i've heard people swear by Root as a fun tabletop for kids/adultshttps://ledergames.com/products/root-a-game-of-woodland-might-and-righthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpxV-uNZef4
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 February 2021 01:31 (three years ago) link
I've played Root and enjoyed it but I thought it was pretty complicated for adults!
― Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Friday, 19 February 2021 01:55 (three years ago) link
Yeah about sixteen minutes into that video he says "that's where the real game begins!", lol.
― lukas, Friday, 19 February 2021 02:02 (three years ago) link
Thanks again, guys - definitely going to get one of these started up for when she rises around dawn on Sunday!
― Ray Cooney as "Crotch" (stevie), Friday, 19 February 2021 08:42 (three years ago) link
I was going to recommend what this other ilxor was doing with their daughter, but in the end it's probably a little redundant.
― RZA Minnelli (Leee), Friday, 19 February 2021 21:23 (three years ago) link
Ha yes - i'm just running dry of ideas of my own at the moment, and could do with a system that might offer challenges/puzzles/stories beyond the ones I've stolen from half-remembered movies and The Adventure Game from the 70s
― Ray Cooney as "Crotch" (stevie), Saturday, 20 February 2021 11:46 (three years ago) link
In other news our WFRP campaign has now reached session 24 (next Wednesday) and we’re into The Enemy Within. Aside from simply ignoring RAW quite often and just using whatever dramatic test we think is appropriate, it’s going pretty damn well. We’ve not even had any scheduling problems in six months, which is remarkable. Being fully remote now probably helps.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, 13 March 2021 06:50 (three years ago) link
Stevie I’m interested to know how it’s going. N is starting to show interest in these things. We have some story dice which she was v interested in for a bit, but she prefers to use them with friends and obviously that’s not quite happening right now.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, 13 March 2021 06:52 (three years ago) link
I've not tried any of the stuff suggested above yet - am meaning to when I get enough time to get my head around it - but I did a "scenario" the other weekend that went down very well. In it, she's a "Worst Witch" type kid at a witch school, and I had her "friend" cast a spell wrong that shrank them both, and had her friend get carried away by a rat, and then let her figure out how she would rescue her friend. I made a map of the witch school building, came up with some traps/adversaries, and had a very simple system for conflicts/challenges, where she had scores for magic, charisma and strength, and if she needed to do anything she had to roll under that number with two dice. And I let her invent her own spells to achieve any magic stuff, but on the proviso that she had to roll under her magic score to make the spell work, and she had to compose the spell and make it a rhyming couplet. It was lots of fun!
― incredible pant century (stevie), Saturday, 13 March 2021 09:23 (three years ago) link
Now just looking for stories/campaigns I can loot for idea and keep this very simple system going. The focus was communal storytelling and problem-solving, which I think she really enjoyed. Also she loves making up her character sheets.
― incredible pant century (stevie), Saturday, 13 March 2021 09:24 (three years ago) link
Fighting Fantasy books! They're kind of a halfway house between Choose Your Own Adventure and D&D (you roll two normal dice to see which page you should turn to, there are hit points, damage, etc)
― Stefan Twerkelle (Old Lunch), Saturday, 13 March 2021 15:01 (three years ago) link
I've been running Troika (an rpg based on Fighting Fantasy system) for a bit and now. Love the setting and feel, but the 2d6 system is punishing as each 1 pt difference in skill has a dramatically different chance of success.
I am probably going to switch to a Star Wars RPG because a couple of my players are super SW stans. I haven't seen a SW movie since Revenge of the Sith, lol. Gotta make your players happy.
― is that a haruomi hosono sword? (PBKR), Saturday, 13 March 2021 15:35 (three years ago) link
I only ran Troika once, when a couple of our D&D group were missing. It was fun. I'd like to run it more. The skill system can be tough - I haven't looked into it, but I bet the fan-community has come up with some house-rules, and the combat & armor systems takes a minute to get used to imo. But I just love the vibe tbh. For skills I think the answer is maybe calling for fewer rolls if possible - if they've got the base skill in something and it's not a difficult task, I'd say let 'em do it w/o a roll and only roll for things that need to be dramatic.
I used to have (but never played) the Star Wars 2nd Edition RPG when I was young--it's also a D6 system but iirc more like a dice pool system?
I loved the Lone Wolf books; they were not super popular here in the US but I read and played a ton of them. I think they are all gone now, lost in a mother's cellar flood. I've managed to replace a couple over the years but they've gotten expensive for nice copies! But, and this could be a few years old, there's a website that has HTML versions of all the books with automatic combat rolling & such - played through a half-dozen or so. I fucking LOVED those books.
― ian, Tuesday, 23 March 2021 14:37 (three years ago) link
Lone Wolf books for your extreme nostalgia - https://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books
― ian, Tuesday, 23 March 2021 14:40 (three years ago) link
I just remembered that in 90s internet time, I was on a Lone Wolf listerv and that was the first time I ever met another I@n J0hn50n!! He was Irish IIRC.
― ian, Tuesday, 23 March 2021 14:41 (three years ago) link
But I just love the vibe tbh.
Yeah, I have a lot of different vibes I can get into if I want and Troika can hit a bunch of them: science fantasy/psychedelia/eldritch horror, etc, etc. I think my players weren't as into the whimsical British psychedelia elements as I was. Also, most of them hadn't played an rpg in 30 years, so they needed more prompting on the character sheet than Troika's system gives.
I don't know if you like the Powered by the Apocalypse games, but there is a 3-page hack of Troika using some of those concepts.
The SW RPG I am running (session 1 will be next week) is the newest one from Fantasy Flight Games that game out over the last 7 years or so. It's about the polar opposite of Troika rules-wise. It uses the narrative dice system, which I haven't used but I am very keen to try. Basically, you roll non-numerical dice - positive dice based on your stats and skills and negative dice based on difficulty, environmental factors, and opponents skills. Opposing symbols cancel and if you are left with positive dice after cancellation you were successful, but there is a wide spectrum of success and failure - successes with drawbacks, failures that give you advantages to your next roll, etc, etc.
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2013/2/27/that-star-wars-feeling/
― righteous oxide (PBKR), Tuesday, 23 March 2021 20:53 (three years ago) link
So I ran the first session of the Star Wars RPG and it went incredibly well. My players generally haven't played rpgs since the late 80s and seemed to have some issues grasping the Troika system, which is very simplistic, so I had concerns whether the SWRPG system was going to be too much for them. Ironically, at least so far, the narrative dice system is very engaging for players and GM; there is a lot of back and forth discussion of how to interpret dice rolls which acts as prompts to further the narrative. In essence, it prompts the players to take more authority over the narrative so the GM doesn't have to do all the work. I like it.
The other thing is I've usually run games where I know the setting in more detail than my players, so I would do a lot of work feeling like I needed to convey setting. Running the Star Wars setting with players highly conversant in the setting (more than me even) again takes work from the GM. It's like a shared pool of knowledge you don't have to spend time spoon feeding to the players. I can focus on story.
One of the PCs returned to their home planet for the first time in five years to discover their mother and father had died and her younger brother had left the planet to go look for the PC. Now she has to leave the planet to find her brother. This is good, dramatic stuff.
― the last unvaccinated motherfucker on earth (PBKR), Sunday, 4 April 2021 00:34 (three years ago) link
A friend hipped me to Symbaroum (https://www.symbaroum.com/ a Scandinavian dark fantasy setting with some overt colonialism overtones. Human civilization surrounds a vast, lightless forest which takes up most of the world - the home of an ancient fallen empire and a prime destination for adventurers. Anyone have any experience with this?
― keto keto bonito v industry plant-based diet (PBKR), Sunday, 25 April 2021 16:47 (three years ago) link
Had a few gaps in recent months - 12 sessions out of a possible 16 - but we’re now 36 sessions deep in our WFRP campaign and have finished Shadows Over Bogenhafen! Very exciting. The party saved the town but at some cost. Death On The Reik starts on Wednesday. It’s about a year since I bought the new rule book, and though it’s cost me hundreds of pounds on sourcebooks and dice, I’m very glad I did it. Only problem is I’d love to play it one day as a PC, but fear I’m stuck as GM forever now...
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 9 July 2021 05:22 (three years ago) link
Didn't realise how mentally exhausting being a GM was until I tried it
Maybe I shouldn't have been nervously slamming cans of shipyard while running the games idk
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Friday, 9 July 2021 08:57 (three years ago) link
Scik Mouthy, which edition of WFRP are you using?
― Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu Rob Thomas (PBKR), Friday, 9 July 2021 11:57 (three years ago) link
We’re playing 4e.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, 10 July 2021 20:59 (three years ago) link
Always was a Tzeentch man, myself.
― Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu Rob Thomas (PBKR), Saturday, 10 July 2021 21:19 (three years ago) link
4e's combat is such a weird mess, one of my group was so determined to aggressively optimise their build I kind of gave up on ever trying to balance the fights and just make it more that they had social consequences if you did it in public
The worst injury anyone got in our playthrough of Enemy Within was actually the halfling losing an ear to a cloud of explosive methane in the sewers
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Sunday, 11 July 2021 15:01 (three years ago) link
I'm playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay too! But just as a player - I read a lot of Games Workshop guff as a kid and now it's really difficult to remember what still applies and also what my character would be aware of.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 12 July 2021 09:59 (three years ago) link
13 months and 45 sessions in. Our group has one more child now than when we started, which feels epic.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 19 October 2021 21:53 (three years ago) link
wow!
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 19 October 2021 22:00 (three years ago) link
irl child = +1 bonus to everyone's key stat imo
― John Stockton buying a used car from (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 19 October 2021 22:50 (three years ago) link
I've started playing a ttrpg that is more of a "new school" storytelling rpg. There is still a GM (me), but players have way more agency than in "old school" rpgs. Action resolution (rolls) does not determine player success or failure but who narrates the outcome. If the player makes a certain roll, the player narrates the outcome including adding facts that are true and which the GM cannot contradict. The better the roll, the more facts a player can add. If the player does not make their roll, the GM narrates the outcome.
The game is highly collaborative - the GM can't really determine a plot (meaning a beginning, middle, and end) because the players will likely just go in a different direction at any time. Instead, I just introduce a starting problem/hook, then keep in mind a few potential complications and NPCs that I might introduce. The rest is improvised at the table.
This is a big change for me coming from a long history of traditional rpgs and requires me to unlearn some habits. It also goes against my personal bias toward over-planning. But the nice thing is I don't feel the same responsibility for everyone's enjoyment. There is more of an equal share of the storytelling responsibility. It's early, but I like it.
― removing bookmarks never felt so good (PBKR), Monday, 14 February 2022 14:20 (two years ago) link
What’s it called?
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 17 February 2022 06:35 (two years ago) link
Bl00d & Hon0r - A Game of Samurai Tragedy. A name with terrible other uses. The .pdf is on drivethrurpg:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/85815/Blood--Honor
The players make up a samurai clan then their characters who are members of the clan.
There is also a related game called World of Dew which expands beyond samurai and their clans to a later period, such as the Meije Restoration, with noir investigators, merchants, westerners, etc.
― removing bookmarks never felt so good (PBKR), Thursday, 17 February 2022 12:14 (two years ago) link
It uses particular elements of the FATE game though it is a bit different.
― removing bookmarks never felt so good (PBKR), Thursday, 17 February 2022 12:15 (two years ago) link
Also, would really love to give Mörk Börg a spin - it's a rules-light death metal fantasy rpg about the end of the world. Imagine an art-punk WFRP with the alienation, darkness, and gore cranked so far up you have to laugh. The doom of Call of Cthulhu with the character survival rate of Paranoia (albeit without clones). Geared for one-shots I would think.
― removing bookmarks never felt so good (PBKR), Monday, 21 February 2022 15:29 (two years ago) link
I'm imagining a Tinder for rpgs. It's hard.
― move over GAPDY, now there's BIG THIEF! (PBKR), Tuesday, 22 March 2022 22:45 (two years ago) link
what do you mean?
― Kompakt Total Landscaping (Will M.), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 20:28 (two years ago) link
When you’re not in junior high, life makes it hard to find and maintain an rpg group for an extended period. I was just fantasizing (and joking) about an app that would make it easier to find a game.
― move over GAPDY, now there's BIG THIEF! (PBKR), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 20:54 (two years ago) link
that makes so much more sense than what i was imagining, which was swiping left and right on rulesets
― Kompakt Total Landscaping (Will M.), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 21:49 (two years ago) link
For a couple of months, I've been playing a GM-less version of The Pool, an early story game. It's been fun and a really interesting demolition of some of my conceptions about rpgs. It's one of the oldest new school games - your character is just a 50 word short story from which you assign dice from your pool as traits (i.e "lost his family +1"). Every few sessions you add 15-30 words to your story and can introduce new traits or change existing ones. If one of your traits applies to an action, you get extra dice in the roll. If you make your roll, you get to narrate the results - if not, the other players narrate the result. Everyone can introduce NPCs and play them at various times.
The biggest change is trying to play this game GM-less, which has really pulled back the curtain and exposed what it is a GM actually needs to do or not do. The game is so rules-lite that the only structure, the only game part that isn't pure imagination, is when you roll dice. The hardest part is trying to introduce new plot points without a GM - once things get going the improvisation takes over and things flow pretty well, but it can be difficult to get the ball rolling when there is no leader (GM) to tell you when to roll. Still, it's been great.
Still want to give Mörk Börg a try sometime.
― i need to put some clouds behind the reaper (PBKR), Wednesday, 21 September 2022 11:53 (two years ago) link
Still going with our WFRP campaign. About to hit our two year anniversary and session 65.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 27 September 2022 05:23 (two years ago) link
I've never been interested in PBP rpgs, but I've been playing in one (actually we finished one and are on the second) on Discord for the more than three months. It's maybe the most fun I've had playing an rpg in a long while.
Right now it feels like we have a long way to go in this one and it's going to be a perfect winter activity as it's set in a sort of 1930's alpine setting with some Balkan flourishes, fantasy elements (spells), and pseudo-dungeons with ancient technology. The vibe is alternating between cozy and brutal.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Friday, 22 September 2023 22:26 (one year ago) link
that should say, "fantasy elements (spells and undead)"
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Friday, 22 September 2023 22:27 (one year ago) link
Still playing the alpine/Balkan PBP game. What a journey.
I have really enjoyed running Trophy Gold, which is sort of an OSR-ish story game. It feels like an early D&D game where death is around every corner, but it is zero prep and no stress. It turns out I am much better as a high-improv GM than I ever was as a high-prep GM.
We had a lot of rolls last night - maybe 8 in three hours - but I have also had sessions with a single roll. Every roll is high stakes and can change the story dramatically.
The highest complement I can give is that it's the closest I've felt to what gaming was like as a young kid since that time.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Wednesday, 27 March 2024 23:17 (eight months ago) link
Free RPG Day happening this Saturday, June 24th
https://freerpgday.com
Happening a lot of places on the globe, check your FLGS
― Glower, Disruption & Pies (kingfish), Friday, 21 June 2024 20:37 (five months ago) link
Anyone played any of the ttrpgs in this bundle?
https://itch.io/b/2295/ttrpgs-for-palestine
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 01:46 (two months ago) link
Wanderhome is supposed to be good.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 16:31 (two months ago) link