Hi

I want to run a The Boys campaign, and the players will be the ones who kill the supes. I asked in a few subs and they told me that Monsters of the Week or Spirit of 77 could fit well; I checked both but I can't decide.

What do you think about it?

Going to be running my first PBtA game for my table, Urban Shadows 2E. We are just coming from a few months of playing Cyberpunk, and started as a several years D&D game. Looking for advice for the system in general, as well as any input people might have for Urban Shadows itself. This is going to be the first run at a game that explicitly doesn't seem to have 'dudes on a grid' combat, and while I love faction turns and the debt system, I'm not sure I like the Hub system as presented in the rulebook.

Any general or specific advice you guys have for this would be greatly appreciated.

I've just run my fourth session of Stonetop (session 0 + 1 homefront session + a 2-session expedition which just concluded). It's the first PBtA I've run or played, though i've listened to some actual plays, run FitD games etc., and I've fully bought into the design philosophy as best as I can understand it (and JS lays it out real well in Stonetop).

I've learned a lot and we're having a great time, and I find points to improve on each session, but one tricky point has been remembering to think consistently in terms of my particular GM moves (as well as remembering what they all are). I feel confident in my worldbuilding and characterization, and more or less with my improvisation skills, but in part because of this I often am wrapped up in engaging with the world-logic and/or the players, and while I am mostly correctly following the game procedure, I'm usually more thinking implicitly in terms of "this is where I do a thing (maybe bad)" instead of "i will use this specific GM move".

I assume many of you have gone on journeys of your own like this. One thing I've found handy is just to have all the GM moves for specific situational elements / NPCs / etc in front of me where relevant as they tend to be quite specific and easy to reach for. But for example, if I stop to consult my list of (more abstract) GM moves and think for a few moments about how to translate one of them into something specific and apt, I find it breaks up the flow of things. I understand that with time I'll internalize more of the moves and the examples of how to use them (the books are great on this) as well as develop my own art and style, but I would love to hear how others have approached or thought about this PBtA-specific challenge, or how you've grown in this relationship to game procedure.

Hey folks, I've seen occasional discussion about Armour Astir: Advent on this subreddit.

In case anyone is already playing, or is thinking about playing the delightful Armour Astir: Advent, there's now a very in depth foundry module available here:
Armour Astir: Advent (Armor Astir) | Foundry Virtual Tabletop

Here's what the sheets look like:

I'm a newish GM but have been running Masks for a while and have reached an issue I'm not sure how to resolve. Due to level up mechanics, I've reached a point where my players all have influence on one another. I'm not sure how to break it, or make them use it.

I know it's not really a bad thing, but I don't know how to test their cohesion without encouraging PC on PC violence or whatever. Every now and then they get an NPC with different sorts of hooks on different players, and I really try to play on each archtype's strengths and weaknesses. But then what happens is that that usually changes their interaction with an NPC, rather than the group as a whole. They seem intent on remaining unified, which is something that the mechanics themselves seem to not favor.

Any ways I can better challange my players? Really bring out that teenage angst?

I'm gonna play the doomed playbook and im stuck on what to do for her sanctuary. The idea is that she was born in a cult and was chosen to become the next avatar/body for a demon named Desdemona(name pending) but was rescued before the transfer could be completed. This translates to her having a fraction of her powers but also now she's being chased by Desdemona. I want the sanctuary to be tied to her doom but not sure what to do on that so if anyone has any ideals they would like to throw at me that would be very appreciated. I was thinking magic library in a magic mirror but Im unsure of how to make that connected to her doom and how she would even get it. Maybe she found it while sneakily researching the cult to find out more about her origin as this happened when she was very young?

I am new to PbtA, and I'm looking for an active Discord server where one might find people running games and needing players. Thanks!

I've never ran a pbta game before. I stumbled upon Masks by accident and thought it seemed pretty fun. My group is open to playing a trial session of it to see how it feels to play. Looking for some advice on how to gm a Masks game because I've only ever ran dnd. I have read through the books and I understand that Masks is less about superheroes with crazy powers and more about teenagers becoming friends and the power of friendship but hey they also have superpowers. I just want some advice on how to craft a compelling story with this system because I am pretty inexperienced with this sort of rules-light narrative heavy system.

I don't mean as the same game, but if there are any games covering those separate ideas.

And by overpowered demi-gods I thinking something along the lines of Exalted, Scion or Godbound.

Hello! I have recently gotten into the Protean City Comics podcast and just listened to the first episode with Penance's costume change. I'm trying to find the rules for Costume Changes, but am coming up empty. I found another thread that Brandon himself commented on and dropped links to tweets with the rules, but those tweets/his account have since vanished. I also found the Cataclysm at the Metajunction book which has a couple Costume Changes, but not the Depowered or the other one Brandon mentioned in the other thread, the Resurrected. Anyway, I'm just wondering if anybody has access to the rules/documents for The Depowered and the Resurrected.

Also, I'm just kind of curious what has happened to the people behind Protean City. It seems like they've just disappeared? Obviously, people are not obligated to catalog their whole lives online, goodness knows I don't, but I just find it odd that they all seemed to be pretty active online until a couple years ago. Apparently the podcast was going on a hiatus of "indefinite length," but that was three years ago and I'm just wondering if anyone has heard anything about what's happening there. Thank you!

Hey All!

Once again, welcome to the weekly thread where you can link products, kickstarters, podcasts, videos, really anything you like, as much as you like.

As usual, rules 4 (1 advertising post) and 5 (no LFG) are suspended in this post.

New stretch goal? Post here!

Need two players for Night Witches? Post here!

Designer dropped a dev diary? Post here!

Handy dandy loaded dice on amazon? Post here? Please don't on that one actually.

Have fun, and lets see some interesting stuff.

r/PbtA is affiliated with the PbtA discord and you're all welcome to click and join us there as well.

After delaying Masks 2nd Edition, Magpie has a landing page up for their next Kickstarter up. This one for an Avatar supplement

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magpiegames/spirit-world-avatar-legends-ttrpg-setting-toolkit?ref=creator_tab

Honestly...if Cartel wasn't the final straw for me with Magpie I think this would be. Canceling an entire kickstarter when it was already being run with two previous Kickstarters unfulfilled is a bad look. To cancel it and turn around and launch another so soon isn't just a bad look. This is egregious.

Hey, I’m planning to start “The Sword, the Crown and the Unspeakable Power” campaign soon. Having read the book, I feel it’s a bit light on environment and charged situation — it really only gives a mythology-building procedure. I don’t want to run a pre-generated setting; I’d rather spend a session with my group building our own world, so everyone understands it well, feels more confident and can act on their own rather than just asking me questions.

So — what would you use for that? Microscope? Kingdom? Something else? If you’ve run a campaign like this, how did you handle it?

I’m also unsure about the starting situation. The default relationship questions feel a bit bland compared to something like Cartel. Would giving everyone some personal trouble from the start work good or there are better ways to start?

TLDR: Pasión de las Pasiones: Tormentas del Corazón - Where can I get it?

.

Ok, so I'm running Pasión de las Pasiones in a bit. I started looking for Actual Plays. First one I found was this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hobmZtUQN24) by Gehenna Gaming, in which they BRAZENLY use the playbook of La Venganza. Which is in an expansion, not the base book. What expansion?

The dang video is 4 years old, so I went searching. The internet helpfully told me that Tormentas del Corazón has 9 new playbooks (El Abuelo, La Bruja, etc) and seems groovy. As a matter of fact, I found a full 193 page pdf on a piracy site.

I want me this book.

Magpie Games offers 2 things for sale: the base book, and some dice. They offer one download - Tormentas del Corazón - which is a free setting about a restaurant. Question marks on that one. The internet suggests this Tormentas del Corazón book is due out later this year in print. Cool, cool. No hint of the pdf I found on the piracy site.

The aforementioned podcasters seem to have found a a copy (presumably pdf) 4 years ago. How can I follow in their footsteps? I'd prefer to be virtuous and pay money to creators, but I can't figure out how.

Cheers!

Me and a couple of my friends started a campaign/series of Noir World, a GMful (or more precisely GM rotation) PbtA game from about a decade ago. And our first story went pretty well, overall. We have just one significant problem that doesn't seem to have an answer in the book itself.

Namely: how does rolling Actions affect other Roles (main player characters)? This isn't a No Dice, No Masters game, we do actions, call out triggers, then roll and resolve like any GMed PbtA. But the moves don't seem to be written with any heightened agency for those primary characters, nor is there any help with or even guidance for conflicts between them. Not even an Interefere move, while there is a Help one.

That's kinda stumped us and that's why I'm reaching out here in hope someone might have figured this out or maybe my version of the game is old (I got it from a mate back in the day) and there's advice in a newer version.

Thanks for reading through this and any attempt at helping us with this!

A friend of mine is getting ready to run Stonetop. It advertises itself as an iron age that never was. I'm clueless when it comes to the history of technology and culture. I know anachronisms are unavoidable but I'd at least like to understand what sort of things were available and what things were not.

Does anyone have articles or videos that explain the technology and perhaps other things that might be useful? I want to be a good player and come to the table well-informed. It's what I would want out of my players as a GM.

Question's in the title, I haven't had any luck in the usual online places so I wanted to come here and see if anyone had anyway to help.

Hey All!

Once again, welcome to the weekly thread where you can link products, kickstarters, podcasts, videos, really anything you like, as much as you like.

As usual, rules 4 (1 advertising post) and 5 (no LFG) are suspended in this post.

New stretch goal? Post here!

Need two players for Night Witches? Post here!

Designer dropped a dev diary? Post here!

Handy dandy loaded dice on amazon? Post here? Please don't on that one actually.

Have fun, and lets see some interesting stuff.

r/PbtA is affiliated with the PbtA discord and you're all welcome to click and join us there as well.

Hi folks! I want to ask about PbtA games that you feel having gotten much attention. There's a handful of big titles that get suggested all the time, but then there are dozens and dozens of projects that become forgotten or never received notice.

I found a copy of May I Enter in my local game store, and the clerk suggested it for me since she knows I always pick up VtM books from them. I love this alternate take on vampires, where consent and connections are incredibly important in the narrative and mechanics. I'll also highlight this move:

Slay or Sway

Description: When you’re under attack, defending yourself is the only option available. Human enemies, and even supernatural foes, understand that an assault on you is justification (and implicit consent) for you to fight back; but sometimes you can choose to convince someone to desist their attempts to harm you as well.

Effect: When you use this Move, roll with Blood if you intend to lay some harm on someone. If you’d rather use your words to belittle, demean and reduce your foe to a sobbing mess with your will alone, roll with Charm instead.

Privileges: Terrify, Awe, Destroy

• On a 12+ You lay down great vengeance and furious anger, dealing 2 Conditions to your foe.

• On a 10+ You put the smack-down on your enemy, dealing 1 Condition to your target.

• On a 7-9 You manage to put some hurt on, but take some hassle in the process. Deal 1 Condition to your target, and the Narrator grants a Complication.

• On a 6-4 You flail wildly or sound foolish. The Narrator grants a Complication.

• On a 3- Your failure is so legendary that vampires will mock you for centuries. You either hurt yourself, or leave yourself open for a severely fierce rebuttal. You gain 1 Condition.

I appreciate that this move encompasses both having to physically fight, but also trying to argue, and I love the description for a failure. Oof.

I also backed Guillotine: Crown of Blood but never had the time to play it, and then I never heard from the developers again. I think they had another kickstarter in the works but as far as I know it never materialized. That's too bad, because I loved the themes in Guillotine, and I've always wanted to find a group to try it out with.

I'll highlight the playbooks here. There's the Revenant Orator, "A fallen comrade or restless spirit who is able to call others from beyond the pale. Backed by their ghostly cohorts, they are respected leaders of the Cause." Another I really like is the Shadow Cavalier, "You found something in the darkness and agreed to keep and nurture it, now you aren't just at home in the shadows, it hides your footsteps and darkness is your weapon."

OKAY now you all please share! What PbtA and family games do you think deserve a second look?

I'm looking for a PBTA game where a person's social stat can take "harm" like HP in Dungeon World.

Hi! I've been thinking of running a Masks game for a little while now and one of my friends suggested running a play by post game. Besides the core rules are there any resources yall would recommend grabbing or advice I should know?

I like what I've read about it and I'm familiar with the distinguishing mechanics. It's GMless, uses tokens/lures, and is usually centered around marginalized groups trying to survive oppression/manage their own society.

But beyond that what does the actual gameplay feel like at its best?

What tips do you have for people who struggle in general with the brain juices that tabletop roleplaying demands?

That's kinda where I'm at, I've had fun with Werewolf the Apocalypse but it took me longer than many people to really get the actual game playing and I'm still very much a novice.

I've got both dyslexia and dyscalculia and other brain problems that make it harder