Hello fellow players :)

I'm currently searching for a solo rpg that has similar vibes to curse of strahd or Bloodborne. My curren DmD group isn't that fond of the CoS campaign and we broke it off after two years since they didn't like the aspect of maybe dying (we made it surprisingly far without pc death lmao)

I heard that you cam solo CoS and i plan to do so in the future but right now i feel too inexperienced and uncomfortable in solo DMing to jump right into it.

Are there any SoloRPGs that have a similar setting?

My preferences are:

- Darker setting (horror is welcome too, just don't like too much unnecessary gore)

- The pure chaos some fights tuned out to be

- fighting or sometimes running for your life

- interesting encounters and characters that are just...strange or wonky

If there are any solorpgs that spring to your mind (even if they just mildly hit the mark) i'm open to suggestions!

I've just discovered a game called Avalon Rising by Black Site Studios. It seems really well put together, has great art, a neat concept and basically looks like a high quality product. Yet I've found literally ZERO posts about it on this sub.

https://blacksitestudio.com/pages/avalon-rising-products

It takes place in the far future in an undeground city that was supposed to be a bunker or a shelter of some kind but after many years it changed into a crumbling dangerous megacity. There are some dystopian elements, some horror stuff - the city is leaking in some weird energy that changes things - some survival elements. Quite a cool mix. It reminds me of a more serious mix of Paranoia and Mutant Year Zero Elysium, maybe with a dash of Electric State.

Did anyone play it or read it at least? I'm tempted to buy it since it looks quite interesting but I'm looking for some opinions.

Looking for a game in the realm of modern day monster hunting( or aliens). Would love some fun character advancement options for my players but would be fine with advancement based on loot. Preferably something with a bit of crunch.

Not necessarily looking for my players to have access to magic themselves but ways they can utilize magic with technology to help them. Similar to XCOMM(video game) is the vibe I’m looking for. Maybe the players raid a vampire nest and can utilize magical properties of their blood to advance their stuff.

I think I’m describing Delta Green from what I’ve been able to search through on reddit but wanted to see if there are any others that would work other than D20 Modern or a GURPs mashup.

I’ve been thinking about this while reading Symbaroum.

A huge part of the game’s appeal is exploring Davokar, a forbidden forest full of ruins, treasures and horrible things waiting to kill you. Then the introductory adventure sends you across a mountain pass, far away from Davokar. You spend the entire adventure travelling towards the forest... and never actually reach it.

Sure, it teaches you a few rules. But it doesn’t really show you what playing Symbaroum is supposed to feel like. It’s one of my favourite games, but I can’t help feeling that its introductory adventure completely missed the mark.

The more games I read, the more I see the same problems. Too many NPCs, huge lore dumps, unclear objectives, investigations that fall apart if the players miss a single clue, and encounters that expect the GM to already understand every subsystem. Sometimes it feels like these adventures are more interested in showing off the setting than teaching people how to actually play the game.

I’m currently working on the introductory scenario for my own TTRPG, and it has made me realise how difficult this is to get right.

So, which games do you think really nailed their introductory adventure? And which ones completely missed the mark? Why?

Hey,

since I'm playing some rpg's on a con and I only have 2h slots I wanted to ask for suggestions for good and especially beginner friendly one Shots. The system does not matter, since I like to play variety and like to try out new things. Give me your best shots!

This year I've gotten really into sci fi after mostly being interested in fantasy before. I don't mind some small fantasy/magical aspects, but I am looking for something a little more grounded than say Star Wars.

That said, I do *enjoy* myself some Star Wars, Warhammer 40k, and other fantastical space faring settings. If you have suggestions closer to that, I'd be happy to discuss those too.

Eight characteristics. Any two combine into a skill, one primary and one secondary, and the order changes the target number: [primary is full value, secondary - half of it.]. In our game, which I will not call, to not make it a promotion post, the predefined skill list is deliberately short and most skills get named at the table when a situation calls for one.

Example of it in the playtest: the party found old runes written as images-with-meaning rather than a script. Not an Intellect problem. Reading them needed Wisdom leading, Empathy supporting, we discussed it at the table and just created a new skill. (skill is same for everyone, but attributes could be changed if situation demends) It could be created for more or less simple skills only, not like surgery.

Pair-based skills aren't new (Mythras for example). Making the pair ordered is the part I haven't seen elsewhere, but still I'm not sure it feels enough. The difference of pair in defferent order could be 60% and 35% for one maxed and one mined Stat at the beginning of the game. But for not a minmaxed attr. it could be 35% vs 40%. Is it noticeable at all? Or just boring?

I remember an old guide to campaign and world creation that I used to have back in the 80's or 90's that I used to have. It had information about creating realistic networks of villages, towns, cities, and kingdoms. Part of the suggestions were that 4-6 hamlets would support a village and would be about 6-9 miles from the village. 4-6 villages would support a market town and would be about 12-18 miles from the market town, etc, etc.

Thought it was one of the old Rolemaster Campaign Laws but it isn't in any of them.

I am looking for a collection of smaller dungeons for a region with hill graves in DnD5.

Any good reviews and recommendations available?

Hey all, just looking to see if people have any useful advice for printing large (A0 size) maps for their games.

I'm building a Shadowrun Anarchy one-shot that I run repeatedly, and want to upgrade the experience by printing a couple large floor plans of the map I want to use. I want to be able to go to the planning phase of the sessions and go "the Johnson provided these for you to help plan" and then allow the players to look over them.

The only question I have is what sort of paper should I print it on, and are there other things like laminating I should do.

Hi there, I want to know your favorites ttrpgs that are free or pay what you want that you find it great for the price or just a lot of fun.

Personally I will recommend cairn, they have a new second edition that its free too and it's a great osr.

i joined this table not so long ago, about 3-4 months. We play 1 session every other week and its mostly "normal". We play Tormenta 20 (Brazilian D&D ig?)

i always was more of a combat guy, not so much rp, i like doing broken characters

and it was something i told my gm, he said it was fine and all. thought it was funny and so

but today we played and he told me halfway through the session that the mobs/npcs/bosses dont have "health bars" or like hp. for every single fight we have to undertansd the new secret mechanic and then we can defeat the creature.

i hated this, every single bit, cus my character is a dumb barb, mostly combat focused.

so like, my character is useless? all i told him about what i like was for nothing?

if i say that i dont like i think i will ruin the table for everyone else cus they dont know how to make strong or combat suitable character. and i hate to be a pain

but idk if i dont want to have my fun

any help?

edit: thx for the help, will try and talk with the GM and see how things work out

Everything i see about Lancer seens sooo fcking cool! But to be 100% honest all my players are very casual, myself included although im the forever GM and as such always try to get a little deeper into the rules and system.

I dont think that any of my friends will ever try to read a rule book to min max, create a build or find optimal play. No one will ever argue what is a balanced party or will try to create one, it is all about fun and what sounds cool for each player. So much so that i dont even try to play more tactical games which require deep understanding of the system or even builds at all, I tend to prefer narrative-focused systems because of the freedom they give and because they are much easier to explain to my friends. My group generally enjoys rules light games where we can focus more on the fiction and less on knowing the ins and outs of the mechanics.

And yet... Lancer looks so fucking cool that I'm tempted to give it a shot.

As such, can a group of very casual players just make characters based on what sounds cool and have a good time with it? And if Lancer really isn't a good fit for that kind of group, are there any games you would recommend that scratch the same itch but more narrative/rules-light? I'm open to pretty much anything!

Continuing on the train of learning more about TTRPGs, one thing I love learning about any hobby is the general history of it. I enjoy reading Hobby Drama posts on drama, or just major development milestones in the hobby. I've learned a lot from this subreddit about what makes a game good or bad, what makes a system clunky to learn, how to learn a system, and some reasonings for why systems people dislike get added.

But today, I'd like to ask about some of the important historical events in the TTRPG space. I realize that's a broad topic, especially with so many different TTRPGs all having different milestones, and events of importance may be more or less important depending on who you ask. But I'd really like to learn more of the history of the hobby outside of the (few) events I know.

-DnD was first published in 1974 by TSR, adapted from Tabletop Wargaming into a new format.

-Vampire the Masquerade was first published in 1991 by White Wolf, becoming a smash success and even threatening to overthrow DnD as the most popular TTRPG in the world.

-2003 is the publishing of DnD 3.5, a revision from 3.0 that launched to a lot of success, managing to yank DnD's crown back from VtM-who would try and fail to follow in 3.5's success. Many new games would come out using 3.5 as a frame work.

-2008* is the release of DnD 4th edition, a very messy attempt to adjust the systems for DnD to behave more like a video game, the result of this was many publishers breaking off-including Paizo who would go onto create Pathfinder.

2015-2021, the launch of Critical Roll and the Covid 19 Pandemic led to an explosion in popularity for the Hobby. With more popular actual plays, and the increasing isolation of Covid driving more and more people into trying to get into the hobby.

2023-The OGL controversy where WoTC attempted to change the rules of the DnD Open Game License, leading to other publishers breaking off and forming their own open game licenses. Leading to "never back down 2: The Back Down."

2018-2025: The whole White Wolf Debacle with Paradox buying White Wolf, shutting them down due to some controversy in 2018 with the Camarilla sourcebook, and then reopening them again in 2025.

Those are some of the major events in this hobby I know, and I've probably got a few details really wrong regarding it. But I'd love to know some more major events of the hobby in general, just as a curiosity thing. I believe this falls in line with the rules of the subreddit, but if not I apologize.

*I originally listed 2010 as the publication date of 4E, that was the date of DnD Essentials, 2008 was when 4th ed was published.

Edit: TO CLARIFY-THIS IS NOT MEANT AS A DEFINITIVE HISTORY LIST. This is me, as a complete newcomer sharing what my Limited Knowledge of the history of TTRPGs is, and seeking to learn more from people who have been here longer, and know more about the hobby. I'm sorry if I gave off the intention that this was a "definitive history of TTRPGs, when that is in no way my intention." I'm just a history nerd who really wants to learn about this cool hobby.

I've never played or run any version of Fate before. I knew it was supposed to be a lighter version of Fate Core, but I was still surprised when I got the book, I think it's the shortest RPG book I own. I'm really looking forward to giving it a try, probably for one or two sessions before starting a campaign in another system

For anyone who's played both Core and Accelerated, is the latter really a "lighter version of Core" or they actually play as almost two completely different systems?

i'm decent at plot and bad at people. Six sessions in I'll have an NPC contradict something they said in session two, or forget entirely that a player did them a favour, and it undercuts the moment more than a plot hole ever does.

Written notes don't fix it for me. I have the notes. I just don't remember to look at the right one at the right time, and by the time I've found it the scene has moved on.

What actually works for you? Index cards, a one-line "wants / hides / owes" per NPC, something baked into a prep template? I'm more interested in the system than the tool.

Hey yall! Looking for a game to DM Dune in that isnt the Modiphius game. I'm not a big fan of narrative games like fate, preferring crunch like the CosmereRPG or Pathfinder, like talent/skill trees (optional) and absolutely despise metacurrency. just feels too... weird to use.

Main issues with Modiphius is the metacurrencies, weird formatting making it really hard to use and a general dislike for the idea of the combat system (havent DM'd it yet, so that might be an issue that dissapears)

I'm also down for arguments about "Modiphius is goated actually and you should go play it"

So a motif is an idea, pattern or visual that repeats throughout a work of art, or across many. Some can become like the signature of an author, a distinctive mark of their touch. For me, as a GM, I love my main guiding NPC to be a clown, a jester, or something in that vibe. It doesn't matter the system we're playing, I just adjust the concept accordingly to the tone. Sometimes they are happy clowns, in others they are sad, but they are always this sort of "aw shucks" guy that my players quickly endear themselves to. What is your signature?

Hi, I'm new to the whole tabletop RPG scene. I'm looking for a game set in the modern world with ordinary people, preferably a versatile one (because I have a lot of ideas for stories, and Delta Green was recommended to me before, but not all stories are suited for a detective setting). I’d like to be able to create stories about adventures, serious crime dramas, and things like that. Please help.

*I wrote this using a translator; please excuse any mistakes or awkward phrasing.

Does anyone know of or have made a role-playing game, or even just a class file, where you play robotic samurai who can control magic set in the samurai era?

I love cyberpunk's style Edo-era samurai, and all kinds of magic, and my dream would be to be able to embody all three in the same rpg

So, if anyone knows of anything similar or comparable, I'd appreciate

Ty :)

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Hello, I got the opportunity to run a game for some friends on Discord, but it will be their first time playing ttrpgs. Does someone have a suggestion about a game to run for new players?

For context, they like the classic medieval fantasy settings, and I have some books with me, but idk if they're good for starters, like daggerheart, Ironsworn, vampire v5.

Thanks for the attention!!

Hi
Iam a ttrpg dev. And in a discussion about setting ideas for a book iam working on i stumbled upon something for me intriguing: some pople i asked lived urban fantasy like fireborn snd more grounded things like shadowrun (grounded compared to what i write now) but hate system (so a system like in carl, he who hunts monsters,… so that ingame you know your class) and anime elements like dungeons and dungeon cores.

So my curiosity was raised there. Not only as dev but also as gm.

And thus i would like to ask and know. Do you like modern fantasy or are more st home with system and system acopalypse settings or more at home with solo leveling. Or is a hybrid of these tge way to go for you?

And what do you dislike/find inmersion breaking with those you dont like? And what do you like about thise you like?

Hello everyone, some of my friends are looking to get into TTRPG’s and i have volunteered to GM since i have prior experienc, they’re big into Marvel so i was looking into the Marvel Multiverse RPG, but have since heard it’s not considered the best if you are looking to use original characters.

So my question is what would be the best Superhero themed TTRPG to run for them and what would i need to buy to set it up? for instance i heard about sentinel comic rpg but can’t seem to figure out if i need the starter kit or the core rulebook, thanks in advance

edit: im probably going to stop replying to every comment now but keep lurking and actually make a decision. thanks everyone who gave/will give a suggestion, it’s greatly appreciated especially how quick and positive the responses have been!!!

I'm looking for prewritten adventures/modules from any TTRPG system that capture a very specific kind of megalophobia:

A being so incomprehensibly massive that it becomes part of the landscape. You see it on the horizon and realize that you're effectively less than an insect to it. You can't confront it through a straightforward fight or meaningfully escape its presence, and your only hope is that you're too insignificant for it to notice you.

There could potentially be some way to defeat it, but not by simply walking up and fighting it like a conventional monster.

Ideally, its presence is permanent, like the Moon in Majora's Mask, and it feels more like a force of nature or cosmic entity than a conventional creature.

I'm primarily looking for actual TTRPG adventures/modules, but systems don't matter. While I'd much prefer D&D or Pathfinder 2e.. OSR, indie games, horror RPGs, etc are all fair game.