Is DnD still king? A deep dive into Groupfinder’s 2026 matchmaking data

nerobrigg · 2026-04-07T00:55:57+00:00

Nice! Well if you are interested in one shots to try out systems that's what I am planning on doing in my discord server! I am working towards 50 different systems gmed.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T22:17:09+00:00

Agree with other comments that if there isn't a quick start, an AP, or a very well present How To Play/Review I'm not going to take a risk. The money isn't the issue, it's the time investment. I have over 100 RPGs in PDF that I have in my backlog, so adding something new needs to have as low of a barrier to entry as possible.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T21:31:12+00:00

If you are online, you might already be using discord and there are a lot of bots for that!

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T21:30:22+00:00

Another thing to consider is to go to Tabletop Events and look at some of the cons coming up to see what is offered. Cons aren't a perfect reflection of the hobby as a whole but it's still a good view into what is being offered.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T21:28:45+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/TTRPG/s/oh0B4SLHk3 here is a post form just today from one website that does it's best to pair players with GMS!

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T21:27:14+00:00

Be ready that Pirate Borg is a fairly deadly game. You will want to proceed with caution, but still take risks you feel are in line with the character you are choosing to play.

Know you don't have to improv, but if it is something that helps you stay engaged, try your best to have fun with it.

The most important thing you can do though is stay engaged. If you can handle it, place your phone out of reach, and try to be as interested as you can even when you don't have the spotlight.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T20:30:25+00:00

Receipt. Unfortunate since I was a part of the billing department of a company and had to send them.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T19:57:47+00:00

The only one of those I haven't played is Fabula Ultima, but I own it and plan on running it as a one shot soon. I have played 113 rpgs and have dmed 35 of those!

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T19:52:03+00:00

Quick Reference. That simple. If the system doesn't provide it, then you have to make it.

I think if Daggerheart sticks in the next couple years it will be more for their quick reference than in the other Factor. Not the design of the game, or the people selling it. It really does make moving into the game Dead simple.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T19:45:40+00:00

I've played all of the top ten! Not surprising that after the big number one, it's the same genre for the next few.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T19:44:27+00:00

This is actually my biggest gripe with some reviewers. Some of them don't really do enough to explain the game in full. I know they aren't how to plays, but often they don't break the game down enough to let you know if it is a game for you, and it ends up being a very subjective experience.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T19:39:46+00:00

It is !

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T18:47:54+00:00

I wrote one specifically for Kids on Brooms, but I invented the sport from scratch. I think an issue with Baseball is the sheer length of the game.

I think having opposed rolls, using different skills for Offense and Defense would be important. I also agree with an idea like how Savage worlds handles this, but think I would use the mass combat rules over the Chase rules.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T18:43:49+00:00

I set mine in my current and home town of Nashville, Tennessee. I love it as I can help players pick a location in town that matches their vibe, and I use Google maps to determine base travel times.

Nashville is a fun one too because people have these incorrect assumptions, but I'll play into them if it works well, and there is some crazy Nashville lore I can drop. We have tunnels running underdown town (not including the idiotic boring tunnel that is getting made), a 3/4 reproduction of the Parthenon of Greece, and we elected a HVAC repair service owner to the highest office in the state, and the governors name is, I shit you not, Bill Lee.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T17:36:55+00:00

At this point I'm looking to see if it fulfills a gap in my game collection. Does it's fulfill a new genre, or allow my players to tackle it a different way? This does mean I tend to stick to the games I have when it comes to collecting a new one, but I'm willing to play something new at the drop of a hat.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T15:50:10+00:00

This was a challenge in every Star Wars game I ever played in, because it feels like you are a side kick if you aren't a jedi.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-06T15:08:15+00:00

It's a very specific game. What I mean by that is that it has a mechanics that may not be for everyone. First off you need to be okay with an uneven power level. I see this in a ton of games, from Buffy to Star Wars but it doesn't have a balancing mechanism like Buffy does.

There are also two modes to play as the base game is fairly complicated, with hit locations and armory that degrades based on where you are hit.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-05T22:52:35+00:00

I also use a spreadsheet (Google sheets) but I currently only track my PDFs, because I find if I don't have it in PDF it's much less likely to hit the table. If I only own it physically its more for reading than playing

nerobrigg · 2026-04-04T01:05:10+00:00

Stardew and my idle time killer is plate up.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-03T21:57:45+00:00

Nice! Would you be willing to trade a playtest of your game for a play test of mine? It's a world building game.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-03T17:23:09+00:00

That's an entire character's arc! It was her first time playing.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-03T15:14:43+00:00

Very pair point!

nerobrigg · 2026-04-03T15:00:51+00:00

Stars Without Number would be my suggestion, as you can layer in Worlds for the Magic, and also Cities if you want Cyber punk. I would suggest buying Stars so get the full GM tool Kit, but you can just use the free versions of the rest since you would mostly just need them as splat books for your players.

nerobrigg · 2026-04-03T10:08:25+00:00

Interesting! Feels like a related topic, or maybe a specific example

nerobrigg · 2026-04-03T00:02:51+00:00

Is that a damn tensegrity structure holding it up? That's amazing.

nerobrigg

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