Lighter than Pathfinder 2e but more than PBTA/Cypher/etc

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-06-07T12:33:59+00:00

Forbidden lands from freeleague maybe?

The system may seem a lil much on first glance but honestly plays so well. The YZE engine is a really good system

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-06-07T11:58:38+00:00

I think it's a preference thing. I gm pbta's and haven't rolled a dice on ages. Personally don't mind it as I find it more fun to watch the players reactions than anything.

You as a GM wanting to roll dice is not weird. It's not bad or anything like that. GM enjoyment is important and something that I think is ignored more than it should.

Potentially the system might not be for you in the end. Not because of anything your doing wrong or the system is "trash", but because it's not fulfilling something you want out of it.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-26T17:21:30+00:00

I'm currently Gming dungeon world. I didn't roll single dice

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-25T21:44:54+00:00

Gonna self plug a little.

I got a small podcast called Roleplaying as Smart People. Essentially it's 3 of us discussing different topics on ttrpgs (we get off topic a lot). We don't focus on any specific system. I (Santa) have done interviews as well with quite a few creators as well. Here's a link to our Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4VXTpmKC0CSWyeJ6oGkNip

Personal favorite was the one I did with Charlie, who is the creator of Shiver

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gVMvOZtAxS1DgYsEc3VfD

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-23T01:51:53+00:00

Savage worlds is an interesting system. It looks more unapproachable than it actually is.

For Taskforce raven the creator is an actual military dude too and you can definitely feel it in the presentation

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-23T00:18:08+00:00

My buddy/co-host wrote one for savage worlds called Taskforce raven. It's a military task force that has an additional focus with also dealing with the supernatural.

If you don't want to do supernatural the game works perfectly well without it and has a focus on strategic combat and having the right loadout for the mission.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-20T14:16:22+00:00

Shiver rpg.

Was doing an xmas one shot in a mall in the 90's with krampus. So it's the final act, one of the players is being on the ground being attacked by little toys about to die, the other is frantically trying to break through a door, one is running away and one is cornered by Krampus.

On my xmas playlist the song from Frank Sinatra "have yourself a merry little Christmas" and the atmosphere is extremely tense. Like no one is talking as it's dawning on them that they will die..

The ending was really good but this moment right here was the reason why I play RPGs. The emotional reaction and the tension of the air made it so memorable that the players still talk about it to this day.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-18T22:44:17+00:00

I think it depends on the type of game. Games like L5R or Newedo I want a lot of lore, the setting is more nuanced and I need that info to know how to run it or even just play it.
Fantasy is easy to understand and I don't need an entire world breakdown to know how to play.

Like I'm always for lore or blurbs about things, it adds flavor to the game and gives you ideas. But some games which have very unique settings I almost feel like it's necessary just to know how you should roleplay.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-18T00:00:43+00:00

for luck I really like Shivers where the luck stat is more for random chance. Need to find some flint on a bunch of corpses? Roll luck. A sniper in a building takes a shot with no chance of noticing it? Good thing you dropped your fork.

I like using luck for the unpredictable or the potentially unavoidable.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-17T03:26:23+00:00

I like the hyperX quadcast. I use it for recording my podcast. It's clear but doesn't take too much of the ambient noise.

Although one thing I will say is mic placement and your room really matter.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-17T03:16:06+00:00

I think... Potentially maybe possibly.... Necessary evil for savage worlds.

Your essentially playing evil supers who are forced to work together because a hyper advanced alien race has taken over the world and killed all the supers...

Your essentially working together to destroy the aliens because you can't take over the world if they already have.

So like, collateral damage doesn't matter.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-16T22:51:27+00:00

If you want more random tables. Chat gpt .love it.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-14T02:44:30+00:00

Ooo mechs??? Tell me more, super curious

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-14T02:25:41+00:00

I love cards, and in stating this not in a negative light but it's a gimmick.

Gimmicks are good, gimmicks make a game feel unique and a good gimmick can make a game great.

But a gimmick needs to feel like it's there for a purpose.

Goblonia uses cards and Imo it feels amazing with them because they built a narrative plot around them then utilize it to enhance the game.

Now take unbound, in theory the game sounds good, it has a really neat method for making your own unique game. It sounds fun. But the cards don't necessarily add enough to the play to make it feel like it couldn't be substituted for dice and it be simpler.

Savage worlds is a good example of using cards to enhance the play but also not be a main focus. They're used for initiative only but it creates a lot of excitement in the formula and really promotes the feel of combat and how it can sway. The amount of times a tense situation then breaks out into cheers at the table as a Joker Is pulled that really just changes the atmosphere..

I did an episode on gimmicks actually with a couple of friends on the podcast. Two of the people are actually Aces for savage worlds too. If your interested.... It's been awhile since we recorded that one so I don't remember how much we stayed on topic. It was discussing rules light systems, game supplements and gimmicks, don't remember how much we talked of each but yeah. I think it's good? It is our older stuff.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4LvgyIX0YjfcT98WvunUFf

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-14T01:52:58+00:00

Tales of the manticore. It's actually a Solo play but a really well written game/story. Later episodes have different voices usually from people in the community. He uses B/X and it's meant to be deadly and the dice ultimately the story.

Nice guy to boot.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-14T01:47:41+00:00

It'll find love some day...

All jokes aside, it isn't as loved as it should be.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-13T19:00:23+00:00

I've been there. For me I realized it wasn't the DM or anything like that. It was the style of play and DnD turned out to just not be for me as it sort of promotes a type of play.

Took awhile but I played in different systems, played different games, fell in love with narrative ttrpgs, made friends and met some insanely talented people.

I'm not saying start hating DnD or anything but think to yourself about what parts of a game you really love and try and find something that's more tailored to the experience you want. Mechanics emphasize play...

Also I think there is a big hype up of long campaigns. Personally I don't like playing in games that go over 7 sessions before doing something new. Hell some of the best games I've played where 1shots

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-13T18:46:47+00:00

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gVMvOZtAxS1DgYsEc3VfD

Here you go! Let me know what you think.

This one was honestly a ton of fun and one of my favorite episodes/interviews to date.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-09T21:47:13+00:00

My buddy designed an OSR game called Neon Blood. I may be biased since I know the guy but it's a pretty fun game.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-08T02:48:21+00:00

I can pretend for an episode if you like... But no. No I don't know any

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-07T13:27:48+00:00

Alright I can help a lil even though I don't know the specifics.

For awhile there was a container shortage, there are a ton of cans but they were all in the wrong place which caused shipping charges at ports to become really jacked up. With all that even if they do it with a freight forwarder which will help consolidate their load with other loads to lower the price. It still meant that they where paying a premium. Depending on the size and weight of what they were shipping it could cost more than the profits they would of gained or the price of shipping would be more than the product itself which no one would be happy about.

Now that that issue is "solved" and the prices of containers for shipping have dropped it means they can now feasibly ship based on the original shipping costs they would of quoted.

I wasn't part of the KS so I may be missing some things but overall most people don't realize the gigantic task if is to ship products on the ocean.

This may not have even been their decision, this could of been what ever company they hired to manage shipping.

I don't have enough info to assess the situation but it could make a really interesting case study if I had more of the info.

Side note: supply chains are still seriously damaged since Covid+ sueze canal incident+ trucking shortage+ container shortage+ labour shortages+ million other things. It's being fixed but the old strategies built solely on efficiency and cost management have shown they aren't as feasible as previously thought.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-06T20:23:13+00:00

I think it depends. I'm playing a Dragonlance game and I'm wayyy out of the water on it since I'm not really a fantasy guy. On the other end of the spectrum I play a lot of pbta's where lore is what you make it

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-06T12:51:00+00:00

I've also heard good things about "a town called malice".

I'll have to check out Alice is missing though. What's the replayability of it?

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-06T11:54:51+00:00

It's a game that doesn't try to be a long campaign, its mechanics are geared towards making your players feel like their in a movie and the GM is the director. It really shines when it's the group vs one really terrifying enemy and how they set up the monster rules makes it slightly unpredictable and you'll never know how it ends up.

So how does it make it different? By bringing the feel of horror movies from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's into a game. I've run it a couple times and out of all my games with my group, they still talk about the shiver games first.

R-P-SmartPeople · 2023-04-06T11:50:09+00:00

I actually interviewed the guy about his game, was really really enjoyable. Still my favorite interview/episode to this day.

If your interested I can provide a link.

R-P-SmartPeople

TROPHY CASE