**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.

​

----------

​

This submission is generated automatically each Saturday at 00:00 UTC.

/u/ravenhaunts' WARDEN is a setting-neutral RPG based on Pathfinder 2e. I have been following its playtesting for a while. A few days ago, it was fully released.

https://ghost-spark.itch.io/warden

So naturally, I decided to run a few test fights. All of these combats had only a single PC, but that is fine, because WARDEN explicitly has an encounter type tailored to only one or two PCs. The three fights were:

• Flintlock musket vs. special forces. This resulted in the PC one-shotting both special forces enemies in quick succession despite the Reload 3 of a flintlock musket. Very impressive, considering that this was a 0th-level PC.

• Assault rifle vs. five non-natty halberdiers. The outcome here was the PC getting dropped by the mooks, while having taken down none of them. Scale armor is just too much for an assault rifle to overcome, even with the Sunder action, it seems.

• Holy sniper rifle vs. six non-natty halberdiers, in the same enclosed space as the previous battle. This was, very specifically, a showcase of just how important it is for an optimized combatant to add a Special Damage Types (e.g. Aether, Dark, Holy, Psychic) to their Strikes, because according to the author, doing so causes said Strikes to completely bypass Armor. Quite unlike the previous fight, the PC here trivially crushed the opponents, decisively proving that Special Damage Types make a humongous difference against Armor (and that, somehow, a sniper rifle is better than an assault rifle even in a tight space).

Goofy results, I know. You can read about the precise details of these fights here, in the following document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pxTxGFn1DaKARndEq3v4WKvcgBSO3qlJJhWBIn-Uqw8/edit

Does an rpg exist that doesn't trace it's mechanical core back to the OSR/Old School D&D, but still has a strong or single focus on dungeon crawling? I'm wrapping up running Hyperborea for 3.5 years, and most of my players and I are starting to become burned out on the whole OSR gameplay loop. What I'm looking for would be a game that either has strong support for dungeon crawling, or is designed from the ground up with dungeon crawling in mind.

Here are some things I'd like to avoid:

• Gold for xp: I like this in concept, but what I find in practice is that it makes the PCs to wealthy too fast. I like to keep the PCs poor so buying equipment becomes a much bigger deal. It's also a huge pain in the ass having to account for the vast sums of coin that a party of 3-5 PCs require in order to level up. It also slows the game to a crawl when the party gets back to civilization with all of their loot and then they have to divide it up and spend it.
• Vancian Magic: My players all unanimously agree that they dislike Vancian magic. After having played an OSR game for 3.5 years not a single player has found it fun. What we found was that fighters get to be fighters all the time from the beginning of the game, but magic-users can only do magic-user things once to a few times per day in the early levels. The system should support
• Rules-light: I and my players have found that rules-light games are not for us. Not that we necessarily want to play a super crunchy game with a million table lookups, but we've found that most OSR style games just don't provide enough procedures, or have a unified mechanic that makes task resolution elegant and easy to manage. Rulings over rules did not work with my group and we found that we essentially had to make up or borrow a bunch of rules and procedures from other systems which created a lot more work for me.

What I'd ideally like is a game with strong procedures and a focus on adventure instead of logistics and resource management. We did not find the issue of how to move a large treasure hoard out of a dungeon to be interesting, and inventory management always felt like a chore. Exploring dungeons, fighting weird monsters, and getting into shenanigans is more up our alley. Also, no one had any interest in domain level play, so the game should not try to shoehorn in or try to draw inspiration from D&D's wargaming roots. My assumption is that I could probably use a generic system like Savage Worlds, but I'm still curious if there exists a game that is designed from the ground up for dungeon-crawling, but without a mechanical lineage that traces back to old-school D&D.

I'm reading the Sixth World Almanac even though I don't play Shadowrun and I love it! Do you know any other books that focus entirely on lore instead of gameplay or adventures? Can be either history or current lore

Apologies if you have seen this question around I am genuinely curious as to what makes people take a chance on indie ttrpgs. Not trying to shill my own games just looking into what I should be focusing on.

As someone who makes ttrpg, I always get disheartened when I put my games on itch for a few dollars and it seems like no one is willing to pay even that to give my game a go.

My question is, what makes you decided "yeah, I'll chuck a couple of bucks at that" for an indie game?

It's a good idea to not judge a (play)book by its cover but in the natural course of our hobby we're always judging a bit. The artwork, description, community, etc. may give us a certain idea of what to expect. However, actually getting our friends together for sessions may reveal deeper beauty and fun.

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a setting's depth/breadth?

What mechanic(s) didn't seem good before you actually tried them?

How much did your overall tastes change afterwards?

Hey everyone! Absolute beginner here, I’ve been big into fantasy and scifi books for most of my life, and I just got invited to a public event where one of my friends will be game master, we’re playing Pirate Borg. I’m very excited but a bit intimidated as well, I’m a young woman and to be totally honest with you, I’m a bit scared of men-dominated communities.

I have no experience with RPGS whatsoever, I have occasionally heard of DND campaigns, but that’s about it.

I’m well navigated in fantasy terminology and things like that, but I’m still a bit scared I’ll make a fool of myself.

Do you have any tips? Absolute no gos?

Any advice is truly appreciated!

-a very anxious beginner

Just saw this and being a fan of the shows peaked my interest. Is the system good? Should I get it?

Edit: oh. For those who don't know, AtLA = Avatar the Last Airbender.

I have been interested in running a game set in the world of InFamous. For those who don't know, InFamous is a video game series centered around street level superheroes called Conduits that can absorb an element like Electricity, Smoke, Neon, or even Video from the environment around them.

Here are key things I am looking for in a system.

Resource Management - I want a system where powers cost energy and to regain that energy you must go up to something containing that element and drain it. But the energy runs out quickly and the conduits must refill multiple times per combat. And depending on the amount of energy an object has, it only refills part way.

Example - A Neon Conduit was holed up in a place littered with neon signs. It was only until those signs were destroyed that she could be taken down after running out of energy.

Morality System - In the games, there is a morality system where depending not only good or evil choices raise or lower your morality, killing or knocking out enemies effect it. And I want a system where going the non-lethal way is possible but more difficult. Also morality should come with mechanical benefits and drawbacks.

Example - A Conduit with Neon powers can either kill people by shooting blasts of Neon Energy at any part of their body. But to incapacitate them, they need to shoot at their feet.

Progression - Unlike most superheros, conduits do have a Zero to Hero style progression. They also use different devices and items as more horizontal progression.

Example - An electricity conduit uses a weapon called The Amp. It allows him to channel electricity into it and use it to augment his melee attacks to back up his ranged focus.

(Reposted because it posted before I actually finished typing)

I was a big Greek mythology kid and have found fellow old Greek mythology kids. I’d love to run a game that is either:

A. Set in classical Greece and the players take in the role of heroes and Demi gods who go on an odyssey and battle classic Greek monsters.

B. Go full Percy Jackson novels and make an adventure based around a camp halfblood knock off.

Just in general, what things are you most looking for, do you flip to, do you have to have in order for you to buy it?

So I have come across this hobby in the last month or so, and gotta say I was intrigued by it, mostly because of the setting and how vast it truly is beyond Dungeons and Dragons, Trials of Cthulhu, and Pathfinder. Also does not help that I am playing Solasta on an Xbox console and getting hooked by its mechanics.

So i do have some questions, if no one minds it:

What are some solid fantasy-style TTRPGs for someone who just learned about this whole thing? Been eyeing Dragonbane, mostly because of the duck species, and Wildsea, because a ship that cut downs tresss in a sea of trees is awesome to imagine. Would love suggestions or alternatives.

Should I try a solo RPG first, or do it with some company first?

What are some solid mystery-type TTRPGs that would work for a beginner? I have been eyeing both Vaesen and Brindlewood Bay, but would love alternatives or suggestions.