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Looking for opinions, not picking a fight. I think we should all play the kinds of games we like and play them how we like. That said, after talking with some friends, I'm feeling out whether my opinion is unpopular.

I prefer games that are just one book. I started playing RPGs very casually in 1999 but actually got into the hobby properly in 2005 with D&D 3.X. I ran a weekly game (that is technically still running) in that system until Pathfinder came out and then played that until we switched over to a homebrew system that we still play weekly.

I own nearly every 1st party book for 3.X physically and have, I kid you not, thousands of d20/OGL compatible 3rd part ebooks that I no longer play We used content from most of them during the 3.X/Pathfinder phase of our game. I couldn't get enough of the supplements! So I'm not saying I don't get the appeal.

I've played well over 100 RPGs now at this point and find I gravitate to the "everything in one book" approach. Generally rules-lite, no adventure books, no slat books or supplements, the GM and player rules are all right there. I live for these kinds of games (or at the very least, if the game does get a supplement or two, they are so optional I would never need to touch them... *cough* BitD).

Here's where I'm confused, though. I still have friends who play D&D. Nearly all of them treat wherever new supplement as if it's mandatory. I've even seen some of them get frustrated if a GM says they can't use a specific book for their specific campaign. It's just wild to me.

They can't wrap their head around a book that has everything in it. Some refuse to even try and others act as though these kinds of games can only do one-shots as they don't have enough "content" for long-term play.

Like, come on! The "content" is your imagination, right?! I have other friends who won't play without an adventure module at all and act as though a GM planning a session or doing improv isn't "official" enough.

I feel like I just can't get behind the whole "game as content" thing. Like, it's one of the reasons I pretty much only play indie video games too.

So what say you all? I know this is too much thought/text for something inconsequential (it doesn't but me, I swear) I just wanted to get a convo started and see what people think on the matter.

If there's one thing I've learned since coming into the TTRPG space, it is that there are a lot of publishers, who have a reputation around them. Of course, if there's one other thing I've learned about TTRPGs, it's that opinions can be very divided, and claims can spread widely around without the necessary context or nuance-I've really appreciated that so many folks here are willing to offer feedback and context when it's been needed.

Still, I've seen a few reputations that really seem to stick around. Stuff like WOTC/Hasbro being pretty greedy/player unfriendly, Paizo being very supportive of their playerbase, White Wolf being made up of Edgelords throughout the 2000s, Catalyst having editing issues, Free League being pretty universally admired as a third party publisher. That sort of thing. But there are publishers I don't know much about, Modephius, Necrotic Gnome, Cubicle 7, etc, etc. As someone whose lacking in a broader knowledge base, I really want to expand it by learning what I can about specific publishers.

I'm really interested in this, seeing what kind of reputation each publisher has with the community broadly, what earned them that reputation, and whether folks who have experience with that publisher's systems feel it's an accurate reputation or not.

I've been thinking about superhero RPGs recently, mostly because of the sale on DriveThruRPG right now, thinking about picking one up. I've glanced at various systems and came to a conclusion, that none of the superhero games out there fit the genre as well as FATE.

What led me to this conclusion was a quote from the Cypher System, in the section where it talks about using Cypher for a superhero campaign.

"Even by roleplaying game standards, superhero games are all about the PCs. Think of the PCs as the main characters of their own comic book. They are the stars of the show. Rather than create a world and have the players make superhero PCs to fit into it, have the players create characters first and build the world around them. They are the superhero team that the setting should revolve around, whether they are a new group or the heroes who have been defending the city for years."

I agree with this quote so much. I figure that, to emulate the superhero genre, players need way more agency over the setting than most fantasy or sci-fi campaigns. Player characters and their stories should be the defining aspect of this setting. It's a genre who's world is much like our world, but made different by the few superhumans who inhabit it.

What I'm getting at is that the superhero genre revolves around it's protagonists. This is where FATE excels, being a narrative RPG which puts the protagonists at the front and center.

FATE is a game all about making larger than life protagonists. The aspect and stunt system are freeform enough to give players the freedom to make whatever characters they envision. They aren't choosing powers from a list, they're writing custom aspects and stunts.

The narrative element of FATE's rules gives players plenty of agency over the setting, which feeds into the "the players characters are the protagonists" vibe more than any system.

Hell, I actually think that the FATE Accelerated version of the rules might be even better, as the approaches work better for a team of players who are basically good at the same thing, over the skill system.

The zones in combat can be used to run combat over a larger scale environment, which is why the recent Invincible RPG uses a similar system. If monsters are attacking downtown, you can have different zones representing different parts of downtown, one zone could be the mall, another representing city hall, etc.

This is all to say that I think FATE is uniquely well suited for the superhero genre. This isn't a post of me saying that a setting-neutral RPG is able to emulate a genre, rather, that FATE excels in this genre.

Of course, this comes with some assumptions about the sort of superhero story you're trying to emulate, but for what I think most people expect out of a superhero story, FATE works best.

I am looking for a game to run to where all the pcs are humans in a dark medieval setting and encounters are tense and dangerous. I was thinking of running ShadowDark but the more I read the rules and modules the more it seems like reskinned dnd. I am also considering CoC Dark Ages but everyone says the format is bad and I do want a system with some dungeon crawling. In terms of tone I think between two fires and berserk are good references but more grounded. Any good systems and modules you guys recommend?

Campaign here: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/melsonian-arts-council/a-bit-o-troika

Their pdfs on drivethrurpg so far: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/6992/melsonian-arts-council

Basically they are a small publisher, and if they hit £25k they'll be thrilled enough to give everybody free pdfs of everything - you only need to back at the lowest £6 level to qualify.

They are a British publisher, with whimsical and often psychedelic products. The main thing you get is Troika, a gonzo space fantasy setting, and all of the setting & campaign books (Troika is based on Advanced Fighting Fantasy, if you're a fan of classic British TTRPGs and game books), but you also get Swyvers (criminals in fantasy Victorian Londonesque city), and Stay Frosty (Doom/Space Marine action, based on Black Hack), and presumably other stuff I haven't looked at yet.

Honestly just seems like a good deal, but utterly candidly the more I put word out the better the odds they'll hit £25k and I'll get the big pile of pdfs.

Edit: They've hit £25k now! So anyone who wants to spend the £6 should get the full stack of pdfs

Hello!

I’m curious to discover more games that make clever use of their themes in their presentation. English isn’t my main language so I’m not sure if theme identity is the correct wording, but here are some examples from the top of my mind to illustrate what I mean:

- Salvage Union, presenting itself like an old instruction manual

- Slugblaster, that used to come in a pizza box doubling as a GM screen

- MemoryCore, that emulates an old console with each minigame coming in a video game box, and the manual being the ruleset for that game

- Midnight Press, a noir TTRPG with its rulebook written on a Newspaper

This kind of stuff!

I mean the classes are balanced better than in any other edition and the game doesn't try to be a real life simulation (that fails) but instead a pure gameplay centric heaven.

Hello!

I'm doing some research for a system in making for myself and friends, and I'm looking for game that don't have bespoke combat mini-games Ala DnD, Pathfinder, etc. Rather I'm looking for games that use skill challenges (meaning a challenge or adversity that has to be overcome by making a number of successful skill checks) for combat scenes.

I know I've read about games that do thos before, but I'm blanking on their names. Thanks so much for an recommendations.

Hey guys with winter coming up I am dying to run a table top game with friends where it is mostly story focused in nature. Problem is looking at a previous post it seems that it's a bit barren and not really too big on the systems recommended. Does anyone got some dope suggestions to throw in? looking for a nomadic adventure with good focus on environment and gun combat if need be.