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I've noticed this with almost everyone I've played with, including myself. The nicest, most calm person in the world becomes more bloodthirsty when they play; while the amount differs between players, everyone seems to be more prone to violence. Why is this?

hi everyone! i wanted to know if there’s a good ttrpg for a campaign on the shorter side - maybe 15-20 sessions or so? my dm is looking to take a break between our current campaign and the next, and id like to get some more dming experience. i don’t want to run an entire long campaign, however, and don’t want to do a bunch of one shots.

we currently play dnd 5e, and we LOVE rp and character creation. a few of us also play VTM if that helps with our likes. i could just run a shorter dnd campaign but i think we’re interested in trying something new out!

thank you for the help!

I have not played 5e much at all. Maybe I gave it a spin a few times when it first came out. And I've mostly only given Critical Role and what goes on there a slight glance. I get most of my rpg news from EnWorld newsletter, a couple other indie newsletters. R/rpg, and fees other subs, plus a couple YouTube channels and game designer colleagues on social media (mostly Facebook).

But when these huge Kickstarters happen in the D&D sphere, I start to wonder how such things get past me. Shouldn't I know that people play sci-fi with D&D to the tune of 16 million dollars? It seems so absurd.

Does 5e really play space well? Would you say it works better than combat fantasy?

I am subscribed at the free level to Chris Handforth's Patreon, and I just received the following message:

If you didn’t catch it today, we are working on Scion Third Edition! I say we, because your’s truly has wrangled his way into writing the Antagonists and Monsters - so yeah, that pretty freaking cool.

Not much in the way of details yet, but it will be a Storypath Ultra game, core will combine Origin and Hero, into one book, and it will feature ten Pantheons: Æsir, Bogovi, Deva, Loa, Kami, Netjer, Shen, Teotl, Theoi, Tuatha.

More than that, we are Fatebound not to say. But keep your eyes peeled and we hope to see you for crowdfunding in 2027!

So we are to receive Scion 3e some time in 2028 or 2029, using Storypath Ultra?

I'm thinking of DMing a game and looking for recommendations for what system to use. I want something rules-light, with a greater focus on narrative and world building than combat.

The story is going to be a bit of a mixture of genres but most accurately described as a mystery first. It will also contain elements of sci-fi and supernatural. The setting will be in a small US town in a dystopian future (maybe 20-30 years from now), so oppressive government agencies and cover-ups will be a thing as well.

Getting a lot of inspiration from different genres and media, but in particular: Stranger Things, X-files, Umbrella Academy, Wednesday, etc.

Right now I'm gravitating most towards Kids on Bikes. I've not played it personally but I've seen it played (or variations of it) on Dimension 20. But I'm definitely open to other systems as well, if anyone has other suggestions, which is why I'm posting.

I'm terms of my experience, I've played and DMed DND 5e and a little 3.5e back in the day, and DMed a Star Wars rpg, but otherwise I've not had much experience with other systems.

I want to start GMing but have very limited experience with TTRPGS. I've played a small amount of D&D along with some Vampire, mostly many years ago. I'm thinking of trying out a bunch of different systems to see what I enjoy now and find a few that I'd mainly like to run. I'm thinking this would primarily be a lot of different one shots, probably with whatever free test drives/jumpstarts I can find. The idea is to test a lot of systems and get a feel for what kind of mechanics and crunch level I like, how much of a narrative driven focus I prefer, what kind of settings and tones/moods I enjoy, etc. I can't think of anything off hand that would be off limits or that I'm really not interested in at least trying and seeing how it goes.

I'm trying to figure out what systems to play to get as good a mix of things as possible while still keeping the total number down to something (relatively) manageable. Either extreme of the crunchy simulationist vs narrative side of things is probably not going to be what I want, but who knows. I don't have a group at all, but more than likely lean towards smaller group sizes versus large ones.

Are there any systems or games you think I should definitely try out?

Best settings with good one shots from the different generic systems out there (savane worlds, cortex, cypher, etc.)?

Would it matter what order I try systems in to help narrow down what I may like or not like more quickly? Something like a somewhat crunchier game then a more rules light and narrative focused game.

Any advice for a new GM or things you wish you knew when you started?

What are the good channels or pages you follow for tips on running games that are more system agnostic (I know the wiki has some, but there's always more)? How about ones that are great for a specific system?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I have about 4 players at a table and we infrequently get together to play D&D. Most of them say they have a good time but the games really aren't a big priority for them. People cancel at the first inkling of something else they want to do and none of them are interested in doing homework or talking about their characters or what goals they want to achieve (material or personal) when we aren't actively playing.

They have told me they're all having a great time but it just seems like what they want to do is sit down for a few hours every few weeks roleplay, get more powerful with loot or levels and that's about it. They are also really bad with learning the rules and are not interested in reading or holding onto mechanics I've explained so a lot of times even character sheet stuff has to be re-explained or simplified.

Are there games beyond D&D that might be a better fit for my group? I do like these people and we do have a good time roleplaying together. I just want to see if I can find something more their style.

In light of the other thread about missing D&D, what things do you sometimes miss between different games (not D&D, because just no)?

• When I'm running or playing FitD games, I sometimes miss rolling for NPCs. It's a minor thing, and overall, the strength of the player rolls resolving the action means I don't miss it too much (at least I still get to roll dice sometimes when running FitD games, using fortune rolls).
• In Cortex, I sometimes miss the more freeform nature of Fate aspects. There are a lot of parallels between the two systems despite having somewhat different goals, but the dice and labels nature of creating assets hits a little different than Create Advantage.

Luckily, neither of those would cause me to change anything about those games. If I want to roll buckets of dice, I'll just play Cortex. If I want a whole bunch of narrative descriptors without having dice attached, I'll play Fate.

A colleague approached me a couple of days ago and said “You’re into tabletop role-play games aren’t you?” I said yes and she said can you suggest something for me?

She wants to arrange a one shot evening for her and her partner. She will DM ( has no experience or has played ttrpg games). She needs very basic rules so she can run. He’s into Warhammer and she was asking for a simple rpg that would maybe he would like and she could get the rules.

Thanks in advance. Any suggestions would be great.

Hey, me and my group are getting tired of fantasy and want to run a game in a world that's more grounded and relateable, preferably an investigation game. I've played CoC, World of Darkness and Swedish Cults before and i'm looking at delta green or nights black agents currently. I've played a single session of Mutant City Blues so my experience with gumshoe is a bit limited.

I'm also eyeing the Dracula Dossier as it keeps getting rave reviews. We're on a rotating GM spree testing out systems right now and I want to dip our toe in one of these games.

1. Is there one you think is better than the other?

2. Is there a short quality starting scenario we could try out you like in your preferred game?

Today, while musing about one of my group's recent session, it occurred to me that almost every modern TTRPG has ditched morale and reaction mechanics that used to be a staple of early gen TTRPGs. I love my DM and understand all the effort GMs expend running session. I was that Forever GM for decades before I started to sit on the other side of the table. Yet, it seems almost every time we encounter anything, unless it is a scripted scene, it is 'we're going to initiative'.

Wait, wait, wait... can't we talk to them? Maybe they take a liking to us? Something other than repetitive f'ing combat that is going to take hours to resolve? Don't get me wrong, I understand some things are mindless or destructive, or the story dictates this happens but overall the general trend I see in modern TTRPGs is that the default action is to kill things.

I missed the whole 3e-5e, Pathfinder, etc modernization Arc. Last played AD&D 2e and picked up the trailing end of 5e, so I missed the trend away from random NPC/mob reactions and morale checks. Honestly, I sort of miss it. I read that systems have just transferred that to GM-fiat and that's fine, but I rarely see that kind of advice in any system's core books. Even if they would just include it as an optional mechanic at least newer GMs would know that's it is actually an option. Now my DM is older school like myself, he grew up playing the same systems I did (I hear his uncle used a heavier hand during their sessions than most may have) but even he has fallen into the 'hack and kill' model

Anyone else miss that type of mechanic? I feel it adds a layer to role playing that seems to be missing in modern TTRPGs