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Looking for opinions, not picking a fight. I think we should all play the kinds of games we like and play them how we like. That said, after talking with some friends, I'm feeling out whether my opinion is unpopular.

I prefer games that are just one book. I started playing RPGs very casually in 1999 but actually got into the hobby properly in 2005 with D&D 3.X. I ran a weekly game (that is technically still running) in that system until Pathfinder came out and then played that until we switched over to a homebrew system that we still play weekly.

I own nearly every 1st party book for 3.X physically and have, I kid you not, thousands of d20/OGL compatible 3rd part ebooks that I no longer play We used content from most of them during the 3.X/Pathfinder phase of our game. I couldn't get enough of the supplements! So I'm not saying I don't get the appeal.

I've played well over 100 RPGs now at this point and find I gravitate to the "everything in one book" approach. Generally rules-lite, no adventure books, no slat books or supplements, the GM and player rules are all right there. I live for these kinds of games (or at the very least, if the game does get a supplement or two, they are so optional I would never need to touch them... *cough* BitD).

Here's where I'm confused, though. I still have friends who play D&D. Nearly all of them treat wherever new supplement as if it's mandatory. I've even seen some of them get frustrated if a GM says they can't use a specific book for their specific campaign. It's just wild to me.

They can't wrap their head around a book that has everything in it. Some refuse to even try and others act as though these kinds of games can only do one-shots as they don't have enough "content" for long-term play.

Like, come on! The "content" is your imagination, right?! I have other friends who won't play without an adventure module at all and act as though a GM planning a session or doing improv isn't "official" enough.

I feel like I just can't get behind the whole "game as content" thing. Like, it's one of the reasons I pretty much only play indie video games too.

So what say you all? I know this is too much thought/text for something inconsequential (it doesn't but me, I swear) I just wanted to get a convo started and see what people think on the matter.

Campaign here: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/melsonian-arts-council/a-bit-o-troika

Their pdfs on drivethrurpg so far: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/6992/melsonian-arts-council

Basically they are a small publisher, and if they hit £25k they'll be thrilled enough to give everybody free pdfs of everything - you only need to back at the lowest £6 level to qualify.

They are a British publisher, with whimsical and often psychedelic products. The main thing you get is Troika, a gonzo space fantasy setting, and all of the setting & campaign books (Troika is based on Advanced Fighting Fantasy, if you're a fan of classic British TTRPGs and game books), but you also get Swyvers (criminals in fantasy Victorian Londonesque city), and Stay Frosty (Doom/Space Marine action, based on Black Hack), and presumably other stuff I haven't looked at yet.

Honestly just seems like a good deal, but utterly candidly the more I put word out the better the odds they'll hit £25k and I'll get the big pile of pdfs.

Hello!

I’m curious to discover more games that make clever use of their themes in their presentation. English isn’t my main language so I’m not sure if theme identity is the correct wording, but here are some examples from the top of my mind to illustrate what I mean:

- Salvage Union, presenting itself like an old instruction manual

- Slugblaster, that used to come in a pizza box doubling as a GM screen

- MemoryCore, that emulates an old console with each minigame coming in a video game box, and the manual being the ruleset for that game

- Midnight Press, a noir TTRPG with its rulebook written on a Newspaper

This kind of stuff!

Seriously me and my BFF were at the funeral for her mother and these fuckers decided, knowing it was the funeral because we told them in advance, to decide to come at us and tell us to kick us from the game without giving a reason, and then called us immature for asking why we were kicked.

It'd be one thing if this was the first time I got some of the worst ttrpg experience in my life from a VTM game but it's not. I've tried to play in a couple dozen VtM games since I first tried at the beginning of this year, each one has been worse than the last.

This isn't the straw that broke the camel's back, it was the fucking pickup and there were four dozen bricks thrown at that fucking camel before this. I'm done trying to play this game, it atracts nothing but the worst people of all ttrpgs.

what do you think is the best way to present the setting and the lore to the players that isn't just lore dumping in the middle of the session? do you just tell them to read the book beforehand? I've been getting into symbaroum which is a game heavily tied to its setting and lore (and its setting and lore is part of why I'm getting so into it) but I'm struggling to think of how to get my players to painlessly know the stuff their characters should know. how do you do it and/or how do you like your GMs to do it for you?

A friend of mine is looking to try TTRPGs

She likes fighty games, nothing graphic. And prefers more light hearted stories. Stardew Valley would be a good example of the type of tone that would be ideal

I started a West marches style game a few months ago and have spent a ton of time trying to recruit players. It's been a lot tougher than I'd thought it would be to get about 10 players, but there's finally enough of us.

The issue I'm running into now is that nobody wants to start scheduling sessions. People ask "when are we playing" and I tell them to let me know, but they just sort of leave it at that. From what I've asked, they all seem reluctant to start since they're newer players and aren't entirely sure what's going on. From other outlines I've read about these campaigns, the scheduling and actual goals of the sessions should come from the players, but that has just resulted in two months of meandering and "hey when are we playing" from the players.

I've done this once before to similar effect, so this time I even gave the players a list of goals that they might want to pursue, but I'm still not getting much energy from them.

Does anyone have tips on maybe how to start a session or two to try and get the ball rolling? I'm hoping a few sessions will start showing people what's up with the game and get them moving on it.

I enjoy reading and running prewritten adventures. I feel it's massively unskilled my own GMing by stealing the best practices from other GM's adventures. I especially enjoy adventures with morally ambiguous choices, lots of roleplay, or something experimental.

I started outreading dnd 5e adventures, then discovered that 2nd edition/adnd has better stories. Then read traveller, coc, vtm. Actually disappointed I haven't found more vtm stuff. Recently, I've been reading mothership scenarios and looking to get into pendragon stuff.

What systems in your experience has the best published official or 3rd party adventures/scenarios/campaigns? Especially in the last 10 years.

Hi everyone, I am a Dungeon Master for Dungeons and Dragons, but I've recently taken an interest in branching out to other ttrpgs.

Dolmenwood caught my eye, especially the being called the Nag Lord.

I've done some browsing, but I've found very little info on how to get started, what I need etc.

Please help me by answering several questions:

1) How does it differ from D&D 5e?

2) Is Dolmenwood a setting book, or a campaign that I can run as I read the book?

3) What is a typical session like? (For example, in D&D there's the three pillars of play - role-play, combat and exploration)

4) Is Dolmenwood more role-play heavy, or is it more combat focused?

Can anyone please help me?