|OT| The Tabletop Role-Playing Game Thread

Li Kao

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Jan 28, 2019
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What is a Tabletop Role-Playing Game / Pen & Paper RPG / Table Talk RPG ?
You seriously have no idea ? This is gonna be painful to write :sweaty-blob:

I will surely riff off the intro to the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons here, but to make it simple : once upon a time, nerds wanted to do more than read about fantastic worlds, they wanted to play in them.
And while there was and still is some experiments on the way to do it, with more or less tactical gameplay, the degree of simulation etc, the solution can broadly be named 'collaborative storytelling'. Children games of make-believe with added rules and randomness to make the result believable.

The games are traditionally but not exclusively played with one person acting as the 'Lead Storyteller' (term may vary, still the same shit). He is here to adjudicate the rules in order to keep the world and gameplay consistant, believable, fun. Why the fuck am I writing this, it's boring and like quick sands, I don't see the end, send help He presents the world for the players to influence, he opposes the players with good challenges, not too soft or deadly, the Lead Storyteller gains nothing with destroying the party (some people to this day haven't internalized that shit, so let's repeat it once more).
...it can sound boring but the guy is basically playing everyone but the player characters, that's pretty cool.

Then on to the players' side.
They create their characters to play in the world, generally form a party and then go full murder hobo. Or try to fuck the princess but that's because your players are 15 years old. You just have to wait it out, it takes 5-20 years.

I write this on the fly and will have to do a good reread to make that shit coherent, but that's PnP RPG. An imaginary world shared by a group of people, in order to entertain themselves.

Then the wankers came around and began experimenting with group narration, rules-liteness, and plenty other cool things that I'm not paid to write about, so I won't.


What do you need to play ?
  • Pen and paper ba dum tss :disapproval-blob:
  • You can replace that with a myriad modern things that cost an arm, don't let me slow you down on your spending spree, you hyper consumer space cowboy.
  • People, it's at its core, by nature, a social thing. And what differentiate it with video games. That are a perfectly fine activity, just not the same thing.

Reminder for the noobs - You are not meant to learn every fucking rules of the games. They are there in case. What you must learns is character creation / core gameplay and how to fucking find the answer to the question this irritating player just asked. Or fake it.

This is a train wreck of a thread, I'm sorry.

NOTABLE GAMES -


Dungeons & Dragons
The big old one. One of the two major RPG on the market. Is in its fifth edition, pretty accessible complexity-wise. The downside would be a lack of options, but I'm the neutral narrator, so don't mind me.



Pathfinder
The other big one. Which came as a reaction to the transition between D&D3.5 and 4. Some people weren't satisfied with leaving 3.5, and as Wizards of the Coast had made the main rules of D&D free to use, people took the offer and ran away with it, giving us Pathfinder. The game is now in its second edition, which actually departed more heavily from D&D.
It's also maybe the anti-D&D5, bigger page count, more complex, more options. Choose your poison.



Call of Cthulhu
The main horror RPG. It uses a D100 system, nothing like the other two (that use D20, perfectly thought out thread there).
Has a cool starter set, that come in a box, with incredibly summarized rules on 20+ pages, and a bunch of adventures.



Fria Ligan / Free League
Not a game, a publisher. They are Swedes, publish a game every six months, profit. No one know their formula to critical and market acclaim. It must be some Swede thing they eat. Some sort of fish ?
Mutant Year Zero, Tales from the Loop, Alien RPG, yup, them.



Onyx Path
Publisher again. They are the guys behind the whole World of Darkness thing in the 90's. That emo guy you avoided, he played that.


Useful links
 

Swenhir

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Apr 18, 2019
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Holy crap, what an OT! Thank you, and I look forward to reading more from all of you people :).
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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We already beat the post count of my last PnP RPG thread. The sky is the limit :coffee-blob:
 
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ISee

Oh_no!
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WoW, you've a lot of work into this!

edit: Why the eyes? That was 100% meant as a compliment. I like the write up. It's funny, explains things and it's entertaining.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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edit: Why the eyes? That was 100% meant as a compliment. I like the write up. It's funny, explains things and it's entertaining.
I genuinely didn't know how to take it (in a good way, there was no offense in any case). It's a fine line between the jokes, the rushed OT that needs to be a little helpful but can't take my day to create, that I wouldn't be surprised if somebody found it frankly lacking.
 
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Swenhir

Spaceships!
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I genuinely didn't know how to take it (in a good way, there was no offense in any case). It's a fine line between the jokes, the rushed OT that needs to be a little helpful but can't take my day to create, that I wouldn't be surprised if somebody found it frankly lacking.
Your OT is really good and I am saying this unironically. It was fun to read and appropriate for the topic at hand. I share Isee's view :).
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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I was once traveling with this group of mercenaries. One of them was an old wizard, always starring into one of his books, whispering things under his nose, never fully aware of his surroundings. Quiet, inconspicuous appearance but always ready to share interesting trivia.

But I digress, while exploring a dungeon we stumbled upon a door and while peaking through it we found a room full of nasty goblins, Our Wizard had an idea how to solve the goblin problem easily. I was supposed to open the door on his command, he would prepare one of his mighty spells and after casting it we were supposed to hold the door closed.
The party prepared, the wizard start mumbling and his fingers painted strange signs into the air. "Open the door!" he screamed and I reacted promptly.
"Close the door!" was his next command and our man at arms slammed it close. The next thing we heard was "Fireball!".

Time slowed down and I swear I heard the wizards voice arguing with another creature. Not a god, more like the fabric of existence itself.
"No, I meant to say close the door followed by Fireball." said the wizard.
But the eternal voice answered: "Good for you, but that's not what you said, now did you?"

Next thing I know was a wave of fire hitting me, pressing every last bit of air out of my lungs and throwing me around like a puppet and knocking me out.
I'm no longer traveling with wizard and especially not this one.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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This thread shall not die !
...
Me : 'Now, lay on hands or resurrection ?' :thinking-blob:
Thread : 'I'm bleeding to death, halp !'
Me : 'Silence, I'm thinking !'
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
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This right in ! (not really, 15 days old news. I'm the best at thread making, yeah.)



Cyberpunk Red
Suggested Retail Price: $60.00 (US) Physical; $30.00 (US) Digital
tote not profiting from the video game hype there
Estimated Street Dates: November 14, 2020 (Digital); November 19, 2020 (Physical)

Pretty sure this is of interest to Swenhir at the very least !
 

Dandy

Bad at Games.
Apr 17, 2019
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I miss tabletop RPGs so much. I played everything as a kid; AD&D, Rifts/TMNT/Heroes Unlimited, World of Darkness and probably more.

It's probably been at least 20 years since I've played one now, but this year I started playing on a play by post Discord server. Most if it is just free form role playing, but there are also DMs who run quests for parties in separate channels which is what I mainly do.

It's not a perfect sub for the real thing, but it fits into my life better than any other options, and it's a lot of fun.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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I miss tabletop RPGs so much. I played everything as a kid; AD&D, Rifts/TMNT/Heroes Unlimited, World of Darkness and probably more.

It's probably been at least 20 years since I've played one now, but this year I started playing on a play by post Discord server. Most if it is just free form role playing, but there are also DMs who run quests for parties in separate channels which is what I mainly do.

It's not a perfect sub for the real thing, but it fits into my life better than any other options, and it's a lot of fun.
It's unfortunate that virtual tabletop doesn't fit you, I mean if I wasn't hopelessly shy it would be my pick.
That being said, some play by post or by chat must be cool too.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
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- Cyberpunk Red has been released !
Talsorian (the publisher) has uploaded the wrong version of the book on drivethrurpg at first, because uploading the correct book is hard.
The rules include 3 screamsheets, small scenarios of 2-3 pages, from what I gather. One only has to look at the myriad of modules published for their Witcher RPG to be filled with confidence /s

- Oh, and the World of Darkness IP is still a mess ! They are now developing their content in-house, with hopefully less nutjobs on the writing team !
Burn it to the ground and do a v6 please. And drop the art team. Or do an art less version of the rules, I just can't.

That's it for this incredibly in-depth news coverage.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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BREAKING NEWS (FROM THE PAST)

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium is releasing this week (digitally, physical next year).



Pretty cool. Last big release of the year ? But it's by Modiphius, so here is what you can expect : a core book. Supplements, what are they for ? And no, no adventure in the core book.
On the bright side a rep already said they are planning to publish a campaign in 2021, for Dune and several other titles (the new Achtung Cthulhu among others). Which I suppose is a better situation than countless other Modiphius RPG, like Dishonored for example.

But that was the fucking lowest of line to cross.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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It seems I was wrong about Dune releasing that week. I blame RPG publishers treating release schedule like MK-Ultra.

On another topic, I'm interested in playing D&D again. It will pass, as it implies reading a fuckton of drivel. I can't stand the Player's Handbook writing and art.
If I was sane I would just reread the main rules part. The race and class part is please kill me boring. And that's without mentioning all the current hubbub about the insensitivity of the handling of races in D&D these days, a debate which is not without merits.

Nobody is interested in a play by post or discord thing I suppose ? Or voice, but it would take a miracle for me to speak, and in English at that.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
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BREAKING NEWS (FROM THE NOT SO DISTANT PAST) ((for a change))

- While we are talking kickstarter campaigns, here's one I discovered very recently, already funded and with a PDF release in January :



What's not to love ? Original world, picaresque, gritty, mixed with fantasy tropes. All that within the relatively simple rule set of D&D5.
And for the love of God, the art is good. Hasbro, you could maybe take note for the next D&D. On the bright side the bar is low.



- Chaosium (Call of Cthulhu, Runequest) showed the tentative cover for one of their next RPG, 'Lords of the Middle Sea'. It's Pulp as fuck and I love it.



'Based on Lynne Willis's 1978 futuristic proto-Steampunk board game, set in the post-apocalyptic ruins of a flooded North America'



- Finally Enworld released their readers' top 10 most anticipated game of 2021
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Brancalonia is out in digital !

Playing a band of knaves in some weird spaghetti fantasy. Where do I sign ?

15 $ for a few days

There is also a paid quickstart, because greedy pub is greedy

6$ and it's discounted :cold-sweat:



Matt Colville has published a nice little zine for 5e, Arcadia

An adventure, some mounted rules, etc. nothing incredible but good to see, let's hope he continues past the planned first three issues run
7$, that become 5$ if you instead subscribe to his patreon where you still get access to the zine for a few days

Shop

Patreon
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Digging a little on Acheron Books, the Italian publisher of Brancalonia (they do the ENG verssions too).

They seem to have an ancient Rome game planned for March / April, FIRST KINGS.
Unfortunate that it doesn't look like it's using 5e, and I wonder in what measure it separates itself from Lex Arcana (which Acheron also publishes in Italia).





And turns out Brancalonia is set to see an adventure / crunch book, called, I kid you not... the MACARONICON !



How can I love you more day after day, mothefuckers ?


NB. I'm aware that I'm largely talking to myself, I mean considering the thread replies. I don't specifically plan to post here on a regular basis, but if it poses a problem, we can kill this thread. Don't want to pollute Postmeta with unwanted threads. You know me, the rules first, derailing is not my thi... oh. Ooohhhh :thinking-blob:
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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I stumbled on that while casually browsing for board game news, my current obsession. And this is incredible.
If you are even vaguely interested in tabletop RPGs, watch this. Please.

Huge props to Shut Up & Sit Down, I'm not a video guy and don't really watch them, but they are on fucking point.



Watch this. At worst you still won't play tabletop RPGs but you will definitely have a better understanding of these games.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Toying with the idea of organizing some text based ttrpg game. It’s not ideal but I’m pretty sure that, severe social anxiety notwithstanding, people don’t really sant to hear me speak English after 20 years of non use.
We will see, the online solutions look awfully pricey for a hobby based on imagination.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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🔥🔥🔥 Someone at Hasbro : Everything is fine ! 🔥🔥🔥



That being said and in related news, rumors of a big third party bundle of TTRPG at Humble on the 21st.
It's... the most logical move in the history of logical moves.
I am excite.
 
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Dandy

Bad at Games.
Apr 17, 2019
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I miss TTRPGs! They were one of my teenage obsessions. AD&D 2E, TMNT, Heroes Unlimited, Rifts, and Vampire were the mains ones, but I actually started with Robotech cause me and my friends loved the show when we were kids.

Up until the pandemic, I hadn't played one in probably 20 years. Then lockdown happened, and I started watching Critical Role. That lead me wanting to play again, so I bought the 5E core books, and ended up joining a play by post Discord server. I was pretty active on it for about a year and a half, and while it was very hit or miss depending on who you were playing with, it was still fun.

Then a group of us who enjoyed playing together started our own campaign on the side. This is when I started to get that feeling again of when I was a kid. We played for about 4-5 months, but the DM was having a lot of RL struggles with her kid, she had to go back to work, and one day she just posted a goodbye message and I never heard from her again.

The original server still exists, and I pop in once in a while, but most of the people I knew are gone now and every group I join seems uninterested in RP and just want to roll dice, so I've basically given up on it.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Just one hour and change left. Great bundle.
I tried and failed to click with Forbidden Lands rules, but it's admittedly for minor reasons* and I could give it another chance.


* too many dice, specially engraved ones purchasable separately which, if they are clearly not necessary are welcome... And the Pride system is so fucking idiotic to me. Your character has a Pride, something he is really proud of and that he can invoke in related situations to get a +2. Ok, why not. But fail your roll with this bonus and you have to erase that pride and find a new one. It's a minuscule detail easily changeable but no, I don't like that. It's nonsense. I like when mechanics don't clash with roleplay.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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I'm toying with the idea of looking for people to play with. It would be even cooler if those people were socially anxious. The little nudge needed to understand that we, too, can communicate.
I will evidently try my darnedest to forget about all of that once I realize I would have to open my mouth.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Finished reading Pathfinder 2 ! With the help of an aspirin :blobclosecry:

Really torn on it, I have to see it in play but yeah, it's really heavy. Sure the rules are really structured, but there are a shit ton of them anyways. Like, I always have to go see this trait or that condition definition, it's not smooth at all. Yeah, it could come with time, but uguu.

And the change to D&D5 frankly lax rest is just messy. Now in place of spells and rests, half the classes have their own way of healing, it's, uh, yeah, heavy.


Like, let's be honest, in the past I DMed a game for my mother with a couple DMnpc. I am not sure I can play DMnpc here, at all. There is too much going on.
 
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Li Kao

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Interesting times ahead, not incredibly exciting but interesting.
D&D seems to be losing serious steam in the hardcore crowd due to it being quite long in the tooth now.
Pathfinder 2 is seeing a revised edition in a couple of days to cleanly nuke the OGL elements. Better readability, and no alignment, at last.
Then Tales of the Valiant, which seems to have petered out, but it’s still Kobold Press, so it.s notable.

But yeah, Pathfinder 2 Revised on the 15th.

If you want to play, you know I’m right here.
 
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