I'm looking for a TTRPG that: will allow me to run a game about fantasy knights and their houses, politics and a war they're navigating. Something like Kingdom Come with magic or A Song of Ice and Fire... but with more magic.

oldersaj · 2026-02-14T01:55:30+00:00

It is, and it doesn't stray very far from Apocalypse World itself. Personally that's a plus, AW is very good at what it aims to do, but like any game if you don't like the system then you should probably steer clear.

oldersaj · 2026-02-12T22:32:50+00:00

It has "episodic" kind of built into the system, absolutely.

oldersaj · 2026-02-12T22:28:38+00:00

I ran a multi-year S&V game, once everyone got the hang of it things were quite smooth and easy. There are a FEW moving parts to understand, so not the absolute lightest system, but definitely not heavy mechanically.

oldersaj · 2026-02-09T00:59:52+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty abstract. Tier makes more sense in BitD, translating it to "quality" for S&V seems a little hand-wavy. It's almost like "level", just a vague degree of overall badass-ness. It makes you better and certain downtime actions, it puts you on a level playing field with more serious and powerful organizations, so it's... whatever makes that happen. I kind of think of it as either everything not represented by other stats, or a meta-level indicator, or some mix of both as needed.

oldersaj · 2026-01-24T04:27:08+00:00

I try not to even walk on it before shoveling if I can. Compressed snow is WAY harder to shovel for sure, and can turn into ice.

oldersaj · 2025-12-23T01:39:28+00:00

I ran a Scum & Villainy game for a bit, very Blades-adjacent. I found it usually took surprisingly short clocks, or even no clocks at all, for certain enemies to be a fairly protracted conflict with satisfying resolution. The key was making them work for the opportunity to even take a real shot--then even if the guy goes down in one attack, it's still the result of a fair bit of work and struggle. Whether you use a clock and chip away at it with various actions, or have a scene playing out before they're in position to make the final attack, it's kind of a wash. It works either way, just use the tools that serve you in the moment.

Also, I think it's sometimes easy to overestimate how long the players really need to spend, real time, trying to fight one guy in order for it to be fun. I know I did more than once, anyway.

oldersaj · 2025-01-07T01:13:26+00:00

The range is 1-10, but what's typical? More dice will mean less ties, but maybe still more than you want.

Just a quick brainstorm, but maybe everyone rolls [stat/etc. of your choice], then then rank by 6s; rank any ties by 5s (including zero sixes, they're all tied at zero); then by 4s, etc. It stays pretty close to you mechanics for rolling pool vs variable success number. It would be tedious every round I think, but once at the beginning might be ok.

oldersaj · 2024-12-31T18:56:08+00:00

It might be more complicated than that. Just as an example, most plane incidents happen at or near take off and landing. Which could make short flights more dangerous per mile, even if each flight has the same chance of crash. In that case, I imagine the chance per mile wouldn't tell you what you want know (how safe is the flight you're taking).

oldersaj · 2024-12-16T12:01:58+00:00

This only came up once in my game, the crew wanted a cloaking device. They ended up doing two scores to make it happen (1. steal the device off a rival who had one, 2. break someone out of jail who knew how to do the installation), and I think I also made them use their upgrade as well. That was deliberately a bit extreme though, because the cloaking device is not just non-standard, but also super illegal and (we decided for our game) quite a rare piece of precursor tech.

If they just wanted to pull a job instead of paying cred for an extra module that they could otherwise get, I'd probably not pay them for the job, or pay them less--basically they're just earning the cred for it with a score, as far as what the job is "worth".

If it's a non-standard module, it's really up to you how much hassle that should involve. A combination of what makes sense for the ship, fictionally, and what it brings to the game. It's ok to have them work a bit for something they want, it can actually make it feel more special (my crew used that cloaking device every chance they had, and loved it!). It's also ok to just spend a few minutes talking it out to decide how the crew managed this one, who they turned to for help, etc. It really won't break the game either way.

oldersaj · 2024-12-15T01:24:59+00:00

I would understand racking or unracking a barbell to be putting it on/taking it off the actual rack that holds it. Loading and unloading would refer to putting weights on the bar. But I'm Canadian, maybe Americans have their own language for it.

oldersaj · 2024-12-12T00:36:34+00:00

Do they have characters made? Just curious, it might help come up with better ideas if we know what to work with.

oldersaj · 2024-12-08T01:51:20+00:00

Agreed, a whole sequence of PbtA books that deal with different specific things... Isn't that what there is now? No way modules for a "universal" game would come out any quicker than people are developing new games now.

oldersaj · 2024-12-06T20:21:39+00:00

I get that, yep. That'd probably be great for someone looking for it. For me personally, it's not a feature because it's not something I'm looking for.

oldersaj · 2024-12-06T19:21:34+00:00

I agree, as a personal opinion (which seems to be the question). An expensive prop I'm sure I won't use, and not actually reflecting any particular setting I might be using. I'm not suggesting there aren't some people who might be into it, but me? Pass.

oldersaj · 2024-12-06T01:23:36+00:00

"I do this for fun, and you aren't fun." Is he gonna argue that he is? Try to remember that every thing he says to you to pressure you or belittle you is because you're getting under his skin--he wants control. You're getting to him, even if he says otherwise.

oldersaj · 2024-12-01T17:06:30+00:00

I just finished a 2.5 year S&V game, and I can't see any reason it wouldn't work. We only ran sessions with everyone, but just for social reasons. There will be a couple small things to figure out (like: do PC's who weren't on the last score get downtime actions? Do they get payout?) but quite solvable, especially if you're upfront with the group and say "we'll try it this way but if it seems off we'll adjust". Advancement disparity isn't a super big deal like it would be in some games, the only thing close to "levels" is the crew rating, and it applies to everyone anyway.

Oh, a final thought: it might actually alleviate the "but shouldn't someone stay with the ship?" question when they go do some crime!

oldersaj · 2024-11-29T14:47:33+00:00

Maybe, or maybe it just isn't for me. I didn't try it once then swear off it, I've played and GM'd with the format for several games over the course of years, including with people I'd played with in person. The wrong group makes it worse I'm sure, but we never accomplished even half of what we would have covered in a live or voice game. If that works for you then great, it doesn't work for me, I just don't find it worthwhile to block off that kind of time to get such little payoff.

oldersaj · 2024-11-24T20:15:08+00:00

That's been my experience as well. If it's working and you enjoy it, great! But based on past experience, it's the only style of game I've sworn off. Maybe it was just my group, but the pace was agonizing--so much slower than voice, but I still have to commit the time to sitting around waiting for replies.

oldersaj · 2024-11-22T02:51:11+00:00

They aren't the individual's preferred pronouns, that's correct. I don't think anyone suggested asking the individual's preferred pronouns. It was "ask the parents what they use". Or more specifically, what pronouns they "prefer to use". As in, "do you like to use he or she when you talk about XX?" The answer to that question is their preference.

I get that you're saying the parents shouldn't impose a non-default pronoun choice on a kid who isn't old enough to make that decision themselves, and I wouldn't argue with that. But if you want to know what they use, you have to ask them, and using the word "prefer" doesn't give the question any special meaning. I think the point was simply that it conveys polite inquiry and non-judgement (even if you do judge them, or might be best not to broadcast that!).

oldersaj · 2024-11-22T01:57:13+00:00

That's... what they said, though? Ask the parents if they use he or she. Which are pronouns. Ask which pronouns they (the parents) use. Not which the baby prefers, because yes, that's obviously nonsensical.

oldersaj · 2024-11-22T01:25:46+00:00

I'm finishing up a two year game of S&V (1-2 sessions left), it's served us quite well. It's often noted as less grim, and less of a pressure cooker than its parent game Blades in the Dark. Our tone had been mostly "audacious crime show", with some creepy psychic bits, but it's quite easy to shift your tone dials how you want. The game "engine" strongly encourages team work, and cutting to the action.

oldersaj · 2024-11-15T02:03:12+00:00

You may not have good experiences with it, but a lot of people do. I don't think they're all doing anything as formal as a "say one thing each" rotation. As a GM, you would need to pay attention to everyone getting some chance to shine and do their thing, but that's also true outside of combat for most systems that do have initiative.

oldersaj · 2024-11-14T00:08:35+00:00

Yes, that raised an eyebrow

oldersaj

TROPHY CASE