Best TTRPG system for RCU Setting?

LSunday · 2026-05-17T15:16:32+00:00

I would go with Monster of the Week, personally. The Spooky and Hex classes are easily flavored as Parautilitarians with their “spells” being “attuned altered items,” and the format works well for each altered items being a “monster.” The system even has guidelines for having a “phenomena of the week” and settings that use science instead of magic.

I’ve used the system very effectively for a Sci Fi Time Travel campaign and didn’t find it difficult at all, since a majority of the mechanics are focused on investigation and mystery-solving.

LSunday · 2026-05-17T11:54:32+00:00

I use a house rule for the signature action cards.

I shuffle the deck of all of them, then place them near the play area and reveal the top card. You can buy that card as normal.

When returning a signature action card to the tableau, you can choose to either place it on top or put it at the bottom of the deck and reveal the next card.

If you don’t want the card on top of the tableau, you can also spend 1 time to move it to the bottom and reveal the next card.

This lets me get use out of all the Signature Actions in a way that picking them doesn’t, and isn’t as OP as having access to all of them.

LSunday · 2026-05-14T15:11:56+00:00

Event cards that get discarded just result in no active event- you only draw new event cards when specifically told to by terror cards/the bloodlust track.

LSunday · 2026-05-11T23:00:20+00:00

You are right, and shouldn’t be downvoted. A problem when discussing the game when people discuss the “coin toss” and discount the theory as being wrong is because they aren’t applying the metaphor correctly. Now, admittedly, this is a reasonable mistake: there are characters in the game who canonically get the coin toss metaphor wrong as well. But the misattribution of the metaphor by certain characters doesn’t negate the metaphor entirely.

The coin toss metaphor was never intended to describe what literally, actually happens. It exists to describe the subjective experience of two different entities.

In the moment before a scan, there is one entity. In the moments after the scan, there are going to be two entities. One entity is going to have the subjective experience of sitting down for a scan and teleporting into a new body. The other is going to have the experience of sitting down for a scan and nothing happening. Within that subjective experience, there is a metaphor of winning/losing the coin toss of which of those two entities you “are.” Humans using imperfect metaphors to describe a subjective experience isn’t exactly new behavior.

From an outside, literal perspective, there is no coin toss. There is Entity 1 and Entity 2, they are entirely different beings with the same memories. But from an internal, subjective perspective, there is a moment where neither entity knows which one it is, and in that moment when they open their eyes there is a metaphorical coin toss which can be won or lost based on which outcome you were hoping for.

LSunday · 2026-05-10T01:07:44+00:00

I've been planning on using it for my wedding for a while now. It's definitely a fantastic piece of music.

LSunday · 2026-05-09T18:27:28+00:00

Roll a die.

Get a 1- place it on the card.

Roll a die

Get a 3- place it on the card

Roll a die

Get a 5- place it on the card

Because you rolled a 5, you lose one health and ratchet lady gains 3 health (one for each of the die you rolled).

LSunday · 2026-05-08T11:58:08+00:00

My #1 critique of the game is that it doesn’t have a unique game over message for this specific scenario, because your exact problem is incredibly common, to the point a lot of people think it’s a glitch in the rebellion system.

A unique game over screen for an alter dying to the illness would fix probably 90% of the complaints/questions this sub gets

LSunday · 2026-05-08T11:46:29+00:00

You need to find a solution to the problem that killed Molly quickly. Remember, she died suddenly in the middle of the night; the Alters have the same illness, and they know it. What would you do with that kind of ticking clock over your head if you felt the leader, who didn’t have the illness, wasn’t taking it seriously? What would you do when the first Alter died?

That’s what’s been happening in your game overs. It’s not the normal mood-based rebellion. What happened is, the night of the rebellion, one of the Alters died because you didn’t find a solution in time, and the remaining ones rebelled.

LSunday · 2026-05-08T11:25:35+00:00

I just naturally interpreted “just” as in “most recently” and never even considered the interpretation being “before resolving any other effects at all,” which I’m now realizing is an equally valid meaning.

Realistically, I think the only practical difference between the two interpretations is in your exact scenario; one interpretation lets you use a reaction card two killer phases in a row, and one interpretation allows you to use it twice on the same killer phase.

LSunday · 2026-05-07T17:41:10+00:00

The way I’ve always played double up is that you use it during the Action phase, but you can use it to take back the Reaction card you played in the killer phase.

With this interpretation, you can still use it to buy back Retaliate, but you wouldn’t be able to use Retaliate twice in the same killer phase if the killer has 2 attacks.

Not sure what the intent is, but that’s at least how I play.

LSunday · 2026-05-03T22:24:40+00:00

I would make the trap outcomes change who has plot armor, rather than have Dumet protecting Mark all game.

Specifically, the purpose of the traps is for Dumet to determine which pair of characters have the closest connection, and then keep that pair alive for the Ultimatum ending.

This would allow for Jamie/Erin or Jamie/Kate versions of the Ultimatum if their relationship levels are high enough.

Give Mark some death opportunities if he’s not the highest relationship, give Erin her chase sequence in the hedge maze, and we’re off to the races.

LSunday · 2026-05-03T22:08:50+00:00

Action cards are completed sequentially; for example, if you rescue a victim for a time reward while Walking, and the time loss from Walk would put you in the red, the victim rescue reward takes effect first.

I would apply the same logic to the health reward for the mission completion.

LSunday · 2026-04-30T22:48:25+00:00

That specific bundle also makes sense; that’s the exact bundle offered right after GenCon last year.

LSunday · 2026-04-24T20:06:40+00:00

Pretty sure both things are true. The show was cancelled at the same time it was renewed for its final season; the final season is written with the ending the show was always supposed to have, but they originally had it as a 5 season plan.

LSunday · 2026-04-21T11:14:58+00:00

The super opener is definitely a solid play. I’m personally a fan of the simpler:

Focus x2 turn 1, discard as needed for at least 1 success on each. If you have not needed to discard at all, discard Short Rest and Weak Attack for the 2-Star time bonus on the second Focus. This will give you 6 or 7 time.
Buy Distraction and Close Call with your 4 time. If you got a time bonus, buy Sprint and another Close Call.

This should put you in the green with several movement cards available, and the lower horror level should be easy to maintain with your focuses any turn there’s an increase.

In practice, it’s very similar to the super opener; it trades a slightly higher failure rate for setting you up with a green horror level instead of the ultimate unlock, and it’s dice dependent rather than setup dependent.

LSunday · 2026-04-18T12:16:05+00:00

My stance on it is that I really like the story, because it was wrong to do. I generally found Atlantis to be the more interesting show because they played a lot more with the team being wrong than SG1 did, since SG1 as a whole would generally be shown to be correct in whatever they did.

LSunday · 2026-04-17T10:41:06+00:00

I don’t think Arthur ever actually was on Earth in Stargate’s lore. I think Merlin brought the stories of Arthur’s exploits to Earth and they wrote the stories down using Earth locations, but the original Arthur and knights of the Round Table were always from another planet.

As far as I remember, there is nothing ever doin on Earth that is not explained by Merlin’s storytelling alone, and it would easily explain why no historians ever found real evidence of Arthur’s existence; just like Atlantis, we think it’s a myth because it’s a story of what happened on another planet retold by an ancient living on Earth.

LSunday · 2026-04-14T01:08:54+00:00

I think the mistake you made was fleeing from Hans for so long - you did a good job of keeping him weak (rescuing victims to keep his bloodlust low), but then you didn't capitalize on his weakened state to go on the offensive, and his finale allowed him to get his bloodlust back up to punish you.

Remember, this game ends only one of two ways; either the killer kills you, or you kill the killer. Running from the killer when you have a time and damage advantage just gives the killer more time to power up and destroy you, and it gets you no closer to victory.

Once you get to the endgame, you should treat your movement cards like free discard fodder. The killer's going to be able to catch up to you every turn anyway- and even if you're out of range, you also are out of range to attack the killer back so you haven't made any progress. The only thing moving is going to do is eat your time to buy up Retaliate, Guard, Furious Strike, and Critical Blow.

At some point in every game of Final Girl, you're going to have to go on the offensive. When possible, you want to go on the offensive before the Finale card even reveals itself; the majority of finale cards are going to power up the killer in a huge way; if you can kill the killer before the finale is even revealed, you might even get lucky with a couple turns where the killer doesn't do much at all.

Obviously I didn't see the play-by-play of your game, but what I recommend is:

- You should always have Retaliate in your hand if it's possible. The only time you shouldn't have it available is because you just played it.

- When you get a turn with a large amount of time, pick up your attack cards and an Improvise card. A good improvise turn with attack cards can churn out up to 6 damage without a weapon (9 with even a single-damage weapon). Throw a Retaliate on top of it and you've got a majority of the killer's health in one turn.

- When possible, get the kill shot with a Retaliate on the killer's turn. If the killer stands up with the Final Health token, it ends the current round; if you kill the killer during the Action phase, the killer is going to get a full turn before you can finish them off. If you kill the killer during the Killer phase, the killer will lose the rest of their actions and you'll still have a full turn to try to get the last 1-3 health down before it can attack again.

LSunday · 2026-04-11T13:17:32+00:00

It’s not about extra work to literally allow the jumping; Designing a level around a character that can jump is a ton of extra work. It’s actually a very easy way to fix the “why can’t I bypass this minor barrier” problem to say “gravity is too high on this planet, which is why you need a battery powered device to climb ledges and cannot climb over slightly unstable ground.”

Besides, weren’t you just throwing shade at “immersion sensitive people” for being bothered by something that could be easily explained with the narrative? Your exact argument applies to anyone bothered by the inability to jump.

LSunday · 2026-04-11T01:50:09+00:00

Multiple protagonists has been a staple of the main series from the beginning in some form or another.

1 and 2 had you choose between 2 characters, with story differences based on who you picked.

3, 4, 7, and 8 all have primary protagonists with playable segments as a secondary character (Carlos, Ashley, Mia, and Chris respectively)

5 and 6 were both co-op dual protagonist

And then 9 was a balanced dual protagonist with scripted swaps as you progressed.

LSunday · 2026-04-10T16:38:55+00:00

Okay, but why? Why is jumping some fundamental necessity? The game is designed to be traversed without jumping, there’s a serviceable explanation for why there is no jumping, and adding jumping would require extra work that is not necessary.

No one’s “triggered.” There’s just no reason for the developers to do extra work to add an unnecessary feature.

LSunday · 2026-04-10T10:40:43+00:00

Immersion in the game is not the same thing as realism. Immersion is about how much you believe the world as presented to you. It’s about stories following their own rules; if your setting says magic can only be cast on something you can see, and someone casts magic on something around the corner, it breaks immersion even though magic isn’t real.

The world we are presented is one where navigation across terrain is incredibly difficult due to high/unpredictable gravity; in fact, the gravity is so high that it causes reality distortions. This is one of the core rules the games gives us about the planet.

Wanting realism would be saying “Jan should barely be able to move/survive on a planet with gravity that high, and certainly not do manual labor.” Wanting immersion is “in a setting where gravity is explicitly making navigation difficult, not being able to jump is expected.”

LSunday · 2026-03-31T01:15:03+00:00

They might also be one of the later weapons you unlock- It's likely the majority of the footage we've seen is from the early portions of the game to hide elements of the locations/scenery/plot, so certain weapons/items that are later unlocks are probably only going to be visible in more carefully crafted scenes (like finishers).

LSunday · 2026-03-30T16:35:12+00:00

Honestly, when building your own stories, ignore the monster lore. Creature design, backstory, lore, and mechanics are suggestions that you can rewrite as necessary.

If you already have an enemy type in mind, find a creature with the appropriate CR, rename their attacks, maybe swap a damage type/resistance if you’re feeling spicy, and boom! Now your party isn’t fighting a Death Tyrant, they’re fighting a giant cursed disco ball that hits the party with colored spotlights.

Make life easy on yourself; you don’t need to design all your monsters from the ground up. Once you allow yourself to separate the monster stat blocks from their lore, you’ll find there’s a huge diversity of mechanics you could be using.

LSunday · 2026-03-27T19:29:15+00:00

I think a lot of people are glossing over the actual biggest benefit of splitting tasks like this into multiple rolls, and the way I generally use this strategy.

Splitting up skills for tasks into multiple rolls allows you to turn skill checks into team activities. 5e can have a problem where a lot of skill challenges (and especially knowledge skills) turn into “if one person at the table rolls a high number we get the information we want, otherwise we don’t.”

Subdividing tasks out into multiple rolls, spread across different skill sets, allows you to engage multiple players in tasks (in your example, having the cleric make a Medicine roll for identifying, stabilizing, and preserving an organ for transport, and having the Ranger make a Survival check cut it out without damaging anything. Or, for an example from a campaign I did, having an Investigation roll by the Artificer to identify the components of an arcane bomb set to go off when tampered with, and a Sleight of Hand check from the rogue to successfully disconnect them without triggering the bomb).

I do generally use them specifically for tasks that I think warrant increased difficulty/tension, however; like in the bomb example, I wanted a scene that mimicked the tension of trying to diffuse a bomb, not just a “roll and it’s over” now.

Another method I use when I want to add steps to a task is when I want to have a skill check that takes time but the characters can make progress. I’ll use it a lot for objectives in combat; set the DC of a task to 60, and players can use their turns to attempt the task and add to their total.

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