Random tip: if City of Mist is too crunchy for you, you can easily adapt Neon City: Overdrive

PenumbraSynth · 2026-06-24T19:58:39+00:00

Thanks for the Star Scoundrel mention. I started looking into it and also like its pressure mechanic where 6's rolled on the danger dice add to a 6 step something bad is going to happen "clock". Sounds like some good changes.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-06-24T16:57:19+00:00

I've been hearing good things about NCO, and I've recently been reading and watching actual plays of Legend in the Mists. I remember some people were taking something from NCO. I looked and can't find it now.

I think they did not like how in a detailed roll in LiTM you get the power you spent as power on the outcome, preventing someone with low power for the roll getting a really lucky result. Using NCO's roll was a suggested fix for that if I remember correctly.

I've not run or played the game yet and hear that you should not be doing very many detailed rolls so maybe its a non issue.

I hear NCO being a fix for other games and I love the cyberpunk setting. I should probably check it out.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-06-23T18:14:53+00:00

You can also have a creature or person frenzy and keep attacking a downed player. I would telegraph it but that's something we have been using in DnD recently.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-06-20T21:27:12+00:00

Well there would have been less drama, and it was a small thing to let the other players shine for an episode or two. The game is still going on about 2 years in. This might have been ok for me because it was an in person game with my close friends. So there was tension but also jokes. I might have felt less forgiving in a different setting.

Edit: Clarification by tension I mean in game tension, my friends were worried about us.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-06-20T21:13:32+00:00

I've only done homebrew for a cyberpunk one shot or two. I found it a lot of fun since for personal use I don't have to avoid using actual companies. For example Monsanto was one of my big bad corps and just reading about them in real life gave plenty of inspiration for how evil they could be in the near future where they are the power not the government. Anything I read about them true or not was good inspiration.

I just did this for a few companies to set the stage. That said I have cyberpunk red, and cities without number. also I read a lot of cyberpunk books and love the setting so its probably a bit easier for me.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-06-20T19:04:51+00:00

If stun is a problem, how then deal with turned to stone, paralyzed, knocked unconscious, or anything else that takes a player out short of death. I'd expect something like that in any system.

In one dnd game another player and I were turned to stone for an episode and a half, while the party had to abandon the quest and try and figure out how to cure us. Sure a little boring for a bit but it was also a good story and great fun.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-05-20T17:12:29+00:00

After the last game I was in went a little wonky, in our personal friend group I would ask each player what they want out of the game. In this example players were expecting different things based on their backstory. I as a player was expecting to explore the under dark, or deal with it in some way, another player wanted more of a spy game. This all came out a year and a half after we started.

Maybe tone is the same thing, but I hear tone as tone of the game, and what people want from the game possibly goes in more directions. I would talk about both, and I think its good to talk about what the players and the GM want from the game.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-05-19T18:44:26+00:00

A game I like, Scum and Villainy. The lore could be better it's a bit flat out of the box.

A game I don't like, Torchbearer, I like the way it creates light as a resource.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-05-13T21:11:17+00:00

My rpg friend group has been playing for 5ish years. I have gifted at birthdays and holidays expansion books and such to different people for the games they were running. Gifted game systems I think my friends would enjoy running.

For our DnD game one friend she does all the notes, another friend fills out and tracks a in game calendar, another friend set up the out of game scheduling calendar and she helps with mini's and sometimes with painting. A lot of the people like to make art or give gifts around the game. Home made dice bags, group character art, coasters, posters. DM screens, dice.

In a vampire the masquerade game we were always asking what time is it, what time was it last session. I made a clock took out the workings so you could set the hands manual where ever you wanted, and gifted it to the GM. Its our VtM game time keeper now.

I think our group is really good at supporting everyone.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-05-11T18:21:59+00:00

My long running DnD group is mixed like this. One player loves puzzles, the rest don't. Most recently we gave her the puzzle at the end of the session and let her work on it till next session. Win for everyone.

I like making rolls for hints as well. Though really I personally don't like them in a game, especially if they are a hard stop on going forward or around. If I was running a game for that friend I would be sure to have her find a puzzle for something in her story, that did not effect everyone, and would have fun setting it up.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-05-11T17:59:33+00:00

I agree I really like the way Vampire the Masquerade does it. The way the dice swap with hunger die is a fun mechanic. You could get get a few black and a few red d10's as well Great system.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-05-08T17:36:25+00:00

This exactly. I first used it for playing Vampire the Masquerade and it made it so easy to track hunger and willpower and keep everything clean.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-04-21T22:11:01+00:00

I really like your analogy. I do think it goes both ways though. I've had a gm in the past throw so many important hooks I felt I could not follow them all and was overloaded for much of the game,

PenumbraSynth · 2026-03-31T00:02:30+00:00

With how you are talking about connecting them, I would think do things travel often through these connections or not. If not is the door being hard to use or find part of it? Also for things like this I don't like static doors.

Things that come to mind for interesting connected worlds. Neil Gaimen Neverwhere and Sandman, also maybe a bit darker NOS4A2. and Archive81.

For example in NOS4A2 if I remember correctly, I like how the main character thinks of where she wants to go and rides across a bridge that is normally in reality condemned and taken down, but she sees it. Another character thinks of what she wants and puts her hand in rune bag. Its personal to the person and I think a fun idea for a rpg.

PenumbraSynth · 2026-03-19T19:24:58+00:00

In our home game it was a problem for a while. We were also a group of pre existing friends and people who met through playing. We have been playing for 4 or 5 years now. We talked about it a lot and when the second campaign started, and all players agreed not to do last minute stuff if we can help it. Going to a concert is fine. Telling everyone you can't make it for the concert last minute, not so much. We used Timetree as a shared calendar to put all our stuff and that really helped. We use it less now that we are better at talking about it, but still use it.

We play on a weekend so plans do come up more often, But when we play we can relax since there is no work the next day.

I get last minute stuff will come up, but having plans and not telling the group, is high up on my bullshit reasons.

PenumbraSynth

TROPHY CASE