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PnP RPGs OT || Come play the REAL RPGs
- Thread starter dude
- Start date
Sure.
Though balance is questionable.
Hmm. Actually, it is only questionable if the players use them. GM? GM needs loaded dice. Would be useful for some things (like having a boss to have relatively big chance to fail, or to make sure something is nigh unbeatable without giving the NPC too many positive modifiers (don't like stacking the deck against players with modifiers)).
Also, props. Players find a sword? Print the damn thing. Players find a statue? Print.
Lol
fallengorn
Bitches love smiley faces
That's a pretty neat idea. I wonder if anyone has put out CAD files for miniatures.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
So after years and years (probably around 10-15) of not playing any RPGs whatsoever, I bought the Players' Handbook of Cthulhu after I heard a lot of good things about it.
The only systems I played so far were the Black Eye, a german, incredibly rule-heavy system that basically contains as much fun as your everyday Excel file if you go by the rules (seriously, there are tables for everything, a character sheet is around 7 pages long, and the whole ruleset would be around 1000 pages long) and a very tiny bit of D&D and Shadowrun.
I mostly bought the book just to get to know the RPG itself, but I guess I'll try to set up a group after I'm through with it. Are there any cool recources and websites about DMing a Cthulhu game that give more insight and information than your general "Set up candles and play creepy music" stuff?
How can one really do "scary" adventures, without being silly? Oh, and also: Are there some good recources on well-done, fan made scenarios, campaigns and one-shots?
Edit: Talking about Call, not Trail. It's the latest DE version 3, which should be up to date with the USA's CoC 6.
The only systems I played so far were the Black Eye, a german, incredibly rule-heavy system that basically contains as much fun as your everyday Excel file if you go by the rules (seriously, there are tables for everything, a character sheet is around 7 pages long, and the whole ruleset would be around 1000 pages long) and a very tiny bit of D&D and Shadowrun.
I mostly bought the book just to get to know the RPG itself, but I guess I'll try to set up a group after I'm through with it. Are there any cool recources and websites about DMing a Cthulhu game that give more insight and information than your general "Set up candles and play creepy music" stuff?
How can one really do "scary" adventures, without being silly? Oh, and also: Are there some good recources on well-done, fan made scenarios, campaigns and one-shots?
Edit: Talking about Call, not Trail. It's the latest DE version 3, which should be up to date with the USA's CoC 6.
I haven't really delved into any of the links I'm about to thorw at you, but after Kickstarting the reissue of Horror on the Orient Express last year I've been spending a lot of time making note of, if not reading just yet, several Call of Cthulhu resources. Some possibilities:
The Horror on the Orient Express Writer's Blog, where folks contributing to the new HotOE edition have been throwing out thoughts, articles, bits of research, and so forth. Browsing through there is a great way to find links to additional blogs, such as Tomes in Progress.
While designed for that particular adventure, you could take all of the extensive period research, photos, and props from this Horror on the Orient Express blog and apply it to a European 1920s adventure.
Yog-Sothoth has an extensive downloads section full of scenarios, resources, and so forth, plus very active forums. The forums are a terrific resource, especially for the numerous threads about adding period detail to your campaign. This looks to be the big forum for Call of Cthulhu discussion.
Cthulhu Reborn also has a downloads section with free scenarios, character sheets, and more, as well as blog. The latest blog post is a guide to mocking up newspaper props that looks pretty fantastic.
I've also liked what I've seen of the St. Wild: On Roleplaying blog, particularly some posts that go into detail about spooky ideas for haunted houses and running an investigation game with a single player with the help of NPCs.
If you felt like dropping a few more bucks on CoC, the current Kickstarter for Island of Ignorance: The Third Cthulhu Companion is looking very promising.
Those are a bunch of links that I've bookmarked for whenever I decide to take a stab at running a Cthulhu campaign, and while I can't vouch for 'em directly they do look promising. I hope you find them useful!
FnordChan
Keru_Shiri
Member
Looking forward to scoping out those links. I'm DMing a horror campaign using D&D Next rules, and anything to help with atmosphere creation, and maintain a proper pace would help.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
Thanks a bunch Fnord! 
ThLunarian
Member
Hi guys! I just wanted to pop in and celebrate the one-year anniversary of NeoGaf's first play-by-post campaign, which I am DMing on the Off Topic Community forum.
To date, we have had a total of seven players, eight characters, two cohorts, one goat, and over 3,000 posts. You can find the thread here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=473824 If you decide to check it out, I hope you enjoy it!
I'll also use this opportunity to say that there's room in the group for another player, if anyone is interested. We are using Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 rules, modified slightly (relevant changes are explained in the first few posts of that thread), but if you're unfamiliar with the system, don't let that scare you away. The campaign is very roleplay-heavy, with a smaller emphasis on combat and rules-lawyering than I think is typical for normal DnD. Or at least that's how I'm trying to run it; the players can tell you whether or not my efforts have been successful.
Anyway though, if you are interested, send me a PM and we can talk. Thanks!
To date, we have had a total of seven players, eight characters, two cohorts, one goat, and over 3,000 posts. You can find the thread here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=473824 If you decide to check it out, I hope you enjoy it!
I'll also use this opportunity to say that there's room in the group for another player, if anyone is interested. We are using Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 rules, modified slightly (relevant changes are explained in the first few posts of that thread), but if you're unfamiliar with the system, don't let that scare you away. The campaign is very roleplay-heavy, with a smaller emphasis on combat and rules-lawyering than I think is typical for normal DnD. Or at least that's how I'm trying to run it; the players can tell you whether or not my efforts have been successful.
Anyway though, if you are interested, send me a PM and we can talk. Thanks!
I don't know about iPhone apps, but I know there's a new RPG that's definitely worth a look. I meant to post about it in here ages ago and never got around to it.
Torchbearer
Before the kickstarter launched there were two Forbes articles on it, found here and here. These might detail what this game is about a little better. I was counting down the days until this launched and am super excited.
Those behind it are responsible for the Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard RPGs, so it has a great pedigree. For anyone looking for an old school dungeon crawl RPG but with some more modern design philosophies, this might be right up your alley.
I like that they've kept it simple, they know what they want to do with the kickstarter project and they're just going for it. No stretch goals to delay the project, but they have added some extra flair to the book as they've reached whatever funding goal allowed them to do it. Again, this causes no delays, it just gives the book a little more class. Luke Crane is a big fan of books, so they quality will not disappoint at all; anyone who owns Burning Wheel Gold or Mouse Guard hardcover (like me) will attest to this, both these books are gorgeous.
Torchbearer
Before the kickstarter launched there were two Forbes articles on it, found here and here. These might detail what this game is about a little better. I was counting down the days until this launched and am super excited.
Those behind it are responsible for the Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard RPGs, so it has a great pedigree. For anyone looking for an old school dungeon crawl RPG but with some more modern design philosophies, this might be right up your alley.
I like that they've kept it simple, they know what they want to do with the kickstarter project and they're just going for it. No stretch goals to delay the project, but they have added some extra flair to the book as they've reached whatever funding goal allowed them to do it. Again, this causes no delays, it just gives the book a little more class. Luke Crane is a big fan of books, so they quality will not disappoint at all; anyone who owns Burning Wheel Gold or Mouse Guard hardcover (like me) will attest to this, both these books are gorgeous.
RPG Calc is a great dice rolling app. I love throwing physical dice around the table too much to rely on this exclusively, but I'm glad I have it ready to go on my iPad. It's totally worth the two bucks.
Also, if you have any interest in Pathfinder whatsoever, the iOS PFR app takes all of the information in the Pathfinder SRD (read: free rules for the entire game system) and formats it nicely for your iOS device. PFR is kept updated with rulebooks as they come out and is totally worth the four bucks. The same company has similar apps out for d20 and d20 Modern.
Torchbearer looks really intriguing, and while I've always heard good things about Burning Wheel I've never had the chance to play it. Their pitch for Torchbearer convinced me to kick in for a hardcover version, especially since I've had a OSR itch going for a while now. Thanks for the heads up!
FnordChan
Well I certainly think it's been a success so far, hopefully we can keep it going and see it through to the end : )
Has it really been a year? Wow, time flies! Anyway, it's awesome that it has survived for so long, godspeed
In other news: I just got a new iPhone, are there any essential RPG apps I should look at?
RPG Scribe is pretty awesome, and they finally added the ability to build custom classes. If they added dice rolling functionality, it'd be amazing.
A few questions:
1) Anyone played Crafty Games' Mistborn Adventure RPG? Have it but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Just wondering what people think about it.
2) Is there any online die rolling software, some that could be used for voice/text chat RPGs? Something that allows showing the result for everyone so that no one can cheat. EDIT answered
3)Anyone ran succesful survival-based RPG? You know, limited resources, have to survive as long as possible (with some story going on as well, with an end).
Asking this because i have some ideas, and i wonder if it can work, what kinda mechanics it needs etc.
I have some notes concerning potential Firefly-like space RPG, where the players are a spaceship's crew, and they need to keep the ship up and running. Kinda team-resource management based idea, not sure if i'll go through with it. Just thought it was an interesting concept.
Also got an idea for more directly survival game, got idea from Notrium (a freeware survival game), where the players are stranded on an alien planet.
1) Anyone played Crafty Games' Mistborn Adventure RPG? Have it but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Just wondering what people think about it.
2) Is there any online die rolling software, some that could be used for voice/text chat RPGs? Something that allows showing the result for everyone so that no one can cheat. EDIT answered
3)Anyone ran succesful survival-based RPG? You know, limited resources, have to survive as long as possible (with some story going on as well, with an end).
Asking this because i have some ideas, and i wonder if it can work, what kinda mechanics it needs etc.
I have some notes concerning potential Firefly-like space RPG, where the players are a spaceship's crew, and they need to keep the ship up and running. Kinda team-resource management based idea, not sure if i'll go through with it. Just thought it was an interesting concept.
Also got an idea for more directly survival game, got idea from Notrium (a freeware survival game), where the players are stranded on an alien planet.
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
Wow a year already? Time does fly. It has been a pleasure and a challenge to play in such a creative environment and learn the rules of 3.5 simultaneously. I had little to no prior experience with the mechanics and rules but have adjusted just fine and I'm glad you've allowed me to participate, Lunarian. Always one of the highlights of my day.
I'll also throw my hat in for recommending RPG Scribe. It's a nifty little app for organizing character info and holds links and references to a ton stuff ranging from items, equipment and spells to currency calculators, stat bonuses, combat modifiers and feat selection lists. It's really comprehensive and as Mike mentioned all its really missing is a dice roller and the kitchen sink.
Invisible Castle allows you to set up a profile and link multiple rolls to a campaign or group so that every roll is recorded for easy sharing. It's what I use most of the time in thLunarian's game.
Thank you! Exactly what i may need.
We have very long breaks at times, gaming over Skype could solve those long breaks, especially with this.
Riposte
Member
Congrats on that milestone.
I've playing around with the idea of playing with one of these systems lately (all modded to fit Eberron): True20, Savage World, or Strands of Fate. Since I did say I would try and make a PbP game sometime near the end of the year, I'm also working on making things fit to that too. I'm leaning towards True20, since it seems like the shortest leap away from the traditional 3.5 Eberron I know.
EDIT: As for iPhone apps:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?153-iPhone-iPod-Android-Applications-for-RPGs
EDIT: Comparing and contrasting multiple systems while trying to find solution to make it fit a setting (so, magic systems) is quite a handful.
I've playing around with the idea of playing with one of these systems lately (all modded to fit Eberron): True20, Savage World, or Strands of Fate. Since I did say I would try and make a PbP game sometime near the end of the year, I'm also working on making things fit to that too. I'm leaning towards True20, since it seems like the shortest leap away from the traditional 3.5 Eberron I know.
EDIT: As for iPhone apps:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?153-iPhone-iPod-Android-Applications-for-RPGs
EDIT: Comparing and contrasting multiple systems while trying to find solution to make it fit a setting (so, magic systems) is quite a handful.
Riposte
Member
I'm leaning towards True20, but it has been a little difficult to find a magic system that fits with my vision. I don't want to deviate too much from the setting of Eberron, but that means picking up odd things from 3.5e (and I guess 4e to a lesser extent). Namely, the division between wizards and sorcerers (can fold dragonmarks into sorcery), arcane magic and divine magic, magic and psionics (can fold monk stuff into psionics), and artificers from the rest (can fold all magic item creation into this, but maybe that wouldn't be for the best). One thing to note is that True20 wouldn't have set classes for any of these. Just feats for the adept and other classes to take. I have a few ideas and I love tinkering with systems (it is almost a hobby in itself), but I have little good sense of game math and balancing lol.
In any case, True20 is a very open ended system that should be easy to learn for most people who are halfway eager to pick it up. It is really only as complex as you want it to be. Two other benefits is that it fits nicely with the usual d20 stuff (i.e. DnD) and it seems to be a nice fit for play-by-post. Only using d20s (hence the name) and having things like damage saves means I can just ask players to roll one or two d20s in advance for that round in addition to their own actions.
One thing I've been exploring is adopting FATE's aspects (although more accurately Spirit of the Century / Strands of Fate's aspects) into True20, but only in a limited fashion (so as to not overwhelm other mechanics since aspects can be a game in itself).
True20 has a weird "reputation" system I don't like and a virtue/vice characterization system that could easily be replaced, so I may replace it with individual reputations (although "image" would be a better word, but for now let's go with reputation) which functions much like aspects. They could be invoked (spend conviction for social bonuses, or social penalties if an opponent invokes it at a bad time), compelled (accept a negative situation / penalty to gain conviction), and perhaps strengthen the effects of conviction spent on actions which "live up" to them. This would work for PCs and major NPCs both and information gathering can tell PCs the reputation of NPCs and vice versa. Characters could start with a number based on their charisma and then gain (or lose?) more based on happenings in the campaign.
From there I could give it all sort of little details, such as having aliases to manipulate reputations (separate reps to hold or gain depending on which "face" is being worn). Or having certain reputations only observable to certain organizations ("they" think your "this", while others don't), which can also be manipulated to gain an edge. I like the idea of a feat (likely a feat changelings could get easier than others, as would an alias feat) that would allow you to use known reputations of a person you are disguised as as if they were your own. Yeah, I need to iron this out, but could be fun for a deception heavy game.
In any case, True20 is a very open ended system that should be easy to learn for most people who are halfway eager to pick it up. It is really only as complex as you want it to be. Two other benefits is that it fits nicely with the usual d20 stuff (i.e. DnD) and it seems to be a nice fit for play-by-post. Only using d20s (hence the name) and having things like damage saves means I can just ask players to roll one or two d20s in advance for that round in addition to their own actions.
One thing I've been exploring is adopting FATE's aspects (although more accurately Spirit of the Century / Strands of Fate's aspects) into True20, but only in a limited fashion (so as to not overwhelm other mechanics since aspects can be a game in itself).
True20 has a weird "reputation" system I don't like and a virtue/vice characterization system that could easily be replaced, so I may replace it with individual reputations (although "image" would be a better word, but for now let's go with reputation) which functions much like aspects. They could be invoked (spend conviction for social bonuses, or social penalties if an opponent invokes it at a bad time), compelled (accept a negative situation / penalty to gain conviction), and perhaps strengthen the effects of conviction spent on actions which "live up" to them. This would work for PCs and major NPCs both and information gathering can tell PCs the reputation of NPCs and vice versa. Characters could start with a number based on their charisma and then gain (or lose?) more based on happenings in the campaign.
From there I could give it all sort of little details, such as having aliases to manipulate reputations (separate reps to hold or gain depending on which "face" is being worn). Or having certain reputations only observable to certain organizations ("they" think your "this", while others don't), which can also be manipulated to gain an edge. I like the idea of a feat (likely a feat changelings could get easier than others, as would an alias feat) that would allow you to use known reputations of a person you are disguised as as if they were your own. Yeah, I need to iron this out, but could be fun for a deception heavy game.
I had a session last Tuesday running DND next and it is officially my favorite DND right now.
I ran Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth using the 4th level pre-gens. We only play for around 1.5 hours a week and there is a lot of messing around and chatting, but they manged to explore a couple of caves, do some investigation, have a major encounter and lots of fun.
It ran very well, the core of the game is a streamlined D20, the game is simplified around ability scores and this makes everything simpler. The character options are complex enough to be interesting, but not overwhelming and don't bog down play. Considering that I just plonked down random 4th level pre-gens and started says a lot.
There was a wizard, ranger and thief and they all got to shine a little. The wizard did outshine the rest, due to Sleep, but I think over the adventure other abilities will come into play and will test them. We're playing again next week.
Standouts for me:
- Nice monster blocks similar to 4e/late 3.5e
- Flexible spellcasting for the wizard. Preps a number of spells, but can cast them using his spell slots.
- Skill system is a nice mix. You get a D6 extra on the ability check for skills you are trained in. Worked well. You can upgrade that dice or learn a new skill at certain levels.
- System worked very well without a grid.
I ran Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth using the 4th level pre-gens. We only play for around 1.5 hours a week and there is a lot of messing around and chatting, but they manged to explore a couple of caves, do some investigation, have a major encounter and lots of fun.
It ran very well, the core of the game is a streamlined D20, the game is simplified around ability scores and this makes everything simpler. The character options are complex enough to be interesting, but not overwhelming and don't bog down play. Considering that I just plonked down random 4th level pre-gens and started says a lot.
There was a wizard, ranger and thief and they all got to shine a little. The wizard did outshine the rest, due to Sleep, but I think over the adventure other abilities will come into play and will test them. We're playing again next week.
They explored the fungus cavern. Managed to avoid arousing the giant cricket alarm system and surprised the trolls. One 2nd level cast sleep spell later they were making a fungi bonfire to roast the trolls on.
Standouts for me:
- Nice monster blocks similar to 4e/late 3.5e
- Flexible spellcasting for the wizard. Preps a number of spells, but can cast them using his spell slots.
- Skill system is a nice mix. You get a D6 extra on the ability check for skills you are trained in. Worked well. You can upgrade that dice or learn a new skill at certain levels.
- System worked very well without a grid.
Yeah the proto-5th edition. They are playstesting at the moment. You can download the playtest from Wizard's website.
Link for the lazy:
https://www.wizards.com/dnd/dndnext.aspx
https://www.wizards.com/dnd/dndnext.aspx
Hydranockz
Member
Hey folks, thought I'd pop in because I so rarely wander to OT Community. I haven't seen any mention of http://roll20.net/ in the OP. It's a really handy virtual tabletop my friends and I have been usig for our, recenctly started, Deathwatch campaign. Apologies if it's already been mentioned in there or since. We discovered it after one of the lads pointed us out to the RollPlay series on Twitch/Youtube which follows some Starcraft personalities on a heavily modified 2nd edition DnD campaign.
I have a question though. So, lately a bunch of my friends have been wanting to do some RPGs. We've mostly all finished university and have moved around the country. Currently we have 6 players and a GM in our Deathwatch campaign and it's going quite well. The GM has been doing this for years now and there are a few seasoned players in the campaign too. I want to get the other friends, who wanted to play, playing an easier campaign in the meantime.
My question is, are there any free/recommended rulebooks online that would be useful if I wanted to GM a relatively simple campaign? The 40k stuff is super cool but there is a lot to take in.
I'd be willing to put in the time as a GM to take as much of the load off of the players as possible for managing EXP, Skills and Inventories but is it worth doing unless I have physical books about?
Sorry for my long-winded post. Thanks folks.
I have a question though. So, lately a bunch of my friends have been wanting to do some RPGs. We've mostly all finished university and have moved around the country. Currently we have 6 players and a GM in our Deathwatch campaign and it's going quite well. The GM has been doing this for years now and there are a few seasoned players in the campaign too. I want to get the other friends, who wanted to play, playing an easier campaign in the meantime.
My question is, are there any free/recommended rulebooks online that would be useful if I wanted to GM a relatively simple campaign? The 40k stuff is super cool but there is a lot to take in.
I'd be willing to put in the time as a GM to take as much of the load off of the players as possible for managing EXP, Skills and Inventories but is it worth doing unless I have physical books about?
Sorry for my long-winded post. Thanks folks.
Riposte
Member
You could try looking up a few SRDs. A lot of systems go open source.
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/srd/
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/srd/
What style of game are you looking for?
For an incredibly quick fantasy RPG I'd go with Old School Hack.
DeadPhoenix
Member
if you want to go d&d, they have beginner boxes(called the red box I believe) you can use to get people started. pathfinder has one that is suppose to be really good, though I've never tried it myself(though i mostly play PF, so i'd suggest it anyways).
Hydranockz
Member
Thanks a lot for this.
I've only ever played Savage Worlds, some WH40k system and some DnD ones. I'm open to trying new things but this OSH seems pretty cool, cheers.
The Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition kickstarter has launched. It's awful. $90 for 2 softcovers or $120 for 2 hardcovers is beyond a joke. It's also disappointing that the things that were originally going to make it into the book have been hidden behind stretch goals.
I'm glad I've made a tidy investment in the Trail of Cthulhu line and that it has incredible support. Trail of Cthulhu can stay, Call of Cthulhu is leaving me cold now, Chaosium has lost me.
Just have a look at Eternal Lies, it sounds amazing and it's great that this level of care is going into it. This has been teased for some time and in development even longer.
They've got my pre-order, no question about it. August cannot come soon enough.
Edit: Here's something awesome. Instead of the Humble Bundle for video games, how about the Bundle of Holding?
6 indie RPGs for whatever price you choose, that's a pretty rad deal! I own 3 of those and am aware of all of them and they're well worth having in your collection. Jump on it while you can.
I'm glad I've made a tidy investment in the Trail of Cthulhu line and that it has incredible support. Trail of Cthulhu can stay, Call of Cthulhu is leaving me cold now, Chaosium has lost me.
Just have a look at Eternal Lies, it sounds amazing and it's great that this level of care is going into it. This has been teased for some time and in development even longer.
They've got my pre-order, no question about it. August cannot come soon enough.
Edit: Here's something awesome. Instead of the Humble Bundle for video games, how about the Bundle of Holding?
6 indie RPGs for whatever price you choose, that's a pretty rad deal! I own 3 of those and am aware of all of them and they're well worth having in your collection. Jump on it while you can.
krypt0nian
Banned
Jumped on that Bundle deal. Insane, and I made sure they got some cash!
So I need some recommendations.
I have been asked to run a game for a gathering of friends in about a month. It's going to be a very large group, I expect at least 8 players, maybe a few more. I know the setting and overall adventure I want to put them through, but it has been a very long time since I have played, must less ran a game, and I am concerned about mechanics.
I could put together a traditional DnD campaign without too much trouble, but at least a third of the players will be completely new to PNP gaming. And especially with a huge group, I'm very worried that combat will be extremely bogged down with a lot of teaching, adjudication, and also choice paralysis for the newbies. Even going 4th Edition if I give a new player a rogue or cleric they are going to have a ton of abilities to learn.
So I need to know if anyone knows of any systems or altered rule sets that pare down the abilities and combat mechanics to a manageable size. If I could give a new player a small sheet and show them they've got a choice of between three to five abilities max they can do on any given turn, and then allow them to combine and complement skills between different players.
I'm also looking to allow for disengaging from encounters as viable options (DM discretion of course). I'm want to put my players in the midst of a warzone and they'll have to be able to join and leave multiple engagements throughout the overall battle.
Any tips are welcome!
Edit: Jeebus and just then I decide to look up and see the SRD and Hack posts. - Welp I could still use any tips on managing a large group!
I have been asked to run a game for a gathering of friends in about a month. It's going to be a very large group, I expect at least 8 players, maybe a few more. I know the setting and overall adventure I want to put them through, but it has been a very long time since I have played, must less ran a game, and I am concerned about mechanics.
I could put together a traditional DnD campaign without too much trouble, but at least a third of the players will be completely new to PNP gaming. And especially with a huge group, I'm very worried that combat will be extremely bogged down with a lot of teaching, adjudication, and also choice paralysis for the newbies. Even going 4th Edition if I give a new player a rogue or cleric they are going to have a ton of abilities to learn.
So I need to know if anyone knows of any systems or altered rule sets that pare down the abilities and combat mechanics to a manageable size. If I could give a new player a small sheet and show them they've got a choice of between three to five abilities max they can do on any given turn, and then allow them to combine and complement skills between different players.
I'm also looking to allow for disengaging from encounters as viable options (DM discretion of course). I'm want to put my players in the midst of a warzone and they'll have to be able to join and leave multiple engagements throughout the overall battle.
Any tips are welcome!
Edit: Jeebus and just then I decide to look up and see the SRD and Hack posts. - Welp I could still use any tips on managing a large group!
krypt0nian
Banned
Take a look at DungeonWorld. It may work out depending on your adventure ideas.
This man knows what's up.
My current group playing D&D is 6 people plus the GM and combat takes forever. We've taken steps to speed things up and it doesn't really make much of a difference, I could squeeze in a power nap in the time it takes for my turn to come around. It's terrible. Adding another 2 players to the mix would not be a good idea and would suck what little fun there is right out.
I was hoping once this campaign is over that they'd go to something cool and far less crunchy. They've chosen Iron Kingdoms, so I'm out.
Saw this on PCGamer.com, its a digital tabletop RPG called Conclave that you can play in your browser. Have only seen the trailer and played a little into the first quest, while not a full fledged PnP RPG game where you have the complete freedom, I think its a pretty cool middle ground and it does a pretty good job of simulating tabletop. You can play it asynchronous with friends and to play the rest of the quests (10 are free, 15 more quests costs around 19 bucks) only one player need to have bought the pack.
Trailer
http://www.playconclave.com/
As for actual "tabletoping", been playing Eclipse Phase once a week for a couple of times now and been having a blast. Our latest try at the game with a fresh start ended with 30 minutes into the first session two of our players got killed, one splattered on top of a rooftop from falling and the other arrested for burglary of some sacred order and was deleted from the universe. Awesome!
Trailer
http://www.playconclave.com/
As for actual "tabletoping", been playing Eclipse Phase once a week for a couple of times now and been having a blast. Our latest try at the game with a fresh start ended with 30 minutes into the first session two of our players got killed, one splattered on top of a rooftop from falling and the other arrested for burglary of some sacred order and was deleted from the universe. Awesome!
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
Anyone have a good system recommendation? I'm looking to a run a fantasy game in a campaign that's the insane lovechild of Diablo, Dark Souls and Elric of Melnibone. I need a classless system, moderately crunchy, with a focus on humans and a robust suite of non-magical combat options (preferably not requiring a grid). I'd also like it to be Adnd/WHFRP levels of deadly, though I guess that could be tweaked. The first thing that comes to mind is 'GURPS', but I wanted to see if there was anything else that might fit the bill.
CornBurrito
Member
You could run a Fate Core game (new system based on the Fate system with updated rules) with a setting styled after all those. It is a basic system and you can add anything you need. Has good crunch to for handling skill checks and all that junk. You can even homebrew powers and there's a huge guide on how to do so and fix things if you fucked up as a DM and made something over/underpowered.
You can make it as deadly as need be by increasing enemy number/stats.
I'd imagine it is fairly similar to GURPS as a "you can use this for any kind of setting" system. But Fate basically wants and demands competent heroes, so if you plan on having your characters look like morons by having them roll skill checks for tying their shoe laces (and making them fail on a low roll) its not going to be your kind of system.
The Kickstarter for Fate/Core recently concluded and I'm sure you could find the finalized PDF floating around.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
Fate might start a little too high competence level wise for what I have in mind, yeah. Is the core still compatible with tweaks from books like Strands of Fate?
fallengorn
Bitches love smiley faces
Seconded for FATE. My FATE game is still going strong and love it.
I don't know how robust you want your non-magical combat, but you can definitely create something to suite your needs.
If you want you can fudge around with how many skills they can add modifiers to lower their competency.
I don't know how robust you want your non-magical combat, but you can definitely create something to suite your needs.
If you want you can fudge around with how many skills they can add modifiers to lower their competency.
CornBurrito
Member
Dunno if it is comparable. As for competency, you can always just up the difficulty on relatively benign challenges and use the "success but at a cost" option the game so heavily recommends. So the players feel good because they don't outright fail, but they are still kept on edge because of the huge costs associated. Like successfully breaking into a museum but being spotted by security cameras or triggering the alarm making it a timed mission.
Alternatively, instead of increasing difficulty you can have things set at realistic difficulty and just prevent your characters from investing any more than say... 2 or 3 points in any one skill until later on in the campaign. Make them be average at best in anything, and award skill points and higher rank options later.
The system is really flexible. You can do all of that, and any setting. Low magic, no magic, high magic. Though magic requires a bit of work on your part but you can use any magic system you want.
Also I cannot stress enough how much I love the "success but at a cost" option. Outright failing is so fucking awful especially when it happens so much during a single game. I always hated that about my DND DM at college. Fucking outright failing seeing something in front of my face because he required rolls for even the simplest of tasks and made auto 1 a failure....
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
Hmm, thanks, I'll give it a read-through. Not sold on FATE's aspects from what I've seen of previous versions (for this game, anyway), but something slightly less complicated than GURPS might do the ticket.
CornBurrito
Member
What aspects do you particularly dislike out of curiosity? You may be able to find a workaround.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
DISCLAIMER: Not sure how much of this is Strands of Fate and how much is the base system.
I'm not a fan of how they tend to make character personality traits mechanics, or that they can be pretty... wishy-washy, I suppose. I realise it's not a huge leap from "Charisma" and "Skill: Wrangling" to something like"Aspect: The Flashiest Rodeo Star" but it bugs me anyway.
Also, the PC-control aspects of invoking FATE points to do stuff like say 'This NPC trained under the same mentor as me' is actually pretty cool for 99% of games, but kinda runs counter to the feeling of despair and the world being out to get you I want to invoke.
CornBurrito
Member
Aspects are part of the FATE system, so yeah that carries over from Stands of Fate. If that's a gamebreaker for you, you're probably going to be better served by GURPS I think.
As for invoking FATE points which is also in Fate Core, the GM gets final say. You can always say "sorry nope" if you don't think it is plausible for them to have been under the same mentor, or if you think it will add to the drama. Also if you really want to give your PC's a scare, maybe give some enemies a Fate point or two to make the battle extremely risky.
krypt0nian
Banned
While not technically PnP, I know we have several Crhulhu gamers here and this looks stellar!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1816687860/cthulhu-wars
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1816687860/cthulhu-wars
fallengorn
Bitches love smiley faces
Those miniatures look ridiculous.
krypt0nian
Banned
Ridicu-awesome!
fallengorn
Bitches love smiley faces
Thanks for posting that when you did. All the early, early bird levels are gone.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
Boo, 45$ shipping costs to add up. But the game is looking great so far!
piratepwnsninja
Member
Do we have any Pathfinder players? I'm looking to introduce my kids to something a bit more meaty, and I played enough 4th edition to know that it isn't what I'm looking for. We've been playing Hero Kids, but they're getting kind of bored with how basic it is. I'd played in some DnD Next sessions, and will eventually be switching to that (picking up the module they're selling at GenCon), but I need something to bridge the gap. I've heard the Beginner Box for Pathfinder is quite good.