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Hello! I am on the hunt for the 'difficult literature' of roleplaying games please.

I am particularly looking for games that are a 'difficult read' for their content or mechanisms.

Usually games like this have a theme that gets under your skin, and then have an unflinching gaze on their subject. Sometimes they put you in a complex position as a player or GM.

I have asked this on BlueSky with some good results. But as always, I am looking for more

I've been reading God's Teeth for Delta Green because of this, and it does quite a good job. It's more traditional than some of the other suggestions, but it is creepy/nasty.

My other example is Sam Sorensen Low Life, which has some horrible mechanics of dying while caving or potholing. It's genuinely horrible to read (in a good way) because it models drowning in a small hole hundreds of feet underground.

Please recommend your favourites - and failing that - recommend ones you hated but respected!

Please be nice if this topic has actually been kinda discussed before, or if it's an issue of limited perspective from my end, I only know DnD, Pathfinder and CoC (And I'd say death is omnipresent in the last one for much better reason.)

I've been kinda thinking about this for a bit, because I've been craving to run a much more simple dungeon crawl for my next game, as during my last game, I burnt out creatively attempting to do a homebrew campaign. I want to run Abomination Vaults, or the upcoming bastion of blasphemies, but it got me to thinking how many of the players I have ran for, both REALLY do not want their characters to die, but also, perma-death also has to be a constantly omnipresent threat? Even when a lot of players say they welcome perma-death, I have seen how they react when an unlucky crit or some bad choices actually make that a reality. I often feel blamed.

It creates an odd dynamic, where as a GM, I have to be careful, and not make combat too hard, and even fudge, but never reach the point where I actually can kill them?

See, I find myself wondering why I can't just have death be a "Knocked out", and incurs a minor (Even reversible) penalty of sorts, instead of it being "Oop! Better make a new character.". I wonder why these games haven't introduced a variant rule. But players frequently bring up how this is bad because "It removes the stakes."

I like combat a lot, I like tactics, and for me at least, I would like to go all in during combat, and have enemies act as smart as they theoretically would, but then I always get afraid of killing.

The current Humble Bundle for Dune 2d20 print books, on top of a similar late-2025 fire sale on their print inventory for the corebook, has me wondering if Modiphius is about to lose the license.

I'm curious if anyone's heard anything to that effect? Or is there another reason for clearing out their stock like this? I don't think they've got a second edition coming as a tie-in for the new movie, since that's the kind of thing they'd have announced much earlier. Or would they?

Not really looking to start the usual 2d20 hater's parade here. Issues with 2d20, especially older implementations, have already been litigated to death in this sub.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been wondering how much player expectations have shifted over the years, especially for those of you who’ve been GMing for a long time.

Do you feel like newer players come to the table with different assumptions about what a game should be like compared to, say, 10 to 20 years ago? Things like pacing, roleplay intensity, production value, or even how cinematic a session feels?

I’m curious how much influence actual play and streaming content has had. Shows like Critical Role and others seem to present a very polished, emotionally intense, and narratively tight experience. Do you think that creates an expectation that’s hard for regular groups to live up to?

Has anyone felt like players expect something closer to a performance than a game at the table, or that there’s pressure to deliver a certain kind of experience?

I’d love to hear your experiences and any changes you’ve noticed over time, and how you’ve dealt with them.

Thanks!

For instance I used Vampire 2e to run a gritty superhero game once. I ran a mecha game using D&D 3.5 once. I've stripped down the Mothership rules and reshaped them into a Sergio Leone style western game. I'm currently working on a Shadowrun homage using the FASERIP system.

Anyone else do these things? What were your results?

My friends and I really want to play a Star Wars RPG, but we really didn't like the fantasy flight/edge products. The mechanics for force powers didn't feel right, space combat felt clunky when applied to characters flying individual starfighters in a squadron, and my players didn't enjoy the dice mechanics.

But I want to keep trying, so looking at other options. I'm not interested in any systems whose "bones" are any edition of D&D (I like D&D, it's just not what I am looking to tell Star Wars stories with). As far as I can tell, that leaves the game published in 1987 by WEG. So to people who have played that game, how does it hold up? Is it worth giving a try for a group that is accustomed to more recent games or am I better off using something more general or something in genre, but without the Star Wars trappings?

I started playing some time last year, and around the same time, I started watching DnD youtube to learn about the game, understand styles of play, and get helpful tips and ideas on how to run interesting campaigns.

In the beginning it was incredible! Hours or content talking about how to play creatively. But now, seems like most of the top DnDtubers are only making doom-and-gloom clickbait like "This is why DnD sucks", "Is this DnD killer?" or "This is the death of DnD", "DnD combat is broken and useless and trash", etc.
They're not always just clickbait. Every time something happens with DnD, it's all the same YouTubers parroting the same 3 sentiments to each other.

I dislike Hasbro as much as the next guy, but I got in a few months ago. It seems like in an attempt at grabbing clicks, the same DnDtubers have made my feed so disappointing and negative.

I get that there are other games out there, and I am sure there are better games, games crafted with more love, care, and attention. But I am just starting out, and this is the game I know how to play. Eventually, I will want to learn other systems. But until then, I'd just like to enjoy some DnD content until I am playing the game.

When I pick up something else, I'm sure I'd love to watch their takes on those games later.

But until then, I would just appreciate them not ruining the fun by making every change from Hasbro into an RPG apocalypse.

Barring a few small creators, I have decided to stop watching all other DnD content.

Sorry for the rant, thanks for indulging me.

What can I do as a GM to make my players more eager to fail? Obviously they want to maximize their results and always roll 20s. How can I make it so that 1s and 7s are as good a result? or at least not suck

I wonder if anyone has any advice, or has encountered a player like me (or is a player like me) and has any insights. Is there an approach I should take to check my attitude, or a role/game/strategy/other activity that maybe I haven't thought of? Or should I just yeet TTRPGs?

Love storytelling. Love roleplaying. Love digging into characters. Love lore. Have been playing D&D/Pathfinder specifically off and on for about 25 years. I think the idea of TTRPGs as collaborative storytelling is beautiful. I like having regular social time to stay sane. It seems like this would be great for me.

But I'm... kind of an emotionally intense person, and sometimes I struggle with navigating social dynamics. (Yes, I am working on myself in a clinical setting.) Okay. It goes like this:

When I join a game, I tend to get REALLY excited and involved, and count the days to sessions. A good session gives me a buzz for a couple days afterward. But I worry... I am TOO involved? This excitement means that my expectations can get pretty high, and if a session isn't a blast, it can feel like a letdown. Problem players REALLY get to me. And a cancelled session makes me quite grumpy - I get frustrated that other people don't make the game as much of a priority. My partner asks sometimes if I am actually having fun, because they see the low lows and worry that the highs don't make up for them.

I've been in a couple rough group situations, and there are some clear-cut cases of "that was DEFINITELY not a me problem," but I still wonder how much I contribute to friction with my high energy. I feel like I might need a really particular kind of table, and maybe trying to search for that is futile.

I like the idea of GMing to contribute to the community - but it makes me especially high-strung. I love painting miniatures, drawing maps, and planning things, but once the session starts, I am a whirlwind of anxiety. I don't know that I have as much fun. My players have said I am a really good GM, though. I've done about 30 sessions. Maybe I just need more practice? Or to take more breaks? Or...?

I am not afraid of working on myself, but I'm not sure how much "room" I have in me - or, despite all my overthinking, maybe I actually don't understand myself and what I want. Am I a good match for TTRPGs, or am I trying to force something that isn't actually healthy? Or is this a totally normal experience and I am worrying about nothing?

Hello.

I’m looking for a tabletop RPG system that could work well in an Avatar-style setting (inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender), but I’m not necessarily looking for something strictly tied to elemental bending.

Also, this is for a short campaign, so it doesn’t need to be super complex or dense.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

A simple and easy-to-learn system (preferably rules-light)

Some kind of martial arts or technique-based progression

A system that allows learning/adapting fighting styles, like how Zuko incorporates movements from other bending styles into firebending

Elemental bending mechanics would be a big plus, but not required

I’m especially interested in systems where:

Combat feels fluid and expressive

Characters can evolve their fighting style over time

Creativity in combat is rewarded

If you know any systems (official or homebrew) that fit this vibe, I’d really appreciate the recommendation!

Thanks in advance!

I had idea to recreate the setting of classic teen shows like Buffy, Charmed, W.I.T.C.H., The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf. But about changelings. People live their ordinary lives in a world that doesn't quite suit them, and they don't understand why. Then something happens and they realize that they are actually from another world, that their parents are not really their parents, and they are very drawn back to their world which they can never return to. There are also threats from other dimensions that they will now have to face. The game itself is primarily about interacting with the real world and gradually discovering new powers and abilities. Game theme: You found out that you are an impostor, and how you will deal with this when everyone continues to see you as someone you're not, and you need to hide it and protect people from supernatural threats.

Changelings is a general term. Perhaps some people have outbursts of anger, and are from the werewolf world, while others have dark magical tendencies, and are from the demon world. Something like that. Changelings: The Dreaming doesn't fit at all. Only once I saw truly authentic changelings in a medieval dark fantasy game the name of which I constantly forget.

Edit: Strange that people recommend Changeling: Lost, even though it's a completely different game, like Chronicles. Lost is about being human until you were kidnapped, tortured, escaped, and now you're being hunted, and Lost is very focused on magic and otherworlds. Whereas I'm looking for a game, for example, you a fairy prince from another dimension, hidden in the real world, and although you long for home that can never return. Completely different themes, completely different stories.