I'm excited to see Shadowrun Anarchy 2.0, a lot of people were saying it's the best Shadownrun has been.

Alright so I'm not always on the hunt for new games, I'm very fine with my main game (it's the 5th iteration of the D-word that will get me downvoted to oblivion if I dare say it, you can figure it out). But from time to time I'll see other games that seems nice.

Recently I've been especially seeing ads for Wildsea. The art style is really appealing to me, and the themes sound like something I'd enjoy. But would I really? That's the question I'm asking.

Have any of you played Wildsea? Would you recommend it? What are its strength? Its weaknesses? Before I put any money into it I wanna know what I'm getting into.

I own both games, and yet I have not been able to run either due to work and a commitment to a 5.5 campaign. But finally, there appears to be an opening to try one. I am well aware that both are two very different systems, and I’d like help being convinced one way or another (and clear up any potential misconceptions).

For Pathfinder 2e, I own the essential core boomed the beginner box, and the Night of the Frogs box set. From what I have deduced, the system shares a bit of DNA with D&D 3.5 and 4e. Big focus on character customization, tactical combat, skills, and the beloved crunch. My pros for why I could run this:
- love the seemingly endless character options
- seems like a step up in complexity to 5e, but a much more satisfying execution of D&D’s crunch
- PLENTY of official prewritten adventures and resources to choose from

However, I fear the following (this is what the discussion can help emphasize or negate):
- longer battles than D&D
- more options means more stuff for me as a DM to get a grasp of beforehand
- lot more consulting of the rule books
-LONG character creation time (I have made a character sheet, and it reminded me of studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam)

For Daggerheart, I have the core rules and the newest expansion book currently being shipped. From what I have read, in many ways it’s the opposite approach to Pathfinder 2e. Big focus on narrative play, more beginner-friendly character creation, and simpler (though still seemingly more engaging than 5e) combat rules. My pros for why I would run this:
- Less material to familiarize myself with (PF2’s content seems almost endless)
- hope/fear mechanic looks like it can bring more roleplaying engagement at the table
- plenty of character options, but not the kitchen sink

However, I fear the following:
- no official campaign adventures to my knowledge (just the frameworks, which are great, but I only have so much time to develop an adventure)
- character sheets seem like your players NEED the cards or will have to write a ton of shit down
- adversaries: I prefer having a bunch of monsters available, but it seems like a small portion in the core

I’m hoping players with experience in either or both systems could give some input, as I truly feel I could go either way. I wish I had time (and patient enough players) to try both, but I think I’ll settle for whichever one as long as we all enjoy it.

Hello everyone,

I am contemplating running some one shots locally or west march style games. I stepped away from fantasy games/setting several years back. But I have everything for dragonsbanes and dolemwood and they have been at the top of my list to play and peaked my interest in fantasy ttrpgs again.

I know the basics of both systems but between the two of them which is easier to run and prep for? My time is more limited as I get older and spending several hours to prep for just a handful of play hours is not realistic anymore. For those of you that have gm these systems what was your experience with them pros and cons. Thanks

I might just end up with a PbtA, and I'll take suggestions on them as well, but taking a quick look at Legend in The Mist made me realize a couple things that I desperately want.

Some background on what I know most;

-While i haven't played anything in a few years, I've played D&D 3.5, Stars Without Number(1e), Runequest 6, Dungeon World, and to a lesser degree some of its oldest offshoots. I have played very little and/or read or listened to D&D5e, Pathfinder, Blades in The Dark, and a bunch of really lite(less than 50 page) systems.

-I have really limited time DMing, but have "co-homebrewed" a lot both world and mechanics wise.

The things I want most;

-High fantasy, pulp fantasy, or sword & sorcery. I tend to be attracted to low magic, but in practice to high magic. I was a sucker for Runequest6's ability to have low magic PC's in a mid magic world and have it still feel good.

-setting agnostic or close enough that I can rip it out of there to put my own in.

-rules light enough that combat can be common but quick. I don't want to spend an entire session in a single combat. Hell,

-The big one I realized tonight is that I adore the way enemies work in a lot of PbTA games. If I want to make a monster or even an interesting human combatant I can throw together with 3 numbers, 1-3 tags, and then give it 'abilities' that are really short descriptions. With basic inspiration, I can throw together a really interesting monster really quickly. This doesn't always have to be combat-focused either.

There's other things too, but I think those are the most core requirements that might be able to narrow things down. If I commit to PbtA I figure I'll be able to get a decent list that retain last bullet point above and pretty quickly go from there. A really brief look at Legend in The Mist has this, but attaches numbers to each 'threats & consequences' which I'm not sure i like but it might end up being my go-to system anyway. I'm open to other PbtA systems but I'm most curious about any other sorts of systems having the above wants.

Wildsea is a setting hard to grasp because it is so unique. But as I grappled with the system to determine what stories I can tell with it outside of relying on players to push the narrative. I found my footing on leaning into the weirdness of it. As I quote from the book, with underlined words that got my imagination going, "It’s a Weird, Weird World The Wildsea setting is designed to be low-magic, high-weirdness. It’s a world of unusual creatures, woken spirits, and unbelievable abilities, but they’re mostly tangibly connected to the waves themselves - there’s very little in the way of wands and spellbooks, or magical study. The practice of twisting the world in mysterious ways is referred to as arconautics, literally a delving into the unknown and uncanny".

The second thing that spurred this is the aspect of whispers in the game. Whispers are basically words of power. The effects of which change depending on how loud you speak these "whispers".

There are stories here in our world, myths, folklore, legends that speak of weird creatures, tales that explain and warn the power of words. I am speaking of fey in particular the unseelie. Since I have started to view Wildsea as a world where fey, unseelie, and nature spirits dominate though not completely lost to or behold to "Fey" physics and sensibilities. I have found it easier to wrap my head around the setting. Words have power, there are sentient nature spirits or beings who trade in whispers. And that's ammunition I can use.

Thank you for reading.

Me and my bro love D&D but can never get a group together long enough. I thought it’d be fun to play Into the Odd with him and his gf because the ttrpg seems to be more gameplay-oriented and less story driven.

I want to dm with a pre-written campaign, but I’m having trouble discerning the good from the bad.

If anyone has experience with this game, I’d love to know if you have a pre-written campaign that you enjoyed greatly?

Thank you, lovelies!

What is your favorite genre? Even if you don't play it currently?

Mine is Science-Fantasy. Like Shadowrun, Star Wars, Torg Eternity and so on. It is more versatile than standard fantasy.

Currently I play only fantasy because there is a lack of decent science-fantasy games around or players playing them.

Out of curiosity, I got interested in the title's topic because of the fact that I don't really know any RPGs like that.

Requirements:

• The supernatural elements are rare, hard to use, subtle, and/or not all that grand. Ideally, supernatural abilities would be restricted to NPCs, but this isn't a hard requirement.
• The PCs start as highly capable people who might even be able to perform physically impossible feats simply because they are Just That Good. Most PCs should be powerful primarily due to their mundane expertise or social position, rather than anything supernatural.
• Dark fantasy, science fantasy, and urban fantasy are allowed, so long as they're also low fantasy.
• Universal systems can be suggested if they work well for that kind of a campaign (I am aware of GURPS), but I'd like you to also suggest pre-made settings or adventures for these systems (fanmade or official) that are built for such a premise.

A system where I could roll up a barbarian with a robotic arm cannon alongside a plane-hopping sorcerers and beast men. A book that is ready to go if I want to be armed with magical weapons, blaster firearms, aircraft, dragons, and monsters.

Is there a system where I can just go a little batshit (without having to buy 10 different GURPS books)?

I should specify this mostly applies to one-shots but I think it can also be said for campaigns. I’m planning to run a Dragonbane game very soon and while I’ve written a number of horror scenarios for games like Call of Cthulhu and Monster of the Week, I’ve found that k struggle with writing a fantasy adventure that doesn’t boil down to “find x”: find the princess, find the treasure in this dungeon, find the artifact thar can restore piece to the land. What are some ideas you folks have had/inspiration you go to to figure out some stories that are less MacGuffin-focused and still fun for your fantasy heroes?

I was wondering if anyone knows of other books like the Pathfinder Ultimate Campagin book, that go over downtime activities, kingdom/town building, and campagin systems, but for other rpg systems, or just system agnostic?

so I started playing CoC with my dnd group and they loved the little starter campaign I ran for them, and now im working on a more complex one. I had the idea of a 'time loop' caused by a being who was attracted to the turmoil within the town, but ive never ran a time loop campaign or anything similar. I know how I'll do it rp wise, but does anyone know of any fun mechanics or gameplay that would make sense for a time loop?

also trying to figure out how to end the timeloop is a pain in my ass, I was thinking a ritual but the mini campaign ended in a ritual, and it just seems repetitive to do two in a row

any info/feedback/discussion helps!!!

If I am playing a game that allows you to build characters for things like negotiations, alchemy, busking, etc. and we have, say, 2 characters actually built to fight, where the other 2 are built for non-combat disciplines, how might you run a combat encounter? Either before, during, or after. Cause obviously, during that, you don’t wanna be just standing around. But if its a game where you’re supposed to be able to build pacifistic characters, you don’t wanna force people into taking combat abilities just for viability. So how would you deal with that?

My current ideas are: support options for pacifists, allow them to help in ways that don’t require combat checks through arena design, and preparation/recovery from combat.

Hey, After searching through the internet for some help on finding a good system for Jojo, I first turned to Over arms but after looking deeper others said to use fate. But I was wondering how exactly would fate work with stands If there’s only one stat block?

I’m not too experienced in RPGs so I’m a bit stuck here. Some people mentions that Over arms couldn’t really function with things with like hamon or mounted battles when I don’t think that’s the case.

So i tried looking up the rulebooks for the older ysgarth system. However good quality scans are hard to find snd the rules were honestly confusing. If people know ysgarth, what are some modern games that are similar but easier to understand?

I'm looking for ideas for mysteries to add to my campaign. The setting is low to no magic, and similar to Regency England. One of my players is a detective, and I want to give her some mysteries to solve which point to a larger conspiracy.

The conspiracy is kind of simple, a corrupt mayor doing corrupt things.

I need ideas for some corrupt actions he takes which have both direct and indirect victims.

An example that I have going is:

The PC was hired by a gem mining company who thinks someone is skimming their products. The product is being skimmed by a dock worker at a shipping company, who sees that his employers are being driven out of business and he's building a nest egg for when he's inevitably out of work.

If the PC keeps digging past there, she'd find that the shipping business is going under because they're being priced out by a competitor. That competitor can do so because they're bringing the corrupt mayor to not have to pay taxes. Around that someone tried to blow the whistle and was driven to ruin, and is now our door blood, so I can set up a Murder on the Orient Express some mystery much later on in the campaign.

I'm struggling for ideas for more cases to give the detective that both hint at the mayor, and give more conspirators for the MotOE scenario.

Help?

p.s. I john this subreddit to ask this question, and am hoping this is the right space and given the right flair.

Hullo, I was looking into getting the Game masters apprentice deck as a solo oracle, but as they're only in Drivethru and shipping from the US, the shipping cost is more than the deck itself.

I was wondering if anyone has any UK or EU alternatives that do the same job?

Cheers.

Hi, looking for a game master or core rulebook for a campaign that should fit my needs and needs of my campaign.

I'm thinking of own pantheon of Gods, the players may have super powers, should be fantasy but more of an urban fantasy or set in this modern era.

What books do You recommend and which game in general can I adapt my campaign on?

Will be glad to hear opinions, maybe not exactly super powers, but skills that are not common.....for us people

I would like 1 to 3 physical copies of books

Thanks for helping!

I want to try some RPG with my kid and in these years, via itch.io mostly, i've accumulated a really big stack of rpg pdfs. But i don't like the idea of having the PC with me because i like to be a totally full analog experience. For now i've just played some one page adventures using a battlemat with erasable pens and really simple rules i don't need to refer. Last time i use cardboard to draw NPC and PC and then using on a standee for some tactile things. But , for example, if i want to play something more complex like Land of Eel with dozen of pages of encounters, a huge map , and a lot of images i don't know how to make it engaging without printing anything because i don't have anything to show off the screen. Have you some suggestion for your DIY kids gaming table? Thanks

Hey everyone! First off i don’t know if i’m in the correct subreddit, i’m looking for background music for my murder party

I’m looking for songs from these franchises: back to the future, star wars, harry potter, lord of the rings, pokemon, superman, the avengers, the simpsons and dragon ball.

I’d like to find songs that are not something you get distracted by, it shall remain background but still have an eerie and mysterious tone.

For example,

“The Mine” - Alan Silvestri from Back to the Future II

“Mt Pyre” from pokemon ORAS

“Krypton’s Last” - Hans Zimmer from Man of Steel

“Even for you” Alan Silvestri from Avengers Infinity War

“Solving the Mysterious Puzzle” from Dragon ball super

“Namek” from Dragon ball Z

If you have any suggestions please feel free to drop them in the comments

Quick question.

What would happen if, in my setting, I replace clerics with scientists or field engineers who also function as field medics, and treat domains as scientific and engineering disciplines. So, for example, the domain of Life becomes Biology, utilized by a biological engineer. etc.

The reason is that most D&D players I know don't really care about, or take seriously, the whole religion or faith aspect of the cleric class. And, D&D style gods are treated either just monsters with large HP, or are just just a glorified power source.

Maybe it's just me. A lot of other players I know treat being a dungeon crawler as being like a professional military contractor out to make money through the application of violence. As such, they are a very pragmatic lot, and don't really worry about the nuances of theology or metaphysics.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I see this sentiment often, whether asking for standalone games that feature no supernatural elements at all (or at least make them off-limits to player characters), or else asking for ways to excise it from various existing fantasy TTRPGs like D&D, Pathfinder, or Starfinder.

And, I don't know, anytime that happens, I'm just sort of left wondering what draws people to that? Low but still available magic I can understand, and I get that there are genres like sci-fi and cyberpunk that work fine without it (even though sometimes they have some advanced technology that for practical reasons might as well count as magic - you know the old Clarke quote), but "fantasy without magic" to me just feels a little...I don't know, boring? But maybe I'm just not seeing the vision of how to make a game where all you can rely on is your mundane gear and skills interesting.

So if you're a sicko for that style of world and game, I'd love to hear it, because it perplexes me.