RPG

cross-posted from: https://pathfinder.social/post/48899

Hiya, just finished proofreading my second article, and here it is!

This one, as the title indicates, is about where problems of lack of investment and feedback start, and how to be proactive and use the tools available to you to set proper, well-communicated expectations so that you ensure table quality and maintain it throughout, while nipping these problems in the bud before they even arise.

I hope it's of some use to any of you. As always, I'm open for discussion and questions on the content.

I was wondering how the wider RPG community found games nowadays. Do you reach out to your non-RPG friends? Go to your FLGS? Use online RPG groups? Something else?

I'll start with a little bit of background. I moved to a different country just about two years ago and I have been slowly working on the language. I haven't had many close friends who share similar interests with me. I also don't care for the online games. Those reasons combined I haven't played d&d in just about those two years.

Someone suggested ChatGPT to me for an unrelated reason. I was impressed and then I was suggested to try a text adventure with it. And to put it lightly I was a little bit blown away. I'll admit, I even dropped a 20 to use the GPT-4. At this point, I think I have a mild addiction, as I've been spending a lot of my free time continuing our adventure.

But back to my original question. Have I just been this starved of role playing games that I think this is amazing? Or is it actually this good? What's your opinion on these AI when it comes to RPGs?

That’s right, we have. Well, kind of. We mentioned it briefly in 2019, at Gen Con, but the reference was so short and sparse that it didn’t spread. This was a blessing in disguise because of course the very next year COVID-19 spread across the world, forcing us to change our plans.

We changed them back this year. We’re doing it.

Let me tell you about this game. In fact, let me get a little cute about it since it’s truly under the radar.

Just thought I would add this resource here.

Free RPG Day is Tomorrow, Sat 6/24

Do any of these titles look particularly interesting? Do you know of any other titles that aren't listed here? I'm always looking for fun one-offs to play.

your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell's level.

What happens when I cast a level 1 spell using a level 2 spell slot?

Literal reading would suggest that the spell slot is irrelevant only the inherent level of the spell but I have seen statements to the contrary.

It's not a huge difference. But I'd still like to know.

I'm starting a new DW campaign this Sunday , and I love asking my players weird questions to tickle their creativity bones!

So give me some good questions! I'll give y'all some:

• Who last left you drunk in a tavern?

• Why are you covered in food right now?

• Where did you lose your favorite hat?

• When will your reoccurring dream come true?

• How do you like these new clothes?

• What is obstructing your vision right now?

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/336160

I'm only including the overall review, not the chapter-by-chapter breakdown because I hit Lemmy's character limit twice, and I cba to split it into multiple sections again. Just click the link above if you want to see the full breakdown.

TL;DR: The book is overall pretty good. It's not a literary masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but the chapters that work, work really well. There are also chapters that are awful, and you should just straight-up ignore. There are also some very questionable editing decisions that mean you have to cross-reference things across both ends of the book, but this is something that can be overcome by taking notes and assembling a timeline yourself. This started as a review, but ended up being more of a GM guide on how to use the book. I hope nobody minds terribly.

Overall, this book is really all over the place. Some terrible editing decisions, an awful chapter that should have never made it past the draft stage, and some questionable organizational decisions, but the chapters that work really work. I think it’s well worth it just for the Detroit Rupture/Detroit Now and UCrASh chapters. There’s lots of potential shadowruns here, and if the official timeline is too tight and you want your players to see more of this important moment in UCAS history, you can always tweak the timeline yourself to lengthen or shorten it. I really do think there’s a lot of value in this book, but it is a bit of a slog to get to it.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/335733

For a long time I've tried to get a good RPG setting going for BT. I know there's an already written RPG for the game but tbh I don't really like it. For a while, I thought about making a bare-bones RPG myself that used the same base mechanics scaled down, but I found it was just too crunchy and slow. Now, I'm thinking that since the game will get very crunchy and simulated once it steps into mech combat, it can probably be narrative and story-based for the out-of-mech sequences. Since my favourite RPG is hands-down Blades in the Dark, lately, I've been thinking of writing a Forged in the Dark system game for battletech.

This is getting pretty niche so I'm not sure if I'll find enough people who play BT and know FitD well, but I'm curious if anyone in here knows of an existing FitD build, or other more narrative-focused RPG, that would be easier to adapt to BT.

Preferably not GURPS.

I'm quite intrigued by the game. Anyone got an opinion if this bundle has the "must have" books for the game or is it mostly filler stuff?

I'm about to be in a near future hacker campaign in a watchdogs style Fate Core setting. I'm playing Robert Conrad, or known by my handle as DirtyOlHobo. I'm the closest thing to a grifter we have in the Binary Syndicate.

My character looks like a disheviled hobo so he uses it to distract people. Like panhandling guards so my teammates can get past into a datafarm. But first and foremost, he's a hacker. It's kinda a requirement to be in the group. I'm not looking to flesh everything out just yet before I even play, but I wanted to get some ideas and inspiration for how my character might turn out.

His high concept is Disheveled Hacker with a Vengeance.

His Trouble is "Functional " Alcoholic.

His only aspects right now is Too Crazy to Say No To. And Former SecOps.

And I only just fleshed out a few skills, but I want room to expand. His Great (+4) is Hacking, his Good (+3)s are Deceive and Rapport.

And my GM and I fleshed out the stunt "Spare Some Change?" Grant +2 to Panhandling using Deceive when you pay a fate point.

I'm leaving his backstory mostly blank, all I know is he was a SecOp for a very prestigious cybersecurity company and he got tired of defending corpo's right to screw people over and left (around 2008) and ended up finding the Binary Syndicate and worked with them.

So what are some aspects or stunts that you think would be cool? Do you recommend any that are hacking related? I can't find any online. I've spent days search but all I get are basic boilerplate posts "wHaT aRe yoUr FaVoriTe fAtE hAcKs?" Because keywords sux and the internet is dead. Any help would be great!

Ive heard of dnd players playing solo but like how does that work compared to with a party? i dont really have anyone to play with and i dont really like online games of dnd, but for real how do you play solo becasue it looks hard but also interesting.

another dumb question but do player sell there dnd notes, is that a real thing becasue ive wonderd if dnd players actually do that or if its just a joke.

as you can tell ive only played dnd a few times and that was with a few horrible partys or ones that just gave up after one session, so im kinda a noob and i love player the most crazy classes or a wizard/magic user. also wher eis a good place to find free custom rpg content for games such as dnd?

My kids (10 & 13) and I are wrapping up our first campaign together in D&D 5e, and I'm starting to think about the next one. It's going to be a homebrew setting--future humanity decimated by climate change, but also elements of weird magic with giant plants and insects, inspired by things like Studio Ghibli, Kipo, etc.

After watching the recent Critical Role - Tears of the Kingdom oneshot, I started tinkering with my own system (PbtA based, with lots of opportunities for inventive crafting, and a video-game-inspired skill tree rather than strict classes) which is fun, but really time-consuming.

Wondering if anyone knows of an existing system that would work well for this setting? I'd like to find something simpler than 5e (which is the only system I know well), since they mainly enjoy the story and role-playing rather than lots of number crunching and detailed rules.

Hi all - I recently discovered Blue Turtle, and their music works in excellent fashion for background music for tabletop role playing. Basically, you can just match the titles with the settings you need music for, and it's an excellent combination of "good music" + "occupies the background without being too overbearing and distracting from the foreground of what's going on" + "has music available for common RPG scenarios".

Exploration:

Ruined Temple

Secret Forest

Wilderness Exploration

In Town:

Marketplace

Magic Library

Combat:

An Epic Ride

etc etc. There are more on the channel. Hope you enjoy.

(How do you actually crosspost? I am just reposting it here.)

There have been a few official Doctor Who RPGs. There is the FASA RPG in the 80s, which I know nothing. I ran a campaign in 1e of the mid-2000s Doctor Who: Adventures In Time And Space RPG by Cubicle 7. There was a second edition from Cubicle 7 rebranded as Doctor Who The RPG in 2021, which I own and have yet to play/run. Cubicle 7 used their own Vortex System for it.

Fun tangent. 1e was closer to Savage Worlds with Traits working like SW Traits, Edges, and Hinderances. Whereas 2e felt like Fate Core by removing Traits and replacing them with a mechanic called Focus, which work like Aspects, and Distinctions, which work like Stunts.

Lastly, but I am a 5e hater, Cubicle 7 released Doctors and Daleks, which is a 5e supplement for doing Doctor Who. But, as much money as that probably made them, it seems like an utter waste for the license and I'm glad it was just a one-off cash grab and they continued with their main rpg. Apparently, it was well-made and basically replaced the combat system of 5e to make it work, but it goes back to my "why bother calling it 5e unless you just wanted a cash grab" thought.

I bet there are loads of Indie RPGs out there for Doctor Who as well. It's been a fixture of fiction for longer than any of us have been alive. And its a scifi adventure romp aimed at kids. We TRPG nerds eat that shit up. Also, since we're on the Bahlaj server, I bet regeneration has almost certainly interested many eggs, especially now that the Doctor themselves has regenerated into a woman once.

What is your favorite system for this setting and why?

Mine was 1e Doctor Who: AiTS. I found it light enough for the loose narrative and world building of Doctor Who. The game is built from the ground up to ensure the game follows the themes and motiffs of the setting. The conflict system discourages violence, chase rules are front and center, and there even little things like how no weapon in any book is strong enough to get through a Dalek's armor.

I am, however, considering 2e. I usually enjoy lighter games and simplfications, but I wonder how players would feel of losing all their Traits. Basically, all their fiddly bonuses go away and most characters don't get Distinctions RAW unless they have special powers. That's something Fate Core does better, imo, by givint everyone Stunts. As such, a 2e character will often just be Attributes, Skills, and their Foci, which feels like a downgrade. But, the creators have made a good point that Traits weren't really balanced and most never came up anyway.

Anyway, I gave my favorite and why. How about yours?

First-time DM and newbie players.
Is it a good idea to pick alternate-history based on Earth setting, for the ease of familiarity?

Are there any existing communities that focus on designing your own rpg?

If not, would you be interested in joining one?

How do people feel about posts regarding designing rpgs in this community? Is it relevant and interesting or a potential nusiance?

Would you play a game with no combat items? There would still be items to bolster social interactions, stealth, and other out-of-combat activities.

Would this impede your sense of advancement, or are character feats and non-combat items enough?

I am working on a game with a magic system for combat. It is already complex enough that I prefer not to have combat items. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

I don’t really know where to begin with moderation and I have limited access to the internet with my current living situation. If anyone has any suggestions on if this is a good idea or if any of you would be interested in joining such a group I’d love to hear from you, thanks! :)

Hey y'all! I've been thinking about starting a group of Legacy. For those who don't know, the system is a Powered by the Apocalypse game set in a Post-Apocalyptic setting of any kind (I was thinking a zombie apocalypse) where the players take control of factions. You shepherd your community through the ages and you also take control of significant characters from them to solve various threats to your community. You take decisions at both the faction and personal level, and you both cooperate and compete with the other players for resources.

My timezone is EEST. If you're interested, leave a comment or a DM and I'll be in touch!

this is one of the largest and most comprehensive updates to the game yet, and I think the game will finally be in a content complete state and a stable testing state.

Any games, module, intersting experiments?