posts here.

On the other extreme gurps and hero system while at the micro level being quite simple (just rolling d6) have so many defined rules for the goal of simulation I feel like I am drowning. You lovingly craft your barbarian or accountant from points and an awe inspiring list of main traits and supplements. You have your combat turns where each second counts and just aiming can be your entire action. And it for dumb reasons reminds me of how over the course of a 5 year DND campaign I would constantly have to check the rule book just to remember how crossbows work and how to get mods to add to my rolls for basic combat. I just feel there is too MUCH depth for me specifically to ever wrap my head around.

Then I stumbled across numenera and the BRP based games.

Cypher/Numenera seem to be about as simple as I can go while still scratching the "gamey" itch. Challenge ratings and most mechanics seem super simple to understand, there is that basic level like structure to build toward new cool toys every so often, but things like intrusions allow just enough freedom for players and the gm to add things to the story.

BRP on the other hand seems about as far "simulationist" as I would like. You are grounded by your skills, you get to watch them grow almost naturally through use. But doesn't quite feel like I am drowning as much. And it seems pretty granular at least in the genreless version of how much extra detail you want to apply.

Obviously this is all based on perspective. Maybe some day either end of the spectrum will "click" with me in someway. But for now I was curious what games fit in this nebulous Goldilocks zone I have described?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or even advice on how to broaden my RPG horizons!

For what it's worth, I have used the search function and trawled through tons of posts asking for sci-fi systems. While it's helped me find some, a lot of the most recommended systems don't seem right for my group. Traveller and Stars Without Number are not good choices as I don't think the OSR style is what my players would find fun. They like having fairly deep long term character progression with fun choices, being challenged while still being able to fight without insta dying to some grunt.

The campaign is gonna be space opera, inspired by stuff like Mass Effect. That's the vibe I'd like so obviously systems that make combat brutal and something to always be avoided or really lean into hard sci-fi aren't ideal. We're wanting a system that can handle longer term campaigns without feeling like there's nothing outside of the pure roleplay once you play long enough. Starfinder 2E looked cool but it doesn't seem to have a whole lot of content yet? I couldn't find any rules for starship combat which is kind of important for us.

I've ended up looking at a few generic systems. Mostly leaning towards Savage Worlds with the Sci-Fi Companion right now but the variance in cool gear seems pretty limited and it looks like it doesn't necessarily do single enemy boss fights very well. It does do a lot right for what we want but the variance in enemies seems low, lots of mostly irrelevant mooks for the players to mow down which is thematically great for this Mass Effect vibe but not all the time.​

I was also looking at Genesys but I'm less clear on how that plays. If there's a lot of fun character options as you progress then it's a contender though the narrative dice look a bit stressful.

Usually I would have hoped to have found what I needed without making a post but I really am still unsure. The most recommended systems for sci-fi don't suit us. As I said, Traveller and Stars Without Number (and variations of that I guess like Cepheus or whatever else there is) aren't ideal.

Thanks for any help.

I’ve been playing and GMing for about 30 years, and over the last few years I’ve noticed players more and more often checking their phones and scrolling through social media during play, often not paying attention to what’s happening at the table.

The obvious no phones at the table rule is not really viable. I GM at a paid gaming club, so players are customers and can simply push back or leave. I want to keep things welcoming, not authoritarian.

I’m looking for practical advice on keeping players engaged without outright banning phones. Any tips or approaches that have worked for you would be greatly appreciated.

I'm looking for inspiration for what the next game I run should be. I'm at a stage in my life that I don't think getting in a multi-year game is realistic - I think ideally I'd like to run a 10-12 session game where hopefully every session is a banger (that excludes anything like a long Pathfinder AP or similar).

I'm also looking for low prep - a lot of PbtA and FitD stuff fits this mold but I'm not exclusively looking there.

Some stuff (definitely non-exhaustive) I've played recently in the past, some of which may fit the bill but either way shows my tastes:

• Fabula Ultima
• Blades in the Dark
• a Cortex Lite hack
• Fate Core in the Eberron DnD setting
• Lancer (I'm a fan and I don't actually find the prep onerous, but '12 sessions' here would be barely enough to get through a single tier)
• Masks
• Urban Shadows

Stuff I own that I've been tossing up, and am yet to run or play in any real capacity:

• Outgunned
• FIST
• The In Golden Flame Lancer campaign (but I'm waiting for part 2 to be officially out)
  
• Shadow of the Weird Wizard (but I'm waiting for one of the campaigns to be fully out to backers)
• Hypermall Unlimited Violence
• Hillfolk/Dramasystem
• Heart

Things I don't want:

• Thirsty Sword Lesbians (tried this, was disappointed)
• anything OSR (some adventures like Ultraviolet Grasslands I'd consider but would convert to some other system)
• anything where prepping opposition or challenges is harder than Lancer with compcon
• in general, anything that might be too crunchy to get players invested in with the limited time available (I would love to play Mage the Awakening 2e again but that is not gonna work in 12 sessions)

You can sell me on one of the things I'm tossing up, but I'm also interested in cool new stuff that you'd think would fit the bill!