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Daggerheart is now one of those RPGs wherein a katana (from the new Hope and Fear) is objectively superior to a longsword at all tiers. Already taking into account the core rulebook's errata (which upgrades the longsword), both are Agility, Melee, d10+3/6/9/12, two-handed weapons. However, the katana has Quick, which lets the user mark a Stress to add an extra target within range. There are no weapon proficiency or price differences for such weapons in this game.

It feels really funny to me that Daggerheart has fallen into the stereotypical syndrome of katana romanticization.

I also find it very funny that Hope and Fear bothered to print a scimitar statistics block that is, uh... an exact copy of the cutlass statistics block from the core rulebook. No differences whatsoever.

There are a lot of games that have simple martials and complex casters. There are also other games that have complexity in parity.

Are there any ttrpgs that have complex martials and simple casters?

I am new to DMing. I did a couple sorta campaigns back in high school, but outside of that and playing a little, I don’t know much. I am writing a weird western campaign for me and my boyfriend to play because we are doing a duet campaign where he is the DM and we want to flip flop between who DMs.

I have looked up some rulesets but I am overwhelmed with options and there is no way to preview how the rulesets look or work. I am just looking for some advice if anyone has played in or DM‘d a campaign in this setting and what rulesets are good.

I specifically was looking for one where i can use artificers since my main villain is a “last mage” in a world where magic has become forgotten and sort of second nature (everyone knows simple magic but there are no more specialized mages like sorcerers, warlocks, or druids). He makes these big constructs that use different kinds of magic (holy, necromancy, etc.) and I love the aesthetic idea of steampunk, early industrial revolution, western frontier things with some magic.

I have thought about just reskinning D&D to make this work for me because I have not played in any other rulesets before but I thought I could ask the community to see if anyone could give me a simple direction to use instead of trying to reskin all the classes and retcon a bunch of the races and such.

Any advice helps! Thanks

Visiting Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau next week and I’d like to visit any local stores who sell new and used tabletop roleplaying games. (Maybe I’ll find my The Fantasy Trip books I left behind 30 years ago!)

Yesterday I bought The Planet of the Apes RPG. I've been interested in this universe for about 30 years. I read the original novel when I was a kid, and since then I've seen all the original movies as well as all the new ones.

As a GM, I was really impressed by the book. I already knew the universe quite well, but the lore in the RPG somehow expanded and colored the world in my imagination. It's amazing. In my opinion, it does this much better than the worldbuilding in the Alien RPG, for example. The TTRPG version of Planet of the Apes is brilliant.

So I'm curious: what other “non-original” RPGs — games based on existing books, movies, TV series, etc. — do something similar?

I've already checked out John Carter of Mars, which looks amazing, but I'm looking for more recommendations. Not necessarily the best adaptation or the best ruleset, but core rulebooks that actually add something to the fictional universe.

Basically, I want RPG books that can expand and color my existing pop-cultural knowledge of a setting, rather than simply translate what I already know into RPG rules.

What should I read?

I wrote this post after recently checking out the At The Gates Ashcan Edition, and reading the adventure provided within. Essentially, I've noticed that starter adventures that are provided in quickstarts or core rulebooks tend to fall into one of two categories:

1. Self Contained
   While these adventures might leave some mysteries open for the GM to flesh out, or provide some plot hooks that can be followed up on, they are a finished scenario in and of themselves. By the end of them, the core mysteries and issues have been resolved, whatever main villains there are have been defeated, and there's a clear, satisfying point to conclude on.

2. Jump-Off Point
   These adventures don't contain a conclusion as such. They end after the main immediate threat has passed, and the player characters have a reason to continue to stick together, but leave the majority of their issues and mysteries unresolved. Major antagonists that were introduced remain unaccounted for, and the adventure provides the GM with a lot of hooks to develop their own follow-ups in which all of this can be fleshed out for their table.

Personally, I vastly prefer self-contained starter adventures. I think they give a a stronger, more satisfying experience for everyone when we as a table are only trying out the system to see if we would like it for a longer campaign. The first adventure ending without any sort of genuine conclusion is less likely to encourage us to make our own follow-up, and probably just leads to us feeling like we're getting obligated to spend more time with the system.

I am, for the most part, of the opinion that a pre-made adventure should not try and create a ton of hooks that an entire campaign will have to be built around, but rather that it should provide a concrete scenario that a group can slot in and play through when needed, to ease the workload of their GM. Starter adventures especially should be focused on showcasing what a full adventure in their system can look like, to provide the GM with guidance on methodology and tone. If it fleshes out a starting point, but then leaves everything else up for the GM to make on their own, it just feels like an unfinished and directionless product to me.

Sometimes, the characters we make for that first starter adventure or that are provided for it also are not the characters we will want to continue playing if we go into a proper campaign. Since we are at that point still just trying out the system, we don't yet have a good feel for what works for us and what doesn't. Tying those characters into the larger campaign through that starter adventure binds us in a not-insurmountable, but quite annoying way. This is especially bad if they are pre-made characters, since we have had no input on them whatsoever.

There's other types of starters, of course, especially for narrative or otherwise improv-heavy games. Often those are only scenario set-ups, and expect everything else to come together via the mechanics during play. Those are not what I am talking about.

In any case, I am curious if other people have observed some of this as well, and if so, which one they prefer.

Hey fellow nerds,

Have you noticed a steep drop off in the quality of Kickstarter campaigns? It’s AI slop for 3D printers, 5e slop for 5e NPCs, and little else. I feel like up until 2022 or so there were consistently cool projects.

What happened? Is it just AI? Is it Backerkit capturing market share? Did I get jaded and ser my expectations too high?

What’s your take on the crowdfunding meta at the moment?

Context: My PC's favorite campaign was a D&D 5e campaign using the module Tomb of Annihilation. Eventually, it devolved in them somehow obtaining 150 guards and shattering the Flaming Fist out of the continent. I absolutely hated it, I had to create huge boss battles, fudge the dice rolls for each soldier (uh...... they do, 138 damage?). The thing is, I WANT a system that encourages these huge army vs army fights, but the system was fighting me. In fact, they aren't interested in playing TTRPG games unless it's a war game like the Tomb of Annihilation campaign.

Some observations of my PC's:

• They like multiple choices on character creation, similar to the amount of choices D&D 5e offers.
• They HATE narrative games. They play to obtain gold/conquer territory and enemies/acquire more power.
• They like to customize their army (Battling Rams, archers, e.t.c.)
• What they enjoy most about having an army is the vast amount of tactical decisions they make and the feeling of power.
• They like playing in a OSR fashion, where they play on player skill rather than character skill.

Edit:

When I say that they HATE narrative games, it means that they don't enjoy the "emulating a character" part of the game. They roleplay only to make a bargain with a NPC, and do stuff to build their army.

I dont know the proper flair but are there any artist that envoke Grimdark or Dark Fantasy artstyle or backgrounds? I know how to look on the internet but I want to learn more about the obscure things that other users remember back then that have some Brutally Metal-ish art. I was planning on using the art for my rpg session and was looking for non ai art or artists. I've looked upon TCG's (Old MTG, Sorcery, Flesh and Blood and etc.), Warhammer Fantasy, Darkest Dungeon and etc. Also any suggestions for Video Games that have that aesthetic so I can "borrow" a screenshot of it as a backdrop lol. Was looking for other arts like that any suggestions on artists and or scenes?

I'll start. Even after doing hundreds of hours of classes, workshops, shows and open jams of long-form comedy improv, it can feel awkward, overthinking, tense and vulnurable to jump back into improv. (As a side note, long-form just means interconnected performances compared to short-form where they use games like Whose Line Is It Anyway?)

There is a huge difference between when you've had time to warm up with improv games compared to jumping straight into improvising. These are just like stretching before exercise. They get you into an mindset (away from real world's social perspectives) that makes improvising so much easier and practice important specific skills to do it well. And the same is true for roleplaying.

I think Improv Game warm up is especially true for people who are newer to roleplay and feel intimidated that they will look ridiculous. If you want a good list of them organized and with good explanations, Improv For Gamers is a solid book to pick up. But you can find these free online - I'd specifically look up "Zip, Zap, Zop", "Five Things" and "Mind Meld". They do a great job focusing on Listening and Immediacy (not worrying about being right, be willing to be obvious). If you want one to be especially ridiculous and silly - "Kitty Cat Careers."

Making everyone do some of the most silly actions normalizes this extreme behavior so much that then roleplaying is not silly at all. It initially seems pretty intimidating to do these games especially some of the most active games. People will feel vulnerable acting that way but as they see others be just as ridiculous, they ease into it. Attending a couple intro workshops and it works like a charm for people from all kinds of backgrounds.

As a bonus, it serves a second purpose as a ritual to get the table from side chats to the mindset that we are now we are playing.

I've tried running one shots before but it always spills over and ends up being multiple sessions. The one time I succeeded was running dread and that's only because that ttrpg is built to end in a session. Otherwise it takes me at least 4 sessions to wrap up. The players always have a blast but I want to be able to run one shots for special events and to advertise them on startplaying. I know my biggest problem is that I do too much :yes and" and add too much fluf to connect player characters to the narrative, so basacly just expanding too much on a simple premise once dice start rolling. However I don't know what else to do, I don't want to give a bland and rushed experience but I see no other way of finishing in time. Any advice?