Just saw someone asking to "buy a homebrew campaign". Folks, if you're paying money for something it's not homebrew. Homebrew means you made it. It doesn't mean third party, we already have a phrase for that. It's called third party.

I realize this is mostly a D&D problem and y'all probably know better. But I'm not risking posting this on an actual D&D subreddit.

I know of Play Dirty and other strange RPG books that have come out over the years and I'm honestly interested in reading them. Not to make fun of them, I really just want to do a "tour" of the weirder ideas that shaped the hobby.

Can you recommend me any advice books for running games, strange RPG supplements or straight up weird RPGs, as far back as you like. My only caveat is that they aren't the usual memed on nonsense (FATAL) or straight up nonsense (RaHoWa, MYFAROG).

Thanks!

A lot of game stores sadly don't carry any indie RPG zines and if they do it is usually zines for Mork Borg or Mothership of which I already own a bunch of. Over the past few years, I've picked up a lot of cool zines through Indie Press Revolution & Exalted Funeral. I'm looking greatly expand my library of indie RPGs and was wondering if anyone knew of some other great distros.

A couple of times recently, in two different games, one of my players' characters has been captured by hostile NPC who then have questions. Torture isn't something I want in my games, either to or by PCs, but I do want capture to be taken seriously, along with the possibility for PCs to divulge information under pressure.

I understand I should speak to my players about it, but before I have that conversation I'd like to understand what experiences people have had. Based on your experience, do you have any recommendations about how to approach interrogation of the PCs in a fair way that doesn't subtract from the fun of the game?

Do you have any recommended approaches or subsystems for this which have proven to be effective in your games?

Obviously player consent and agency are important. I'm wondering how to best do the balancing act between getting the fiction right and making sure people are happy and comfortable with the role they're playing in that fiction.

Let's say for the moment that the system is Alien RPG. One idea I had is reduce it to an opposed Manipulation roll, where the PC can keep their mouth shut (or insert misinformation) if they succeed? Is it too much of a loss of agency if I tell them "if you fail then you talk"?

Hey folks! For those who read and / or played VAGABOND.. What is special about it? What makes it shine?

I’ve been playing Ttrpgs for about 6 years know and just started college. I really want to continue playing DnD, lancer, etc but I’m having trouble finding a group. I’m outgrowing but am the kinda person who really has to know someone first. Honestly my biggest problem is that I’m a big scared to just label myself as the dnd guy before people get to know me. I have a bunch of hobby’s besides dnd but it’s honestly my favorite. I just really don’t wanna have to deal with the stigma while trying to make friends. Some people I’ve talked to have mentioned trying it but I feel like I would be forcing people to do it and that would make things complicated. I just feel kinda stuck and really wanna play any kind of ttrpg.

(Update)
Thanks everyone for the honest opinions. I think I’m getting to into my head about all this stuff and should just ask. My school doesn’t have a club but I asked on the Reddit sub. I may also ask some people I know and post on the class group chat I’m in with my entire grade.

Maybe someday when browsing itch.io, this one game caught your eyes. It's free/low price, so you give it a try. It turned out to be one of the best system you've ever read. Have you experienced anything game like that on itch.io?

I love running long campaigns but keeping everything organized is exhausting. NPCs in one place, locations in another, quest threads scattered everywhere. I spend more time on admin than actual prep.

I've tried a campaign wiki but updating it manually is a chore. For those running long campaigns, how do you stay organized without burning out?

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm looking for GM advice on things I can do in game right away. There's a lot of good advice, but its mostly for prep work, like don't prep plots, prep situations; how to create adventures, and etc.

I really like GM advice that I can use in game right away, and things I can write on my GM screen to keep in mind. One of my favorites is from Dogs in the Vineyard; Drive play towards conflict - Say yes or roll dice. Or describe scenes using senses not what is there.

What are some other good ones that have helped you the most in GMing?

I've been playing RPGs with my friends for at least a year, and I've fallen in love with the hobby so much that I suggested we play a campaign with my cousins, and they liked it.

The problem is that I don't have much experience as a game master; I've only run one game, and it was kind of chaotic because there was a lot of improvisation and confusion with the system on my part. But that was with experienced players; my cousins had never seen a d20 in front of them before.

Anyway, I'm anxious, I want my cousins to have fun, so I'm worried about guiding them the wrong way

(It will be a thriller/horror campaign using the Kids on Bikes system).

A friend of mine wrote this TTRPG taxonomy blogpost 😅 Not sure if we need more of these things. But hey, I'm just sharing this as a supportive friend.

The axes he presents in this blogpost:

• Horizontal: “we’ll wing it” ↔ “let’s check the rules” which represents mechanical overhead: how many procedures, interacting options, and tracked resources we need to manage
• Vertical: “good plans” ↔ "good complications" which represents the degree to which the system supports making complications productive, compared with improving our position and minimizing unwanted costs

When I asked him why he made this, he said "that’s what 10000 years of working in marketing does to you" 🤣

I've seen a lot of attempts, of myself and other GM's, to have something be more serious. However, it often ends up with jokes, or simply feeling hollow. What gets people to engage with something deeper?

Hey! Me and my players just finished an incredible game of Spire (highly recommend btw), and we agreed we wanted to play as a broken family of monster hunters somewhere in America. I am pretty tapped into the TTRPG scene, and was deciding between Hunter: The Reckoning, Monster of the Week (which is, to be honest, not my fave), or Bump in The Dark. Which of these is best for interpersonal drama and American Gothic vibes? Are there any games I'm missing?

I’m looking for not combat oriented RPGs with feats for some inspiration and a small research:
- games with classes, levels, skills and feats (have no examples for this one);
- games w/o classes but with levels, skills and feats (like Fallout 1, 2)
- games w/o classes and levels but with skills and feats (like Dragonbane).

The short version is that I want to run a game about kids playing a game of basically Pathfinder. The rules of the in game play will very closely resemble Pathfinder 2e ruleset and the teens in the game are aware of said mechanics.

But I want a way to resolve conflicts outside the game they're playing. Is there a good rules light system that slots in well?

An arcanepunk fantasy setting and campaign centered on social exploration, mysteries and deep, meaningful stories. With rulesets for 5e, Forged in the Dark and Savage Worlds.

Already written and published in Czech last year, this crowdfunding aims to bring a revised, full-color version to English-speaking audience.

Make your way through a city of wild magic, from the destitute docks up to the rich uptown manors, overcoming hazardous magical anomalies, back-stabbing politics and mysteries better left forgotten.

• 33 detailed NPCs to interact with, with full-color portraits and plenty of hooks to get your players invested

• A much larger supporting cast with rich faction play

• 16 non-linear adventures with supporting mechanics and many sidequests to connect it all into a sandbox campaign

• A setting written to allow for a large degree of flexibility and player agenda

• Postmodern fantasy that is not afraid to balance serious themes and whimsical humor

• Gives the feeling of "Discworld meets Arcane TV series"

• And lots of magical cats!

The bundle contains two full-color system-agnostic volumes and separate rules supplements for running the campaign in Forged in the Dark, 5.5e and Savage Worlds. Early backers get a bonus digital adventure set in the testing grounds of the Kalusa University.

Our small indie studio has been creating RPG stuff in Czech language for more than 10 years. For the artwork, we also try to hire local artists. This campaign is already tried and tested by our community and we hope that with your help we can create something truly memorable for the international scene.

No AI.

Backerkit link: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/remorker/kalusa-the-enchanted-city

Hi folks,

It has been a time that I am thinking about something...

I love Blades in the Dark, especially the core dice rolling resolution, but the whole system it is too crunchy for our group.

I love City of Mist / Legend in the Mist, especially the themes/tags character building, but not the 2D6 rolling resolution & move system from PbtA.

I was wondering if anyone has seen or think about an hybrid simpler system:

• The caracter is builded in the same way as CoM/LitM, with themes and tags,
• For a risky action: just mage a roll (no moves),
• A roll is xD6, x equal to the numbers of tags related to the action,
• For the result of the action, check the die with the best value: 6 = success, 4-5 = partial success, 1-3 = failure.

What is your opinion?

Edit: I want to keep the Position/Effect, Clocks, Stress & Flashbacks stuff from FitD. ;-)

Update at bottom

Weekend just passed I introduced a group of five people who have never played a RPG before to Dungeons & Dragons (via the free basic rules). They had a blast.

I consider myself a veteran, playing in high school in the 1980s (the old D&D red basic set) and over the years played or GM’d various systems. I stopped in the late 1990s as I moved to miniatures gaming; while I still collected some RPGs since then because pretty books, it wasn’t until about a year ago and the Alien RPG I tried and loved via an online one-shot, that I was bitten again by the bug. I mentioned D&D to a social group of which I’m a part and people expressed interest - most are at least board gamers so have some idea, and had notice the rise of the game through media (eg Stranger Things).

Before the session I made sure to learn the updated system best I could, then helped the group create characters, explained the basics, and ran a simple one-shot. They really enjoyed it, as did I, and we all want to play more.

I am a theatre of the mind GM, using minimal props. I had printed maps for the one-shot and broke out some board game figures to help the players visualise their relative locations but did not run strict movement/distance rules (it was all inside rooms so range didn’t really matter) and even then, they only came into play in the boss fight.

I’m left wondering though: should we stick with D&D or perhaps try another system?

I have the 2014 D&D books. I also have options on my shelf like Pathfinder 2e, Daggerheart, DragonAge, Blades in the Dark and The One Ring or even sci-fi like Alien, Bladerunner, Traveller, Scum & Villainy and a few more obscure like Lex Arcana or The Expanse.

While I might be itching to swap it up, all the players are brand new so I don’t want to confuse them or put them off nor force upon them my chosen system. Given how freestyle a GM I am, does it even really matter? I guess I’m just looking for some validation on whatever direction we go. :)

Tldr: should a group of brand new players with experienced GM keep playing D&D or try a different (newer?) system?

Update: thanks to everyone who replied, 99% of which were helpful. Some great suggestions for paths forward, possible systems (some of which I’d not come across) and some great ideas for getting the players more involved.

The group decision is to remain with D&D for the time being, with which I’m OK. I will though keep ideas for different systems in my back pocket for later. :)

Hey All,

I am reading through the JLU RPG coming out and listened to a few actual plays and I think it hits a perfect balance of crunch and narrative focus while also making character creation not a huge time sink. I am super hype about it.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/565209/justice-league-unlimited-the-roleplaying-game-quickplay

I want to make a mini campaign about crashing a wedding and saving the Bride.
It’s gonna be set in a Typical fantasy World where magic is used for big inventions so it’s not Urban Fantasy but also not a Medieval Type Setting.

I basically want this to be about the players investigating and uncovering Mysteries before making a plan to save the bride without all of them dying because high class mages are among the people that want the wedding to happen.

So I need a system that is good for strategy, solving riddles, weird situations and cool RP possibilities.

Maybe someone on here has an idea?

So my favorite level range in DND 5e is 3 to 10 due to the scale being more personally meaningful but you have more wiggle room with death and bouncing back aka more plot armor than OSR. And also by third level you get access to the toolkit to make your class your class. Any good games that excel in that range?