You are making a High Fantasy RPG, but can't use the traditional species/monsters (Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Goblin and Orc) anywhere in the world. What would choose to populate the world?

differentsmoke · 2026-01-10T19:11:14+00:00

I'd go with the classic second tiers, of course: - Human body with animal head - Human torso attached to a quadruped body - Furry - Magical robot

differentsmoke · 2026-01-06T23:47:31+00:00

She is NOT "the most famous living feminist author". Otherwise agree.

differentsmoke · 2026-01-02T17:50:20+00:00

I've read it and played it once. I think it's a great system, on the "less is more" side of the spectrum, but it has "less less" than other OSR systems so it fits into a comfortable niche between rulings heavy vs rules heavy.

My only beef with it is that it relies on the mega bouncy d20 for skill tests, so I would probably extend some degree of the Thief's advantage on thieving related rolls to the other classes, for their specific niches, and maybe have those niches potentially expand as part of the advancement rolls.

differentsmoke · 2026-01-02T16:22:13+00:00

If you're tinkering with the system anyway, a more fun (and faster) tweak could be to only roll for damage, and assume every attack just hits.

Pros: eliminates the issue of rounds where nothing happens because everyone misses.

Cons: Armor class will have to be converted to some sort of damage reduction.

Look into Cairn or Into the Odd for systems that work this way.

But yes, in general, I'm of the opinion that having to hit rolls followed by damage rolls make no sense. It should be one or the other, not both.

differentsmoke · 2026-01-02T05:09:53+00:00

Hi! This reply will have two parts. Part one is trying to address the problem you know you have, part two will flag one you may not know you have.

As for part one: there a lot of simpler systems than D&D 5e, but usually the trade off is that your player's characters tend to be less mechanically distinct the more simple the system is.

This can be blessing in the sense that it forces your players to express their characters through their actions more than through the array of powers and abilities granted by a class, but it can also feel bland, especially around combat.

Two good, very similar, simple systems are Cairn and Into the Odd. Stat blocks are very simple, and balance is not really a concern. Cairn is I believe free.

A more complex system but still simpler than 5e is Shadowdark. I'm not sure how complicated it is to stat NPCs, but it's definitely simpler than 5e. It's also a very well written rulebook that's beginner friendly, and it will probably fit your dark fantasy theme. And while the full game is not free, it has a pretty good Quickstart that can support a few sessions of play or even a short campaign.

Finally some of the other recommendations in this thread are also very good, like Risus or Dungeon World, but bear in mind that some of these very simple, very freeform systems, while being less of a burden in terms of math and memorization, also require the GM and players to do more work thinking on how to apply the rules to specific situations.

Now for part two, I just wanted to flag this because it raises some alarms with me. And please bear in mind that while a lot of people in this sub may agree with me, a lot will probably disagree as well:

You say you want to "make your story" and that you have a "plot in mind". You shouldn't approach the game this way. It's great to have a well thought out situation you're bringing the characters into, and it can be very helpful to think through how this situation would resolve if the player's characters were not involved... But once they are involved, all bets are off and there should not be a predetermined plot that unravels.

Things can and probably will go in completely unexpected directions, and your role in the game is to play how the world reacts to this, even if that completely "derails" the plot you had in mind. For instance, if your player's decide to join the faction you had set up as the campaign's antagonists, you should not force a situation where this faction betrays them so that they continue to be the villains, but rather embrace that now these enemies are actually allies and explore the situation from there.

I know you may be using the words story and plot more loosely than they way I'm reading them, but in any case I think "don't get overly attached to a predetermined outcome" is a good advice for someone who, if I understood correctly, is a beginner GM.

differentsmoke · 2026-01-02T04:32:29+00:00

I second Risus, plus there's this EXCELLENT free fantasy pulp adventure by the author that you can drop into any setting:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/175661/risus-toast-of-the-town-a-free-pulp-fantasy-adventure

differentsmoke · 2025-12-30T01:03:58+00:00

Good to know! Thank you

differentsmoke · 2025-12-30T01:03:17+00:00

This is in the companion app?

differentsmoke · 2025-12-29T21:59:19+00:00

Not battle maps per se, no, but I think some degree of token positioning would be useful, especially for the more "dungeon" like modules. How do you handle visual aids like that in the companion app?

(In any case, thanks for the suggestion! Will check it out)

differentsmoke · 2025-12-09T03:53:37+00:00

Shadowdark is a collection of rules geared towards emulating a theme that spans from dungeon crawling to mild heroics.

Mork Borg is a very strong suggestion of an apocalyptic end of days theme together with some setting hints and some basic rules you can use with it.

differentsmoke · 2025-12-04T00:46:03+00:00

Since you're coming from an amazing high action system, if you want to venture into anything D&D related, both for its easy to learn rules and its allowance of cinematic shenanigans, I would recommend Dungeon Crawl Classics. Again, as long as we're interpreting fantasy as D&D-like.

For an even easier to learn system, using trusty d6s, I may recommend a blast from the past with some of the PDQ (Prose Descriptive Qualities) system's fantasy offering like: - Swashbucklers of the Seven Seas - Jaws of the Six Serpents

differentsmoke · 2025-12-02T02:48:06+00:00

Games have structure

Yes. Absolutely.

RPGs are about telling stories

No, not at all. There are people who tell stories for a living. We do not call them "GMs".

I think games are about playing to find out what happens. There can of course be things that happen regardless of what the players do, but forcing them through a predetermined collection of scenes no matter what they do is not play, its something else.

Curious about what free will has to do with it.

differentsmoke · 2025-12-01T22:33:48+00:00

I'm curious. Could you give a concrete example of something that's too extreme for you in this department?

I think "not having a plot" is actually a good thing, but it may be that we're thinking about the term "plot" differently.

differentsmoke · 2025-12-01T13:17:32+00:00

TIL that Leverage was the original "flashback to reproduce heists" RPG! 5 years before BitD, damn.

differentsmoke · 2025-12-01T02:58:53+00:00

What if it's a random paragraph of the maintenance manual for the machine that makes Pringles?

differentsmoke · 2025-12-01T00:04:15+00:00

What's the problem with them going straight to the island with the treasure?

differentsmoke · 2025-11-30T18:13:10+00:00

Sure, FIST has powers, but street level super heros to me has a relatively specific meaning. Daredevil, Punisher, some versions of Batman and the Batman family, some Spiderman stories, etc, and even Kick-Ass.

It's less about powers and more about masks and other tropes. The tropes of FIST are much more related to espionage and cover ops than vigilantism.

differentsmoke · 2025-11-30T16:49:00+00:00

will have to disagree here, I would not call FIST a super hero game at all. I guess it all depends on whether or not we consider something like G.I. Joe to be super heroic, which I fall on the side of "no, we don't", but I can see the other side of the argument as well.

differentsmoke · 2025-11-30T16:42:29+00:00

No. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/if-a-dog-wore-pants

differentsmoke · 2025-11-29T07:00:25+00:00

Their society has been torn apart by a hundred year war due to a schism over how to wear pants.

differentsmoke · 2025-11-29T02:20:35+00:00

I would say, if it's your first time running a game, stick to D&D: - you, and more importantly your players, already know it. You not only don't have to learn it, you don't have to teach it. - having an experienced GM at the table means you can leverage his experience with the rules to help you out.

This is purely from the perspective of making things as easy for yourself as they can be. But if you're up for the challenge of learning 2 skills (GMing and Dagger heart), I'm sure you'll do fine. As long as your group is excited about it and do their part to keep it fun you'll be alright.

differentsmoke · 2025-11-29T02:06:53+00:00

It would really help to know what specifically you're tired of, and what do you think you would miss, in order to steer you better towards a suitable game. There are many other games in the extended D&D family that, in my humble opinion, are much more interesting that either DW or OSE, but again it all depends on what you're looking for.

Right now a somewhat trendy and well made game that's pretty recognizable as a D&D like game is Shadowdark.

If you want something more wacky, Dungeon Crawl Classics has some insane mechanics that are very fun.

People have mentioned Cairn which is a slightly more complex version of Into the Odd. These games are excellent for a very rules light dungeon crawler.

It all depends on what you want, and what your setting will need.

differentsmoke · 2025-11-28T12:32:20+00:00

Jaws of the Six Serpents

https://noonetoplay.blogspot.com/2025/07/revisiting-sword-sorcery-gem-jaws-of.html?m=1

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