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So, people preach about how awesome they are, especially pf2e. There's a thread currently going on telling someone how they are very wrong liking DnD more than it. but...

One of the biggest draws for me when it comes to rpgs is exploration, the other being aiming for the best blend of improvisation and planning. But when this games are talked about, exploration is hardly ever mentioned. For example, Pathfinder is touted as a golden standard for a well balanced tactical game with teamwork, build flexibility, great martials and an active gameplay that requires strategy to win. Combat as sport at it's finest. I could go on though my list. It is clear that this are good and well loved games.

But do they have good exploration? That is very important to me.

What do I think exploration means to me as a draw? Well, pretty much all the things you would place under this category.

I love anything from exploring strange new world and dimensions to experiencing the freedom of a sandbox, from pointcrawls or hexcrawls with random tables and travelling mechanics to resource and inventory management, from simulation of mundane chores like tracking torches or hunting and fishing to metaphysical exploration of character morality. I am currently looking to buy Lonwinter because I am trying to homebrew a light system that tracks cold to Mausritter and need some winter inspiration.

I like lore, I love old worlds dotted with ruins, I love a good dungeon crawl where the environment is filled with puzzles and just as menacing as the enemies within (big fan of living and funhouse dungeons). I like factions. I love drawing maps for my campaigns even when it's totally unnecessary (like we already have a map or everything is in a narrative theatre of the mind system). I love the sense of discovery. I love to figure things on my own or with the help of other players. Uncovering secrets, solving mysteries. I like journeys.

Do this games actually have good exploration that is being brushed over because of their bigger selling points or do they simply not focus on it?

Examples of games with fantastic exploration: Mythic Bastionland, Dragonbane, The Wildsea, Cairn, The Eternal Ruins, Mausritter. Only read but haven't played yet: Forbidden Lands, The One Ring 2e, Shadowdark, Ultraviolet Grasslands 2e

When I first started running games, I thought a fully detailed world map would make everything feel more real. Continents, borders, trade routes, all of it ready before session one.

Over time I started to question that.

Sometimes when players can see the whole world from the start, exploration feels smaller. There is less unknown space. Less sense of discovery.

At the same time, clear geography can make travel and political decisions feel grounded.

Now I usually start with one region and expand as the campaign grows. That keeps some mystery while still giving structure.

For those running longer campaigns, do detailed world maps make the game feel more immersive at your table? Or does building the world slowly work better?

Love my OSR blogosphere - it's a major part of the culture of the scene, and I like blogs as a format a lot more than video and social media. Would love to see what blogs are out there looking at the more trad and storygamey etc sides of things - I'm aware of a few, but also figure I'm stuck in something of a bubble and won't find them unless I seek them out (which I'm doing right now.) What should I add to my RSS feed?

I recently had the opportunity to do a short interview with George, the writer of Three Sails Studio’s new rpg Gallows Corner! George is both a very cool and a very nice game designer, and his previous rpg Mappa Mundi recently won rpg of the year at UK con Dragonmeet! If you want a peek behind the curtain of George’s design intentions for the game and what led him to making some of the decisions he did, check out the interview!

Hi All

So a news feed popped up for me about the delay to the NASA trip to the moon and it got me wondering about a current day space travel RPG. Future seems to be covered (Traveller and others) and alternate past seems to be covered (Space 1889 for example) but is there anything you have played or would recommened / not recommend for "today"?

An obvious thought would be Space:1999 but given when that overall concept came out it makes it more futuristic in my mind. I have considered GURPS but my group recently finished a two year GURPS campaign and so I am looking for a different system.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I want to read more sourcebooks and am hoping for recommendations! I've realised recently that while I've read plenty of rulesets, sometimes with accompanying worlds, I haven't delved into sourcebooks much.

I'm not wanting rulebooks with world material in them - I'm specifically after sourcebooks that refer to a ruleset external to them and supplement it or describe adventure to be had in it. I'll take adventures too. Hit me with your faves please and thank you

saw the pdf just released

I'm writing a campaign for my brother and his friends who as far as I know have never played any ttrpgs. They love board games and rpg video games so I am confident they can understand all of this stuff...

The system that I'm most familiar with is 5e, and I love it, but I'm not sure it fits my setting. My story is in the sci-fi/space area and I know regular 5e won't fit. I've seen like star wars versions, or basically retooled and edited versions of 5e that work for more sci-fi genres. Truthfully, I've just always found 5e to get a bit bogged down by rules and technicalities, and I don't feel like I need all of the abilities and weapons and everything. I'm kind of wondering if I can use just a striped down version.

I've seen and played a little bit of the Dread system, and I like it a lot. My main problem with it is that I'd like a little bit more nuance to checks. Ideally I think I'd like to have simple ability checks like perception, stealth, history, etc. from 5e, but without everything else. I'm not sure if I even want hit points...

All the PCs are likely going to be interchangeable, so I may not even need different stats. I like the tactile nature of dice, and I want different ability checks to be resolved differently, or at least have different prerequisites or something. Is there a system that would work best for this.

I can give more info on the setting and offer clarification if necessary, I think I'm rambling a bit. Thanks so much in advance!

EDIT:

Thank you guys for the suggestions already lol. Personally, I really enjoy creating the world myself, that's one of my favorite parts of ttrpgs. I'm much less looking for something with ideas about or predesigned settings, monsters, aliens, factions, characters, or whatever. I really want a way to say: player 1 is getting attacked by an alien, player 1 tries to dodge, is player 1 successful. I don't think I need things like spell slots, "oh did you take a long rest?", "what's your ac?", "how much health do you have". Those things are fun they're just not what I'm looking for. I kind of just want the players to be like the Adam West batman, where they've got whatever they need on their utility belts for little things while adventuring. I just need a way to up the stakes. I'm not sure that makes any more sense than the rest of what I was saying lol.

Regarding the setting, this is what I have in my google doc as the sort of guiding light:

The inspirations for this operation are mainly Star Trek: The Next Generation, specifically the episodes The Chase (A long extinct alien race leaves clues in genetic code to find the origin of all humanoid species) and Relics (The Enterprise is captured by a long dormant Dyson Sphere), Subnautica (An ancient alien race has sequestered their home planet to stop the spread of a deadly disease), and Alien (Travelers stumble across the remains of a ship from some long-dead, advanced alien race that contains a hidden danger)

Basically the group is sent to research a star system that gives off a strange radiation. They visit different worlds, learning new things about the ancient civilization that lived there however long ago. Blah blah blah. The encounters are pretty much all going to be things like fighting alien species, fixing their ship or ancient alien tech, looking for clues, things like that.

Hi guys, i'm looking for games to master a campaign based on pseudo battle shonen anime/manga.

Give me some names that can fit my desire and if it's possible tell me your personal experience with the game and the reason why you are suggesting me that manual.

Thank you

Hi there! In the past, Call of Cthulhu was my go-to for such campaigns, but I want to branch out and I was hoping y'all can help me out with some recommendations.

The campaign I had in mind centers around a party of fixers/private investigators who run odd jobs related to the supernatural. Not necessarily hunters who fight it - they are fine with being on the side of the supernatural, as long as the job requires that.

So far I have looked into two systems. The first one was Liminal Horror, which I found pretty cool overall, but I know my party likes a bit more mechanical depth than that (e.g. LH has no mechanics for character development outside of acquiring artifacts and afflictions). Then I had a look at Chronicles of Darkness, but that one has too many unnecessary subsystems that seem disjointed from the core system (Clues, Social Maneuvering, etc.) - in my opinion at least. So, basically I am looking for something in between those two in terms of complexity.

What I am looking for exactly:

• Modern setting (past WW2, I'd say) or made to support any time period.
• Mostly mortal, civilian characters. Some space for acquiring supernatural abilities later on is fine, but I would like the characters to start out as unqualified everymen, or at best, weirdo paranormal investigators, who happened to have a brush-in with the supernatural in the past and decided to make a profession out of it.
• Enough mechanical complexity that the players get some fun from watching the numbers go up, but not so much it's hard to onboard new players quickly.
• Decent repository of available adventures, for when you didn't have much time to prepare and the players are knocking down your doors.

Thank you in advance for any recommendation!