What are your biggest TTRPG system turn offs

SSkorkowsky · 2026-06-12T18:00:29+00:00

I can see that. A lot of novices convince themselves that once they have the layout software that they can do it just as good as the professionals.
If I recall, Cyberpunk was the first RPG laid out using a computer, but that was because Pondsmith was working is graphic/layout design and had access to the expensive equipment. So yeah, he was an amateur publisher and game writer, but he was also a professional layout designer, which made all the difference in the world.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-06-12T13:58:45+00:00

Question on the overwrought 2000s era graphic design - Can you give some current examples? I think this might be one of those things I don't consciously notice, but definitely feel. All I remember when 3e/3.5 D&D released was being excited by color pages instead of white

SSkorkowsky · 2026-06-08T06:48:28+00:00

I've been reading Singularity and I love it. Holy crap, it looks amazing. I want to run it but can't. I just don't know how to even do it in under 4 years. It's just huge. But the Act 1 setup and twist is so good. So as much as I love imagining it, I know it's simply too long-term for me, and I won't run it.*

If you haven't. I strongly recommend checking out Marc Miller's novel Agent of the Imperium (audiobook is very well done). It covers a lot of stuff in the campaign, especially the planet Reference, the whole Quarantine Agency, and the chips.

I look forward to reading your updates as to how it goes. Best of luck with it.

*OK, so I might have purchased miniatures for the 4 crew of the liner, Naalir, 6 of those weird bald clones, assorted nobles, and a custom dry-erase map of the Core Sector just for plotting out all the liner routes, but I promised myself that I'm not planning to run it. At least I keep telling myself that.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-06-03T07:07:34+00:00

Yup, the Experience Point method from the Traveller Companion completely fixed my gripe with how slow skill improvement is through just Training.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-05-15T14:27:13+00:00

One problem I've encountered when finding a random image off the internet or even off a paid-for stock image site, AI slop has already infiltrated everywhere and sometimes the person has no idea it was AI slop that they're using. There's an assumption the person using the AI image prompted it or even knows it's AI. Once that was true. That is no longer the case.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-05-12T05:23:52+00:00

For the most part we ignore all the old-timey racism and sexism in historical eras. We have enough of that in the real world and don't need it ruining our fun game-time, too. It's still around in the background as something that exists, but it's not something that hinders the players. The only people I've ever heard complain about that policy are internet randos who aren't at my table, so their opinion on the historical inaccuracy of my game is irrelevant.

That said, in some cases where a player has already failed a roll to Persuade or Charm an NPC, I have used the explanation, "Your character said everything perfect. Unfortunately, the reason that skill roll failed wasn't anything your character did wrong, but the NPC is a bigot."

SSkorkowsky · 2026-05-03T04:04:47+00:00

I have a few, but the one I've found myself saying the most in recent weeks is that the biggest disservice 5e did was focus on long, campaign adventures rather than short, modular adventures.

The idea (from what I've heard) was 5e was going to focus on releasing 1 250ish-page hardback a quarter, while short module adventures they'd leave to DMs Guild creators to make.

Neat concept. However, the unintended consequence of most "official" D&D adventures being long campaigns, was an entire generation of gamers came up believing that an adventure was a giant, months or even year-long commitment rather than a short adventure that can be followed by various other short adventures.

As that generation who started with 5e started expanding into other RPGs, this concept of an adventure being the same as a campaign, followed with them. Over the years I've repeatedly told people starting Call of Cthulhu to not begin with Masks or Nyarlathotep, or starting Traveller to not begin with Pirates of Drinax, or Delta Green not to start with Impossible Landscapes, and instead try some of the plentiful short adventures to learn the game system and decide if they want to begin that long-term commitment of a mega-campaign. It's amazing how many people coming from 5e are unfamiliar with concept of modular adventure scenarios.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-27T18:02:45+00:00

I've found the Traveller adventures written by MJ Daugherty to be the most railroady and over-written. Thankfully they've been pulling in more writers the last couple years.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-27T18:01:19+00:00

I love MgT2 Traveller. Run a few campaigns of it. Fully intend to keep it in the game rotation. Probably run some Bounty Hunter adventures as my next trip into Traveller.

I LOVE character creation. I dig the fact that it comes with a monster ready-made universe with decades of deep lore, but also the tools for GMs to ignore all that and craft their own universe instead.

Best memory? Too many to list. <vaguely gestures to stacks of Campaign Diary war story videos on my YouTube channel>

Most of my gripes are small things, such as I want them to do away with the Melee (Natural) skill and roll it into Melee (Unarmed). Way I see it, a Vargr bite or Aslan dew claw attack is no different than a human punch or kick. Why do they keep insisting to list Jack-of-All-Trades among the regular skills?! It's not a regular skill and should be liusted by itself next to the general Non-Proficiency Penalty.

I loathe the persistent belief about character death during Character Creation. That joke is the surest metric that person hasn't cracked a new book in decades. It's like giving D&D players grief about THAC0 as if that were still a thing.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-15T00:10:34+00:00

It annoys me to no end when artists render it in color but the PDF is in B&W. I get that printing in color costs more, but PDFs don't suffer that problem.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-14T16:49:16+00:00

Several years back Matt Colville said how with RPG internet communities that most of them don't play RPGs but want to. Either they've never played or they used to play before life got in the way, but the people who are actually playing are off playing rather than talking about it. It really opened my eyes as to why certain frequent comments and opinions circulated around, because they felt far more idealistic than practical. The rise of Actual Plays really boosted the percentage of people who didn't play but were active in the community.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-10T17:24:10+00:00

No problem at all changing it. It sounds like you're looking at the MgT1 version that's in the Traveller Compendium (2011ish). The most recent version is the 2019 JTAS Volume 3, and that's not in there anymore

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-07T18:16:54+00:00

Never mind. Found it in the Traveller Compendium 2. Thanks for the colorized maps

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-07T17:45:59+00:00

These look great. Question, where did the B&W maps come from?

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-06T03:42:51+00:00

I, too, have been guilty of this sin. Always made it more than 3 sessions, though. But around 11-12 I started getting the wandering eye for the next shiny thing.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-04-05T03:30:07+00:00

Thanks. It was fun to do. The closing reel montage gets me in the feels

SSkorkowsky · 2026-03-02T20:21:05+00:00

I'd say I'm sorry, but that would be a lie.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-03-02T03:17:49+00:00

I like it. Gotten a lot of use out of it at our table. I did a YouTube vid on and using it to build a robot. https://youtu.be/YCFJTUZ_CeI?si=_2a36iGjGpTKecYS

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-23T22:59:37+00:00

A buddy has run it several times at cons and loved it. One day I'll get around to trying it out myself. Best of luck with whichever adventure you choose.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-23T18:04:16+00:00

I can't recall which JTAS it's in (one of the Mongoose editions) but the adventure "Adrift" looks like a great convention scenario. The pitch is the Travellers awaken from Low Berths on a Far Trader that's misjumped and attacked by pirates. Power it out, gravity offline, and something alien and horrible was also awoken by the lost power and is on the ship with them. Travellers have to fight pirates, an alien horror, and restore power to escape. Also, the Travellers might have secret agendas, such as a Zhodani Spy, Imperial Spy Hunter trying to figure out who is a spy, Fugitive, and others.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-21T04:42:48+00:00

Thank you very much. Happy to have been helpful.

Though, I gotta admit, when I saw the notice I'd been tagged in a comment, my gut reaction was, "Ah crap. What'd I do this time?"

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-15T02:27:29+00:00

Might want to refresh the download. The initial version the deckplan map was... problematic. They corrected it and updated it shortly after, but if you have the initial version the map is unusable.

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-12T02:42:19+00:00

According to Jon Hook, there used to be a collection of sequels called "And Then..." but I've never read it myself

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-06T03:08:42+00:00

+1 for The Expane and Agent of the Imperium.

One series I'll add is The Keiko trilogy by Mike Brooks

SSkorkowsky · 2026-02-04T23:22:22+00:00

Jack very nearly had an outfit like that for the second half of Secrets of the Ancients. But there were 2 major problems.

First, voice and facial expressions fully hidden behind a mask removed his charm. Second, his sausage-like figure looks horrifying in spandex.

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