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Hi Everyone, I'm a total beginner to TTRPGs and just joined my first DnD session yesterday I came to realize that I don't quite enjoy the heavy role-playing and rather enjoyed the choices that I had to make and the combat. I'll start learning Pathfinder 2e and Starfinder 2e since I read that both are Tactical combat-heavy and crunchy games.

But I would like to hear others or more suggestions from veterans and experienced players.

Themes that I'm interested in are all kinds of Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic etc. Everything but Super-Hero

Casey Hudson's sci fi game looks like Mass Effect meets 1960s space and sci fi optimism(Star Trek, The Jetsons, Tomorrowland, EPCOT, 2001: A Space Odyssey)!

https://imgur.com/a/6H6bDtI

Are there any TTRPGs with universes like that?

Hello everyone. I've been running PF2E for my group, but I suspect it is just a little too crunchy for them. I really like the clear GM-facing design of PF2E, the tight encounter building and expanded DC rules in particular. I'm looking for a system which offers similar clear GM-facing mechanics with simplified rules for the players.

Nimble 2 offers the player-facing rules I am looking for, but the quickstart rules don't include the relevant GM rules/advice. Does anyone here own the Nimble 2 Game Master's Guide? How does it compare to PF2E and D&D5E? I dropped 5E because it is simultaneously too detailed and too open-ended, I don't want to spend a lot of time balancing encounters and DC's.

I've been looking for a good system to run for emergency one-shots for when my groups DM or a player is absent but the rest of the group has that roleplaying itch.

I've already run an Alien 2-shot with great success, and been a player for Call of Cthulhu and Monster of the Week, but now i'm looking for something to spice things up a bit.

Primarily, i want to try systems without the focus being on monster-slaying, and more on mystery solving and the dread and buildup of horror that comes with the setting. I want to try and tap into that sensation where you're suddenly too aware of how dark the doorway beside you is, and you become a bit too uncomfortable having your back to the open room.

I've had my eye on systems like Public Access, Vaesen and Esoterrorists that from what i've skimmed over seem to fit the bill atleast somewhat, but i'm curious if there's anything fitting that description that i might've missed.

When you buy a book or boxset from your local store, is it standard for games to include a code to get a PDF copy?

I'm coming from the D&D world where you have to pay extra to get both, but would love to support my local game store (without spending extra $$$). Is there a norm for indie TTRPGs or does it vary from game to game?

The games I'm most curious about are Mythic Bastionland, Shadowdark, and Mothership.

Thanks!

Supplier and distributor. So I am very interested in opening a ttrpg and boatd games store with live game events in Lahore, Pakistan. This will be the first of it's kind in the city perhaps the entire country. Do if you can point me in the right direction on where to start that would be extremely helpful.

And what system?

I feel as though a lot of GMs' attempts at in-game moral and ethical dilemmas are unwittingly sabotaged by adventure inertia and players' desire to avoid saying, "At the climax of our journey, we turn around and leave."

The way I usually see it structured, a bunch of antagonists stir up trouble. The PCs agree to help the locals. The party investigates some dangerous place or situation. Then, at the very end of the adventure, the PCs see that the antagonists have some vaguely justifiable reason for causing trouble.

The above structure is perfectly fine (and indeed, I have used it many times myself as a GM), but where things get janky is when the antagonists sincerely plea for the PCs to just turn around and leave, and the GM earnestly expects this to be an option that should be seriously taken into consideration.

I have never, ever seen this happen, for understandable reasons. Very, very few players want to say, "At the climax of our journey, we turn around and leave." It is much more common for the players and their PCs either work out a compromise with major concessions from the antagonists, beat up the antagonists, or both (i.e. beat up, restrain, work out compromise and major concessions from position of power).

Here is a seemingly well-acclaimed adventure from a seemingly popular 5e YouTuber, Time for Pleasantries: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR8lSF5Uwa7Td_23TsOsH5wqBEnYwsRYO1R_jdFeX2vYSQlMhk93ZdU_g0wAQVKlmVyYXNAR9lDKTgC/pub (yes, it has been in playtest since 3 June 2023)

To avoid spoilers as much as possible (but spoilering them just in case), the PCs agree to help out some townsfolk, and even bring along one of the townsfolk with them. The PCs delve through a dangerous place and fight some monsters, and are confronted with a moral and ethical dilemma in the climax. The adventure earnestly expects the PCs to seriously consider the option of "just turn around, leave, and let down all of the townsfolk," and even has entire sections detailing what happens if the PCs do just that. (There is fallout if they do so, but the fallout if they do the default heroic thing of fighting the antagonists is much grander-scale.)

Indeed, the adventure specifically says that the GM should shut down attempts at finding a compromise, and further notes that the antagonists are willing to give only the teensiest, tiniest of (non-)concessions: "We will just spread our targets around multiple towns instead of focusing on just one."

After asking around, I have seen reports of players indeed simply 100% capitulating to the antagonists' demands, turning around, and leaving. (This usually involves the GMs portraying the locals as contemptible, and the antagonists as amicable.)

This has never been my experience, but I tend to have atypical experiences. What have the rest of you experienced?

My sister and I have been enjoying making d&d 5e characters (~level 10 or 15) and having them battle one another. Obviously, d&d is not designed for this. We don't have to manage the use of spell slots or points as much, and reactions can end up being pretty op. Classes with support-heavy spell lists also aren't as effective.

Are there any systems that would work well for 1v1 combat? We like coming up with new characters and customizing their abilities (which is why we're not just playing smash bros or something). Preferably another fantasy system since I like playing casters lol

Thanks!

Could someone explain how the rulesets compare/differ, pros/cons, etc? For example, if I have EveryWhen, would it be worth buying any of the others to enhance or better the core rules? Thank you!

• BoL (Sword & Sorcery)
• EveryWhen (Generic/Universal)
• Honor+Intrigue (Swashbuckling)
• Dicey Tales (1920/30s Pulp)

I got the deluxe box for mothership. At this point I have a large collection of rpgs that are sitting in the shelf never used and I've never run a game before nor played anything beside a little of DND 5e. But I've read a lot of them.

I realized that while I love simulation and the world making sense I really can't remember all the rules in the moment. Otherwise I would have used gurps. This made me look at narrative games like PBTA which were a revolution.

Using judgement and rulings over many rules. But I didn't like the narrative focus. I still wanted simulation. This led me to OSR and things inspired by it. Using the same principles of rulings and less rules but with a focus on being a referee of the the world over a storyteller.

This led me to mothership. As a first time I'm with first time players do you all have some advice for me on how to do this? And if I'm looking in the right place? I like attributes, skills, and perks/abilities as design elements that grant fictional positioning and permissions. I've almost been tempted to design my own with FUDGE but I wasn't sure how. I'm very new to this. I also took a look at the warren rpg because I love watership down but it was almost a bit too simplistic, or maybe I'm not applying the rules light method of just doing what your gonna do and using mechanics as scaffolding enough yet.

Any advice on mothership, and osr or OSR inspired games in general would be appreciated. As well as advice for first time gm and players.