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I am specifically talking about one shots at conventions, events, rpg clubs and stuff like that (no matter which system). It's not an issue at my own table and if it was, I could just talk to my friends about it.

But I have noticed that no matter what kind of character I am given (or quickly roll up) for one shots with strangers, I always end up playing the straight man to the bit. I don't mind that in principle, but being chaotic is fun and I'd love to do it at least some of the time. One shots are often a good opportunity for hightened chaos and comedy compared to a long term campaign in my experience, and I have played funny/chaotic/wild characters before. It's not like I can't do that.

It just seems like everybody else always goes off the rails harder and faster than I can, and I get kind of forced into the role of the sensible one. Because somebody needs to do it, right? Somebody needs to gently get the group back on track so that the adventure can happen, and somebody needs to be exasperated at the crazy antics of the chaos gremlins, that makes it funnier.

I've tried simply not doing it and just also being chaotic, but it ended up being less fun and almost kind of... awkward. People would comment "wow I wouldn't have expected your character to also be this stupid" or "that seems more like something [other character] would do". It felt like everybody had just already decided that my character is the one with the brain cell, or the group mom, or whatever you want to call it. Even if I intended to play a totally different kind of character.

And look, maybe this happens to me because of some trait I have that isn't just the fact that I'm a woman. (Like, I've heard that people with more GM experience often tend to be the character that keeps the plot moving when they are players, and I have done a lot of GMing.) But I do think it's probably partially because I'm a woman.

Has anybody else also felt like this? Do you have any ideas how I could try to counteract this trend?

By that I mean that a lot of players naturally feel quite attached to their characters, and so death and the prospect of having to make a new one from scratch can be a turn-off from certain systems. What can one do to ease them into it? An idea I had was asking the players to think about three broadly-defined characters, instead of a detailed singular PC, and that group would be their cast of PCs ready to rotate whenever one of them bites the dust.

I personally like crunchy games when focused in Combat (specially more action-y + tactical), Downtime (doing projects and searchs, building bases and domains, fabricating items) & Exploration (specially more structured and fun travel, mystery-solving & puzzle-cracking).

Been thinking making a RPG of my own with a focus on combat, social bonds, exploration and downtime.

When thinking of combat, I want something between the simplicity of Theater of the Mind & the tactical potencial of Grid-Based combat. I then remembered about the concept of "Range Bands", when everything is meassured in more abstract distances, like Melee, Close, Far and Very Far, or any other way.

My thought then was to make combat take place in a map composed of around 9 Lines long, where each line can have a maximum of around 5 creatures each + 1 or 2 "Terrain Elements", like elevated terrain, a brigde that limits passage, rubble, pitfalls, etc. That way, the only movement you need to care about is Foward & Backward.

Before going with this idea, I want to study how other games does range bands. Which are some recommendations of games that do Range band Combat great?

Tales of the Valiant released in July 2024 by Kobold Press to enthusiasm from its close supporters but relatively less fanfare from the general audience.

The most common critique on release was that it did not have enough obvious changes from the dnd 5e SRD ruleset to differentiate it, described here on reddit as "5e+", 5e "with a paint job" or "with the serial numbers filed off". All fairly reasonable at the time when people were looking for a non-dnd 5e alternative or to move away from Hasbro.
The other critique that I've seen is that the Player's Guide on release was about 70% similar to the 5e PHB and only had 2 subclasses each, some of which were close revisions to their 5e equivalents. So while there was a lot of customization options for Race, Lineage, Heritage, and Talents, picking a class only had 2 subclass paths early on.

I wrote a couple reddit posts and short articles for the KP Blog about character builds before in the past when ToV was released, but since my regular playgroup is still finishing a long running 5e campaign, we haven't switched over yet. We ran a mini-campaign for ToV recently when people were away on vacation, and we really enjoyed it.

I wanted to try to catch up on what's been released for Tales of the Valiant over the last 2 years since KP is still very actively supporting their system. They have a very active discord community, but I didn't see a very good guide available anywhere easily on reddit. So I wrote up this list with short descriptions of the different subclass options so far and hope to update it when I get some of the other books available.

Book Abbreviations:
PG = Tales of the Valiant Player's Guide, released June 2024
PG2 = Tales of the Valiant Player's Guide 2, released February 2026

MARG = The Old Margreve, released April 2025. Deep forest campaign. [don't have yet]
NIGHT = Night Hunters, released September 2026. Gothic horror setting. [preordered]

BLADE = Book of Blades, released October 2025

LABY = Labyrinth Worldbook, released August 2025. Otherworldly setting.
NORTH = Northlands Worldbook, released September 2026. Nordic winter setting. [dont have yet]

Blog = Kobold Press blog exclusive.

Barbarian

Berserker (PG) – relentless, Frenzy; Rage adds extra bonus action melee attack. Mindless Rage protects from charmed and frightened, temp hit points when killing.

Wild Fury (PG) – primal nature, Animal Focus; Rage adds effects based on an animal aspect you choose.

Chaos (PG2) – maximum carnage, Chaos Banes; Rage adds effects using Chaos Dice, force damage. Invoke Entropy rerolls checks.

Four Winds (PG2) – invoke wind, mobility; Rage adds either protection from ranged attacks, thunder, and lightning, or thunder damage when charging, or Reckless Attacks with thrown weapons. Cyclonic Ward protects allies and Raging Storm brings the thunder.

Kraken (PG2) – leviathans, spectral tentacles; Rage adds two spectral tentacles that can attack and grapple with 10ft reach.

Frostborn Raider (BLADE) – unrelenting cold, winterlands specialist; Rage adds ice armor and gauntlets. Travel through frozen wilds, cold resistance.

Undying Warrior (BLADE) – returned from death, revenant; Rage adds frightened and psychic damage. Regain hit points when low and consume afflicting conditions for temp hit points.

Forsaken (LABY) – lost spirits, AOE aura; Rage adds 5ft radiant/necrotic damage aura. Use spirits to protect yourself from conditions and dying.

Bard

Lore (PG)– storytelling, skill checks; Bardic Performance gives allies advantage on ability checks. Jack of All Trades give ½PB to your nonproficiency ability checks

Victory (PG)– tactician, martial support; Bardic Performance gives allies REACTION 1/2move disengage. Multiattack at 7^th-level.

Allure (PG2)– illusionist trickster, illusion spells; Bardic Performance gives an ally an illusion that can take a hit (~Mirror Image x1). Illusory Reality tricks enemies better with illusion spells.

Mockery (PG2)– insults, Vicious Mockery; Bardic Performance buffs Bardic Inspiration with psychic damage. Vicious mockery is stronger.

Sound (PG2) – verbal mage, sound spells; Bardic Performance buffs allies’ spells and debuffs enemies’ spells. Control the sound of spells, verbal components. Bardic Inspiration gets thunder damage.

Secrecy (LABY) – shadowy, magical control; Bardic Performance creates a 20-ft radius emanating shadow sphere. Hitting an enemy stops their opportunity attack on you (~swashbuckler). Bardic Inspiration buffs charmed / frightened rolls.

Cleric

Life (PG) – healer; Channel Divinity AOE healing to ½ max. Healing spells more effective.

Light (PG) – fire and radiant blaster; Channel Divinity makes light spells deal radiant damage. Overwhelming Flash defensively blinds enemies. Cast fireball.

War (PG) - martial; Channel Divinity marks an enemy for advantage. Hitting with an Attack action lets you do another weapon attack.

Death (PG2) – necrotic damage, downed allies; Channel Divinity curses an enemy for advantage and necrotic vulnerability. Heal and stabilize downed allies.

Nature (PG2) – druidic; Channel Divinity gives an ally temporary hit points and bonus to checks. Consume Wrath defensively reduces elemental damage.

Tempest (PG2) – lightning and thunder amplifier; Channel Divinity makes lightning or thunder deal max damage or add lightning or thunder to melee attacks. Cast lightning bolt.

Crafting (LABY) – artifice; Channel Divinity temporarily animates an item as a flying Construct pet. Expertise with tools.

Knowledge (LABY) – skill proficiencies; Channel Divinity grants skill or tool proficiency, later truesight. Cast divination spells.

Trickery (LABY) – sneaky; Channel Divinity starts combat invisible. Divine Guile to occasionally substitute WIS for social checks and Stealth checks.

Druid

Leaf (PG) – pure nature; Wild shape invigorates plants and grows magical plants 10ft around that can restrain enemies, protect people within the grove, or protect against charmed and frightened. Can root self to heal.

Shifter (PG) – shapeshift into animals; Can Wild Shape into more powerful Beasts, also as a bonus action. Later can infuse elemental effects to Beast form.

Elementalist (PG2) – harness the elements; can switch elemental cantrips and modify damage types. Wild Shape to become an elemental, which can gain resistances, reroll damage dice, and force save rerolls.

Fey (PG2) – embrace faerie realm; Wild Shape summons a Seelie Spirit, with an ability corresponding to the season chosen. Can use WIS instead of CHA on social checks.

Stoneheart (PG2) – armored by earth; shillelagh stone club. Wild Shape to cover in Earthen Armor, with AC 13 + WIS, tremorsense, burrow speed. Multiattack at 7^th-level and impose disadvantage on enemy attack rolls to protect allies.

Dreamer (LABY) – emotional and psych energy, dream spells; Wild Shape grants a 10ft aura buffing allies attack rolls and saves (~Bless). 1^st circle spells can give allies temporary hit points or frighten enemies.

Fighter

Spell Blade (PG) – Arcane gish; Enchant Weapon grants stacking attack and damage bonus to weapon. Can later substitute a cantrip as part of Multiattack or make a weapon attack when casting a spell.

Weapon Master (PG) – weapons specialist; mastering a weapon can rerolling the weapon’s damage dice or add damage to using weapon options. Unique stunt skills (~Battle master maneuvers). Later get expanded critical hit on 19 plus extra riders with mastered weapons.

Scrapper (PG2) – grappler specialist; expertise in Athletics, opportunity attack grapples, scaling unarmed attacks. Specialized grappling maneuvers and advantage on grappling checks.

Stunt Archer (PG2) – bow or crossbow specialist; mastering a bow to attack within 5ft without disadvantage, can reroll damage dice or add damage to using weapon options. Unique stunt skills for a bow. Increased range later.

Twin Blade (PG2) – dual-wielder specialist; Blade Dance grants advantage on DEX saves, increased speed, and movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. While dual-wielding, expertise in Acrobatics and Performance, AC 10 + DEX + proficiency bonus.

Iron Bastion (BLADE) – heavy armor, shield specialist; Barrier Shield increases shields to +3 AC and one ally within 5ft gains +1 AC, plus choose a unique shield maneuver. Later making DEX saves reduces damage to 0 (~Evasion).

Skirmisher (BLADE) – agile crossbow specialist; Crossbow Finesse ignores Loading and allows bonus action attack with Light melee weapon offhand. Bonus to DEX saves and checks when wearing light armor. Can stack aiming features to critical hit on 19 and apply weapon options to critical hits.

Trooper (LABY) – survival shock trooper; increased environment mobility and attack damage after movement. Later damage resistance and can continue fighting at 0 HP.

Duelist (Blog) – finesse fencer; gains AC bonus equal to proficiency bonus while unarmored and using Finesse or Light weapons and can use reaction to reduce damage or riposte when enemies miss attacks.
https://koboldpress.com/play-these-exclusive-tales-of-the-valiant-subclasses-for-fighter-and-monk/

Mechanist

Metallurgist (PG) – magic armor; Augment empowers armor to absorb elemental damage. Mystic Metal armor has AC 13+INT and gauntlets that can hit with STR or INT.

Spellwright (PG) – efficient magic item use; Augment imbues weapon to attack with INT, adds an adjuration or evocation spell to an item. Magic items expend fewer charges, deal more damage, and have higher spell save DCs.

Cog Augur (PG2) – calculate the future; Augment an item to give an ally instructions (how to not suck) for advantage on a dice roll or force disadvantage when attacked. Makes an Auguring Device (smartphone?) that can cast augury, divination, or locate spells, and also predict the weather.

Grenadier (PG2) – explosions; can attack with Arcane Grenades, a magic ranged weapon that deals 1d8 + INT force damage and can be specially modified. Augment also imbues an item that can explode with refined set triggers.

Toymaker (PG2) – toy familiars; Augment lets you record your voice on an item, which can also be one of the Autonomous Toy animal familiars that you can make to help allies or distract enemies.

Clockmaker (BLADE) – watch that controls time, TikTok jokes; Augment a magic item to set a timer to activate. Can use Timepiece to cast time spells, double movement and gain temporary hit points, improve initiative rolls, and later gain an extra bonus action per short rest.

Fleshsmith (BLADE) – graft body parts; Augment yourself or your Flesh-Forged Servitor, an organic golem minion pet ally.

Tinker (LABY) – clockwork engineer; Augment gains ability to animate small objects, that can give advantage on rolls. Clockwork Companion pet ally.

Monk

Flickering Dark (PG) – dark flames; create a cloak of darkness that can deal necrotic damage and heal you, add necrotic damage to unarmed strikes, or cast darkness. Also can see in magical darkness. Later teleport between darkness.

Open Hand (PG) – martial artist, battlefield control; Flurry of Blows on a target can stop their reactions, knock them prone, or push 15ft away. Can focus body to add to ability checks or attack rolls and regain hit points when rolling initiative.

Affliction Eater (PG2) – balance life and death energy; can heal allies at equal cost to your hit points or transfer a condition to you. Can prevent creatures from dying at 0 HP, and if you spare a hostile creature, can gain advantage on social interactions with it.

Elemental Voice (PG2) – earth, fire, wind, water; Shape Elements to manipulate environment. Elemental Words skills using technique points. Can also bond with a weapon to make it a monk weapon, immune to curses on the weapon and better control on sentient weapons.

Seal Guardian (PG2) – magical paper talismans; Protective Seals transcribes abjuration spells which can be given to others to use. Warding self and allies from charmed, frightened, and paralyzed.

Equine Soul (BLADE) – bonded horse archer; shortbow as a monk weapon, can use Monk skills on your horse.

Righteous Fist (BLADE) – paladin-like; can change attack damage to radiant, extra radiant damage against Undead, can use technique points to add extra radiant damage (~mini Smite). Can fly for one turn with wings made of light.

Radiant Dawn (LABY) – light bringer, radiant damage; unarmed strikes gain options for ranged attack for radiant damage or additional melee radiant damage. Blind enemies.

Way of Mystic Flow (Blog) - control qi energy; can disrupt enemies hit by Flurry of Blows so they can’t take reactions, halve their movement, or disadvantage on Perception checks. Can also heal allies and use restoration.
https://koboldpress.com/play-these-exclusive-tales-of-the-valiant-subclasses-for-fighter-and-monk/

Paladin

Devotion (PG) – holy warriors, righteous; Channel Divinity can add CHA to attack rolls or blind Aberration, Fey, Fiend, and Undead creatures. Aura prevents charmed.

Justice (PG) – punish evil; Channel Divinity can curse a target with their guilt to halve their speed or give you advantage on attack rolls and extra radiant damage against a target. Aura gives bonus to initiative rolls.

Anathema (PG2) – moral grey lines; Channel Divinity can expose creatures that are disguised of shape changed or turn Fiends and Undead. Aura gives bonus to Intimidation checks, with advantage against Fiends and Undead.

Safekeeping (PG2) – guard with your life; Channel Divinity can block an enemy from reaching an object or space or shield an ally to increase its AC by your CHA. Aura gives bonus to Insight and Perception checks.

Unbound (PG2) – expose corruption and false authority; Channel Divinity can free allies from charmed, grappled, or restrained or imbue a weapon to deal additional psych damage to followers of Celestials or Fiends. Change radiant damage to psychic damage. Aura gives a bonus to save against enchantment spells and charmed condition.

Ashen Base (BLADE) – warfare and hatred, fire; Channel Divinity can create a 10-ft fire aura or double damage to objects. Misty step, fireball, and spirit guardians as Oath spells. Aura makes enemies that you dealt damage to unable to use reactions and gives you advantage on saves against enemies that you hit in melee.

Anamnesis (BLADE) – heroic legends, martyrs; Channel Divinity can give temporary skill proficiencies or perform a Battle Tactic (list of once per short rest special martial maneuvers). Aura grants nearby allies temporary hit points when anyone critical hits.

Old World (LABY) – courage and beauty of nature, druidic; Channel Divinity can restrain enemies or stun Aberrations, Celestial, Fey, or Fiends. Aura reduces elemental damage.

Ranger

Hunter (PG) – monster slayer; can learn a creature’s immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities. Deal extra damage to injured enemies. Can change Favored Foe to have advantage on charmed, frightened, and possessed by them, they attack with disadvantage.

Pack Master (PG) – guardian of wild creatures; Beast Spirit pet ally.

Arrow Binder (PG2) – primordial magic arrows; can add effects to ranged attacks against created marked by Mystic Mark (~Hunter’s Mark) and can cast a Primordial spell to be triggered by a bow attack. Can later fire at point blank range.

Shadow (PG2) – night hunter; can see in magical darkness. Advantage against surprised creatures, dealing extra damage. Shadow guardians spell creates an aura that helps hiding. Can teleport in areas of dim light/darkness or lightly/heavily obscured by nature.

Trailblazer (PG2) – travel guide; expertise in Nature and Survival. Mystic Mark extra damage also can be applied when allies attack the target. Can use spell slots in increase climbing or swimming movement.

Peerless Scout (BLADE) – uses terrain to set traps; Loses Primordial spellcasting, uses spell slots to create magical Booby Traps and enhance Tracking in Combat effects.

Windsworn (BLADE) – whirling dervish, two-weapon fighting; can dual wield with non-Light melee weapons, using bonus action off-hand attack makes target unable to opportunity attack (~Swashbuckler). Add 5 feet to speed for every melee attack each turn.

Waysmith (LABY) – interplanar traveler; proficiency traveling and tracking creatures from other planes, can teleport self or allies when they take damage. Teleport between attacks.

Rogue

Enforcer (PG) – rough brawler; advantage on the first attack in the first round. Automatically critical hit surprise enemies. Can weapon attack again another target one time after killing an enemy. Later can Sneak Attack isolated enemies and with unarmed strikes.

Thief (PG) – burglar; can use Cunning Action to make DEX Sleight of Hand checks, Use an Object, or Use thieves’ tools. Gain climbing speed and can long jump. Can identify magic items and disable magical traps.

Con Arcanist (PG2) – Arcane caster; invisible mage hand with Cunning Action. Subtle Spellcasting without somatic or verbal components (cannot be countered) and target has disadvantage on saves if you could Sneak Attack it.

Nightblade (PG2) – psychic blades; create psychic blades that can dual-wield and having scaling damage. Resistance to psychic damage. Later can teleport to target when you hit with psychic blades. Very late gets a third floating psychic blade (~spiritual weapon).

Trapsmith (PG2) – trap specialist; can create Makeshift Traps with various effects and triggers. Advantage for disarming traps and later magical traps. Can rework a disarmed trap to use and set to trigger remotely from a short distance.

Thief-Acrobat (BLADE) – parkour, mobility; can Sneak Attack with improvised weapons. DEX replaces STR for Athletics checks and jumping distances.

Strategist (BLADE) – mastermind, INT support; can use reaction to give Sneak Attack damage to an ally prior to their attack roll. Adds INT to initiative rolls and DEX or WIS saves, can also bonus action give this benefit to allies. Later can also use bonus action to give allies movement ~Cunning Action.

Spy (LABY) – anonymous, undercover; facilitates Sneak Attack by tricking an enemy with CHA to gain advantage. Infiltrate and communicate with message, sending, nondetection.

Delver (Blog)
https://koboldpress.com/get-these-exclusive-rogue-and-sorcerer-subclasses-only-on-the-kobold-press-blog-december-11-2025/

Sorcerer

Chaos (PG) – randomness; Chaos Manifestation (1d6) positive effect when killing an enemy or critical hit spell attack. Spellcasting had risks for Volatile Spell Effects (1d100), but can also manually roll it for a change to regain sorcery points or temporary hit points.

Draconic (PG) – elemental dragons; dragon scales for unarmored AC 13 + DEX. Gains spells, additional damage, and damage resistance based on elemental dragon choice.

Abominable (PG2) – primordial, otherworldly; chance to turn critical hits against you into normal hits. Frighten surround enemies when you kill a creature. Immune to charmed and frightened, can mentally backlash against creatures trying to read your mind or telepathy.

Cyclonic (PG2) – thunder and lightning storm; after casting a spell, can fly 30ft as part of action. Extra damage and effects to Lightning and Thunder spells.

Sacred (PG2) – power from a full deity; can roll a d4 after failing a save or missing an attack (~personal mini-Bless). Unique Metamagic option that can change damage type to either necrotic or divine depending on if Sacred Origin is Celestial or Fiendish.

Umbral (LABY) – shadows, darkness; Sorcery points to teleport between areas of darkness. Seeing in magical darkness. Summon a Shadow Servant.

Fey Origin (Blog)
https://koboldpress.com/get-these-exclusive-rogue-and-sorcerer-subclasses-only-on-the-kobold-press-blog-december-11-2025/

Warlock

Fiend (PG) – fiendish fire; gain temporary hit points when enemies die, can cast fire spells like fireball. Can add 1d10 to ability check or save and gain damage resistances per short rest.

Reaper (PG) – feed the hunger of death, melee attacker; Reaper’s Mantle adds necrotic damage and critical hit on 19 to melee attacks, regain hit points when enemies in melee range die. Can melee attack once after Eldritch Blast.

Archon (PG2) – law and order; can cancel out advantage or disadvantage on rolls. Can expend spell slots of end conditions or magic effects. Pact spells include shield and counterspell.

Elemental Regent (PG2) – agent of one of the elemental planes; Eldritch Blast is modified to chosen elemental damage with extra rider effects. Pact Boons get elemental options.

Fey Noble (PG2) – faerie politics; resistant to charmed and can charm or frighten enemies. Can feign dead after taking damage.

Celestial (LABY) – clerical power from Celestial; Divine spell list. Heal allies by expending hit dice. Holy aura that grants allies in 15ft to gain radiant melee damage.

Void Saint (LABY) – from the Void (extraplanar eldritch horrors); void magic style list. Attacks and Eldritch Blast can frighten enemies.

Ancient Entity (Blog) – primordial, beyond space and time; can deal psychic damage and incapacitate creatures that try to charm you or use telepathy. Killing an enemy with Eldritch Blast gives some temporary hit points.
https://koboldpress.com/play-these-exclusive-tales-of-the-valiant-subclasses-for-warlock-and-wizard/

Wizard

Battle Mage (PG) – combat spellcaster; casting Arcane spells can create a protective ward that increases AC and gives resistance to physical damage. Can reroll a missed spell attack on another target and later reroll 1s on Arcane spells damage.

Cantrip Adept (PG) – empowered cantrips; can cast Arcane cantrips as a bonus action. Gains cantrips from any magic source. Cantrips later deal more damage.

Arcanist (PG2) – researcher, spell scribing; can swap Arcane cantrips, quickly copy spells into spellbook, and swift cast ritual spells as an action. Gains cumulative stacking bonus to spell attack rolls and spell saves until end of next turn when missing spell attacks or creatures make saves against your spells.

Necromancer (PG2) – dark arts, black magic (feel the power, feel the force); expanded necromancy spells, not only Arcane source. Create an Undead Thrall pet ally. Can cast animate dead ritual spell as an action, and Undead minions you control get stronger.

Summoner (PG2) – conjuration spells specialist; expanded conjuration and summon spells for actual creatures, and they get stronger scaling. Advantage to maintain concentration on conjuration spells, and spell will still last until end of next turn even if you lose concentration.

Void Caster (LABY) – harness corruption of void; Tainted Spell adds debuffs to spell enemy targets. Advantage to resist against gaining levels of void taint (eldritch corruption)

Blueletter (Blog) – elemental specialist; gains resistance to a chosen elemental damage and can use reaction to swap elements. Spells with attack rolls that deal elemental damage add INT to damage while spells with saves that deal elemental damage count rolls of 1 or 2 as rolls of 3 instead. Can change spell elemental damage types.
https://koboldpress.com/play-these-exclusive-tales-of-the-valiant-subclasses-for-warlock-and-wizard/

( I still need to go through and add the new base classes released in Player's Guide 2 for Theurge, Vanguard, and Witch)

So for context I’m running Dungeon World for my group and most of them are converts from 5e. I’ve run into a small problem where I don’t know the exact way to explain to them that they have way more control over their characters than I do. It’s my understanding that Dungeon World has the GM more as a guide for the story instead of an arbiter of the rules and world. It’s only my second time running this system so I may be missing the ethos of how it all works lol.

For example, I have a druid who has bonded to a spirit, and she comes to me and asks if when she met the spirit would be OK if the spirit had given her food when she was hungry. My instinct in the moment was to say yes, of course and move on, but what I’m realizing is that in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter if they gave her food it more matters that she was coming to me to ask if something that had very little bearing on story or plot or inter character relationships was OK. She didn’t feel comfortable just stating that this part of her character happened that way.

Am I overthinking this and sort of psychoanalyzing my player too much or have I not given her the opportunity to explore the spirit of this game as separate from a system like 5e where I would’ve been way more in control of that backstory because like mechanically getting food technically has Game Consequences and stuff like that.

TLDR: Basically my question is how do I tell my player that it’s OK to just decide something about her character without my input?

I’ve never heard of it before, but Amazon just suggested it to me and it appears to be on a huge sale - 680 page book for about $30.

I’ve read a couple of reviews and I was curious to hear more thoughts. My questions are as follows:

- Is it really that rules dense? Like will this be a difficult system to transition a D&D 5e player to? I’m not concerned about GM facing rules, but more concerned about how easy or difficult it will be for my players to learn

- How long does character creation take? Is it 15-30 minutes or more like a couple hours to have a table of new players make characters?

- Are the talent and technique cards optional or are they required to play?

So, after 3+ years of playing online, our group will meet in person!

I wanted to use this opportunity to play something that really shines in person.

considerations:

1. we'll play somewhere public (so likely not very quiet), as we're meeting half way between us all.

2. the game should fit very well in under 3.5 hours

3. preferably something light mechanically that doesn't need a lot of physical "stuff" at the table

EDIT: 4. We're a GM+ 2 players

My current choice is Og: Unearthed edition, but I'm very open to suggestions.

thanks!

** edited to add the answers to recurring questions, and to say thanks for the immediate and supportive advice *\*

16 year old is unwilling to dm. She’s autistic with adhd and significant anxiety as well as severe dyslexia. She really wants this to happen(so do I ) but even the idea of being the dm sends her into a pretty panicky spiral. Plus she really wants to play, she loves creating characters

It doesn’t have to be D&D. I think I’ve made an error there and used “d&d” in a generic fantasy role playing adventure game with dice way that people who know what they’re doing don’t do

I’m completely down for a ready to go game/system (I think someone had a term for that but I forgot). It doesn’t have to be something I create, pre created is fantastic. As long as 16 year old can create her own character

And I’ve already forgotten any other recurring questions but I’m going to go back to reading your responses

My oldest (16) has been playing d&d for a year I think, and my 13 year old Has played a little. My 8 year old is theoretically into it, and my wife and I have never played but both wanted to back in the 80’s/90’s and just never had the chance.

16 year old brought up the idea of us playing as a family, which I’d been thinking of and I love the idea. Everyone is on board but here’s the problem. I’d have to be the dm. I’ve never played. So point me at a resource that is a really simple way to learn what I’m doing, imagine someone with no experience dm’ing a game for 5 people, including herself, who are all autistic with adhd, so attention span can be lacking. I learn by doing so the books or websites or whatever that I might learn from need to be simple because I’m just going to glaze over with long complicated instructions. I’m also chronically ill so my own attention span/memory/brain fog/stamina will all be an issue at some point. My 16 year old will also get frustrated when I don’t know what I’m doing and feel like it must mean I’m not paying attention to the things she’s told me.

Also there can’t be any AI content. This is a very hard no from the kids.

Hello,

i plan to play some sessions of forbidden land, which uses a system of abstract zones.

All my battle maps are either hex grids or have no divisions whatsoever.

If someone could recommend some ressources, i would be glad.

Leaving aside sections that illustrate a single concept/entity, such as equipment lists, bestiaries, or classes, what ratio of illustrations to pages would you use in an TTRPG rulebook (let's say A4 format, about 200-300 pages)? I specify large illustrations, such as a column for vertical illustrations or a third of the page for horizontal illustrations.

I ask because I'm getting conflicting answers elsewhere: I was considering a ratio of one illustration every two or three pages, especially considering the success of games like Mork Bork, which focus on aesthetics, but others tell me that's too many. Considering that I eventually draw them myself, so cost isn't an issue, what do you think?