Tabletop RPGs in 2022

Games
201

I actually think this might be a defensive move against WotC acquiring D&D Beyond from Fandom recently. They’re clearly plotting some kind of all-inclusive digital ruleset/play surface for 5.5E in the next year or so, and given their existing market dominance, that could definitely threaten Roll20 (who had 55% of their tables running 5E in Q4 2021).

Consolidation generally isn’t my favorite thing, but I can see the benefits in trying to craft a larger bulwark against the 80 ton ancient red dragon in the room, so to speak.

Don’t think we’ll see auto-bundled dynamic marketplace content show up on R20 with a DTRPG purchase, though. Even with the new toolset making importing rules content from PDFs easier, from what I’ve read from small pubs, the actual act of creating custom dynamic content (e.g., rollable NPC statblocks for monsters, form-fillable dynamic charsheets for PCs, etc.) is incredibly onerous and time-consuming. You might see discount bundles, certainly, but it’s still a separate thing the author’s gotta pay to have made (or spend a ton of time doing themselves).

Mind, if Roll20’s backend toolset weren’t an absolute fuckin’ nightmare horror show for publishers to work with, maybe that wouldn’t be as much of an issue. But for those of us stuck using the front-end as players/GMs, I think we know how unlikely that is to improve noticeably or fast :)

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Yeah it’s kind of sad. Foundry VTT is miles ahead in that vein, but their use of open source software and the sale of a user license as primary income to support their efforts hamstrings them. As well the ridiculous complication of not relying on clouded assets, also a money saver, and forcing the game master to essentially host P2P is a nightmare.

I was running my game using Limniu whiteboard and Discord. Roll20 essentially gives me like 3% benefit in that I can maintain graphical assets in their library. But other than that really does diddley squat and is a step back if I used all its functionality.

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How tightly is Dungeon Masters Guild associated with DriveThruRPG? I was under the impression that at one point they were the same company. Did that change at some point when Wizards clarified profit splitting and IP usage with content published on DMG vs. DriveThru?

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OneBookShelf owns both.

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Players liked the second session of 7th Sea (second edition). I’m left with a lot to think about. I was trying to keep things simple for us all to learn, but then the system’s so simple already that I kept trying new things out.

I like Brutes. They are a targeted threat that Heroes deal with easily. A Brute Squad has a rating. That rating is the number of individuals and how much damage it can deal. Each Wound to a Brute Squad takes out one member, reducing the rating. At the end of the round, a Brute Squad inflicts its current rating as Wounds upon one target. I wanted a pack of ghouls, so I made each one its own squad of three Brutes. By treating one ghoul as a tiny squad, damage to the ghoul directly reduced the damage it would deal. And then I had a regeneration mechanic if a ghoul wasn’t completely dispatched (playing off of the unliving monster trait in the rules).

The ghouls had a leader, a Strength 5 Villain. That normally means it has 24 Wounds. That seemed like too much, so I cut it down to 16. Because the party split up and left only one Hero to fight the ghoul leader, that 16 ended up feeling like too much. Three or four rounds went by with just an exchange of Wounds between the Hero and ghoul Villain. Because the other three Heroes were elsewhere, my mental energies were all trying to make that action interesting. I also hurt myself by starting that fight in an underground, stone passageway, which didn’t spark quick ideas for changing the circumstances of the fight.

Feedback after the game is to keep Sequences dynamic. Pirates of the Caribbean has multiple great examples of fights responding to, and effecting, changes in their environment. I think this means in part my Villains will have environment-manipulating abilities (without needing to spend Danger points). The book’s example Action Sequence had that sort of thing, when I look back at it, with a Villain shooting heretofore unnoticed powder kegs and triggering a collapse as they escape through a concealed door. I need my Villains to have one or two of those prepared beforehand, and I need my environment to have some changes it can undergo between Rounds.

I think Dramatic Wounds could usefully trigger new behaviors in Villains. I think a group of four starting Heroes should have a fine fight against a strength 8 Monster, but that’s 36 Wounds they need to go through. I suppose, other than the most depraved, Monsters will flee before that end point, and maybe I note that as a good trigger for the third Dramatic Wound (the 27th Wound on a strength 8 Monster). Still, getting to that point I estimate to be three rounds of Heroes almost exclusively spending their Raises to Wound it. That doesn’t sound like an engaging fight. And that Villain might only be putting one Dramatic wound on a Hero per round, which then doesn’t seem that threatening.

Most Sequences should have goals different from defeating one side. That makes sense to me. But there will be some where the right goal is to defeat a foe. The 7th Sea system supports me the least for that type of scene, based on my two sessions.

206

I bought and read through some GURPS books this weekend after reading your post. It looks great! It runs a lot like what’s at our table. We do d20 roll under your stat for generic resolution (the stat generated with 3d6, so it’s 3-18) which is pretty similar! (Though we do crits on rolling your stat exactly, which I think wouldn’t work as well rolling 3d6 vs 3-18.)

I like how the system is so consistent and coherent that it’d be super easy to mod in whatever you want. Usually I’m really negative about games with lists of feats and skills (I suffer incredible decision paralysis plus play with a lot of new players), but in GURPS those lists feel more like suggestions to give you a sense of the shape of the mechanics, rather than something I need to optimize against. If I want something not listed, it seems pretty easy to build it for the group. I also like the distinction between health points and fatigue points, it was quite clear what should interact with which. Into the Odd has a similar idea with a Strength, Dex and Will pool that can be damaged in various ways which I also quite. But it’s less clear what should hit Str or Dex vs HP or Fatigue.

It also feels like the kind of ruleset where if you miss a rule it’s not going to fall apart. You can grab the pieces that work for your table and ignore the other ones. The rules aren’t so tightly enmeshed that they depend on each other to feel even a little balanced. Though, not having played it that may be a misimpression. I’d love to play this game some time. It’s been on my to read list for a while, I appreciate your post pinging me to finally check it out.

207

There are some cons, though. Lots of work for the GM for one. I love the system but I think I’m pretty evenhanded in this video I did with Gary. There are also some useful GURPS-centric links in the video description. Also, if you ever need any advice or want any thoughts about anything feel free to PM me. Or ask me here.

There are also some excellent software solutions for character sheets in GURPS That save everybody a lot of time cut back on a lot of complexity I highly recommend using it.

208

GURPS is one of those games… I loved making characters in various settings many years ago when GURPS was huge and had all these amazing setting books. I loved pouring over them and read the various ways characters could be built. But as you say, the work required up front from the GM is just too much. I wish there was a “rules configurator” that lets me choose what stuff I want in it and throws out a PDF that I just hand to my players. But as it is I feel I just don’t have the mental space to get into it any longer. Probably a game I would love to play but not run.

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Let me know if you are free every other Friday from 1330-1730 EST! :)

But yeah, as usual in life, its strengths are its weaknesses. It’s strength is it’s flexibility while not losing depth. It’s weakness is that puts a lotta work on the GM’s shoulders.

210

Are you for real? That time frame could, in theory, actually work!

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I need to run it by my better half of course, but bi-weekly is an easier sell! I will DM you later if that’s OK?

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Sure. Do you have/use Discord?

Why don’t you DM me first and we’ll talk a bit when you have time. Let’s make sure all the technical stuff works before you get the better half all worked up, as well as making sure that the campaign is for you. :-)

212

Just finished this for my players today. They have formed a basic settlement in a distant land with the aid of monied backers in the hopes of finding great fortune (defined very differently by different PCs).

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I have never played GURPS and know very little about it, but I do have a bunch of source material for role playing Autoduel and OGRE, just because I love them as board games and find the depth of their lore fascinating.

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The above have really nothing to do with the system itself, more with the campaign. The system has its pluses and its minuses.

The scale and the level of detail and whatever on that map are merely what was needed to best serve this current campaign and the needs of the players and the characters.

215

So FYI, I have gone all-in on Foundry VTT using the hosting service The Forge.

https://forge-vtt.com/

It’s functionality, gui, everything, makes Roll20 look like what it is; a 2012 cloud service powered by squirrels on treadmills and with the user experience selection on the level of a gas station Wendy’s.

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Indeed -I’ve been using both Foundry and Forge for a few years now, and cannot say enough good things about it.

Only thing is, it requires more processing power from any clients than Roll20, otherwise you may experience slowdowns and the like.

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I don’t play online too often, but whenever I do, it’s always with Roll20.

A friend recently started tinkering with Foundry and I hopped in to do some tests with him, and wow. The difference is incredible, it’s such a fantastic tool and blows Roll20 out of the water in nearly every department.

218

Another devout Foundry fan here. The group of guys I game with almost exclusively use it and when there is the occasional Roll20 holdout, those games feel like a drag from a technical standpoint. I messed with Fantasy Grounds for half a campaign and all my players were thrilled when we made the jump to foundry.

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I play GURPS and Roll20 is obviously not built with anything but 5e in mind.

Even having said that I ran my first session with my players using foundry VTT in Forge, for all of us being the first session And its flexibility in allowing me to improv scenes, get assets in quiickly, etc. it’s just goddamn amazing. And we still use cameras/voice and play that part on Discord. And we’re only using probably 15% of the functionality it allows us if we were truly maximizing it. It’s a goddamn revelation.

220

Not sure whether to put this here, or in the Kickstarter thread, but as they’re ostensibly RPGs, here we are. I’ve mentioned in threads around here the wacky burgeoning Indie scene, focused on an annual thing on Kickstarter, #zinequest. It usually happens in February, but this year KS (unilaterally) decided it was to happen in August, to line up with GenCon for some reason. There was drama and rebellion around this decision in the community, and they’ve decided to move it back to Feb for next year. And so it’s happening now, but instead of the usual 500+ entries, it’s less than 100. I just had a quick browse and there were a few neat looking ones-

The Garden of the Moon. It isn’t really an RPG. Maybe a narratively-connected set of minigames/puzzles/art project/zine? But it’s pretty looking, and might be nice as a gift thing for my gal on date night, and hey, for $10 and shipping in October.

There are a few Wretched & Alone solo Journaling games. The most interesting is Fungible. I’ll probably back this at the digital level- he’s aiming for a December release. “Fungiable is a game that takes on the scourge of cryptocurrency, NFT and tech-bro culture in a horrific, satirical, dystopian approach. How far will someone go to get rich despite the crushing odds stacked against them. It is a game about dealing with the terrifying circumstances and repercussions of surrendering one’s self to greed and the subsequent downfall it brings.” Oh, and

Fungiable contains themes of addiction, gambling, isolation, body horror, gore, shame, death, and torture. Intended for mature players… This is a roleplaying GAME and as such should be considered fictitious satire. There are no related cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or blockchain involved with this game and campaign in ANY WAY. If my stance has not been explicit anywhere else on this page, I hope this will clarify that point. Cryptocurrency is valued by speculation of future growth, increases the carbon footprint as it grows and is predicated on fundamental exploitation as it destroys our environment. NFTs are a scam that exploit creators, artists and only escalate the environmental damage. If you are okay with contributing to the quickening destruction of our planet, and are okay with exploitation of vulnerable people, please kindly go elsewhere and reevaluate your choices. Oh, and don’t purchase this game or support the campaign. Thanks.

This is a thing to support.

The last is Lo! Thy Dread Empire, definitely not an RPG, but a… narrative wargame? Playable with or without a GM. With or without miniatures. Has an absolutely cracking, painted, heavy metal, grimdark aesthetic? “Lo! Thy Dread Empire is perfect if you would like to try a game which elevates the storytelling and tactical aspects of violent conflict, if you need a sub-system to run battles within tabletop RPGs/Storygames, or if you want to see the grimdark style powered by an undying anti-capitalist heart!​​”

The core influence has been White Dwarf battle reports that I read again-and-again throughout the nineties. They would weave a narrative out of the game which had been played, which was highly entertaining. I aimed to capture the same feeling here. Games Workshop also warped my young mind with the art and narrative warband campaigns in The Realms of Chaos hardback books. Legendary. I also need to give a big thanks to 28Mag for being a bastion of what grimdark miniature gaming can and should be: pro-feminist, anti-fascist, and hugely creative.

This one I’ll maybe be getting 2 copies- one in hardback for my best friend, who will hella appreciate the vibe, and one for me. Not out until next June, though.