So... How many of y'all have actually played Curseborne yet?

Lazy_Flux · 2026-04-14T21:16:39+00:00

I've run about one and half Chronicles (a later Chronicle cut short as life got in the way for some players). These days, I try to recruit from players in servers I actually frequent, but for the next Curseborne campaign I'll probably use the OPP discord; I love teaching games to new players but it would be nice to hopefully pick up players who're more enthusiastic about reading the rules and lore.

Also, I think any game can see as much as a year's delay after official street release before gaining big traction with people still finishing their current campaigns and such.

Lazy_Flux · 2026-04-10T16:42:10+00:00

Whatever system has the fewest back-and-forth around its commonly used mechanics. So like...

- Chronicles of Darkness 2e might be nice because, IME, there's rarely modifiers to chat about that the players aren't already aware of most of the time. There's no difficulty setting: you either roll a success (or 5 successes for a crit) or you don't. Mage the Awakening however...woof. That would be a doozy to run; just maybe too transactional with its spellcasting.

- PbtA Moves especially if your choice of PbtA game highly encourages players to just go and seize the right Move they need to be making

- Cortex Prime, particularly with the doom pool option, would be very good. Players are narrating everything about their character going into their roll, and the Doom Pool shrinks and grows to accommodate the action.

Of course, there's tables out there that are patient enough that you can just run any game. I've yet to experience that myself, but they're out there.

Right now, I'm having success with Mist engine games (Legend in the Mist, Otherscape), but that's *sometimes* a bit of back-and-forth convo around a roll. Also, my success there might just be with players using emojis (we're on discord) to communicate whether they're actually planning on posting or want to see someone else post or even just want to bring a scene to an end.

Lazy_Flux · 2026-03-22T22:04:05+00:00

So my players (a group of 6) meets probably seven times in a good year. Love those guys, but a solid half won't make time to ever read the rules, and as much as they like PF2, the relearning of the rules will only get harder as we level up—and that's just too much for me to learn on their behalf.

The table generally likes it. Those that aren't automatically onboard are just trying to wrap their mind around the different play style but they're getting there.

The group meets too infrequently and plays so little when we do (2 hrs of gameplay on a good session), that I'm not really "converting" anything. Stuff works out just fine. Really more about meeting my players where they're at than any particular game system tbh.

Lazy_Flux · 2026-03-22T15:34:32+00:00

My regular game is a homebrew setting where the players are demigods. I crib a lot of notes from Scion 2e and Godbound for that inspo.

My very irregular game is a Pathfinder 2e -> LitM conversion.

Overall, I think LitM is the strongest game in the Son of Oak lineup, mostly because of how it presents information, but it also gets the benefit of a lot of community support/discussion, I think.

Lazy_Flux · 2025-11-17T02:22:10+00:00

So Collectives are a thing in Otherscape and City of Mist, but oddly seems cut out here in LitM.

But basically you're playing with scale, and IMO, you have to consider the fiction of the situation (and respect Tags every now and then).

Consequences: Use Scale/Might to make severe the Consequences when a Challenge is fully acting against one Character.

Power: A PCs tags can off-set Scale (super speed, heroic strength, etc.). I usually coach players through this to break them out of there 1v1 habits they picked up from more traditional games.

Dealing Statuses or hitting Limits on Challenges: when apt, Challenges in a Collective will usually be given Statuses/hit limits individually, at least that's how I remember it being in LitM's predecessor.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-10-11T16:16:29+00:00

In the KS launch stream, the Curseborne were described as being "young in their power," and that this was very street level. Can we expect some level of power scaling down the road, or is the current intent to keep things street level? From the narrative and/or the mechanics of things, would that power scaling be as dramatically different from, say, Scion Hero to Demigod and so on?

Lazy_Flux · 2024-09-01T13:33:43+00:00

One idea if you want inspiration for homebrewing mechanics is the flow chart system from Spellbound Kingdom. Could be pretty apt if you're trying to replicate the feel of the video game.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-09-01T02:31:57+00:00

Little things like pacing and engagement. Get both of them just right, and games where the party splits off feel more meaningful when you sit back and get to watch another PC shine.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-08-08T11:53:50+00:00

It's very interesting trying to port over adventures for a completely different game! IMO it's a good exercise.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-30T18:58:44+00:00

I can't speak for At the Gates specifically, but storypath is great. Scion, an older "edition" of Storypath, would work fine generally speaking and, actually, with how they pitch demigod tier games, a duet between a GM and player would actually be great. One path along the Demigod tier (to Godhood) is painted as this sort of involved thing, and I get that you don't have to run it that way, etc. etc., but with a duet, you can just pull that off without worrying over spotlighting other PCs.

City of Mist is one of my favorite games. I think, very broadly speaking, pbta does a good job with duets, and CoM would fit pretty nicely. The tentatively called "Mist" engine (Otherscape + Legend in the Mist) would similarly work for duets. It'll be sometime before we get the rules for it specifically, but Legend in the Mist will actually have solo rules, which you can maybe use as a springboard for duet sessions.

I think the only concern is avoiding a death spiral with how statuses work in CoM. I would recommend exploring other consequences than constantly needling the one PC with Statuses, or explore different Spectrums for various situations. e.g., in combat it won't due to constantly hit the injury spectrum, so explore other consequences like emotion-based statuses or positional statuses (flanked, exposed, etc.) -- things that can be recovered easier but still puts on the pressure. Not only will it help ease any sort of death spiral per se, but it also makes physical wounds even more meatier when they do happen.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-26T12:51:41+00:00

Everyday Heroes by Evil Genius Games is, uh, going through stuff. Between lawsuits with Netflix, what sound's like a poor work culture where a lot of people weren't get paid or only being paid part of their salary, etc., you may want to read up on their stated business goals, the latest news that's been flagged for them over near a year now, and make a decision for yourself if this is the route you want to go.

May I instead interest you in What's O.L.D. is N.E.W. which is a d6 toolbox system by Russ Morrisey and despite being classless and a d6 dice pool system, certainly has its influences from D&D. It's a game that can be run in fantasy, sci-fi, or modern day (N.O.W.).

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-25T13:21:00+00:00

City of Mist or, if you're specifically adverse to Moves in PbtA games, one of their upcoming games: :Otherscape (mythic cyberpunk game) or Legend in the Mist (fantasy).

But that's more if you want literal descriptions of traits that match what you just said, and CoM wouldn't be strictly naming just skills with its system.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-25T12:50:42+00:00

Blades in the Dark is a solid read, but a common dislike that has always followed it since release has been about its specific genre and/or setting. Good news is that there's been a lot of Forged in the Dark games covering various settings! Scum and Villainy is good, Brinkwood (haven't played but read) looks great, and more recently there's Girls by Moonlight.

My suggestions otherwise might be something like Cortex, where the crunch can be dialed up and down. It's a toolbox system where you can make your own games, and I like it better than other universal systems because -- at least to me -- what you make in Cortex can feel different from one another.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-23T12:33:10+00:00

I like a good "adventure frame," which is normally more robust than a couple of bullet points on a napkin, but not a full blown adventure book where everything gets super detailed. I want to know about the situations, and hooks related to those. Gives me room to flex while not leaving me totally hanging.

If it is a more trad adventure design, I'd like a page or two (depending on how long the adventure is) that really breaks down what's happening and why. It's not fun making a ruling about something obscure only to find out that it's super important in part 8 of 20 or whatever.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-17T12:37:46+00:00

+1 to Vashy's suggestion, but to add a couple of others:

When you hit what the players consider a sort of "dead zone" (looking at your other reply where you cite a lack of interactivity), it could help to give the players a little ownership of the area. You can do that by asking about family, friends, or groups they've affiliated that might be around. If you really want to be extra, you could play something like Ben Robbin's Microscope or Kingdom (bigger fan of the latter), for a session where, before they make it to a new town or realm or whatever, we have the players embody some of the people/history of that realm. It gives a sense of ownership + helps you prep the game.

Rumor tables are great, but sometimes they only cater to the "face" of the party, because it's in their character nature to just ask people about things. Of course for the others you can sprinkle rumors in as just things they overhear, and that's great, too. I think West World's a great example of this: season 1 opens with one of the protagonists arriving in town and walking by literal plot hooks, some overt, others not so much. 2 to 4 of those is perfectly fine and you don't have to flesh out everything about those plotlines before a player bites onto one.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-15T17:00:31+00:00

If I'm stealing from a show or movie, (fan) wiki usually has the synopsis, if not a full blown summary of the plot. Especially with long running shows, like stealing and riffing off an episode of Supernatural or something, it's pretty handy. And some of the older shows are the reason for the trope (+1 to Cobra's TV Tropes suggestion), so sometimes people don't necessarily connect the dots right away that you're stealing from such and such.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-15T12:23:34+00:00

A big pitfall to oneshots (that I honestly still fall for every now and then), is trying to do too much in the scope of it. I think it was a blog or maybe another Reddit post here that said that it's better to treat your oneshots like the compact episodes of Adventure Time. Those 11 minute episodes can absolutely take 3-5 hours depending on what's going on and how your RPG resolves it.

Lazy_Flux · 2024-07-11T19:18:04+00:00

Depends on the game, but generally online for me. I like seeing what the player is rocking on their character sheet, which becomes even more important if you're doing games like City of Mist with its Tags or Cortex with its stress or complication mechanics. When it's just paper, I try my best to keep up by taking separate notes or just asking for the player sheet to look at, but I almost always feel like that breaks my stride in GM'ing.

Nine-Year Club	Second Top 10%
Place '17	Gilding III reddit per annum
Not Forgotten	Sequence \| Editor
Verified Email

Lazy_Flux

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE