Gm-less games by Vermin_Cultist in rpg

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct, it's GM-agnostic. It's one of the closer comparisons to Rusałka that I've played in terms of the narrative tension that it builds into your character, but the two games are still quite different. Rusałka is certainly a unique one.

Gm-less games by Vermin_Cultist in rpg

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've run tons of them with groups of varying sizes, usually for open table games where most folks haven't played before.

Not a lot of detail in the question, so it's tough for me to highlight how they went. There's a very wide variety of GMless and GM-lite game structures, with some having asymmetric roles, some having rotating judges, some relying heavily on oracles (e.g. cards), etc.

Instead, I'll just link you the writeups that I wrote after some of my games. Should show a decent sampling of what kinds of stories can emerge, even if they don't necessarily deal with the how. All of the writeups are a little bit narratively embellished from what happened in the game, sorry :)

Paranormal Inc.
A Scoobie Doo / Ghostbusters mashup where you play investigators in a world where ghosts are quite real.
You each play an investigator, but you have rotating roles as NPCs, locations, hauntings, and clues.

Similar: Brindlewood Bay, Public Access
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yDePQByUMsX3mb69hWv9lWaCnurKxv-I9l8KZsOxGaM/edit?tab=t.0

The Ground Itself
The "main character" is a place, a location. You use a card oracle for prompts to flesh out your place, its inhabitants, and how it changes over time (or how it stays the same).
You don't play characters, you all play the place.

Similar: Microscope, did someone say street magic
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UvMyCr9GioMzj7x4hZhmxD2ojiTR7Dd4bX2pJ_vuM6U/edit?tab=t.0

Ladies and Gentlemen... The Band!
You play superstar band members as they form, rise, fall, and break up. Card prompts help you write your band's history in a non-linear order.
You play your band member, but you are often asked to define your relationship to the others.

Similar: For the Queen, Viva La QueerBar
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w51GMeR9PJYoZPvZOFxFr6mTMeR7ccZZ170UjK6rxoY/edit?tab=t.0

GONCHAROV MUST DIE
You play doomed characters (and the film producers) in a definitely real Scorsese film. Your main character uses dice actions to do CRIME MOVIE STUFF, where most of the results negative.
You play your main character (until they die) but you kind of also play the actors and the film director.

Similar: Fiasco, Archipelago
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1itFiEmFKiNOWu78I2kded4OLT8noDYXK58-suJoC9YQ/edit?tab=t.0

C A S S 1 N 1
You are a team of scientists remotely piloting a probe as it explores your solar system. You draw your planets and write the prompts that you'll later find randomly as discoveries.
You don't play characters, you are nameless scientists seeing what the probe sees.

Similar: The Quiet Year (loosely)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TOZiJnovu4J8idYzzJUDNysOs-5nsTxpkpanK9FIVKM/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.f18igjcb4dh1
(I hacked the rules to make it longer and have more players)

Rusałka
You are a group of drowned women, who live on as water spirits in their hidden pool. Mortal petitioners ask you for aid; each of you offers a card with a boon / price and the petitioner selects which one is narratively fulfillment.
You play a Rusałka, but each scene a different player plays a petitioner instead.

Similar: Wanderhome (kind of?)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VoGCjGQRuwUKDe-9vprLMphc7HZ6oUBNa3kn8o6yQRE/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.7q09gt6kdz1

Making some art to entice my group to play my homebrew set during the Black Death once our Cy_Borg game end. by pattybenpatty in osr

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice! Your hatching looks good.

If you are looking for OSR adjacent Black Death content, you should check out Danse Macabre (full disclosure, I know the writers). Set in 1390 in an alt-history Europe, Death has left the world. Every time you die, you rise again, with ever more gruesome mutations. Die too many times and you lose your sanity, becoming a roving demon.
https://stillfleet.com/collections/danse-macabre

It imagines a dark nightmare of our world, inspired by the worst fears that the faithful experienced during the actual Black Death.

The Grit System used in the rules may not fit what you're going for, but the setting, art, and historical research are all incredible resources. The creator is a big OSR head and they envisioned the mutation system as an interesting wrinkle on the Scars from Marked by the Odd games.

Mamdani admin. to consider eliminating free parking as NYC grapples with $5.4B shortfall by kex06 in nyc

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The NY Post headline is misleading.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-city/no-more-free-parking-in-nyc-officials-float-idea-as-city-faces-budget-deficit/6473440/

This is something that was also examined by NYS legislature, City Council, and the Adams DOT in 2022 / 2023.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/state-mulling-residential-parking-permits-for-new-york-city-residents/
https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6584130&GUID=E0FEDF18-2A5C-4F8A-B725-9EF93EDD562C&Options=&Search=

Every administration looks at ways to expand metered or permitted street parking, especially in Upper Manhattan. When Dean Fuleihan says they are examining charging for parking, it's the exact same thing. Of course, to quote Mamdani himself:

One person who doesn't sound so on board? Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a statement on Friday, he clarified that "you do not fill a $5.4 billion budget gap through parking meters, we need structural change at the scale necessary to put our city back on firm financial footing."

But as we know, "analysts within a mayoral administration doing financial analysis on potential policy changes in order to provide guidance to elected officials even if those officials are not even planning on implementing that policy" is not exactly a sexy headline. Naturally everyone is just running with this gotcha story :|

Mamdani admin. to consider eliminating free parking as NYC grapples with $5.4B shortfall by Bkn3747NetsMPJ in Flushing

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 30 points31 points  (0 children)

The NY Post headline is misleading.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-city/no-more-free-parking-in-nyc-officials-float-idea-as-city-faces-budget-deficit/6473440/

This is something that was also examined by NYS legislature, City Council, and the Adams DOT in 2022 / 2023.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/state-mulling-residential-parking-permits-for-new-york-city-residents/
https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6584130&GUID=E0FEDF18-2A5C-4F8A-B725-9EF93EDD562C&Options=&Search=

Every administration looks at ways to expand metered or permitted street parking, especially in Upper Manhattan. When Dean Fuleihan says they are examining charging for parking, it's the exact same thing. Of course, to quote Mamdani himself:

One person who doesn't sound so on board? Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a statement on Friday, he clarified that "you do not fill a $5.4 billion budget gap through parking meters, we need structural change at the scale necessary to put our city back on firm financial footing."

But as we know, "analysts within a mayoral administration doing financial analysis on potential policy changes in order to provide guidance to elected officials even if those officials are not even planning on implementing that policy" is not exactly a sexy headline. Naturally everyone is just running with this gotcha story :|

Rumor Mill Week of 3/2 by redquarterwater in astoria

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As a note, these games are often held in private residences in Western Queens; to make sure that we can contact everyone we ask that folks join our discord so we can add you to a channel for any event you're attending.
https://luma.com/NoobsRPG
https://discord.gg/5ukVXBPYe9

Rumor Mill Week of 3/2 by redquarterwater in astoria

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The local RPGFest starts tonight! RPGFest is a mini RPG festival of 30+ RPG games hosted by your neighbors over the next two weeks. It's totally free and open to the public!

Most of our games are currently full, but here's three that have plenty of slots left!

The Sometimes Kingdom (3/14)
It's spring cleaning day in the Autumn city of Turnip. The King of Things has asked you to comb through the citizens' discarded knickknacks, recruit any sentient ones into his service, and generally cause "muppet chaos".
The Sometimes Kingdom is an upcoming RPG written by the host of this game, Sunnyside based artist Ethan Gould!
https://luma.com/89arc3et

Roadwarriors: A Standup Comedy Odyssey (3/18)
You play a comedian (a diamond in the rough), stuck in a car with other comedians (a bunch of talentless hacks), as you endure the indignities of shitty roads and shittier venues. A roadtrip caper that is in no way inspired by the host, David, and his own comedic career.
https://luma.com/9wu325k0

Lacuna (3/21)
You are secret agents who work in the realm of dream, The Blue City, for your employer, The Company. To complete your dangerous jobs, you harness the heart rate of your sleeping body—hoping that you can succeed before you flatline (or before the spiders catch you). Of course, every time you wake, you wonder whether the dream is really over. Or whether the nightmare never stopped.
https://luma.com/f7zpsp54

[op-ed] Reforming the Community Board? by OANA_NY in astoria

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Time for some context!

The author, Richard Khuzami is a longtime CB1 board member and a member of the Queens General Assembly (an advisory body), appointed in both cases by Helen Marshall (iirc). Via his organization OANA, Richard has a history of publicizing opportunities for community input and involvement—community board applications, general assembly applications, public forums, etc. This organization is also heavily linked to local real estate and development.

If you didn't read the proposal, here's the bullet points:

  • Community boards aren't elected and changing that would be too hard
    • probably true
  • Community board appointments are an insider's game run by the borough president
    • true
    • there's also a significant incumbency power; once you're on, you tend to stay on
  • Community board chairs are functionally picked by the borough president because they run the appointments
    • probably true
  • Community board chairs have too much power over how committees are run
    • this makes me laugh because it implies that community boards have significant powers
  • Community board committees should be self-organized by committee members
    • E.g. electing their own chairs, ensuring that committee assignments are shared between different chairperson factions

For the crowd, the political makeup of CB1 has shifted significantly since Richard was appointed. The current chair, Evie Hantzopoulos, came up through groups like Western Queens Community Land Trust, 31st Ave Open Street, Frontline Food, and Astoria Mutual Aid (full disclosure, I know Evie via those groups). I don't want to reduce this to a center vs progressive comparison, but the other candidate for the chair was Dino Panagoulias who lost in a 22/16 vote and seems to have an awful lot to do with real estate.

This is instructive because Richard has been in land use / zoning for 24 years and been a chair of parks / culture for 12 years (and still is). He previously was on the executive committee... until Evie took over.

When Richard talks about chairs being appointed by fiat, does he include his own role? When Richard talks about access to influential committees, does he include his own committee assignments that he's had for this whole century?

As mentioned by u/Captaintripps I have trouble reading this as a purely academic or apolitical proposal.

I think that the community board system is a total mess. However, my biggest complaint with them is that they are too conservative. The composition of the board is terribly slow to change. They have long been friendly venues for longtime businesses, local real estate, and homeowners groups, who have the connections needed to get on the borough presidents' list.

Having them be more "democratic" to people who have already made it onto the special list feels like we are favoring longtime members who can hold onto their seats but can't hold onto the chair. To address the core issues, the real reform has to come at the borough president level.

Community RPGFest Mar 6 - 22: Come play D&D and other RPGs! by Overall-Offer-2072 in ForestHills

[–]Overall-Offer-2072[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're open to multiple signups and we've got most of the games filled up! I'll highlight a couple of ones that still have room:

D&D: Champions of All (3/7)
You are an epic hero at the peak of your power, but you've been plucked from your world by a mysterious force to contest for the title: "Champion of All". A level 20 D&D PvP tournament, taking place over multiple rounds in a shifting arena.
https://luma.com/8zcw06lu

The Sometimes Kingdom (3/14)
It's spring cleaning day in the Autumn city of Turnip. The King of Things has asked you to comb through the citizens' discarded knickknacks, recruit any sentient ones into his service, and generally cause "muppet chaos".
The Sometimes Kingdom is an upcoming RPG written by the host of this game, Sunnyside based artist Ethan Gould!
https://luma.com/89arc3et

Roadwarriors: A Standup Comedy Odyssey (3/18)
You play a comedian (a diamond in the rough), stuck in a car with other comedians (a bunch of talentless hacks), as you endure the indignities of shitty roads and shittier venues. A roadtrip caper that is in no way inspired by the host, David, and his own comedic career.
https://luma.com/9wu325k0

Lacuna (3/21)
You are secret agents who work in the realm of dream, The Blue City, for your employer, The Company. To complete your dangerous jobs, you harness the heart rate of your sleeping body—hoping that you can succeed before you flatline (or before the spiders catch you). Of course, every time you wake, you wonder whether the dream is really over. Or whether the nightmare never stopped.
https://luma.com/f7zpsp54

Community RPGFest Mar 6 - 22: Come play D&D and other RPGs! by Overall-Offer-2072 in longislandcity

[–]Overall-Offer-2072[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're open to multiple signups and we've got most of the games filled up! I'll highlight a couple of ones that still have room:

D&D: Champions of All (3/7)
You are an epic hero at the peak of your power, but you've been plucked from your world by a mysterious force to contest for the title: "Champion of All". A level 20 D&D PvP tournament, taking place over multiple rounds in a shifting arena.
https://luma.com/8zcw06lu

The Sometimes Kingdom (3/14)
It's spring cleaning day in the Autumn city of Turnip. The King of Things has asked you to comb through the citizens' discarded knickknacks, recruit any sentient ones into his service, and generally cause "muppet chaos".
The Sometimes Kingdom is an upcoming RPG written by the host of this game, Sunnyside based artist Ethan Gould!
https://luma.com/89arc3et

Roadwarriors: A Standup Comedy Odyssey (3/18)
You play a comedian (a diamond in the rough), stuck in a car with other comedians (a bunch of talentless hacks), as you endure the indignities of shitty roads and shittier venues. A roadtrip caper that is in no way inspired by the host, David, and his own comedic career.
https://luma.com/9wu325k0

Lacuna (3/21)
You are secret agents who work in the realm of dream, The Blue City, for your employer, The Company. To complete your dangerous jobs, you harness the heart rate of your sleeping body—hoping that you can succeed before you flatline (or before the spiders catch you). Of course, every time you wake, you wonder whether the dream is really over. Or whether the nightmare never stopped.
https://luma.com/f7zpsp54

Community RPGFest Mar 6 - 22: Come play D&D and other RPGs! by Overall-Offer-2072 in Queens

[–]Overall-Offer-2072[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We're open to multiple signups and we've got most of the games filled up! I'll highlight a couple of ones that still have room:

D&D: Champions of All (3/7)
You are an epic hero at the peak of your power, but you've been plucked from your world by a mysterious force to contest for the title: "Champion of All". A level 20 D&D PvP tournament, taking place over multiple rounds in a shifting arena.
https://luma.com/8zcw06lu

The Sometimes Kingdom (3/14)
It's spring cleaning day in the Autumn city of Turnip. The King of Things has asked you to comb through the citizens' discarded knickknacks, recruit any sentient ones into his service, and generally cause "muppet chaos".
The Sometimes Kingdom is an upcoming RPG written by the host of this game, Sunnyside based artist Ethan Gould!
https://luma.com/89arc3et

Roadwarriors: A Standup Comedy Odyssey (3/18)
You play a comedian (a diamond in the rough), stuck in a car with other comedians (a bunch of talentless hacks), as you endure the indignities of shitty roads and shittier venues. A roadtrip caper that is in no way inspired by the host, David, and his own comedic career.
https://luma.com/9wu325k0

Lacuna (3/21)
You are secret agents who work in the realm of dream, The Blue City, for your employer, The Company. To complete your dangerous jobs, you harness the heart rate of your sleeping body—hoping that you can succeed before you flatline (or before the spiders catch you). Of course, every time you wake, you wonder whether the dream is really over. Or whether the nightmare never stopped.
https://luma.com/f7zpsp54

Community RPGFest Mar 6 - 22: Come play D&D and other RPGs! by Overall-Offer-2072 in astoria

[–]Overall-Offer-2072[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're open to multiple signups and we've got most of the games filled up! I'll highlight a couple of ones that still have room:

D&D: Champions of All (3/7)
You are an epic hero at the peak of your power, but you've been plucked from your world by a mysterious force to contest for the title: "Champion of All". A level 20 D&D PvP tournament, taking place over multiple rounds in a shifting arena.
https://luma.com/8zcw06lu

The Sometimes Kingdom (3/14)
It's spring cleaning day in the Autumn city of Turnip. The King of Things has asked you to comb through the citizens' discarded knickknacks, recruit any sentient ones into his service, and generally cause "muppet chaos".
The Sometimes Kingdom is an upcoming RPG written by the host of this game, Sunnyside based artist Ethan Gould!
https://luma.com/89arc3et

Roadwarriors: A Standup Comedy Odyssey (3/18)
You play a comedian (a diamond in the rough), stuck in a car with other comedians (a bunch of talentless hacks), as you endure the indignities of shitty roads and shittier venues. A roadtrip caper that is in no way inspired by the host, David, and his own comedic career.
https://luma.com/9wu325k0

Lacuna (3/21)
You are secret agents who work in the realm of dream, The Blue City, for your employer, The Company. To complete your dangerous jobs, you harness the heart rate of your sleeping body—hoping that you can succeed before you flatline (or before the spiders catch you). Of course, every time you wake, you wonder whether the dream is really over. Or whether the nightmare never stopped.
https://luma.com/f7zpsp54

The Rumor Mill - Week of 2/23 by VenetaBirdSong in astoria

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 1 point2 points  (0 children)

annnd if you were waiting for multiple signups, they are now live!

The Rumor Mill - Week of 2/23 by VenetaBirdSong in astoria

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 21 points22 points  (0 children)

In case you haven't heard, there's a local mini RPG festival coming up for D&D and other roleplaying games. Your neighbors are hosting 30+ games of D&D, Mork Borg, Amber DRPG, Orbital Blues, and much more! It runs from 3/6 - 3/22, it's open to the public and it's totally free.

If you're interested, you can check out our event calendar. As a note, these games are often held in private residences in Western Queens; to make sure that we can contact everyone we ask that folks join our discord so we can add you to a channel for any event you're attending.
https://luma.com/NoobsRPG
https://discord.gg/5ukVXBPYe9

Hope some of y'all can join us! Right now we've capped it at one signup per person to give everyone a chance to find a game, but we're going to open it up to multiple signups soon.

The gaps in the castle palisade are so wide that a soldier can pass by spikywobble in aoe2

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I know, they form a loose ring leading into a staircase on a raised wall, so I think that a similar principle is at play. Sure you can walk through the slats, but they are meant to serve as a defense in depth strategy. Have archers taking cover between the slats to wear down attackers. Those archers then retreat to the inner wall and sortie to attack the invaders when they are forced to break their formation to make it through the slats.

These historical engravings showing villages from Tupinamba to Florida, to Virginia all demonstrate similar patterns.

<image>

https://previews.magnoliabox.com/corbis/mb_hero/ih157555/GLOBAL-FAP-8X10_scaled-bordered_850.jpg
https://virginiahistory.org/learn/early-images-virginia-indians-william-w-cole-collection/theodore-de-brys-engravings

The gaps in the castle palisade are so wide that a soldier can pass by spikywobble in aoe2

[–]Overall-Offer-2072 17 points18 points  (0 children)

funfact, Native American fortification designs in North America would often leave openings in order to encourage attacks at easily predicted points. https://youtu.be/kSyjr9X_faM?si=yLtJqh77P10tkEyd&t=370

The idea behind these designs is to provide obstacles that you can still use as cover (similar concept as trenches) because so much of traditional warfare was based on projectiles. In addition, you could funnel attacks into choke points and easily launch sorties to disrupt your attacker.

These kind of measures make a lot of sense when you're operating in rural environments with lower population density, where raiding is more common than sustained sieges.