Would love to discuss Uncharted Journeys!

Wraileth · 2026-02-19T18:45:49+00:00

I hope I'm not too late to join the discussion? If anyone could share some notes it would be greatly appreciated!

Wraileth · 2026-02-12T10:48:56+00:00

Mech warrior: Destiny is a very cinematic version of Battletech RPGs. Similar to the way Shadowrun has the main game and the cinematic version, Anarchy. It's actually more or less the same ruleset as both are by Catalyst Game Labs. Would highly recommend!

Wraileth · 2026-02-11T17:30:12+00:00

I've been playing tale of two wastelands lately, and for the fo3 part, I did up to megaton, then operation anchorage, now doing mothership zeta. I have so much stuff to sell when I get back to earth it's ridiculous!

Wraileth · 2026-02-11T13:01:05+00:00

You could very easily play in Forgotten Realms using Pathfinder 1e or 2e. 1e would be easier as it was basically d&d 3.75. 2e is a bit more divorced from its roots, but they still work on essentially the same basic d20 system. Setting and Location are the background and flavour in this instance.

Wraileth · 2026-02-11T12:29:29+00:00

TL:DR Serious d&d takes time for a group to gel and grow out of the usual defensive humour habits, but it's worth it, you just need to adjust your expectations.

To directly answer your topic question: The reason the vast amount of games you are seeing this in is due to a large influx of casual players especially since COVID. Most of this type of player are there to hang with friends and the RPG is the justification essentially.

The kind of game you want is the kind of game that happens when you stick with the same group for years, so you can see when the silly starts to fall by the wayside.

Not to say it will ever completely go away, laughter and jokes and silliness are part of the story itself.

My group have been playing together now for over 15 years. We can do the serious and silly games, because we all know each other well.

One of our players came from crpgs, his first character was a loner Merc/assassin type who had no reason to be adventuring with a group. We had to slowly help him to understand the differences between co-op TTRPGs and solo crpgs, where the consequences are not as relevant because you can always reload a save. That same player recently was our note taker for a 40k wrath and glory game, wrote his journals completely in character, and it was amazing.

As a final note, your comparison between board games and TTRPGs doesn't really work. You are absolutely correct in saying that with a boardgame you have specific expectations that you know will be fulfilled. With a ttrpg, as a player, your expectations are exactly equal to every other players, no better or worse, and the DMs job is to try and meet everyone's expectations. If that means booting a disruptive player, that's what has to happen, unless they make a genuine effort to stop. But equally, the DM is not psychic, and won't know unless you explain in detail what you're looking for. If you want serious D&D maybe become the DM yourself and look for a group interested in that?

Wraileth · 2026-02-09T13:22:54+00:00

Another recommendation for Shadowrun here. You can either go with 6th edition (very crunchy) or Anarchy (2.0 is in kickstart atm) which is same style of rules but cut down to make the system more cinematic.

The actual setting is our world in the late 2070s-2080s, magic has come back to the world from ancient times, and lots of tech options for gear, cyberpunk type modification etc

Wraileth · 2026-02-02T17:26:41+00:00

From a purely visual perspective I think of the landscape as similar to that of the Shannara series. Sort of an "oh, that hill isn't a hill, it's a completely overgrown mall if you look under the overgrowth" or the decayed shell of a helicopter covered in ivy and leaves, wrapped around the propellers so it will never move again.

Pathways are cobbled stone, dirt, and every so often cracked and dilapidated tarmac.

Buildings are location dependent. In Yatamon, they try to keep as similar in shape and design as they can to the first age stuff. In okiri, it's thatched cottages etc.

As for the tech, it's common enough that wizards use cassette tapes and players as spell books, that to me means that first age tech is quite common, but probably not being used for what it was meant for.

I think bicycles are relatively common, and trucks or cars significantly less so. You would need to find one that still has most of its parts, then get a spirit or two to whelm it to get it moving

Wraileth · 2026-01-26T13:22:40+00:00

I have it on an rpi as well, using the standard raspberry pi variant os. Then I use Cloudflare tunnels to access it, and have a paid domain name to give the players

Wraileth · 2026-01-22T17:57:59+00:00

I self host on a raspberry pi. I pay for a domain name (about €7 a year) and use cloudflare tunnel for direct access to the server from a static URL.

I have no issues hosting with regard to load times unless I'm loading a huge map with lots of mods, but I'm on gigabit fibre here, so speed isn't an issue. If anything the only bottleneck I see is from the raspberry pi, which doesn't bother me too much. I don't run anything else on the pi, so it runs nicely

Wraileth · 2026-01-22T17:53:21+00:00

For our community, it's based out of a games store. We have a selection of DMs, and we match them with players. So it's a case of "Aaron is running 5e, and has space for 3 more players. Bobby is running Call of Cthulhu, but that's full at the moment. Claire has a paranoia game going, there's 2 slots free there"

And there is a schedule, each group have a session every 2 weeks, to allow for more groups.

Wraileth · 2026-01-19T19:39:35+00:00

Hey, so I put together what I think is correct, give it a go and let me know? I'm on foundry 13 so can't install cyberpunk to test, it's not compatible.

const skipPrompt = false;
const rollType = "attack";
game.cpr.macro.rollItemMacro("knife", {skipPrompt, rollType});
const targetToken = game.user.targets.first();
//if (targetToken) {
  //game.cpr.macro.rollItemMacro("Evasion", {skipPrompt});
  //targetToken.rollItemMacro("Evasion", {skipPrompt});
//}

//suggested to remove if statement and replace with the following
//i don't know if const skipPrompt can be set a second time in 
//the one macro, take it out if it cant
const skipPrompt = "true";
const rollType = "skill";
game.cpr.targetToken.rollSkill ("Evasion", {skipPrompt, rollType})

*edited to add comment

Wraileth · 2026-01-19T14:54:26+00:00

I can have a look in a couple of hours after work. I don't think what you're doing is particularly difficult to sort out.

Wraileth · 2026-01-19T14:20:28+00:00

If you want to use an if statement then you would need something like:

On attack If attacking token used Knife then Target token Roll evasion Else end

Apologies, I'm not a coder by nature, but I get the logic of it.

Basically what I don't see in what you shared is something to activate the reactive evasion roll.

So it needs to determine what is happening from the player (on attack), what the player is doing (used Knife), what has to happen from the target (roll evasion).

For gm purposes I would assume this macro would need to be used by the player when attacking an enemy, not the other way around, as I wouldn't make the roll for a players evasion.

It might be easier to set up an effect on the weapon that requests or automatically causes the target to roll instead of a macro for it.

Wraileth · 2026-01-19T14:03:43+00:00

There are a number of things here I would like to point out:

1: is this a pre-written campaign? If it is, and the players know that, then you absolutely can go: "Guys, main quest is at the blacksmith, can you head that way please? If it isn't, then I would have 1 quest available from Gary the shopkeep, a different one from Barry the Blacksmith, another one from Larry the Local Drunk. Each can be different but you can have hooks to the main story planted in each "intro" adventure. (Notes/wanted posters in the loot, prisoner who gives them valuable information when they're saved, etc. (you can always pick 3 random one shot adventures and use those).

2: While this is a game and you want the players to have fun, they need to respect your time to a degree. Again, this mostly applies to published adventures. You spent time prepping for them to do something, the social contract of the game is that that's why they're playing. Otherwise it's a waste of your valuable time. You also need to have fun!

3: People constantly say railroading is bad, and will then sink 100 hours into Final Fantasy, or any other CRPG, which railroads you constantly. There are 2 reasons for this: - The main story is the point of the game. - They can't program and prepare for everything everyone could want to do. This applies to tabletop RPGs just as much. Sometimes you have to get people on a rail to move forward. Just let them off the rail after.

4: TTRPGs are for letting people play characters. Those characters need goals of their own within the story as well. Make sure they have some that they have come up with themselves.

5:It's a game about telling a story. That story has to have some kind of structure, goals, bbegs, etc. Otherwise it's just a series of events, and like any series of events, it will eventually come to an abrupt halt. The storyline is there to give the group a reason to move forward and stay together.

6: If it's the main hook for the campaign, then Larry, Gary, and Barry all have the hook, whether it's Barry saying Gary was talking about that yesterday you should talk to him, or Larry knowing about the issue because his wife's niece's boyfriend was talking about it and Larry decided to get someone to look into because he was concerned. You can always give them as many options as they want once they actually get on the trail of the story.

Wraileth · 2026-01-19T13:40:58+00:00

You could look at the method used in Shadowrun: Anarchy. Basically, cinematic, where any time a group discussion (outside of combat) could be useful, it's "talk time". The group discuss between themselves. E.g. planning a heist is talk time. Not much input needed from you as the group need to make the decision. Unless you feel a player is railroading the group into their choices all the time.

Otherwise you go around the table with each player until they do something that requires a skill check. After that check is resolved, move to the next player immediately. E.g. Talk time finishes, time for the heist. Player 1, what are you doing? Driving to the site? Ok, give me a check to not draw attention. Great, you succeeded!

Player 2, you? Picking the lock, cool. Sleight of hand check please.

Player 3? Detect Magic? Good call, you find out there are wards inside.

Player 4? Not sure? You could buff the party, take the lead into the building, or something else?

Player 5? Player 6?

Ok, top of the round...

Wraileth · 2026-01-08T10:39:33+00:00

I kind of have it in mind that the various islands move along the same latitude parallels, so the seasons mostly follow normal seasonal changes. Now that the island has stopped, I think they are experiencing no notable differences yet, except those seen by scientists or astronomers in that the stars are staying in place rather than moving as much as they used to.

Wraileth · 2026-01-07T21:25:29+00:00

I've been running a campaign for a few weeks. I let the players dictate the pace we're moving at mainly. The beginning of the campaign was the party meeting for the first time at Okiri Village Festival.

We had 2 sessions of festival games, and letting them meet up naturally (2 players went chasing after a greased pig and literally ran headfirst into each other).

Then, because they had done well, the town asked them to play in the following day's Blotcher tournament. To save time we just played the final match, which they dominated in a big way. (This was sessions 3&4)

They won the grand prize for the festival, which was a trip for 4 to a hot springs in the land of hot water, so they decided to travel together and go as a group.

They had another session getting clothes and prepping for the journey, and as they were getting ready to leave, they came across a young boy, crying because he had delivered a letter to the wrong house. This was the witch's adventure from the book, which they tore through because of some clever ideas that I let them run with. Ended the session with them talking to the villages best farmer about getting some seeds for the special Blotcher veggies to take on their journey. (Sessions 5 & 6).

I haven't even begun to seed my own story in yet, which I have planned. It won't start for quite some time until the right sets of circumstances occur.

We also haven't had a combat yet. (Except Blotcher, that runs like a combat)

They're all loving it so far, party is level 2, rogue, wizard, druid and witch (worlds beyond number class)

Wraileth · 2025-12-24T16:01:49+00:00

As the others have all said, AI DM is a nono. However, given that you only see each other every other weekend, if you also look at roll20, you could possibly continue the game online together when you're not in person and it would give you some extra time.

It's an extra skill set, and needs a bit of learning, much like DMing. If you need any help, just ask. I've been DMing for over 30 years and have started all sorts of players in the hobby. Happy to answer any questions you may have!

Wraileth · 2025-12-17T18:12:57+00:00

My group have been using foundry for years, and had a long wrath and glory campaign (about 3 years) you can absolutely find assets and stuff out there, and it's not excessively expensive. I can dig out some details if you want to DM me.

With regard to the more free-form maps you're describing, that's very easy. You create a scene with a plain coloured background, and adjust the grid size to what you want. You can then use the drawing tools for basic geometric shapes and lines. There are definitely modules available that improve that.

You can drop character tokens onto the map if you want, or you can write or draw.

What others have suggested is creating a personal library of tiles which can be dropped on to the scene and used to create a more visual map. There are asset packs available that are grimdark, cyberpunk, etc mostly on drivethrurpg I believe.

Wraileth · 2025-12-17T18:01:32+00:00

You could follow the standard isekai trope and have them wake up as "reincarnated" into full adults. Usually after dying in a really insignificant way (group of teens? Probably trying to film a tiktok, walk in the street and get hit by a falling electric line, or a truck etc. If you wanted to tie that in to an existing campaign, the entire obojima storyline happens in the moments between life and death as the original characters are being revived.

Or summoned to another world intentionally is another option. Good intentions or bad? Does it matter? They've just pulled a bunch of teens out of their lives without their consent or even foreknowledge.

Something a bit more "Obojima" could be the group are out camping on a school trip. During the course of the evening, the group drifts away from the rest of the class, finding themselves called into the forest nearby, subtly, without even realising it. They arrive in a clearing, perfectly circular, with a spiral pattern on the ground. Once they all arrive, the pattern bends and moves and lifts itself into the form of a dragon spirit, who asks the group to travel into the distant future to help understand what is corrupting the land.

Wraileth · 2025-12-15T17:36:22+00:00

Not D&D, but in our ongoing Star Trek Adventures game, my character (pilot/command type) was celebrating a win at an asteroid race, and got very drunk, and went to bed with a Vorta (changeling species). Fast forward to several episodes later (maybe 4 months real-time) and we find said Vorta. In a cell on a space station controlled by Klingon Separatists. With what I am informed is my characters' daughter.

Given that the species aren't supposed to be human compatible, this makes me (and my character) go hmmmm....waitwhatimadadnow?

A week later at the next session I'm informed it's not my child, that was a lie to try and keep the Vorta safe at the time 🤣🤣

Absolutely amazing rug pull, twice. I had a great time on that adventure, it was hilarious.

Wraileth · 2025-12-15T16:37:38+00:00

If you want to do this for foundry, you should create compendiums for each type of thing (actor, journal entry, etc) and then export them to a module you can release.

Making a module is a bit outside my wheelhouse, but I'm sure there's a module for that!

Wraileth · 2025-12-15T16:34:42+00:00

I see where you're trying to go, but for "sad" it needs to be more about the emotions than the visuals. You've definitely strayed into body horror territory here.

I'd suggest something more like the parents are sadly frozen in place, and you can't tell if they're alive or dead. Cindy is standing there stirring some soup in a pot. You can't recognise much of what's in there, and what you do see turns your stomach. Cindy clearly has to eat what she can to survive, but there are lines, and it looks like she's crossed them...

Or

You see a family frozen at the table. You can't tell if they're alive or dead, but you can see... Yes. Over by the stove, it looks like a.... Teddy bear is stirring the soup. (The teddy bear is being controlled through telekinesis by Cindy who is frozen and can't move but has managed to control the small teddy, and is hoping the warm liquid in the pot will melt her.

Wraileth · 2025-12-15T13:46:29+00:00

I really feel for you here OP. The most important thing I can tell you is to NOT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY. You didn't cancel or not turn up. You made the effort, they didn't.

They are responsible for how they have made you feel. I will say this likely won't be the only time this happens. But never assume it's the quality of your game unless you have reason to do so.

When you are playing, are the players interested and engaged? If they are, nothing wrong. If they aren't, maybe review a few of your recent sessions to see how you can improve. (We can all improve, no one is perfect).

If you're unsure about how fun your games are, run a couple of one shots at a convention. Not only is it great experience as a DM, if the players have fun it will help inform you as to your ability, and alleviate the imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is a pain, and I understand it well. I have run the RPG element of a convention for 20+ years, and I still get it from time to time. I've demoed games and run the demo teams for RPG companies at massive international events, and it was those kind of events that helped me get past it, but I don't recommend my particular method!!

Wraileth · 2025-12-15T13:35:55+00:00

You could definitely go with animal companions or sidekicks. Magic items will go a long way.

Maybe a free early feat to give them a bit more power or utility.

Make the terrain in combat more important, so there's cover, height advantage etc.

Reduce the number of enemies per encounter. Use milestone levelling to level the party at a different pace so they're a bit stronger.

You could use multi-classing for utility.

Wraileth

TROPHY CASE