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While the behemoth is still the top ttrpg system, smaller alt systems are still out there.
We dove into the stats on our "looking-for-group/players" numbers and came out with a little report on how the non-dnd systems are doing.

I'm not affiliated with this project (though I did write something small for their previous Backerkit campaign for The Between), but have liked the game for years and want to help them get across the finish line.

Public Access is a game of analog horror and tainted nostalgia in the fictional town of Deep Lake, New Mexico. The players take on the role of the Deep Lake Latchkeys, young adults returning to their hometown in the summer of 2004 to investigate a vanished TV station, but their search will lead them to all sorts of other Mysteries: cursed arcade cabinets, a possessed childhood friend, lights in the sky, voices in the walls of a suburban development, a demonic anti-crime PSA mascot...

As a Carved from Brindlewood game, these Mysteries are pre-written scenario sandboxes without canonical outcomes - players assemble the Clues they find into their own solutions, adding a ton of replay value and wildly-different resolutions each time.

You can check it out here!

The big special offering with Public Access is Lost Transmissions, optional bonus Mysteries that re-cast the Latchkeys as alternate selves during new points in time (often as homages to classics from other horror subgenres) - they might become college kids on a cannibal-infested '80s road trip, paranoid military scientists at the height of the Cold War, or even wasteland survivors centuries after the bombs have dropped.

This crowdfunder has hit over 30 stretch goals already, and most of the bonus content is all already written - purchased from community releases and contest winners. I had a lot of fun running the game's previous edition last year, and a lot of people noticed the game after its favorable Quinn's Quest video recently.

EDIT: I forgot my favorite selling point: campaigns are under 20 sessions long!

I feel like theres way too little combat as sport games and ive only been able to find osrs.

Im basically looking for draw steel, nimble or dnd 5e alternatives but in a non fantasy setting

Our long time Call of Cthulhu group regularly has breaks where we play other systems and one-shots to give our Keeper time to prep for upcoming story arcs. One of my friends is really into Powered by the Apocalypse games, like really into them. Me, not so much. I've been in the hobby since the 80s and have played a wide variety of systems and mechanics and I used to say "I've never met a system I didn't like" but I don't say that anymore 😬

Now, I've have limited experience with a couple of the PbtA systems, and they've all been one-shot stories. My friend who really loves the system has only started GM'ing recently, but since they are my friend I really try to lean into the sessions with earnest but always find myself frustrated by the outcomes. We've played Monsterhearts, Kult, City of Mist and Monster of the Week. Kult frustrated me the most, which is odd because that would be the setting that would most interest me as a player. MotW was my favorite, but by this time I knew I didn't like the game play very much so I just went with it, and my character resonated with me and my friend so just playing them was fun and humorous.

Why don't I enjoy the systems? I find them 'vague' rule-wise, I find the cooperative story building tedious at times, and I find the success mechanic unsatisfying (in which I mean most rolls are failures of some sort and requires constant 'gaming the system' to give you a better chance for success). I see how the coop storytelling could be amazing, but IMO it requires both GM and all players to always be 'on' and in their most creative states which just doesn't happen in my experience.

What nuances am I missing? What mindset am I not adopting that would make these systems click for me? How do you have a good session if say two players just aren't 'feeling it' that day and you've got limited coop storytelling building?

my players have only played dnd 5e before and I'm thinking bout running either mage the ascension 20th anniversary edition or deviant the renegades. advice?

Hello y'all,

I hope you're having a nice morning/day/evening.

I feel like (anecdotally, of course) in rulebooks you'll be told to put interesting things in the environment to engage with, and maybe some suggestions, but never really robust examples. Like, yeah, I've seen bar fights and skirmishes in the woods and such, but it would be helpful to have a resource or guide that helps you consider all/many elements you should include in any given environment/scene. Additionally, considerations on PCs might choose to engage with these elements.

I appreciate any insight on this matter. Take care!

Im familiar with a handful of games that use a Noun + Verb mechanic for magic, but are there any games out there that use a similar mechanic for the entire resolution system?

Recently my friends and I got together and decided to play a tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of Exocolonist. We had fun recording it and now that we have a good amount of episodes ready, we're starting to post them. The intro and first episode are up already:

• Introduction (YT, Podbean) - we explain what the game is about, talk about our characters and so on

• Episode 1 (YT, Podbean) - our Exocolonist establish themselves in the colony and do their first expedition

The premise is that PCs are kids Kom's age and part of the expedition group. They are not aware of the loops, while Sol is out there doing her own things. The system is Chuubo's, which lets us engage with the more pastoral and character focused side of roleplaying without boiling things down to combat.

More episodes every week Friday!

Just read this thread. Got me thinking. I am currently spending more time helping a small bunch of teens get into roleplaying than I am actually roleplaying myself, and there seems to be timid interest in the youth of today to dive into TTRPGs, but not a lot of the RPG-curious end up finding stable groups, in my experience. How are things going in the bigger pivture with welcoming fresh blood into the hobby? Do people see a lot of fresh-faced youths being inspired by Stranger Things to try it, and are they sticking around? Are games even tuned into the modern youth, or are we coasting on us old geezers (I just turned 50 and am having serial existential crises)? What are your experiences on the matter, and are there publically available numbers to let us know more??

Hi all - I'm looking for a space RPG (likely playing zoom w/ friends) that is more in line with expanse, firefly, bsg, away missions for star-whatever rather than looking at flight mechanics, travel time, etc. Or just a fun cyberpunk.

Basically, want a whole new background world that's sci-fi'ish that's low overhead to get in to. Key criteria: premade content, easily online, easy ramp (known rules or just easy), something where we can just start having fun, including the DM.

Only 1 player has long RPG experience and I've DM'd only a bit, so ease, AND premade scenarios are critical. I'll lose them with major complex ramp-up (or non-action paced) and I'll lose myself if I'm responsible for an ounce of creative world building.

I'm seeing the following around, but have no idea how they translate to the above? Coriolis (firefly but middle eastern vs chinese/western?), maybe something in savage worlds (last parsec for firefly, 7 worlds for expanse?), StarFinder, "stars without number", "the stars are fire", The Expanse by GreenRonin, Cyberpunk Red, Traveller (someone said go for 1st edition), Lancer, ironsworn:starforged, gurps, Esper Genesis (5e based?)

I know that there are tons of awesome indie or elegant ruleset games out there - we're just not there yet. Easy or quickly transferrable, fully written "ready to go" scenarios avail, zoom compatible.

There's a whole massive list at https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/scifi/, but impossible to assess which hit the above criteria.

UPDATE: After lots of reddit & AI input, it looks like the below is actually totally realistic, for how lightweight the rampup is for all of these. Going to run them in order.

CY_BORG — Lucky Flight Takedown Cyberpunk dystopia where megacorps have destroyed everything and everyone is in debt. We're breaking into a casino. Rules are dirt simple — roll a d20, beat a 12, chaos ensues.

Mothership — Another Bug Hunt Sci-fi survival horror, think Alien meets Event Horizon. A terraforming colony has gone dark and we're the crew sent to find out why. Character creation takes 10 minutes and the module basically runs itself.

Alien RPG — Chariot of the Gods Literally the Alien franchise as a tabletop — we're a freighter crew who answers a distress call from a ship that vanished 80 years ago. Each character has secret agendas and a rival, so player betrayal is basically built in.

CBR+PNK — Mind the Gap Ultra-stripped cyberpunk heist game — think Blades in the Dark but faster. This is everyone's last job, and we jump straight into the action with no setup.

Cyberpunk RED — Edgerunners Mission Kit The tabletop RPG tied directly to the Edgerunners anime and Cyberpunk 2077. Pregenerated characters straight from the show, set in Night City.

I love the premise of Wolves Upon The Coast and am looking to run something very similar as a second group game, get to know more people in my area kind of thing. The problem is that I really do not like D&D style games or their mechanics and the "fruitful voids" of OSR/NSR design really grate on me as a GM. That leaves me in a bit of a quandary because new people generally ask for "D&D".

I was thinking of running GURPS Lite. throwing together some templates and random tables for character creation to make things more fun and easy on the players but it's a lot of work that I might be spending preparing a hexcrawl. It might be the only "sane" choice for me but I figured I'd ask if there was a more bespoke game which might fit the premise. Just for fun.

Now, I probably know 99% of the games that will be recommended (all the popular darlings and new hotness), including the person who's going to throw out Hillfolk, but I'm here to see if there's a 1% suggestion that might fit a gritty, diegetic, largely historical viking/northern European adventure circa 800AD in the same vein and simplicity as GURPS Lite.