**Come here and talk about anything!**

This post will stay stickied for (at least) the week-end. Please enjoy this space where you can talk about anything: your last game, your current project, your patreon, etc. You can even talk about video games, ask for a group, or post a survey or share a new meme you've just found. This is the place for small talk on r/rpg.

The off-topic rules may not apply here, but the other rules still do. This is less the Wild West and more the Mild West. Don't be a jerk.

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Hey everyone,

We’re organizing Roleplay Ukraine 2026, an online English-speaking TTRPG festival taking place on May 1–3.

The idea is simple: bring people together to play great games and raise money for a real cause.

🎲 What’s happening Online games with Ukrainian GMs Live streams, talks, and actual plays Charity giveaway & auction

🎮 Games
We’ll have a mix of well-known systems and some unique Ukrainian projects: Ukrainian games: Wild Steppe, Archeterica, Marevo Also running: Cyberpunk RED, Fate Condensed, Heart: The City Beneath, Honey Heist, Kids on Brooms, Pathfinder 2e, World of Darkness

📺 Streams Actual play of Ukrainian game Wild Steppe (Wildsea hack) with star guests. Presentations of new Ukrainian TTRPG projects A conversation with the developers of the Cosmere RPG

❤️‍🩹 Charity We’re fundraising for Ukraine’s Frontline Hospitals, supporting medical evacuation vehicles that operate near the frontlines.

🎁 Giveaway Everyone who donates will be entered into a giveaway with 30+ prizes, including books, subscriptions, gift cards, and PDFs.

👉 Want to play, watch, or support? All links are here: https://linktr.ee/roleplayua

If you’ve been looking for a way to try new systems, meet Ukrainian creators, or just support something meaningful — you’re very welcome.

For those who mainly GM, have you found any TTRPGs that you felt were harder to run than others? And what are your reasons for this?

So there's a new DC RPG coming out, called the JLURPG (that's gonna be fun to say at parties) and there is a free download of the quickplay over at drivethrurpg.com with an upcoming crowd-funded campaign for the full game. If this subject matter interests you, you may want to give the quickplay a read as it's a 56 page pdf.

I'm writing something up on it based by a quick read through so I could easily be wrong or missing something. I know it's unfortunate as no one likes to point out mistakes on Reddit, alas.

It is written by a team of 3, to include one legendary comic writer by the name of Mark Waid but also two other designers with solid pedigrees but the Kingdom Come writer will probably the first that draws your eye.

It also bills itself as a "d20" game system but this isn't strictly the d20 system of D&D fame - rather it is more of a variation that felt familiar and different to me. You have 4 (5) dice total: d20, d12, d8, d6, and sometimes need a d3 for which I will roll a d12 to create as I enjoy annoying my tablemates.

Like other game systems, especially Super-hero systems, it sorts the campaign "power levels" into tiers - in this case it uses the ubiquitous ascending E-S levels to step from Ordinary to Cosmic. Nothing really new here but in my opinion, it works and I'd rather not see wheel-reinvention this early.

You have 6 core attributes (as seen in a host of other games), as well as something called Resolve which is basically a physical/mental hit point pool as well as being an action "gas tank". One of the contributing factors for how much you have is your characters tier - so already you can see that Tiers matter and may help to differentiate higher and lower-level characters by how much they can do/take in an encounter.

Conditions are according to a post I read by one of the designers intended to be the real hit pool as when you exhaust your Resolve pool, you get a condition. (Tired, Scratched, Injured, Wounded, Defeated) - this operates much like other games that use an Exhaustion type mechanic where you start on an effectiveness spiral as you progress through the Condition levels.

Fate/Hero/Plot points are present as well as something the Editor (read: GM) can use that reminds me very much of how they are used in M&M. From reading, it's sort of a don't fix what isn't broke kind of thing. One thing to note is that there is a mechanic that if Plot Points are used, you increasingly risk something wild and wacky happening (there's a 20 item random chart). Really not sure about this at all. No I'm sure I'm not a fan.

Character creation involves defining the character tier, picking an origin and then archetype, then distributing your attribute points (with the tier determining your attribute limit and total character points that are spent on attributes, powers, etc. - See M&M's Power Points).

Powers are a lot of the quickplay and if you're interested in them, I'd just go download it. As you can imagine in addition to the effects, they also have power levels and origin types as well as a category of effect. There are some DCU specific twists that are in play though, such as the Speed Force power being distinct from Superhuman Speed. While I didn't see it mentioned, I can see how a Green Lantern could slot into the game relatively easily.

Traits, as in the Fate/ICONS/Narrative game sense are also a thing with some pretty concrete examples that seem to be useful for players new to the concept.

Advantage/Disadvantage (or Bonus/Penalty) is here in a pretty familiar form. Difficulty Levels are here as are (critical)success/failures and a breakout of actions that is more PF2e than 5e I think especially because it appears they adopted the (to me better) PF2E 3 action economy. There are also Statuses that operate like other games conditions to cover something like Immobilized.

Movement and Distances use the "ring method" of adjacent/close/far/distant with a certain number of move actions being required to change rings.

The quickplay also has a list of sample heroes and villains that can help you get a feel for the system, including recognizable villains.

I honestly don't know how I feel yet - I'm not totally opposed to a d20esque Supers game as I've been an M&M player and KS'd 4E although these days I'd rather run ICONS. On the other hand there is enough deviation from 5E for me to immediately dismiss it as D&D in Tights.

Be it on the back of a book or a box, on a Kickstarter page, or from an excited nerd at a con?

• Did it use design terms from the industry (like "crunch," "storygame," "rules light?")
• Did it reference other media properties (inspirational movies/games, Appendix N?)
• Did it speak about system or setting first?

I'm refining the "about" page for my own game, so I'm looking for hard-hitting examples.

I have a great idea for a campaign using Fabula Ultima. I have made the setting, the backgrounds, the enemies, the NPCs...but I lack of the most important thing: the players. I have tried sooo many times to gather people for other games but I fail every time. I once thought I was going to run Demon Castle Dracula (which is a one shot) and everyone cancelled the day of the one shot. Then I gathered another group on Discord, they went to the first session and then abandoned. I recently tried to run a D&D5E one shot and no one replied to my post. I have read stories of groups that have finished a lot of campaigns, and also one story about a group that has run a campaign for 20 years. I really want to run this campaign, any advices?

I was actively working on my first oneshot, drawing maps (I think they're pretty cool), looking for fun riddles and puzzles. I sent message to the chat group with which I'm currently playing another game, whether anyone would be interested, no one replied. I asked in several other places, including chats related to the universe in which my oneshot was supposed to be. In total, one person replied that maybe, maybe not. That's it

I know that I should have prepared everything first and then looked for players, but now my work has stalled. When I sit down to write or draw, I think that now there is a chance that no one will ever play this, and all fun is fading for me. I'll finish this anyway and try again to search somewhere else, but still... Eh

Anything similar to Blacksad, Albedo, or Usagi Yojimbo? Worlds where, while yes, everyone is an anthropomorphic animal person, everything else is taken in earnest.

I've only run campaigns with D&D and one very brief one shot with Mork Borg. I want to branch out with some different game systems, I don't mind gimmicks (like Dread) and was wondering what lesser known systems you guys might suggest?

My game style is pretty light with the rules, I tend to prioritise story and player enjoyment where I can

I'm looking for a game that actually FEELS "dark". A game where magic isn't just a list of spells that everyone pulls from. Something that actually feels like a horror story or a dark tale of haunting and witchcraft and demonic/otherworldly forces.

I had some images that illicit a similar feeling and but images are apparently not allowed on this sub.

To be clear, this could be modern, early 20th or 19th century, or even fantasy. It could just be that I've never had a GM that could really create the right atmosphere with his/her words, but here are some systems I've already tried (been in the hobby since 2010):

• Call of Cthulhu
• Delta Green
• Urban Shadows
• World of Darkness (I hated Mage, hot take, I know)
• Ars Magicka (too community-focused for this, but love the game)
• Dresden Files (way too much FATE, too PG-13)

Are there any games out there that do witchcraft and this kind of horror justice? The kind that has otherworldly powers in a broken mirror and dark shadows with tendrils and fluid, scary magic? Ritualistic sacrifice, etc?

Inspiration Collage

Hello r/rpg!

I recently released Uneasy Lies the Head, a GMless roleplaying game where you act as nobles and monarchs embroiled in royal court intrigue.

Here is a video that explains the game in under five minutes.

To play the game, you'll step through the 13 rows of the Public Record, which is styled loosely off of a medieval calendar. Each row starts off blank, which means a player will set a scene to show how their character is scheming at court. When a scene is done, that player gets to prepare one of the game's plans, which mechanically sit somewhere between a PBTA move and a Firebrands mini game, and allow you to do things like propose decrees, host festivities, and welcome new allies to the court.

Those plans get added to later rows of the public record, so won't resolve until a few turns of the game passes. This delayed gratification adds some juicy tension and intrigue, as players set scenes to get out ahead of the rumors you're spreading, wars your declaring, or duels your proposing.

Uneasy Lies the Head was just nominated for two Indie Groundbreaker awards by IGDN in the Best Writing and Most Innovative categories. The game can be bought as a pdf, book, or deluxe boxed set and is available in a few places:

• My webshop
• Tabletop Bookshelf
• IPR
• itch.io (pdf)

I am going to have a meta rule in my game that every session starts and stops in town. I think that's actually good enough for most players. But I also want to have an in-story reason why the party is going back to town. Here is a table I cobbled together from various sources.

Story wise - why are you leaving the wilds and going back to town?

Roll 1d16 - reroll if not applicable

1. You are running low on food or water because you ate/drank it all.
2. The food /water you came out with starts to spoil/smells bad/ or a bog witch may have cursed it.
3. The mules get sickly/lame and/or the porters get superstitious and refuse to continue.
4. You yourself see bad portents in the clouds/stars/sunset/sunrise/flock of birds/pattern of ticks on the mules. Time to go back!
5. Feelings of madness are creeping in. Only ale will fix this.
6. You see a good omen of return! Fortune shines on those who head home now!
7. Message for you sir! (sending)
8. Your bags are bursting with treasure! All of this loot is too heavy! [If needed, the party will find an easily obtainable, valuable and bulky treasure today.]
9. You hear an animal howl that you’ve never heard before. Time to go back! Also, you need ale.
10. Everyone is oddly tired. You will find no more good rest in the wild until you’ve spent a few nights in an inn. Also, you need ale.
11. Everyone has a weird rash. It is super annoying and itchy. Divine magic doesn’t even clear it. Time to consult the healers/wise women/ wise men/ bartender.
12. Everyone in the party has a terrible dream of death. You are fairly certain ale will fix this.
13. False images are present on the edge of your vision and on the horizon. Buildings or forests seem present in the distance only to vanish as you close.
14. Blisters! If you heal them, they come back in a half-day. Time for new socks! And ale (while you soak your feet)!
15. The calendar is such that there are religious rites to perform back in town for at least one party member. You do not have the correct incense/statues/icons/animal sacrifice/number of ritualistic combat partners to complete these in the wilds.
16. Running low on arrows (or other ammunition) / or spell components.

EDIT: I should have added from the beginning that this is sort of like a "West-Marches" campaign where we may not have the same players at every session. The purpose of the "go back to town" rule is simply organizational. the players who show up to the game night are the characters who head out for THAT session. Going back to town clears the slate for the next session. Mea culpa for any confusion.