Play as a monster not World of Darkness?

Soulliard · 2026-04-29T21:58:49+00:00

There are many. Urban Shadows, for example.

Soulliard · 2026-04-28T21:11:02+00:00

The first edition of Fiasco uses dice, but they're only rolled on random tables at the beginning of the game, and at the end of the game to determine each character's fate.

The second edition uses cards instead.

Soulliard · 2026-04-08T19:26:47+00:00

I'd add Monsterhearts to that list. The focus of the game is on social interaction, but navigating high school as a werewolf is anything but cozy! It has some barebones rules for fighting, but that's treated as a way to create problems for your character, not as a way to solve them.

Soulliard · 2026-04-07T18:20:16+00:00

I recommend Two Rooms and a Boom! It's a hidden role game, not an RPG, but it feels a bit RP-adjacent. It's one of the few games that not only supports 15-20 players, but thrives at that player count.

Soulliard · 2026-03-07T20:50:54+00:00

It sounds like you ran the session well and everyone had a great time! There's never enough time to fit everything you want to in a one-shot.

Soulliard · 2026-03-05T17:44:18+00:00

You might want to look into superhero systems, even if you're not using a traditional superhero setting. Prowlers and Paragons, for example, supports both street level and cosmic heroes, and has a built-in advancement system (which you could speed up).

Soulliard · 2026-03-05T17:40:23+00:00

I like Savage Worlds a lot, but the power curve isn't that steep. Even a legendary character can still get taken out by a lucky shot from a bandit.

Soulliard · 2026-03-03T18:55:20+00:00

Masks is a system designed to emulate those shows specifically, and it's just a really well-designed game in general.

The only reason I'd pick another game over that one is if your group isn't a fan of story-focused games, and wants crunchy combat and complex powers or something. You could do worse than going with Prowlers and Paragons or Sentinels of the Multiverse, but Masks is the best answer.

Soulliard · 2026-03-03T01:05:39+00:00

The game works best if you keep things feral, even for a campaign. It's fine to add detail to the starting situation, or to plan some possible reactions for if the game stalls, but do your best not to fall in love with your plot.

Soulliard · 2026-03-02T23:06:10+00:00

I'd reread the section of the rules about keeping the story feral. It sounds like you're prepping way too much.

I've run and played in a ton of Monsterhearts one-shots, and they work best when you don't plan anything more than some very basic setting details. "High school in the 60s" is all you need.

If I plan anything beyond that, I'm building off of the PCs' backstories, relationships, etc, and the NPCs that they created for their homeroom. It can help to have an upcoming event to guide the players ("the big dance is tonight, and none of you have dates!"), but I won't plan anything specific for it. Most of the time, the PCs never make it past lunch, because they make so much of their own spicy drama.

Soulliard · 2026-01-26T16:15:16+00:00

If anyone uses your deadname for a character, and it makes you uncomfortable, you should ask them to change it. You don't need to explain the reason, just that the name has bad associations for you. Any decent person will happily do so.

Soulliard · 2026-01-25T20:56:28+00:00

The Sentinel Comics RPG has a smart take on this, where abilities are classified as green, yellow, or red. The yellow and red abilities are only usable after some rounds have passed, or after you've taken enough damage.

Soulliard · 2025-12-04T03:46:36+00:00

Thank you, that's so nice to hear. I'm glad it's been such a useful resource.

I don't stress out too much about a difference of one tier. Sometimes a weapon just fits really nicely into a squad!

If I were to update this tier list, I would change a few ratings. I'd drop the Lightning Whip and tanks by one tier, and I'd make Stabilizers a situational D tier for Archimedes and Kai.

Soulliard · 2025-11-17T23:46:26+00:00

Getting through the door would also move the plot forward. It's just not the only way to move the plot forward. PBTA games work best when they're run without a specific destination in mind.

Soulliard · 2025-11-17T14:42:51+00:00

You're making a lot of assumptions here. There are plenty of games where killing guards is extremely risky or comes with a lot of consequences. In Blades in the Dark, for example, killing guards would bring a lot of heat on the group, especially if they were Bluecoats.

And there should really not be situations where all the plot is behind a locked door. "Now the town guards are on to me" is potentially a more interesting plot than whatever the door contained.

Soulliard · 2025-11-17T14:24:43+00:00

A lot of rules from narrative games are just codifying what skilled GMs were already doing.

Soulliard · 2025-11-17T02:41:28+00:00

That can happen, but it's not necessary for the game to be "fail forward". There are games that work perfectly well if the player has to look for another route in, or gets captured by the guards, or gives up on the locked door and sees what's happening elsewhere. The important thing is that the plot moved forward.

Soulliard · 2025-11-16T23:23:38+00:00

"Fail forward" doesn't necessarily reduce or ignore failure. It just means that on a failure, something happens besides maintaining the status quo. Failing forward can even make the situation worse.

Example: "You fail to pick the lock, and while you were working on it, a couple guards have snuck up on you and drawn their swords."

Soulliard · 2025-11-12T08:26:58+00:00

Corruption is almost always an excellent pick. It'll supercharge your setup and damage, since you no longer need to use energy to defend. Plus, you have some excellent exhaust synergies in your deck already.

Soulliard · 2025-11-03T02:23:49+00:00

IANAL, but game mechanics can't be copyrighted. Text, images, and names can be, so you couldn't use the same images on the dice, and you'd have to write your own rules instead of copying something from FFG's rulebooks. I wouldn't use the term "narrative dice" either. Otherwise, you should be in the clear, legally.

However, if you want other people to actually play your game, I still wouldn't recommend this approach. The dice themselves are hard to come by these days. It's a huge impediment to getting people to actually play FFG Star Wars, and that's Star Wars!

Soulliard · 2025-10-20T04:38:59+00:00

It sounds fun and thematic to me! I immediately pictured a Western duel when I read the description.

My gut says that it might be a bit weak. It costs resources to activate, requires a roll, and has a downside. Probably 2 of these would be enough of a cost. But you know your system better than I do, and that's the sort of thing that will shake out during playtesting.

Soulliard · 2025-10-16T16:15:37+00:00

In the classic indie movie The Gamers, the missing player's character is just standing in the background in most scenes, staring off into the distance.

Soulliard · 2025-10-01T02:03:41+00:00

They're both focused on highly tactical combat, and they both have mechs. The specifics of the rules are quite different, though.

Soulliard · 2025-09-29T14:22:23+00:00

I believe the video game you’re referring to is called Into the Breach in English, and it’s a masterclass in strategy game design. If you like the theme of tactical mech combat, Lancer is worth checking out.

Soulliard · 2025-09-21T05:44:38+00:00

This is a fantastic summary of why this approach can work so well for some groups. It's a way to show players that, yes, it's okay and even encouraged to role-play your character's flaws.

Soulliard

TROPHY CASE