Non-Fantasy Tabletop Roleplaying Games

[Akarin]

Not that there's anything wrong with D&D/Pathfinder/etc, but they have such a large share of the market that they tend to always dominate conversation.

Anyone play other sorts of tabletop roleplaying games?

[Akarin]

Started this because I was talking to Ydrasse about Vampire the Masquerade.

Personally I'm really into Call of Cthulhu (and also Trail of Cthulhu, which is the same premise with slightly different rules.) I've played a lot of horror games. Dread (the one with the jenga tower) can be really fun. I've also always really wanted to play Unknown Armies.

I own several dozen roleplaying game books, most of them I'll probably never get a chance to play, and that's kind of sad, but they are still fun to read through.

[Akarin]

I really like mysteries as a

structure

for games. Like the core activity being "figure out what happened" as opposed to "survive" or "kill the monsters and relieve them of their possessions." Most horror games are actually mysteries, but mysteries can also work really well for science fiction or historical or even fantasy games.

A science fiction game I own that I've always wanted to try is

Ashen Stars

which is basically built around the concept that most

Star Trek

episodes are really mysteries, structurally.

[Nexus]

Spire and Heart are my most recent two plays. They are v fun and a nice move away from D&D etc.

[Akarin]

Spire and Heart are my most recent two plays. They are v fun and a nice move away from D&D etc.

The artwork on those, particularly

Spire

is absolutely gorgeous. And the setting seems really neat too.

What was the game you played of

Spire

like? Like was it a one-shot or a campaign? And what sort of things did the characters get up to, was it more political or more fighty or more mystery? Do you think the system worked well?

[Nexus]

I playtested both games before release because I know the authors.

We playtested a political intrigue game (it's one of the scenarios that's available for purchase - Kings of Silver), which we played pretty straight, although we did end up in a couple of scrapes, but it ended up being solved by our connections made via the politicking.

I ran a more fighty campaign where there were bad attempts at assassination, which added a fun element of fight or flight - the combat system is quite simplistic but has the chance to go horribly wrong.

I love the system, I think it's incredibly straightforward to play, but I am also biased.

[Ythan]

GURPS

[xRECKONERx]

Ten Candles is an annual play for us

[Ydrasse]

i’ve said this before but character creation is what pulls me in more than anything else regardless of genre; i can make almost any system work so long as i get the freedom to have someone i can happily connect to and play. it’s been a bit hit or miss before with some concepts...

are there any really good sci-fi/apoc tabletop rpgs out there? i’ve not looked too much into those before but i’ve been craving something like that to mess around in. :> i don’t think i’d ever get to play any suggestions sadly because my dm is learning different things while running a main campaign and one-shots but i can dream!!

(Play Vampire The Masquerade)

[xRECKONERx]

i mean basically all of powered by the apocalypse can probably fit that mold, and it has like a million hacks/spinoff systems

[Akarin]

Ten Candles is an annual play for us

I have this in pdf but never had a chance to play it. The physical prop thing for horror really works well though. Have you played Dread too, or just Ten Candles?

[Akarin]

are there any really good sci-fi/apoc tabletop rpgs out there?

The thing that instantly comes to mind is Apocalypse World (the original specific flavor of what Reck said.) It's basically Mad Max and movies like that.

But it's not as crunchy as I think you're looking for, it's very loosey goosey build the world by making stuff up as you play. It might appeal to you but it's a whole different style I think than Vampire.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins is another Apocalypse World Engine game actually using a post-apocalyptic setting, but that one is more about running a civilization rebuilding rather than characters in a Mad Max kind of world.

If I were to pick an SF game for you I think it'd probably be Shadowrun, but I haven't read anything of the newest edition. But it's a very fleshed out world with lots of detail. Kind of a cyberpunk kitchen sink thing where there are also dragons and orcs and whatnot in your cyberpunk dystopia.

Other than Ashen Stars, the scifi game I most want to play is Eclipse Phase, but that's like a futuristic space post-humanism kind of thing.

[Ythan]

GURPS is a generic universal role-playing system in that it intrinsically has no flavor but has modular supplements for a mindboggling array of content to supplement the core rules (which are themselves perfectly sufficient) including at least two series of postapocalyptic source books containing lots of material that would also be useful for an original game of the same type.

Notably the mechanics of Fallout are based on GURPS if that has any bearing on your interest in postapocalyptica.

[xRECKONERx]

Ten Candles is an annual play for us

I have this in pdf but never had a chance to play it. The physical prop thing for horror really works well though. Have you played Dread too, or just Ten Candles?

i've played dread as well
ten candles has produced some of the most emotional RPG sessions for me

i've had interviews and talks with the designer of it, he's fantastic, but designing a system so... powerful is just... i don't know how he did it.
i can tell you exactly what has happened every single session of this game ive ever played. it has been emotional and transformative for people ive played it with. almost like some kind of therapy

it does get extremely dark and fucked up sometimes and id probably put it as like, the largest trigger warning ive ever put on a RPG just bc of the dark places it can go

but it's so so extremely creative and fitting for the scenario.

you all know you're doomed. you cannot "win". the question is, how do you want your final moments to go?
it's macabre and just ugh so good

[brassherald]

I am looking into running a Space themed one, likely Star Wars, any suggestions for systems?

Star Wars is preferable because it is the one series that everyone has knowledge of.

[Vi]

the scifi game I most want to play is Eclipse Phase, but that's like a futuristic space post-humanism kind of thing.

Out of interest, was there anything specific you were looking for in your Eclipse Phase gameplay experience?

[xRECKONERx]

I am looking into running a Space themed one, likely Star Wars, any suggestions for systems?

Star Wars is preferable because it is the one series that everyone has knowledge of.

I did Edge of the Empire for a group and it was a blast. Granted, you have to dip into the FFG pool of custom dice to do it, but they added to the experience IMO.

It crosses over with Force and Destiny and Age of Rebellion for more classes/customization options... like Edge of the Empire is very specifically a "rogue/scoundrel on the Outer Rims" type thing, while Force and Destiny is much more focused on force sensitive users surviving during Imperial times. Age of Rebellion is more centered around, well, the Rebellion -- and you tend to take on more combat/military-style roles. But all the rules and mechanics can be used interchangeably.

The main downside with FFG's Star Wars systems is there aren't a ton of pre-genned adventures for the systems. There are a handful here and there, but you're gonna have to really know the system to write your own shit, or dive into the side of the homebrewed universe.

[brassherald]

Okay I think I can handle writing it. I know we did the old one that was based on 3.5 and all those games just became such a slog because, like in 3.5, you'd basically need a robot tracking all the bonuses.

[xRECKONERx]

Oh it's way more streamlined than that now. If you did the 3.5 Star Wars system you'll be fine with FFG's.

[brassherald]

Yeah, my group actually finished a one shot that became a two shot yesterday and voted in was a homebrewed Star Wars 5e thing. So, I guess it'll be that. I'll report when this finally happens if anyone cares. I do have to finish the story arc in my D&D campaign so it won't be for a bit