I have a premise for a game that's a mix of 90s stoner comedies and Buffy style supernatural horror. I'm hoping for a system with fun drug mechanics as well as a combat system that gives players the opportunity to engage in slapstick.

I was originally thinking of homebrewing Hunter: the Reckoning, but thought I would see if the community has any better ideas for such a concept.

I want to DM a prison break scenario, but I'm not sure if I have enough to fill the adventure.

My players start off in a cell and get random superpowers to break out with. They will have to find a key and a passcode to save the rest of their friends and retake their ship to escape the prison.

The key can be acquired in 2 fight scenarios and the passcode can be found in a desk.

I've planned some rooms: Armoury, explosives room, kitchen, shipyard, library, office.

Do you think that'll be enough to fill the adventure? Last time I DMed was probably 7-8 years ago, so I'm very unsure about all of this :D

I never really played dnd i have watched a lot and my players have less exp then me i was recommend to run delian tomb and i want to do that i worried that it's i am gonna make it dry what are some advice for new dm and new players you don't mind giving and should i print out the map of the tomb for my table to see and they can move their characters on the map

I'm curious about those who've used Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop (VTT) and would love to hear your personal experiences.

• Gameplay Experience: How do you find using Fantasy Grounds? Is it enhancing your gameplay, and in what ways?
• Games: What tabletop RPGs are you playing on the platform?
• Wishes and Improvements: Is there anything you wish could be improved or added to Fantasy Grounds to make it even better?

And I am not sure about the solo playing option, anyone have expirence?

I appreciate any insights you can share

I am looking for a TTRPG where the party pilot a spaceship/starship. The campaign I am thinking of consists of the vast majority of the game being on the ship talking to others on comms. Ofc things go wrong be it repairs or aliens, don’t know what as that’s down to the game. I would rather near future if possible but I’m not against fantasy elements and a handful of alien races.

So christmas season is rolling around and I have my elderly parents and their friends hooked on Vaesen. I find it a bit crowded with 5 people but now they wanted a TTRPG game for a group of 8-9 at a christmas party. Just about everyone invited has played 5e at least once in an xmas party years back. So they have a grasp on the shared imagination. I moved on from 5e and it was ran by someone else though.

I'm not too worried on what system to use, rather what scenario to run that supports a lot of characters that focus on problem solving or a little bit of mystery. I want to engage on the imagination aspect since my parents really respond to talking to NPCs and discussing the situation they're in. So system wise I might go with something OSR/NSR like OSE, Cairn or a Borg game, I'm not opposed to a death funnel like DCC but I don't want it to feel too obtuse, or maybe I have a bad impression of the Starless Sea intro which is the only one I ran. I could be persuaded.

So yeah I'm just wondering what a good system/scenario pair could support a large group of a new players at a dinner party but shows the potential of the imagination/problem solving bit and not much time for numbers with the adventure material also assuming there's like 8 people ready to help the one in peril sort of thing. I don't mind a death grinder but I don't want it to be the only thing going on. Might even settle for a basic one page RPG.

I know of delta green and I suppose scp ttrpgs but I was wondering if there was anything closer to that thematically and feeling wise.

Me and one other player have been getting into tabletop type games lately and were wondering if there’s any RPGs we could try? She’s new to the genre, so simpler would ideally be better; As someone with a long-term interest in the genre I’ve been looking at things like morkborg and cy_borg but I’d rather a game we could play together, with the two of us and ideally without a DM? I don’t mind DMing for her if the right suggestion came up though.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

I want to play a ONE PIECE campaign with my friends but I don't know which system to use

Just a short and sharp request for tools to help create an RPG. Been pen and paper drafting and would prefer something that allows me to create as I go, while still owning my IP.

So I had this really dumb idea inspired by Mogworld's Jimmy who only can cast a basic version of polymorph that turns people into bunnies for a few seconds. He uses it prolifically throughout the book just as an escape tool, and it got me thinking so I approached my players about how they'd feel to be "dumb wizards" who only know really asinine and irreverent spells like turning someone into a rabbit for 3 seconds. They loved the idea, so I'm currently working on their "grimmoire" which will be themed as a spellbook for children that they can pick spells out of to learn as they level.

Now my humble request for the r/rpg hivemind is: does anyone know of a pre-written book of useless spells? Or alternatively can you suggest some really bizarre but mundane spells for the grimmoire? Things you'd put in a "spells for dummies" or "spellcasting for kids".

Good Evening all

First some context; I am looking to start a channel (perhaps a decade too late) that streams table top RPGs, collates them and the like but I want to be able to do it virtually so I can have my american friends be a part of it as well. I however have no idea which applications to use for this purpose. I have an interest in the following role playing games:

- Vampire the Masquerade
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Pathfinder
- Call of Cthulu
- Cyberpunk
- Alien
- Mothership
- The Fallout One
- The Elder Scrolls One

(I will edit the best answers per game, unless there is an overwhelming "use this for everything" application).

I'm going to run Cracker Barrel Has Fallen, and I'm planning on incentivizing players to brave the parking lot for useful items from vehicles. I'm thinking a handyman van, a Very Organized Suburban Mom's minivan, and I I thought it would be fun to include a Cybertruck.

What would be some stereotypical items to have there? I want some items that are useless and at least one that actually could help!

I usually run premade settings in fantasy RPGs. Eberron is my favorite, followed by Planescape. These two settings, and most premade worlds for fantasy RPGs, are grounded primarily in Western European aesthetics.

Recently, I decided to try my hand at homebrewing a space fantasy setting: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kBC-OcRq4-ycN4LxDN1YNANfWXhuKPDF3i_moU_Js3s/edit

I settled on two principles: (1) Western European aesthetics would be deemphasized, and (2) rather than having each region be themed after a single real-world culture, each region would be a synthesis of multiple. For example, the "home area" would be linguistically Latin and Sanskrit, architecturally Chinese, sartorially a blend of Chinese and 19th- to 21st-century western, and musically South Asian and West Asian.

I have been running a game in this setting for some time, now. The reception thus far has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of the players, whom I had thoroughly vetted, did not buy in to the setting style to begin with, insisting on Western-styled names and aesthetics; I let it slide because I did not see a point to arguing over it. The players have been consistently confused by the naming scheme: and this is with me sticking solely to the "home area" so far, where the linguistics are simply a blend of Latin and Sanskrit. They have also found the cultural inspirations dissonant, and have had trouble grasping, for example, how the "home area" has Chinese architecture yet South Asian and West Asian music.

This experience has shown me why I prefer to run premade settings. It has also highlighted just how much players enjoy the familiarity of Western European aesthetics, and how, if there must be places themed after other cultures, players would prefer monocultural theme parks: fantasy China, fantasy Japan, fantasy Egypt, and so on.

How have you tackled this issue?

Or maybe the actual problem is that I am bad at worldbuilding.

This is just a mishmash of x nonwhite culture and y nonwhite culture

it seems a bit like an "anti-setting" if that makes sense? like the theme of the setting just seems to be "hey its not europe!"

this is really boring to read and includes a lot of stuff that frankly just dont matter

its very much you just jammed random cultures together and called it good

also this feels more anime mishmash then like you know actual non eurocentric

it very much comes off that you just mashed together cultures without regard for how they would blend and interact

Combining cultures is a very hard thing to do, and requires intimate knowledge of either.

its bad

From this, I can safely say that I am just not a good worldbuilder, and the project was doomed from the start. I should just stick to premade settings, or if I absolutely have to create a custom world, make it flatly Western European and use only English names (as opposed to a highly awkward slamming-together of different languages).

I've never been into these kind of books, but for whatever reason have a hankering to play/read one recently, though I've no idea where to start. Any suggestions? Fantasy setting would be preferable, but I don't mind as long as it's fun.

Recently got curious about a Mission Impossible style RPG, found some threads on the subject and two caught my eye; Operators and Outgunned. My preference for assessing a game is to listen to someone else play it, and while I found a few Actual Plays of Outgunned, I can't find anything for Operators. The name is just a little too generic a term to narrow down search results much, so I'm hoping anyone here might know of any.

Has anyone hosted a meet-up for GMs to sit down and prep their games together? I was trying to think of a way to make the process more interactive and had been contemplating a “First Time GM” session to help encourage people to run a game and it occurred to me that combining the two things might be a good idea.

My thought is sitting down at a coffee shop, brewery or public library and say I’ll be there for a certain block of time and invite anyone to join if interested. Most likely it would be just me to start but ideally, if I’m consistent, people would eventually join and we could form a nice little group to kind of cross-pollinate ideas, players, share tips and systems, etc.

Has anyone done this from scratch? It’s sort of working backwards from the usual method of starting a group of players and then building from there, I know, but I moved to a new state a couple years ago and my groups are fully online now because of that, so I’m just trying to think of some ways to build community near me.

Would this sort of thing be appealing to anyone?

I had a cool idea for a setting, but I don't know what system to run it in.

Basically It's post-apocalyptic exploration and survival, with modern weapons, supernatural abilities, and monsters. Is there a game out there that ticks all these boxes, or at least comes close enough that I could homebrew the rest without too much trouble? Thanks in advance.

What are some good RPGs for the Party being a group of detectives trying to solve various crimes?

I'm looking for ttrpgs for my nephew and his friends. I think one of them has the new edition D&D Basic Box, but they find it a bit complex. When I was about his age we had the first edition of Star Frontiers which was fun and most importantly simple and quick to learn.

Can anyone suggest something similar.

They would be interested in fantasy games, space opera, Gravity Falls type mystery etc...

The most important thing is they should be decent starter games which are appropriate for the age group. Something like Bubblegumshoe would be great - but without the references to drug and sex being "street commodities".

I have a good friend who is a long time player of mine who is very into dnd 5e. Like has purchased every single book on dnd beyond and whose idea of a fun party game is randomly rolling dnd characters.

For a number of reasons I won’t get into I no longer want to run dnd 5e. However whenever I pitch other games this friend gives huge push back and basically goes to “buy you can homebrew that in 5e”. No matter the mechanics, setting, theme, etc.

I got the pathfinder starter set and have been dying to run it. The rest of my group is either very excited or happy to try it with an open mind. But this friend is grinding the brakes again and is having an attitude best described as “this is stupid, I’ll play under protest and just complain about how dumb it is” and keeps trying to convince me to run 5e more.

I feel sort of stuck. I don’t want to kick out my friend but also if I hear “but you can run a super hero game in 5e” again I’m gonna strangle someone.

Which is the best rules light system for long campaigns? I have read Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland, Mothership, Mörk Borg, Knave and Maze Rats, but I'm not sure if one of these systems is suited for longer campaigns. Has somebody experience with these system in longer campaigns. What would the possible downsides be? I'm also interested in other rules light systems that support longer campaigns.

I need help as I found an idea I really like, and I want to see how it is implemented by others.

So far I found it in Call of Cthulhu, Mythras, Ker Nethalas, and Pendragon. A means to improve the skill is by using it. For example if I roll a critical the skill is marked for progress, or it has a chance to progress. Or if I use the skill 10 times I mark it for improvement. I am open to big games like the ones above or small zines. Any suggestions would be great, thank you.

Hey folks, this topic came up as I was working on a solo project and it got me thinking about how other systems would handle it as well.

So, situation, your players are in an environment to engage in a bit of playful competition, and someone suggest a tug of war (rope pull, or whatever you call it in your local parlance - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tug_of_war). How do you run that mechanically?

The real interesting thing here for me is whether there are a) ready made, easily applicable rules, b) rules that make sense with a little thought, or c) a need to completely homebrew the competition.

SO, what's your system, and how would you handle it?

Going into this knowing there will be a VAST number of opinions on this. There could be many games that are a good fit for the same gaming table or group of players.

Instead I would love to hear peoples thoughts to this:

When you are Game Master deciding to choose a Tabletop RPG to play for the first time at your gaming table...what the key factors you consider when choosing the game you will play? What helps you make your decision.

After a brief hiatus from running games, i decided to pick up the basic fantasy rules tome for Old School Essentials, which is basically a modern rewrite of B/X D&D, and let me tell you I fucking loved it. I prepped a brief murder mystery type oneshot with the final foe being a ghoul and it is so freeing to have such a slim system. The party got given the quest, hired some helpers and went out to investigate the crime scene. To preface this, i mostly ran D&D 3.5 before this, but i also have a decent amount of experience running and playing both 5e & Call of Cthulhu. The thing with the d20 d&d editions is their rules have a heavy combat bias but make passing glances at other interactions. OSE just doesn’t make these passing rules and rather relies entirely on actual role playing to fill in these aspects of play. It was up to the players to ask the right questions and actually think. rather than going “i rolled a 19 on investigation, what do i see?”, they had to actually, y’know, investigate & work out between themselves what could have killed these people. Combat was also a breeze; its purposefully slim approach ended up in being able to make on the fly rulings and not having to spend minutes finding a rule that might not exist. I will admit the low hit chance at level 1 did make parts of it a slug fest but the deadliness of the system kept the tension of the combat going as any dice roll could potentially spell the end for their characters.

Genuinely really loved.

Also, THAC0 was really easy to work with once my brain shifted a bit, all my players knew how the rule worked fully by the end of the first combat. I dont get it’s bad rep.

(firstly, this isn't entirely serious; there are far more serious things to get angry about right now :D)

I've noticed, through watching rpg livestreams, that a lot of GM's narrate stuff as if directing a movie.

"as the movie of our story starts....the camera pans to Dave....etc"

I really find that takes me right ouf of the scene. It feels so contrived to describe it that way. Like watching a movie where you can see the Boom or the camera in the background.

Am I the only one? Is this really popular?

(firstly, this isn't entirely serious; there are far more serious things to get angry about right now :D)

I've noticed, through watching rpg livestreams, that a lot of GM's narrate stuff as if directing a movie.

"as the movie of our story starts....the camera pans to Dave....etc"

I really find that takes me right ouf of the scene. It feels so contrived to describe it that way. Like watching a movie where you can see the Boom or the camera in the background.

Am I the only one? Is this really popular?

I’m on a quest. No, not the “level 1 paladin desperately trying to impress his chaotic evil crush” kind of quest. I’m talking about the sacred hunt for a TTRPG live play podcast that’ll make me snort-laugh my beverage of choice (probably a Dr. Pepper, don’t judge me) all over my unsuspecting dog.

So here’s the deal: I’m into all flavors of tabletop tomfoolery. Got a funny podcast that’s also gritty? Bring it. Heartfelt? Sure, as long as it’s the kind of heartfelt that’s sandwiched between fart jokes and “accidentally seducing the villain” shenanigans. I’ll even take some angsty, brooding rogue content, as long as it’s wrapped in enough humor to make a necromancer giggle.

BUT, and here’s the kicker, I’m not looking for a podcast that’s gonna try to make me a better person. Like, leave your moral life lessons at the door. I just want some chaotic, hilarious, no-holds-barred storytelling.

If your sense of humor aligns with pods like Dungeons and Daddies, NADDPod, The Adventure Zone, and Bastard Quest, then congratulations! You’re my kind of nerd, and I want your podcast recommendations. Lay 'em on me, folks. Bonus points if you have something that’ll make me question my alignment... in a good way.