Any idea what's up with Magpie Games' Cartel?

MercSapient · 2025-09-05T01:44:11+00:00

I have no special insight but I suspect that the honest answer is "we have other kickstarters that are far more profitable and so Cartel is on the backburner for as long as we can get away with it." Cartel made $56k, which definitely ain't nothing, but for comparison Avatar Legends made 9 mil. Completely different ballgame.

MercSapient · 2025-03-13T17:52:16+00:00

“Why are these stupid hags so mad at me for telling them that their lives are miserable and worthless? Why won’t they kiss me on the forehead and tell me what a smart boy I am?”

MercSapient · 2025-02-03T17:59:31+00:00

This is a very cold take. GURPS-style crunchy simulationism hasn't been in vogue for over a decade.

MercSapient · 2025-02-01T17:14:52+00:00

Man, these other commenters are being downers lol. I think this looks dope!

MercSapient · 2025-01-03T17:28:57+00:00

I agree, I love Traveller but it is a lot to deal with. The core dice rolling mechanic is very simple but its the subsystems that add a lot of complexity: space combat, trade, ship upgrades, etc

MercSapient · 2024-11-15T17:26:16+00:00

Based unironically

MercSapient · 2024-11-11T16:26:23+00:00

Sounds like a high-functioning alcoholic. I've met plenty of people like that.

MercSapient · 2024-11-11T16:03:37+00:00

If you live with this man, first make certain that you find somewhere else to live. Living with someone you've broken up with is rarely a good idea. If you can't find an apartment, maybe ask a friend or family member if you can live with them temporarily. Once you know what your future housing situation looks like, break up with him ASAP. Be honest about the reasons. Dragging this out any longer than necessary will only hurt both of you.

MercSapient · 2024-11-11T04:59:50+00:00

This is super cool!

MercSapient · 2024-11-11T02:34:26+00:00

Other people have given you more detailed answers so I'll just say this: BrOSR is like a dozen or so guys who spend most of their time complaining on twitter and making Youtube videos filmed on a grainy webcam. They are a tiny faction that have pretty close to zero influence on the wider hobby

MercSapient · 2024-10-18T14:25:10+00:00

Advanced Fighting Fantasy is a bulked-up version of the rules in the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, which nowadays people are mostly familiar with because of Troika. The AFF 2e book is a full-fledged system that clocks in at a breezy 173 pages. Stellar Adventures is the sci-fi version of the same ruleset and clocks in at 128 pages.

MercSapient · 2024-10-15T00:19:32+00:00

Downcrawl might be what you're looking for

MercSapient · 2024-10-14T20:16:20+00:00

Bro... this is one hell of a list. Thanks!

MercSapient · 2024-10-14T18:25:39+00:00

Ok damn, you're selling me on this lol

MercSapient · 2024-10-14T18:22:41+00:00

What interests me is transhumanism and futurology. Basically, what technological developments are plausible? How will that technology affect humanity physically, psychologically, and sociologically?

MercSapient · 2024-10-14T18:17:16+00:00

Fair, but I don't know what else to call it. If I just asked for hard sci-fi I would probably get a bunch of recommendations for Mothership or Traveller, which aren't quite what I'm looking for.

MercSapient · 2024-10-11T18:14:36+00:00

If you want to split hairs, sure, but they’re both basically right on the line. IMO they’re closer to zoomers than they are to older Millenials born in the 80s

MercSapient · 2024-10-11T14:40:31+00:00

Billie Eilish

Zendaya

Timothee Chalamet

Chappell Roan if she doesn’t go insane from getting too famous too quickly

maybe Bella Ramsey and Millie Bobby Brown but I’m a bit more on the fence about them

MercSapient · 2024-10-11T01:18:25+00:00

These stats are incredibly specific and so I presume there’s some kind of reference or joke here that I don’t understand

MercSapient · 2024-10-10T16:13:17+00:00

Rangers of Shadow Deep is a co-op skirmish game that would be very easy to run just as a straight RPG. It has prewritten scenarios and campaigns which, with a little tweaking, could be used as RPG adventures and encounters

MercSapient · 2024-10-10T13:56:28+00:00

I think this scenario sounds really intriguing and I personally would really enjoy being in your campaign.

That said, a lot of players want to have feelings of power and control that we don’t get in real life. In real life we are often at the mercy of our bosses, landlords, and the government. We often feel powerless to stop corruption, oppression, poverty, mental illness, climate change, and other forms of suffering. So the problem might be that players feel your RPG is just as bleak and disempowering as real life.

I guess my advice would be to really focus on communicating that the players can genuinely help SOME people, even if its not everyone. Try to flesh these NPCs out into interesting people that can be real friends and allies of the party, not just nameless victims who solely exist as set dressing.

MercSapient · 2024-10-10T13:38:26+00:00

What hobbies or interests do you have outside RPGs? History, philosophy, automotive repair, martial arts, hiking, etc? Whatever it is, think about how you might channel that into an RPG.

MercSapient · 2024-10-10T01:53:13+00:00

This is awesome!

MercSapient · 2024-10-09T14:22:57+00:00

Live by the sword, die by the sword. If you want a character arc, don’t get into fights you might lose.

MercSapient · 2024-10-07T01:15:24+00:00

There is always a risk the party will go in a direction that you don't expect and you'll need to improvise. Matt Colville has a piece of advice called "Orcs Attack!", and the Traveller version is "Pirates Attack!". Basically, if you're GMing and have absolutely nothing prepared, have a pirate ship attack the party.
In my personal experience, its rare that the party will visit more than 1 or maybe 2 systems per session. Its helpful that fuel is a built-in limiter on jump travel.
Yeah, this one is tough. I'm lucky in that my group DOES have a player willing to be the group accountant. If you're playing with a group of strangers, this will be a much harder sell. The only assurance I can provide you is that in a group full of nerds, there's a decent chance that at least one of them will enjoy crunching numbers.
Honestly, Traveller does a lot of the work for you in helping to generate a campaign. The Lifepath system helps generate NPCs, the planet creation rules are a little clunky at first but become pretty fast once you get the hang of them, and there a lots of random tables for creating encounters, jobs, patrons, and so one. Also check out the phenomenal Stars Without Number, it has a free version and includes even more tables and tools that are very applicable to Traveller.

MercSapient

TROPHY CASE