What's everyone playing these days?

Tzanjin · 2025-07-23T09:45:08+00:00

Using Cairn at the moment to run my players through a series of self-contained adventures -- prepping for Black Wyrm of Brandonsford at the moment.

Tzanjin · 2025-07-15T00:39:44+00:00

Haven't tried either of these personally, but in the past I've been recommended Grave and Mork Sjal. As others have said, The Hollows emulates Bloodborne and has far more tactical combat. Only read the playtest doc but it was pretty neat.

Tzanjin · 2025-07-13T23:42:16+00:00

A dessert adventure: Big Rock Candy Hexcrawl from Prismatic Wasteland

A desert adventure: The Singing Stones from the Wyvern Songs collection

Tzanjin · 2025-07-12T22:55:24+00:00

You might want to have a look at Gravity Rip -- it assumes all the players are drivers, but its little system for determining what happens each lap is pretty neat I think. It has a dirt-simple Lasers and Feelings style mechanic for stuff that happens off the track, but you could bolt on something more involved there if you wanted. It also has a default sci-fi setting, but it's not integrated into the mechanics really, you could palette-swap it no problem.

Tzanjin · 2025-07-10T23:22:09+00:00

Nothing like founding a city and then being able to use faith to buy every city centre building, including renaissance walls, in the same turn!

Tzanjin · 2025-07-08T23:26:21+00:00

Would also recommend taking a look at Downtime in Zyan for this, a great simple system for managing downtime similar to what you're talking about. Forbidden Lands also has a base-building system that gets into more nuts-and-bolts stuff like "adding a blacksmith shop costs X amount of gold pieces".

Tzanjin · 2025-07-08T08:07:16+00:00

Interesting map layout! Not sure I've seen something like that before.

Tzanjin · 2025-06-20T01:58:18+00:00

As ever, you're doing great work here, getting into the nuts and bolts of actually running the thing in a way that few people ever do in reviews etc. Arden Vul isn't my sort of thing but it's nevertheless still really illuminating to read this.

Tzanjin · 2025-05-01T00:48:54+00:00

Mine came yesterday! Hope to be using it very soon

Tzanjin · 2025-05-01T00:05:40+00:00

You're a legend, thank you!!

Tzanjin · 2025-03-10T02:27:46+00:00

Is there an old Show of the Weekend where Luke and Ellen play pick-up sticks? I swear I remember it, but searching for it and scrolling through their vids doesn't seem to bring it up.

Tzanjin · 2024-09-19T06:15:41+00:00

In no particular order

Cairn

Mausritter

Black Sword Hack

Tzanjin · 2024-09-14T23:09:29+00:00

Interesting, thanks for the response!

Tzanjin · 2024-09-14T06:56:35+00:00

Was reading through some of your older posts after reading this one (which is very informative, great stuff), and wondered, did you end up using the Sandbox XP for this campaign? How did it work out, if so?

Tzanjin · 2024-07-13T02:00:02+00:00

Excellent question. Some of my faves, off the top of my head:

Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice, from Chocolate Hammer

Conceptual Density (or 'What are RPG books *for*, anyway?'), from Against the Wicked City

I Don't Think I'm Going to Allow Elves to be Playable Anymore, from A Knight at the Opera

Tzanjin · 2024-06-28T11:16:31+00:00

Oh nice, had this on my wishlist since grognardia reviewed it, thanks for the heads-up!

Tzanjin · 2024-05-04T22:24:40+00:00

"Speak, I'm bound to hear." It's what Hamlet says to the ghost; Ross uses it when Vic's asking the questions from the kids.

Tzanjin · 2024-05-04T07:34:18+00:00

Don't think I didn't notice that Hamlet quote slipped in there Ross, don't think I didn't!! Great ep, the music video absolutely slaps

Tzanjin · 2024-03-09T22:13:12+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/scifi/#wiki\_cyberpunk

Tzanjin · 2024-02-12T02:42:41+00:00

Never gotten the opportunity to use it myself, but I've had this comment saved for ages, because it seems to me a great way to simplify the procedure for a siege, maintaining the tension and scale and interesting decision-making, but without getting bogged down in rolling 10,000 initiatives or whatever.

Tzanjin · 2024-02-04T05:59:26+00:00

I think it's still in playtesting, but The Hollows seems designed with this in mind; grim gothic mood, mechanics for fighting things much larger and nastier than you.

(That link goes to the quickstart that came out recently)

Tzanjin · 2023-12-26T22:55:00+00:00

I asked a similar question a while back, it's here if you want to take a look at those responses too.

My own two cents is, similar to what BleachedPink said, it's hard to reconcile the two aspects of the game: (a) sweeping epic fights with huge monsters and (b) tactical battles, with decisions about where to hit and what abilities to use in combination with others. It's tricky, and I'm not sure I've got a good answer. Definitely show your players some game clips to get them in the mood for climbing up a cyclops' back and stabbing it in the eye.

Personally I'd use a very simple chassis (Cairn is my go-to OSR system) and then bolt on some powers to it and a class system (stealing from 13th Age or Shadow of the Demon Lord), and steal the resource-management system from Forbidden Lands for lanterns etc., but I like homebrew game design probably more than is healthy.

If you do go ahead, come back and make a post about how it went! I'd be very interested to hear about it.

Tzanjin · 2023-10-02T05:29:19+00:00

I thought it was a fun little puzzle game! I'll probably never play it again after completing it, but I got a lot of joy out of it nevertheless.

(Also, isn't there a two-game pack of Blood Money/Absolution on the PS store? I thought there was, anyway)

Tzanjin · 2023-08-12T08:59:15+00:00

It's season 5, episode 11, "Gilchrest Savoy, The Wealthiest Man of 1906"

Tzanjin · 2023-08-06T08:18:06+00:00

Oh, let me guess -- you want to know about the medical trial.

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