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A comment in another thread prompted this one. Example settings are like Wildsea or Dark Sun - ones that are pretty far off the beaten track and require some knowledge to create a viable character with relationships to setting elements.

Do you (the GM) expect players to come in blind, with some understanding (say from a pitch doc), read up on the lore, or something else?

I am in a point in my life where I need to downsize, iv collected so many books over the years as tools to DM or just out of passion. However my wife and I have made the decision to be in a smaller location as we get older. This is going to mean condensing my office size GREATLY.

I hate reading PDFs on my phone but I dislike sitting at my laptop, I like to read in bed or on a hike etc without a ton of bulk. I honestly know nothing about the world of tablets and readers to even get started.

What's your favorite reading devices?

A few things we've used in our Pathfinder campaign:

1. We use health bars on our tokens in the VTT we sit around. If the heroes want to figure out whether a monster has a weakness, resistance or immunity they have to pay very close attention to the health bar and how it drops. (They've gotten surprisingly good at this).

2. Diplomacy, Deception, and Intimidation are just as influenced by the role playing as they are the die roll. Naturally, this requires players to be comfortable role playing.

3. A countdown timer always sits on the table in front of me. When something is going to happen after X rounds/minutes/whatever, I will discreetly spin the timer down. When players notice, that is essentially them succeeding at their perception check.

What are some other clever things you've seen groups do to shift a skill check or other mechanic into a real world interaction?

A while ago I mentioned on another RPG community and social media a method I sometimes use to discourage metagaming, especially when it comes to enemies

Some GMs and Players told me it was unfair, that I was tricking my players, or even "lying" to them. That surprised me, because I've never really seen it that way

First, some context:

This is not how I run my games by default. It's a tool I only use if I notice the group is relying heavily on metagaming. Usually I only need it for a couple of sessions before everyone gets the message, and then I stop using it

I also ask to my players to avoid metagaming. Everyone slips up once in a while, and accidental metagaming is completely different from intentionally using out-of-character knowledge

The basic idea is simple: I sometimes change the abilities of well-known enemies

For example, imagine a Medusa, instead of petrifying people with her gaze, maybe this version uses a hypnotic siren-like song

There are two important rules, though

1. I never change enemies in the middle of a campaign just to surprise the players. If I decide my world's Medusas work differently, that's true from the start. I'm not changing things on the fly to counter whatever strategy the players came up with
2. The information is available in the world. I leave clues, rumors, books, witnesses, monster hunters, or simply allow Knowledge checks. If a player asks, "What does my character know about Medusas?", there's a very good chance they'll learn the correct information. In many cases, a character who should reasonably know about monsters doesn't even need to roll

So in this example, the only people who are actually punished are players who skip interacting with the world entirely.

If someone immediately says, "I blindfold myself and bring mirrors because Medusas petrify with their gaze," without ever asking what their character knows or trying to research the creature, they might discover that, in this setting, Medusas don't petrify people at all

I don't want to punishing players for being clever, but to reward players for engaging with the setting instead of assuming that the Monster Manual (or the wiki) is always correct

Nowadays, I actually use a "good" version of this idea much more often

Once a group has learned to separate player knowledge from character knowledge, or if they're already experienced, I usually stop changing monsters entirely

Instead, I add extra information that rewards investigation

For example:

• Green Medusas have a stronger petrifying gaze than yellow ones
• Bronze weapons are unusually effective against Medusas.
• A specific flower can temporarily weaken their magic.
• A particular species of troll can't regenerate from acid, only from fire

I want players to think, investigate, ask questions, and interact with the world instead of treating every combat like they already have the stat block open.

Do you consider this unfair, or is it a reasonable way to encourage players to rely on their characters' knowledge instead of their own?

I am desperately looking for a good cyberpunk TTRPG. I really like the vibes of cyberpunk but have had a hard time to find ones that I enjoy.

There are a couple of things I want in a cyberpunk game

1. Long lists of items. I just love looking at different guns and cyberware or whatever.

2. Tactical, yet quick combat. I feel like cyberpunk combat should be fast and deadly, but I still want a bit of crunch. Dragonbane combat for example is really the perfect balance for me of being tactical, yet fast.

3. Should be able to run campaigns with the system, so a good sense of progression for the players.

I have played both cy_borg and Cyberpunk Red but idk it did not really work for me. Cy_borg is overly simple and has a very low amount of tactical depth, and Cyberpunk Red felt bloated in a not good way. It felt tactical but not fast and cinematic in the way I want cyberpunk games should feel I think. Just slow.

Are there any good cyberpunk rule systems that work well for this?

I’m looking for modern themed dungeon crawls. Either contemporary or maybe near future cyberpunk. Either pre-written modules or at the very least Maps. Preferably a more urban setting.

Second best would be dungeon maps that could be easily reflavored as modern.

I am also open to real world building layouts that could be reused as dungeon maps.

I realize this is a niche request. That’s why I’m asking for your help!

I don't like to run 5e at all, but since my 15YO nephew loves theater and Stranger Things I wanted to get him into RPGs. I decided to go with DnD, because he is not into hobby yet and if you don't know about RPGs it's probably best to stick with the game everyone associates with the hobby. So I thought gifting him the Stranger Things starter set was a perfect starting point for him.

He was extremely excited about the gift and we're going to run it next month. But since DnD is expensive and the rules descriptions are bloated I would much rather buy Nimble to fill in the gaps. I don't think him and his friends will actually learn or care about the rules as long as it feels like DnD.

How easy is it to cherry pick Nimble rules, classes, and monsters and use them with the starter set? I like everything it does, but I think it would be a shame to remove the d20-to-hit-rolls, because it's the most iconic thing that everyone knows about DnD. Is it possible to mostly run DnD 5e, but then substitute Nimble rules here and there to make it a little smoother?

Edit: I appreciate the game recommendations, but I don't want to pull the rug under him and not run the game I gifted him.

Been in a cyberpunk mood lately due to playing 2077 and being an avid android netrunner fan for years now, and I'm now having the itch to run a cyberpunk game (one shot or campaign, not sure still) for my friends, and I was wondering what is this sub's favourite cyberpunk system?

I mostly have experience and preference with narrative heavy/rules light systems (bitd, heart the city beneath, mothership, etc.) so i've been leaning more towards cy_borg (that and the visual style) but i have also heard good things about Cyberpunk RED, but i still think it might be too crunchy for me.

I used this app for over a year and the performance is abysmal. Not sure what they run this on but I'm in SaaS business and I have never see an app perform so badly. Not only that buy they have so many Ui issues that they never fix. Not to mention UX being convoluted and strange.

Does anyone know what is going on with them? Unfortunately for DaggerHeart I have no real alternatives since I bought the book on Demiplane, but I'm considering dumping it anyway.

What's really interesting is that Critical Role is working with them and when you buy CoreRule books from Critical Role, the digital versions are tied to Demiplane.

I apologize if this question is naive I really don't know a lot about the Storypath ultra System or the Earthbane Cycle.

Is there a common character creation system that ties the Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Earthbane Cycle together beyond the typical mechanic shared by Storypath Ultra System Games? And if so, then please explain what it is.