Hello folks of the RPG Subreddit! I was twiddling my thumbs and decided to use some of my free time to create something that is probably entirely unneccessary, but I have skills and use them to mostly make my life easier! So, I present to you my Random Toon Generator (ACME Patent Pending)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hNKvtDwBJi_ynhQ9DdWFrQ5epJ-l_r-ui121sYTLiIo/edit?usp=sharing

It's not quite got everything on it, but could be good if you are creating a bunch of NPCs for a Toon world, or running a Toon one-shot!

Suggestions welcomed, though I regularly forget that Reddit exists!

I mean of course it might be more exciting to be a part of supernatural but cmon being a badass who hunts supernatural sounds cool to me. Want to try it or at least read the book when will have spare time.

Disco Elysium started out as a tabletop RPG and theirs was pretty neat:

Intellect (INT) — Reasoning & Knowledge

• Logic (deduction and rational conclusions)
• Encyclopedia (factual knowledge about the world)
• Rhetoric (debate, persuasion, and spotting flawed logic)
• Drama (lying, acting, and detecting deceit)
• Conceptualisation (art, abstract ideas, and pattern recognition)
• Visual Calculus (reconstructing crime scenes and spatial physics)

Psyche (PSY) — Intuition & Emotion

• Volition (mental fortitude and self-control; governs Morale)
• Inland Empire (gut feelings, surreal imagination, and premonitions)
• Empathy (understanding and feeling other people's emotions)
• Authority (assertiveness, dominance, and command)
• Esprit de Corps (police instinct and brotherhood with precinct)
• Suggestion (charm, charisma, and subtle influence)

Physique (FYS) — Strength & Stamina

• Endurance (physical toughness and stamina; governs Health)
• Pain Threshold (withstanding physical and emotional pain)
• Physical Instrument (brute force and raw muscle)
• Electrochemistry (cravings, pleasure-seeking, and substance affinity)
• Shivers (visceral awareness of the city around you)
• Half Light (fight-or-flight, panic, and threat recognition)

Motorics (MOT) — Coordination & Agility

• Hand/Eye Coordination (dexterity and manual precision)
• Perception (noting small physical details in your environment)
• Reaction Speed (reflexes, quick wit, and fast answers)
• Savoir Faire (athletic style, parkour, and smoothness)
• Interfacing (repairing, fine motor control, and handling objects)
• Composure (keeping your cool and hiding your inner turmoil)
• (source: gamefaqs)

I'm not affiliated or a backer, but the third attempt to crowdfund the mechs vs. monsters RPG Eldritch Automata is live, and it's got a great goal.

It's an Evangelion-style game that uses Free League's Year Zero Engine. The first time it was on Kickstarter it didn't hit its funding goal—I think because they set a realistic, pretty-high goal, which can spook people. The second try was on BackerKit, and it hit something like $140,000.

But then the publisher, Gehenna Gaming, imploded, and apparently the CEO and founder disappeared with the campaign's funds.

Now the game's designer has launched a rescue campaign on Kickstarter, that's going to send a free corebook (not including shipping and handling) to the previous campaign's backers.

Here's the campaign, which launched a couple days ago and hit its modest funding goal, but I suspect it's going to need a lot more support.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nickfrancia/eldritch-automata-from-the-ashes

Hello!

I'm thinking about starting a game based on Ace Combat style - so more cinematic, dogfighting game with jets.

Any system recommendations? I saw the earlier threads, but most of them are quite old and all recommend Warbirds (I tried giving it a chance, but it didn't click... Tho I liked the initiative idea) so... Are there any "new" systems to try it?

As we get closer to the end of the year, I want to hear about every ones games.

What games have you played this year? What did you like/dislike about it? How are you campaigns going?

I ran:

Dragonbane sandbox hexcrawl for about 17 sessions, it was a lot of fun but my players and myself really wanted to get back into a more narrative focused campaign. We also didn't really enjoy doing a hexcrawl as much as we thought we would, even though Dragonbane is a fantastic system. I did run a 5 session campaign with Dragonbane too.

Orbital Blues: I ran about 4 sessions before it fizzled out, mostly because one of my players had an emergency and had to stop the game for a bit, and I just kinda lost steam on it. Otherwise a great system.

Grimwild: CE Edition: Currently running this system. Love, love, love it. Really found my stride as a GM with this system, players really enjoy the narrative driven games. Only got to run about 3 sessions so far, but love it so much.

I played:

Traveller: Character creation is so fun, I think its a great system but the GM that was running it was not great unfortunately. So I don't think I got to fully experience it.

Nimble: Great, fast paced system, definitely a great alternative to DnD if you want something lighter. Fun campaign with a first time GM.

Ea-nāṣir is a copper merchant from Ur.

Ea-nāṣir sold bad copper.

Ea-nāṣir received many complaint tablets.

Ea-nāṣir made many enemies.

Ea-nāṣir Must Die!

Ea-nāṣir Must Die! is a Bronze Age sword and sorcery old school Tabletop RPG adventure, designed for Mark of the Odd games (playtested using Into the Bronze). A short house crawl adventure for 3-5 players, inspired by the historical figure and meme, Ea-nāṣir.

Featuring:

• A somewhat historical rendition of Ea-nāṣir’s house with 10 rooms fitting for a 3-4 hour one-shot, drawn in isometric style!
• Illustrations for the NPCs, drawn like statues and carvings of Ancient Mesopotamia!
• Portents for the house, inspired by Omens from Mythic Bastionland and Corpo Schemes from Eco Mofos!! Islands of Weirdhope. The house has its own story to tell!

Physical (US): https://plusoneexp.com/products/ea-nasir-must-die

Physical (UK): https://www.copypastecoop.com/shop/p/ea-nir-must-die

PDF: https://davidblandy.itch.io/ea-nasir-must-die

I am running a game of Lancer Battle Group. only one problem, out side of ship to ship engagements characters and roleplay is almost comically basic. I want to run a game similar to classic star trek or battle star galatica. With ship/fleet politics and commanders hashing out issues over call rather than exclusively through guns. I also want to occasionally do ground expeditions with a potential for science and brutal but quick combat. I've thought of completely homebrewing something basic but wanted to ask around to see if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks in advanced!

Hey there friends.

I'm a long-time GM, and I've ran a number of systems throughout my time. I'm looking for some more to try out, and I'm itching for recommendations!

I'm currently running three Delta Green games (God's Teeth, Control Group, and a home concoction from The Labyrinth) and it's by far been my most enjoyed system.

I've also ran Call of Cthulhu, Mothership, a number of Mork Borg hacks, Shadow of the Demon Lord (and Wierd Wizard), and soon to be a one-shot with the Sleepy Hollow TTRPG.

I love horror most of all, if it wasn't clear, and I'm hoping to find systems in different settings to try out. Delta Green is phenomenal and it has my contemporary settings on lock, but I'm wanting to wade back into fantasy and sci-fi. I have the ALIEN RPG in my sights for sci-fi, but other recommendations are welcome too.

I don't have a high preference on anything, other than GM support. The only thing I truly ask for is enough GM support to make it enjoyable to learn and run.

Thank you!

I'm a psychology student currently exploring tabletop role-playing games as a potential subject for my undergraduate thesis. I've been reading academic research on the topic, particularly regarding wellbeing, self-confidence, and personal development, and I believe there's a lot more to understand about the psychological processes involved.

Through my own observations, I've seen players become more confident, less inhibited, and more comfortable expressing themselves. I'd like to investigate what might explain these experiences and whether they extend beyond the gaming table.

I'm looking for a focused, researchable question that goes beyond simply asking whether RPGs are beneficial, while remaining grounded in psychological theory and evidence.

For those familiar with tabletop RPGs or the existing research, what aspects of the hobby do you think deserve more serious psychological investigation?

The campaign I am currently DMing is ending and I've made three primers for my players to vote on, but I'm not sure if I want to run them in D&D 5e anymore. Please suggest me a different system for each one. I have some ideas already, but I want your opinion. All primers are from D&D settings, but I could adapt if the system proposed has a cool setting too.

Primer 1: Dalelands campaign (Forgotten Realms)

Moander, the god of corruption and decay, was defeated centuries ago, and his body was abandoned in the elven forest of Cormanthor. However, recent signs of corruption suggest he is preparing his return. A group of elves is tasked with warning the elven houses and rallying them against this threat, but first, they must earn the leaders' trust.

Touchstones: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Game of Thrones, Princess Mononoke, Lord of the Ring. All stories with a looming threat, corruption and a hero(es) that need to gather support to save the realm, while fighting the agents of evil.

Maybe the scope of this campaign is too big. I would want to make traveling and exploring an important part.

Primer 2: Darkon (Necropolis)

After centuries of imprisonment within the Mists, the lich-king Azalin Rex has escaped from Darkon. The gods (which ones?) send their champions to Darkon to overcome the traps and minions Azalin left behind and to reverse the ritual that enabled his escape, before the demi-plane—now a Necropolis—self-destructs.

Touchstones: Zelda Majora's Mask, Diablo II, Castlevania, Elden Ring, Darkest Dungeon, Warlock (the new D&D game). Video games with cool bosses and a dark vibe.

This would be a time loop campaign, very video game-ish. I want to have a doom machine set up by Azalin that is causing changes to occur, like turning everyone undead mid-loop. Maybe that's too complex...

Primer 3: Hall of Concordance (Planescape)

To enforce the terms of cosmic contracts, the Multiverse’s Ministry of Justice tracks down and punishes violators across Sigil, the Outlands, and beyond. To do so, they employ a new generation of Inevitables—android automatons that, for the first time, possess a soul.

Touchstones: Robocop, Detroit: Become human, The Good Place, Brazil, Loki TV show. Medias with overly complex bureaucracy, humor, gods plotting and running things, or stories about androids fighting their algorithm and showing their human side.

For this campaign, the players would all be robots, chasing culprits of some multiverse crime, monster of the week style. There would be a corrupt law system sub-plot when the players get back to their office. A question would be if the players follow the law and abide by the system, or overthrow it.

Let me know if you think of anything cool!

Since Seven Havens started I've been rewatching both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra and toying with the idea of a game in those worlds.

However the official game is not for me/not for our group, so I'm wondering what else people would recommend?

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/golden-achiever/year-100-million-b-c

I'm not affiliated with this, I just dig it. There was a sort of beta test of this game along with a short adventure in The International Player's Review that was a lot of fun. It's an anachronistic, paleolithic, rules-light, procedure-smart game. To give you a vibe: your characters only have two gear slots because pockets aren't invented yet, and you have to talk to each-other in three-word sentences. From the creator's own words elsewhere:

Hey! This is live now. A wildly historically inaccurate prehistoric rpg. Based on Into the Odd. Rules are easy to learn and the game comes with a big wilderness sandbox and a bunch of generators for millions of years worth of play. Completely made by one person, me.

You can download the Primitive Edition (quickstart) for free on DTRPG:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/586721/year-100-million-b-c-primitive-edition

Edit: I should mention that the rules are super short, most of the zine is a big sandbox adventure. If you've already got a favourite game to run stone age shenanigans in then this is still 95% usable for the adventure sites and random tables.

I'm trying to make a JRPG/LitRPG-inspired B/X hack. I chose B/X as a chassis for my game because it's easy to make classes for, but I'm looking to make classes that are more powerful and feature-rich than standard B/X. To that end, I asked around for B/X clones or B/X adjacent games that have the powerful classes I'm looking for, and one of the games I was directed to was Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. From what little preview there was, it looks to be promising, but I have two questions that need to be answered before I decide whether to invest or not:

1. What OSR system is Fantastic Heroes and Witchery compatible with? (The game doesn't say whether it was built from or compatible with B/X)
2. Are there systems for creating classes, races, monsters, and spells for Fantastic Heroes and Witchery? (I want to be able to create custom powers and special abilities.)

I'm planning my <edit> online <\edit> group's Halloween one-shot/two-shot, and I'm seeking out underrated or lesser-known sci-fi horror adventures (and systems, too). Specifically:

• No official Mothership modules (third party's fine).
• No official ALIEN adventures (fan-made ones are fine, if there are any).
• No official Delta Green operations (fan-made ones are fine, since there are literally over a thousand of those).

One lesser-known sci-fi horror game I'll nominate is Laughing Kaiju's The Zone, an online (and physical) Stalker/Annihilation-like GMless game about traveling (and losing yourself in) an alien Zone in search of a wish granter hidden in its center. Half a decade after playing it, my players still rave about and reference the strange and dramatic encounters.

To give a bit more specifics the game is about the party's adventure in an SAO style MMO game, the game is run by a group of AI gamemasters who control NPCs and on the spot weave new stories for the players as they see fit (although the players don't know this in character).

It's meant to be a nebulous sandbox style campaign where I use the different AIs as muses for storylines and quests

this setup is meant to allow for a wide birth of possible systems as the only requirements be that the notion of "the characters are actively choosing their progression and can see their HP and shit" wouldn't cause much conflict. Though for this I'm looking for something a bit more gamified and less narrative (like DND 4e or Beacon, both of which are contenders for system of choice rn)

See title

Hey Party People,

I want to manifest something into the world, and I don't know how to do it, so Im going to post on reddit, pat myself on the back, and tell my therapist I did all I could. Mostly because of the back pat.

The folks at MCDM released the 3rd core book for Draw Steel. Its called Encounters. I wish every game had this book.

For those not in the know, Encounters is a 300 page book in 5 sections: Delves, Montages, Negotiations, Heroic Tests, and Dastards. Its all modular content. So there are 20ish short dungeons complete with room descriptions and monster stats. They are for all levels of play. You can just dump one into your game. Done.

Do you need a montage scene to get through a storm or whatever? Page 225. Read. Make a note in your prep. Run that thing on game night. Want to spice up a monster for a set piece combat scene? 276.

This isn't a post about Draw Steel, though I do love the game.

The Encounters book is a functional. Need a one shot? Grab the stuff. Go. Want to design your own one shot? Look at how they do the things, adapt your stuff to fit that.

I want this book for any game before I want a setting guide. I want a book of 100 clocks and the various elements needed to progress them. If your game has shopping and commerce, I want a dozen item shops stocked with items and ready to go. I want monster foreshadowing stuff for narrative games. Show me what your game looks like with muscle and skin on those bones.

But Mike, you say, in a narrative game, this stuff is up to the players at the table! Having 100 clocks doesn't give you the clock you need - and even if it did, who's to say your players won't find some weird work around and completely nullify the clock itself?

Well, strawman, I think you're wrong. If I have 100 clocks, I certainly have one close enough to the one I need to run, and if the party finds a way around it, awesome, I can hit them with the next scene and I'll be more prepared to improvise that with the book of Frankenparts (terrible name for modular content) for your game.

Set your game masters up to run your game. I'm going to run it anyway because theres so much cool stuff out there, but when its easy to run your game, everyone wins.

Please do this.

Okay. Now it's time for that back pat.

I wrote a blog post that started as “how would I run a solo Jedi game,” but I think the core idea fits other RPGs just as well/better than it fits Star Wars.

OSR games are already about the choice to fight: reaction rolls, morale, and the knowledge that combat is dangerous and often the worst option. What I find is usually missing is a middle ground. Once swords are out, it’s typically a binary choice: reduce HP to 0, kill them, or flee/surrender.

So the post sketches a sliding scale. You choose a goal (disarm, injure, or kill) and an approach (careful or decisive), then make one roll. Killing is easy. Mercy is hard, and when it fails, it fails in a direction you chose: careful failures leave the problem with you, while decisive failures cost the other person more than you meant them to.

I think it suits games where violence has real consequences, like when the bandit you spared tells his friends, or the guard you killed had a family in town, without forcing every fight into a fight to the death. It also extends to deflecting attacks and to magic, which the post covers.

It’s system-agnostic and a relatively rough idea, but can be applied to a broad range of games. Would love to hear what you think!

Kickstarter Page

13 Omens, the new rules light RPG from Paizo, launched it's Kickstarter today. The rules have been available for a couple of weeks now, and there's a foundry module as well.

I've skimmed through the rules, and it seems like a solid system. It's actually way more rules light than I was expecting given it's published by Paizo. I really like that it's designed for 1-shots, since I find 1-shots are the easiest scenarios to find time for. Plus I find 1-shots and horror go really well together.

The thing I find most interesting is the story aspects. If you haven't read the rules yet, each character has 10 aspects (aka their skills and attributes). Five of those aspects (Courage, Evade, Fight, Luck, and Perception) are part of every character. The other five aspects are called story aspects, and they change from scenario to scenario). It seems like a really nice way of bringing the more "narrow" or "thematic" skills you see from more rules heavy systems into a rules light system.

I'm thinking of backing it, but I've already got a few horror RPGs in my collection, so this might just get thrown into the pile and never played.

I'm very curious to see what people think, especially if you've already found the time to try out the system.

I noticed that most rules-lite genre-agnostic game engines tended to skew Narrativist (for understandable reasons), so I decided to make a Simulationist alternative. I like to think of it as a sort of GURPS-ultra-light, but the mechanics are more closely derived from FUDGE.

Edit: If I've set it up correctly, the core game mechanic should be thoroughly explained in the free preview. The rest of the document is basically just explaining how to build a setting and characters at the right level of detail to operate that mechanic.

I love the artstyle, the lore, the units and the idea of necromancers being a primary focus for the system. However, it seems to be a skirmish wargame and I would rather play an RPG with similar vibes instead of pvping with other players. I know there's a WIP for an RPG version but that's fanmade and still in the works.

Is there anything similar out there? Something where you can summon hordes of skeletons or command armies in a team based setting like dnd or pathfinder?