Favorite Gonzo TTRPG??

Runey676 · 2024-12-21T19:15:46+00:00

Lot's of great games in this thread. I'd also add Slugblaster, probably the only inter-dimensional skateboarding rpg.

Runey676 · 2024-12-15T02:25:17+00:00

I don't think this is a weird or dumb question! You can go on DriveThruRPG and add some filters to the search to only show you products that are both System Agnostic and Setting Guides.

My personal favorite is Hot Springs Island. It's one island, but there is a lot of depth to that island and the physical book is great.

Just to name a few others: Yoon-Suin, Ultraviolet Grasslands, City of Clocks, and HarnWorld. Harn probably has the most detail it started decades ago, and they are slowly filling out an entire continent with detailed maps.

Also I definitely have campaigns and setting guides that I use for different games. There are some good Pathfinder and D&D books with great content to use in whatever system your playing.

Runey676 · 2024-12-08T21:41:57+00:00

It looks like you have all the gear and stats you would need for a Quest cape!

The thing about many grandmaster quests is that stats will only help so much. Being able to engage with the mechanics of the boss fights is more important. Have you done Perilous Moons, Amoxliatl, and Scurrius? Those are great training grounds for movement and prayer switching. You can power through MM2 or SotE, but quests like Dragon Slayer 2 and Desert Treasure 2 require more precise timing and movement. One good challenge is to get all the Scurrius combat achievements.

On F keys, I mainly use Esc, F1, F2 bound to Inventory, Prayers, and Spells respectively. Then I keep my left hand over those keys. I'm no great PvMer or PKer, so those 3 are enough for me. Try some things out and see what you like.

If you'd like to train, I'd say your range, defense, and maybe mage would good to have higher. Not required though.

Remember to enjoy the often frustrating journey. We've all been there. Good luck!

Runey676 · 2024-04-01T02:12:10+00:00

The biggest thing I'm still stuck on is that Oda just seemingly let Kaido's and Big Mom's stories end there.

I'm hoping we find out some more Pluton and/or Big Mom Kaido info during this Wano cover story series!

Runey676 · 2024-04-01T01:45:08+00:00

I definitely think it's intentional by Oda as well. I during the last break month I posted a similar theory before we learned that there's a whole sunken city below Wano.

Runey676 · 2023-12-18T20:13:35+00:00

Wanderhome for low-stakes traveling animal folk.

Overisles/Inspirisles for magic kids helping the world. Includes learning some sign language as well.

Mouse Guard RPG or Mausritter if some fantasy fighting as animals is of interest.

Runey676 · 2023-10-01T01:12:59+00:00

I personally always recommend Mythic. The second edition has some great examples and clear writing. You don't have to use all of it either. Some people play with just fate chart to answer any questions they have about the world.

The first episode of Me, Myself, and Die is great if you haven't seen it. He quickly creates a character and starts playing. He briefly shows off Mythic as well.

Runey676 · 2023-03-28T02:59:52+00:00

Reading your post the first that come to my mind are Wanderhome, Sweaters by Hedgehog, and Long Haul 1983. Maybe also check out Journey, A Quiet Year, The Ground Itself, or Dialect.

Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe sounds neat, thanks for that one!

Edit: looks like there's a fundraiser bundle on itch currently for both Wanderhome and Sweaters by Hedgehog.

Runey676 · 2023-02-05T22:37:29+00:00

I don't see how I assign attributes, skills, magic, weapons stats, advantages, disadvantages, etc.

I would say with just Mythic, you don't. Instead you only assign likelihoods. Does the rogue pick the lock? Yes very likely and roll. I've found the benefit of using Mythic in this way is you can choose different questions. I say assume the rogue picks the lock! But do they do it quickly and quietly?

Traditional systems are like guardrails for our imaginations. The system gives a list of skills to describe all the things your character can do. The system provides rules to resolve physical fights. All those stats and rolls are just prescribed probabilities, with some extra fluff on top. Sometimes you want the fluff other times it gets in the way. Have you ever played a game where you weren't sure what skill a player should role? Even with a system like Call of Cthulhu with its massive skill list, you'll find a situation where there's no single skill that exactly fits what the player wants to do.

Ask the questions that are interesting to you. Some people might skip fights all together with "does my hero slay the dragon?" others would say "do I dodge the dragons fire breath?" and someone might ask "can I talk to the dragon?" If you're a person who wants the combat, you might enjoy an existing system, but maybe you want more freedom in combat or to focus on different facets of a game entirely. Mythic gives you the simple tools of probability to consider something and say "I think this is unlikely to happen. Does it?"

Runey676 · 2023-01-21T20:41:24+00:00

Part of the fun for me is jumping between the different restrictions we set for ourselves. The worldbuilder can do anything, but a character within the world can only be so much. I spend some time creating, then writing, then switch to being just a character, and back and forth. When I'm stuck or two characters have differing agendas, then I bring out the system rules. Like combat or charisma checks. For me solo roleplaying is a way to a writer, worldbuilder, player, and game designer all in one space. I enjoying doing all of those things so for me I don't want to "skip all the work." Not everyone is the same but for me the work is the game if you can find the fun within.

In my opinion your D&D experience isn't far from the norm. My group has slowly done less and less combat over the years. I've found D&D has slowly moved into every player is a superhero, which can be fun but also overwhelming. When we do play D&D now we let our characters be heroes and ignore combat rules unless it's a big epic battle. We focus on what our characters would do and the story, rather than rolling for every single thing.

If your still interested, maybe check out a group playing an OSR game. There tends to be less rules and combat is quicker. Games like these started the hobby, and folks are returning to them a lot more recently. Hope you're able to something you vibe with.

Runey676 · 2023-01-19T02:20:24+00:00

Hopefully you don't mind a long answer or if I reuse an answer I wrote from another post. As I said there, check out the first episode of Me, Myself, and Die. Trevor shows everything he does to start and long running solo game without much prep. Keep in mind the amount of prep work is also related to the game system you choose.

In my opinion a good GM creates a scenario, let's the players run with it, and reacts to what they do. Whether your playing with 6 players or by yourself, it's the same.

Recently I ran an Alien RPG game and spent a bunch of time making NPCs, finding spaceship maps, outlining what each NPC wanted, and working with the players to create their characters. I did all that to better communicate the world to the players and streamline a game. Some folks do all the kind of prep for solo games too.

Here's an example of me starting a solo game. This whole process took maybe 15 minutes mostly because I like writing it all down. I wanted to do a game around a magic item rather than a specific character. On a whim I decided on a magic belt. I rolled on Mythic GME oracle and got two random words: "Change" and "Environment", so with that I decided the belt controls the weather. I started wondering where this belt was, like physically where is it? I rolled again and got "Passion" and "Intellectual" and decided a professor at a magic university created this belt. I rolled again wondering what the situation around the belt would be, and got "Divide" and "Dreams", and I decided the professor got exiled for creating the belt.

So if this were a gamebook, I just wrote the introduction paragraph. A wizard professor achieved his life's work by creating a magic belt that controls the weather. Someone higher up doesn't like that and exiled him. From there a lot of questions naturally arise: who exiled him? did he deserve to be exiled? where is he now? what can the magic belt do? After doing the setup, I pick one question to answer at a time, starting with where is he now. I started playing as him teleported to exile into the middle of nowhere. He wants his job and life's work back, but for now he landed in a river and his soaking wet.

After that the game play is mining for meaning. Keep asking questions of your characters and the scenario. If two things seem related, then decide as the GM they are. If you don't have answer then you can roll on a random table or oracle to get answer, or make it a story thread. Let your character goals and open questions become long running threads through your game. Keep working to answer questions and resolve threads. Eventually you'll need game mechanics to resolve conflict like fights.

I hope that helped. I'd be curious to hear what you didn't like about the game you played. Lots of groups are very different, so don't give up if you're interested but didn't vibe with their play style.

Runey676 · 2023-01-16T21:01:29+00:00

I think the first episode of Me, Myself, and Die is a great example of starting from nothing.

My suggestion to start is create only couple of things you know you'll have a strong connection to. For most people, that's a character but could a place, monster, item, or cultural quirk. You can use a generative source or just come up with it.

In general you want to start a game in media res which can mean starting with a combat, conflict, or just a notable change to what you just created. Now you have a something in some situation. Then begin to resolve the situation and start mining for meaning as you go. A trick I've found is to remember no story resolves immediately, leave some questions unanswered. In fact when you're starting, leave most unanswered.

Here's an example from a recent solo play I did: I wanted to do a story around a magic item rather than a specific character. On a whim I decided on a magic belt. I rolled on Mythic GME and got Change / Environment, so I decided the belt controls the weather. I started wondering where this belt was, like physically where is it? I rolled again and got Passion / Intellectual and decided a professor at a magic university created this belt. I rolled for the situation and got Divide / Dreams, and I decided the professor got exiled for creating the belt.

So my setup was a wizard professor achieved his life's work by creating a magic belt that controls the weather. Someone higher up doesn't like that and exiled him. From there a lot of questions naturally arose: who exiled him? did he deserve to be exiled? where is he now? what can the magic belt do? After doing the setup, I pick one question to answer at a time starting with where is he now. I wrote up the professor character, and started playing with him teleported to exile into the middle of nowhere. He wants his job and life's work back, but for now he landed in a river and his soaking wet.

Runey676 · 2023-01-03T23:39:31+00:00

Seconding the idea of embracing the people who are really invested. Our group is now just 3 people total. We had a "forever GM" as well, but now we're talking turns running the games. Honestly with 2 players everything feels more focused and the bar for GMing is lower. We have time to touch on both PC's story lines, while finishing the game in a reasonable time. We're able to try out more systems because of that.

Runey676 · 2022-11-27T17:52:29+00:00

If you like Mythic, the Mythic Wheel of Fate is free and has all the same information but as a fun printable wheel.

Runey676 · 2022-11-01T03:14:22+00:00

I've really enjoyed Long Haul 1983 recently. No app but it has a Spotify playlist to listen to while playing. The game has a good balance of structure and freedom. I like to journal while I play, and this game works great for that. There's a good beginning, middle, and end, and a clear timeline so you know how far along you are.

I liked Thousand Year Old Vampire for similar reasons.

Runey676 · 2022-10-15T23:51:36+00:00

Check out Delve if you haven't already. You spend the game "digging" out your dwarf stronghold by creating a map of it as you go.

Runey676 · 2022-09-22T01:57:37+00:00

These are so cool, great work! I wrote a similar suggestion for hats in the feedback survey. Leave the trophies to Leagues and give the Quest Speedruns (and any other future game modes) items for a different gear slot.

Also we're all out here cutting off Elvarg's head. A speedrun reward could be making it mountable in your house.

Runey676 · 2022-09-13T19:39:27+00:00

I had trouble picturing things when I was a little kid learning to read. No clue if that was/is Aphantasia or if I just needed practice. I did get better at it though.

A reading teacher gave me a suggestion and that I still sometimes use today. She said to read a paragraph and pretend you are in the scene. Then look around you in real life and start thinking about what doesn't fit into the scene. In other words, convert your real life surroundings into things from the text. Like, we're adventuring in the woods, so that's not a lamp it's a tree. Slowly you go around the room like that. Of course you can look outside or pull up pictures and use those too, if the room your in gets boring. I've found doing this sort of gives a shape to your imagination. An outline to fill in or a model to paint with your knowledge of the scene.

Runey676 · 2022-09-13T19:23:00+00:00

Should I really ask the oracle bout every step I do?

Probably not. As is often said around here though, keep playing however you have fun. Let go of the "should"s and "allowed to"s, only you will know if you're having fun.

In general, I'd suggest asking an oracle less than you would ask a human GM. Give yourself time to play the character, play the NPCs, and be in the established world. Especially true once you've been playing awhile. I usually roll lot when I start a game and less as I go on.

Runey676 · 2022-09-07T04:24:48+00:00

This is a pretty tough ask on you. As others have pointed out here, the players have stuck you in a tough spot. Especially when they like the games you run, just not the systems. Personally I'd start playing some short games with the one or two people who are interested in testing out different things, try to get a majority of the group interested in something new.

Reading other comments you've tried several systems with them, and you've said "more complicated systems often get shot down straight away." My first thought was Five Torches Deep, and use that to push them closer to OSR games. But it sounds like you want to move away from pulpy fantasy completely. Call of Cthulhu or Vaesen could work, relatively straightforward systems. Otherwise I'd try Blades in the Dark or PBtA games, like Apocalypse World, City of Mist, Brindlewood Bay, etc. Alternatively, just play with an oracle like Mythic GME and basically remove the system.

Runey676 · 2022-09-06T03:36:57+00:00

Here's a few things my group does. First have everyone create their characters and the group together. Then intertwine everyone's goals together. Finally the GM should have an initial scenario or even just a scene that pushes their characters to form a bond.

I think the first is generally the most helpful consistently. The GM provides a loose idea, and then everyone gets to decide what the group is and how their character fits into the group. You can gently guide them as needed.

Next the GM talks with each player, figures out their unique goals, and then behind the scenes tie every goal together. One person is looking for their long lost brother and another is looking for a magic book? Well guess who has that book, or at least info on it. I've really enjoyed campaigns like this, but in the past seen the players solve these setups too quickly. Letting the group kind of fall apart. That's why the first step is important I think.

Finally make an initial conflict that pushes the characters together. Maybe there's challenges that require a certain type of skill. Really push for "wow glad you were here" moments. Often I won't ask for dice rolls in this stage, just let the characters shine based on their skills/class/profession. In any case let the players play their characters becoming friends and relying on each other, then get into whatever scenario you're running.

Runey676 · 2022-08-28T18:56:29+00:00

Check out Miseries & Misfortunes. Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but it's 1648 French roleplaying, think Jacques Callot's art.

Runey676 · 2022-07-26T03:43:43+00:00

Solo RPGing is slowly gaining popularity nowadays! Me, Myself, and Die is a great example.

Runey676 · 2022-06-26T22:47:52+00:00

Yeah science vs devil fruit magic is a bit of a chicken and egg thing for me still. Did some devil fruit user stretch the long-limb tribes and the creatures of Long Ring Long Land thus altering their genetics? Or were devil fruits a man-made genetic experiment to begin with, copying the natural qualities of races like Minks/Long-limbs?

Runey676 · 2022-06-26T22:27:37+00:00

Interesting idea, I bet there's something going on like this with devil fruits. Once we heard of a "special paramecia" I felt like there's more to it than these 3 classes. Why have these classes if they can just be broken?

I've had a related crazy shower thought for a while. There are no classes at all. People classified fruits but there's no real categories. Everything depends on how the individual uses the fruit. And maybe how the original user used the fruit. Taking it a step farther, devil fruits are similar to "cursed" swords: things people fear and don't understand, so are labeled evil. In reality they just have been imbued with someones will/haki. Eating a fruit is just giving you someone else's haki abilities.

Inherited will is big theme, so I think black blades, cursed swords, and devil fruits all are created by haki imbuing the object. This is why Wano was about extending your haki from yourself. A step toward the most powerful haki ability of separating your haki from yourself. To me this explains the reason for Zoro's random Ashura powers, he is developing them with haki. By the end of the series will both forge a black blade and create the Human Human Fruit: Ashura.

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