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Curious what RPGs people are playing from small and indie creators?

I follow a lot of people on itch.io and also have bought several of the mega bundles over the years. And with more games out there than I could ever play, I wonder what gems are hiding in plain sight.

So, please share what RPGs you play, enjoy, and recommend that you believe have small following or player count and let's see if we can drum up some secret gold.

Rule: please don't suggest your own RPG or a friends. Nothing against good natured self-promo, I'm just hoping to see genuine recommendations from fans and players (not that your RPG isn't amazing, I promise).

Edit: title should be "play and recommend"

Three sessions into this arc, seven unauthorized entries, one destroyed chandelier my players described (in-session, out loud) as "not even that good." I finally had the villain's legal team respond formally.

Dropped this in the party Discord before last session. They spent the first twenty minutes arguing about skeleton labor law before anyone touched a character sheet.

CEASE AND DESIST

Grimthorn, Azkoval & Bones LLP Attorneys for the Undead | Bar-Registered, Infernal Jurisdiction Transmitted via Spectral Courier, Third Urgency

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From: Counsel to Lord Malachar the Undying To: The Party, aka "The Adventurers" — last known location: outside the dungeon, again Re: Unauthorized Entry; Property Damage; Employee Termination (Multiple Counts); Theft of Artifacts Under Active Curation

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Lord Malachar the Undying ("CLIENT") has retained this firm to address your group's ongoing pattern of unauthorized access to CLIENT's PREMISES. Said access has occurred no fewer than seven (7) times in the past fiscal quarter. CLIENT notes, with some frustration, that each visit has been accompanied by your group's insistence that this is your "first time here," a claim that strains credulity given the personalized bounty notices CLIENT has distributed throughout three kingdoms.

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SPECIFIC GRIEVANCES

1. Property Damage. Your party has destroyed: one (1) drawbridge, three (3) proprietary trap mechanisms, two (2) golem-class security staff, and the original chandelier in the Grand Hall of Suffering, which was irreplaceable. The replacement chandelier is functional but does not project the same atmosphere. CLIENT is aggrieved.

2. Wrongful Termination of Employees. Seventeen (17) of CLIENT's staff have been killed during your visits. None had issued any act of aggression prior to your party initiating contact. CLIENT notes that Grimk the Skeleton was three days from retirement.

3. Theft of Property Under Active Curation. The artifacts removed from Vault 4-B were not "treasure." They were part of an ongoing collection, several items of which remain in conservation. CLIENT requests their return in original condition. CLIENT would hold its breath pending compliance, but CLIENT cannot technically breathe. This is therefore moot.

4. Harassment (Claimed). CLIENT has experienced what this office can only describe as a sustained campaign of psychological provocation, specifically your party's habit of leaving motivational notes throughout the dungeon ("evil never wins," "we'll be back," etc.). CLIENT considers this actionable and has instructed us to say so in writing.

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DEMAND

You are hereby directed to cease and desist from: entering the PREMISES; interfering with CLIENT's employees or undead labor contractors; and making further public representations about "ending CLIENT's reign." CLIENT has reigned for four hundred years and has reviewed your party's level estimates. The timeline is not in your favor.

Failure to comply within thirty (30) days will compel CLIENT to pursue all available legal remedies, up to and including construction of a second dungeon with updated traps.

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Grimthorn, Azkoval & Bones LLP

Basically, i want a system that support the "characters doing cool shit all the time" type of campaign. Kinda like Jujutsu Kaisen or Kagurabachi. Is there a system that fit this description?

Alternate link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/549599/the-beginner-s-4d-handbook

I enjoy reading rpg books, manifestos, and essays, since they help broaden my views on the hobby. Recently I have been reading the 4D Handbook, which has some enthusiastic adherents of the playstyle. There's some ebullient enjoyers of the work, so I don't doubt that it has appeal, but I genuinely can't understand what point the book is making and or how it would work in practice.

The book clearly isn't intended for narrativist systems, as discussed in Appendix C, struggles to work with many gamist-leaning works, and the book mostly discusses simulationist, crunchy, trad games. However, the advice here takes the assumption that this style can work for most simulationist games, despite referencing works that extensively use mechanics that need out-of-character interactions to resolve.

One of the principle ideas here is that 4D eliminates GM-Player negotiation and empowers players to add to the world. However, given the elimination of OOC and addressing the GM, this seems like it would just create new communication issues. This is something the book alludes to, but the advice here is address it after the session. The book proposes "counter-creation", but that is still a form of negotiation.

I also can't find myself agreeing with some of the book's definitions. It has a very specific idea of what roleplaying, and quality thereof, is. Likewise, there is this weight placed upon verisimilitude and immersion that is, at the very least, debatable.

Finally, I can't help but feel like I have this is reinventing the wheel. It's taking aspects of Nordic Larp, FKR, OSR, storygaming, high-bleed play, and neotrad philosophies and packaging them together. However, by it's own admission, it is incompatible with those, making their influence somewhat contradictory.

I know this all sounds harsh, and incoherent given the three hours of sleep I had, but there are some interesting ideas here. The general playstyle specific advice to GMs is great, and communicates best practices well. The focus on spatiality and player turns is cool. The book also is forthright with playstyle trade-offs, which was refreshing honesty for these kind of works.

I'd love for someone to tell me their experiences with this style. Hopefully it will make the ideas more grokable.

So the title may be a little confusing. What I mean is which systems do you like using to emulate settings from games, books, movies, or tv shows? Of course different settings would need different systems more than likely but still what's a setting from a non ttrpg origin you like playing and what are you using for it.

Note, I dont mean using an official ttrpg for a setting that is out there I mean more so something you hack/adapt to this pre established world.

Currently in the midst of planning something set in The Elder Scrolls myself and considering different systems (ik about the unofficial elder scrolls game and it is a top contender but not sure if its my vibe) and so I'm curious as to what people are doing in similar situations.

It was interesting how so many people can start with different systems that seasoned veterans claim would be the bane of a newb, even by their own standards...but have no problem with it because they start with it young or just have an easy time grasping it. I have my own answers to this question, but i wanna see how many answers differ and pick the brain of this community some more!

Moving into a house and have a small extra bedroom that I’d like to be a gaming room.
Its primary use will be for ~4 players + a GM for tabletop RPG play. Occasionally it might be used for board games, puzzles, or similar activities.
Looking for opinions on what furniture setup you use and/or would recommend (table, chairs, couch, monitors, “GM location”, place for resources, electronics, food/drink, etc.)
Functionality is key, but comfortable for those long sessions is a perk as well.
Pics appreciated if you have something you really like or have seen done well.

Hi all,

I'm looking for monster inspiration but I'm not necessarily looking for cool art or lore (although it's always a plus). I am more interested in monsters where the challenge is in figuring out how to defeat them. Things like the Lernaean Hydra, or like Zelda bosses, that the players have to use their wits to fight and that aren't just sacks of hit points.

Thank you kindly!

Edit: I'm using a homebrew hack of the game BREAK!! but it doesn't matter, I just need inspiration - I don't mind converting

what are some rpgs you guys have seen with super unique or creative magic systems?

I've learned and GM'd a handful of RPGs I've really enjoyed, both as one-shots and mini campaigns. However, as someone who likes focusing on and truly mastering a hobby or skill before exploring additional interests, I've found that bouncing around between them has created a situation where I can run them all competently but not with what I'd consider to be mastery. Also, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of each given the depth of rules, options, sourcebooks, stories, etc that each game has to offer.

The issue, of course, is that I like all of them, and can't decide which to dedicate myself to mastering first. Eventually I'd master the other once I've played enough, ideally running two campaigns, but I want to fully commit to one before the other (I'm primarily stuck between Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4E) and Dungeon Crawl Classics, for those with experience running these).

I'm curious if anyone feels similarly, and what factors induced you to choose the one you decided to really delve into and master instead of playing a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Hey, I’m running a session of Alice is Missing soon with some friends and have been testing both PC and mobile. Runs smooth on PC, but I’ve been having trouble getting the audio to work on mobile during my tests. I tried Safari and Edge on mobile but had the same issue with both. Honestly, I was more excited for myself to use it on mobile more than my friends.

Does anyone know if this is a bug, or is this something I’m failing to resolve on my end?