**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.

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I’m putting together a sci-fi, anime-inspired RPG campaign and ran into a bit of a design problem. I found a system I really like, and one of the things that sold me on it is that the players can build their spaceship together — like a shared “party character,” which is exactly the vibe I wanted. The issue is that the ship only has one sheet. So in practice, during ship combat or checks, it feels like everything could end up in the hands of a single player (usually the pilot), while everyone else just kinda watches. I’ve thought about giving everyone their own small ships/fighters so they all have something to do, but I’m worried that kinda kills the whole idea of the main ship being this shared creation.

I am here to ask if anyone in this subreddit knows of any good board games that require a Game Master/Dungeon Master to run the game for the players, but that doesn't put the same weight as TTRPGs do upon said GM/DM to come up with the game, plot, and characters on the spot. I would also count games that aren't typically played with a GM/DM, but that could be enhanced by the presence of such a role.

Some examples I have already found that work for me are Betrayal on House on the Hill (especially the Legacy version), Blood on the Clocktower, The D&D Adventure System board games, and even Ultimate Werewolf.

For extra context, I'm trying to run games like these as a way to ease myself into the role of GM/DM for actual TTRPGs like D&D, Pathfinder, Lancer, Magnagothica Maleghast, etc.

TLDR: Board games that require a Game Master or could benefit from adding a Game Master.

Hello! So, quick context. I live in an extremely small, extremely rural, extremely conservative Appalachian town. But recently at an event I ran a demo one shot (5e) and had a lot of people want me to run a monthly game. Which I am more than happy to do. Two of those people are trans, and young. Early 20s. I'm 42 for context.

Now, i want to make sure they feel safe and accepted and welcome at my table. But I also don't want them to feel singled out. So I figured I would ask here first, to make sure I do a good job making them feel safe.

Thanks in advance. Oh and if you have something shitty to say about trans people, fuck right off.

This isn’t really addressed to those who simply play with THAC0 because their system uses it, but rather those who like it or even prefer it over ascending AC.

For context, I’ve recently been very intrigued by AD&D 2e. I like OSR stuff in general, but the big names of that genre often have quirks that I’m not a huge fan of (like the rulings over rules mantra, or the common absence of something like a skills system).

I’ve also heard, countless times, of people running decades’ long AD&D 2e games. That has me interested in dipping my toes into it with a mini campaign with my friends. I also like the idea of lots of classes and kits - it annoys me when a game has a very limited variety of classes and flavours of character to play.

THAC0 is obviously an elephant in the room with many discussions about TSR-era games. It didn’t take me long to understand it, but I can see why some people would take one look at it and say “let’s just play something with an ascending AC system instead”.

I also understand that THAC0 was to some extent a legacy import from wargames. And I’ve heard that some people actually prefer it.

If you’re one of those who really likes THAC0, what is it about it that you find more compelling than ascending AC systems? Or would you regard it as something more related to nostalgia?

Has anyone tried running a game similiar to Barotrauma video game, and if so, what system did you use and was it fun?

For those unaware, Barotrauma is a game about a team running a small submarine deep in Europa ocean, while being attacked by giant alien creatures, invasive fungi, sentient sunken ships, bandits and a bunch of other stuff. A lot of the game relies on tension in the quiet moments when you don't know when you'll get attacked next, risk management of whether it is worth it to stop and leave your submarine in a diving suit to loot nearby places, chaotic nature of attacks where you have to both retaliate and make sure your ship isnt full of holes, and constant chance of dying.

The main problems I see in adapting it to TTRPG are:

- long stretches of nothing happening are somewhat essential to building tension. How would you translate that to TTRPG without making your players bored?

- the game almost entirely takes place in the same small submarine. While players can buy bigger ones they are still claustrophobic and it is relatively rare they change vessels. How would you keep up variety when a lot is happening in the same tight space? Venturing outside in a diving suit could help with that but large portion of the game would still be on the submarine, otherwise you lose that claustrophobic feeling of the game

- players should always be at risk of death/heavy injuries. Im not sure whether it would be better to actually make characters fragile and disposable (and if so, what system to use to accommodate for that) or if players should more so feel threatened by death but not actually die very often

Btw, I dont look to copy the setting 1:1, more so the general vibe. Space ship in the empty hostile void, a train in a post apocalyptic world or whatever else would be just as fine, as long as players are trapped in a tight space most of the time and have to consider every venture outside carefully or risk dying

So I use to love playing mutants and masterminds probably my favorite ttrpg outside of vtm but I’m noticing not a lot of people play almost at all and now that I have a lot more time on my hands it’s a little disappointing.

So what I’m asking for is some suggestions or alternatives to mutants and masterminds preferably something that has a more active community and something with point buy as I liked the whole idea of spending point like currency to acquire powers or other benefits.

Originally posted this in r/monsteroftheweek but figured people here might like the concept.

I ran a session set in Rome where reality was basically being “rehearsed” by something I called The Director.

Early on, nothing was outright wrong, just slightly off. NPCs had small delays before answering, repeated lines, reacted at the wrong time. Same with the environment—graffiti repeating phrases, details not lining up. It felt like something trying to get things right.

Then the players started noticing that what they were fighting weren’t just enemies, they were attempts. Creations. Versions of people that were close to real, but not quite there yet. Every encounter felt uncanny on purpose.

As the session went on, those mistakes slowly disappeared. NPCs stopped hesitating, reactions became instant, enemies got more efficient—like it was learning from everything the players did.

At first it never showed itself, it didn’t need to.

But once it got “good enough,” something changed. It wasn’t just learning anymore, it started to feel like it owned what it was making. Like it was above everything it was copying.

That’s when it showed itself.

By the time they reached the Colosseum, everything was just… perfect. No delay, no distortion.

Then they heard: “One of you will be taken. Choose… or I will choose all of you.”

They didn’t even hesitate. They just said “all of us.”

The moment they refused, the whole arena cracked open, sky split, light everywhere, and the thing finally revealed itself.

“Behold... The Power... OF A GOD!!”

The fight turned into full environmental chaos. Not just attacking, but reacting—light beams across the arena, players using mirrors to redirect them, someone scattering ice to split the beams, everyone just building off each other in the moment.

I also run with a custom move called Calamity, which is basically a team finisher I offer when the boss is already on its last legs. Everyone rolls at once and if it lands, I just describe everything they’re doing merging into one big final sequence.

They actually landed it, and it ended up being one of the best moments I’ve had at the table.

I’ve got a bunch more concepts/sessions like this, so if anyone wants details on how I structure encounters, horror, or boss mechanics, feel free to ask or DM.

Talking stuff like zombies, Delta Green-esque Lovecraftian horrors, light sci-fi elements like you might see in The Forever Winter, that kind of thing.

This week's RPG is Traveller (Mongoose 2022 Update)!

Have you played it? Have you run/GM'd it? How did it go?

What's your favourite memory from the game?

What's the best thing about the game?

What's the worst? How would you improve it?

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Last week was The One Ring. Join us again next week for Feng Shui 2!

I've found a website called Start Playing (StartPlaying.com) where people find Games and Game Masters for all kinds of TTRPG and I wanted to know if any of you actually used this website and what was your experience overall.

So, I have been working for the past month on an indie system first conceived by a TTRPG Discord server participant who explained his ideas to me in a call and then we started holding meetings every night to exchange ideas, thoughts, mechanics and specially help each other write everything down on the document that is intended to be the first rulebook of the game. Tomorrow, it is going to happen the first play-test one-shot, supposed be a short session to test the first mechanics of the game (since we decided to test the system by parts instead of testing the system as a whole once it is finished, possibly improving future balances), such as stats, bonuses and checks, and it will be ran by him for a party of 3 players. He suggested that I be one of the players and I accepted, but I am still having second thoughts about it because I would probably prefer a party composed entirely of new players of the game, without any ties to the development of it. What do you guys think about that? Should I tell him to join as a spectator and invite a new player, or stay as one of the party members for the test?