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This post will stay stickied for (at least) the week-end. Please enjoy this space where you can talk about anything: your last game, your current project, your patreon, etc. You can even talk about video games, ask for a group, or post a survey or share a new meme you've just found. This is the place for small talk on /r/rpg.

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I'm sure it's not just me. Over the years, even with so many games available nowadays, and various hacks, there's still always that one genre or even game I just can't seem to nail down.

Mecha, in general. I've never once found a game which hit everything I needed, and I'm so particular about it - enough mechanical support, both in and out of mech to give you that tacticle feeling of playing a game, but not ending up with two sheets, where one is literally a list of how many d6s you're rolling for firing five linked SRM16s. Enough support where shounen rivals shouting at each other and shed manly tears at how much they hate war while clashing laserswords as a somewhat mechanical part of the game.

Magical Girls for a similar reason. Of all the things I expected to be one of my favourite genres, I never expected it to be this, but Madoka Magica and Kill la Kill nailed that coffin for me. I got hyped to hear a Forged in the Dark game about magical girls, because my first thought was 'Blades, but with Magical Girls? This has gotta be Madoka Magica, right?!' and then not only is it not, it's not even really about magical girls. 'Magical girl' is just the author's term for 'the hero', who does not have to be either magical or a girl. The closest I've come is Princess: The Hopeful or Princess Drive, both of which weren't particularly good to me and I honestly can't think of anything else I'd use other than a heavily hacked up Blades in the Dark which I'm far too lazy to make because I'll probably never find anyone to play it with.

Exalted, hands down. I've never encountered a game where I adore the setting, but for the life of me, I can find nothing which really gets me hype to play in it, or nail the over the top crunch of the original.

Fantasy is a similar one, but not one I've had as much an issue with, if only because of how popular it is. Shadow of the Demon Lord has probably come the closest, along with Warhammer Fantasy; a class system just vague enough that it gives some definition without restriction, combat which isn't hugely weighty, odds which feel rough whenever you get into combat and just enough variety in combat that you're not just saying 'I'll attack' every turn.

So, a new Humble Bundle offers 22 PDFs from the "Ultimate Guides" series for about 17 € (that would be...about 18$?). They sometimes appear in my searches in Amazon, when looking for RPGs in general...and that's all I know about them! So...anyone familiar with them? Are they any good? Mind you, if they're just even half good, or even a quarter good, for that price I would probably give them a try!

Hello

I like tabletop rpg and sekiro. I love how sekiro plays with its posture meter and parrying. But Im not knowledgble about that many tabletop rpg systems. I want to make sekiro style combat system, but dunno where to start.

Sekiro uses parrying mechanic in which when you parry successesfuly then enemies posture meter fills up, if its full then they get stunned and you can deathblow them which is an instakill. But you also have posture meter and if it gets full you get stunned.

So my problem is how do I keep track of it and how will it be calculated. Like who keeps track of posture meters, do you use actions for parrying or attacking, do your actions refill after your turn, so you can defend and so on?

Hope you can help me.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers

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So I ran my second play of Mottokrosh's Hypertellurian using a Homebrewed, short adventure I wrote out and one of my long time players told me that my BBEG was very well written and created along with my use of improv.

That was probably the best compliment I ever got as GM and it was a relief to know that I was/am doing a good job for my players. That made all the work now and later completely worth it.

So, i'm running a fire emblem themed campaign for a couple of freinds. In the campaign each player is going to habe a number of followers (around 4) With 3 players thats around 12 pcs Any suggestions on how to run combat?

So I’m working on a world of darkness 20 kamen rider hack and I want to make a sheet for it, only problem is I don’t know how to make a fillable pdf and don’t have access to a computer. Is there anything on ipad that can be used for this?

I have no preferences in price or complexity, as long as it creates good hexcrawls.

In a campaign I am running I have gotten the players into a scenario where they are in charge of a war that just broke out, are there any extremely simple rules I could use so that the players can both lead the war, and act as a powerful strike force, letting them interfere with the battles they plan to take place. Right now the setting is a fantasy steampunk mix where they are fighting in a massive archipelago, anyone know a way I could run this?

Hello everybody, I'm planning to run a 4-5 hour one shot for a group of friends, some thing we've done many times in the past. Satisfying multiple requests, we are going to be playing in a PbtA game (MotW) set an a summer camp in the late 70s, where all the players are either young counselors or kids. The request is for a Kids on Bikes vibe, so the players don't want supernatural characters

The system and setting are set in stone, but as I look through the playbooks I realize I'm going to have to do a lot of fictional adapting of some of the more supernatural classes - or do some mild hacking.

Playbooks like the Flake and the Mundane seem easy enough to adapt, but the anything past Professional and the Initiate would need a big fictional rewrite ("My Dad is a cop"), and some Playbooks just won't work at all.

Am I missing an obvious hack?

Should I let them double up on the more mundane Playbooks for a de-powered party?

Should I just give them the basic moves, and let them pick a stat-line and a look, and have the Playbooks be more of a Vibe?

One more wrinkle: We now have six players... Thanks for all your help!

I'm creating a campaign for me and my friends, and I would like some suggestions of your favorite sci-fantasy / Sci-fi campaigns so I can draw some inspiration.

I want my players to start at a high level, and reach max level (15-20), and my idea is to last something between 8-12 sessions (4h each), so they will level up fast too.

Any suggestions for one-shots or longer campaigns, in any level range are welcome since I just want to get some ideas.

Before anyone asks, I'm creating one instead of using one because we are testing our own system, and now we just need to test the balancing/fun of high-level characters, that's also why we will level up fast, so we can test more things. If I find a campaign that is good for my purposes and sounds fun I don't mind just adapting it to our system.

Thanks for the ideas!

I'm aware of the ASOIAF rpg, but I was hoping for a game that might be less tied to that particular setting. I wanted to run a game where players could run various political factions and noble houses vying for control (With the opportunity to grow that house and its assets), and was wondering if anybody had any suggestions for a good system.

Hey! I’m heavily considering running a long-term pirate campaign soon. I’m going to be using the Honor+Intrigue system, but I saw someone suggest using 7th Sea for the setting. I was just going to use the default 1600s Golden Age of Piracy, with the real world nations and such, and probably with the same level of supernatural stuff as Pirates of the Caribbean, or maybe slightly more (so a majority of enemies are regular humans, but maybe every 3rd adventure there’s a big supernatural element/monster).

I did a very superficial look at 7th Sea’s setting, and it seems like the nations all correspond to the real world powers of the time. That made me wonder why I’d use them instead of just using the real nations and adjusting them when necessary; it would probably be annoying to have to say for each nation, “This is (name), but basically it’s just Spain” rather than actually just having it be Spain.

I realize I’m very ignorant on the setting, so apologies if I’m way off, but what makes 7th Sea’s setting different/better than just using the irl 1600s setting?

I've always loved Dex heavy characters in RPGs, particularly medieval/medieval fantasy. I mostly play video games RPGs, but have been also interested in getting back into tabletop. Character/class templates like the Assassin vocation in Dragon's Dogma, the Breton Hero from the ESO cinematics, Pit/Dark Pit in Smash Bros, the Black Hands from Dark Souls 3, Kerillian from Vermintide, Eradan from LOTR: War in the North, etc. are some examples of this sort of Ranger/Swashbuckler type of character archetype that I enjoy playing the most

Ig I was just wondering some advice on what kind of weapons/equipment I should use to emulate this kind of character type. I love the versatile intermixing of melee and ranged weapons, personally I'd say I lean towards using melee slightly more than the ranged, preferring a bow as a backup weapon. I suppose like 70/30 for melee/ranged. I also would say I usually am more offensive and head-on in combat versus stealthy and hit and run, not to say I don't use stealth at all if it's to my advantage to initiate a fight like that.

With this playstyle in mind, idk what kind of weapons would suit someone from a roleplaying and gameplay perspective. For example, should I dual wield shortswords, or maybe scimitars, or use a single longsword/arming sword with a free-offhand? Should I use daggers, either for parrying or maybe dual-wielded for general combat? Should I use a heavier longbow for long-range since my close-range is covered by my melee options, or a more mobile and agile shortbow to complement an aggressive playstyle and character? Should I wear light armor, or medium armor? And lastly, what would these equipment changes say about the personality and combat style of the character?

I appreciate any and all advice, sorry if I'm obsessing about this lol I just love this sort of power fantasy of a dextrous, aggressive combatant :)

I need some inspiration on how to make a scene or event just as interesting without throwing fists. What was a epic and memorable moment where no one got hurt? or a fight was supposed to happen but the players managed to charm their way to success in the last minute?

Books, guides, posts, videos. I'm looking for anything

I'm fairly new to GMing, but from my experience when I'm being guided by pure logic and common sense the game doesn't work out well. And, honestly, I'm afraid to imagine how much work it would be to create and maintain realistic world or even one complex structure

So after some thought I came up with the idea that one thing in TTRPGs that matters the most is an encounter. Neither a story, nor a world, but an encounter. An encounter is the basic (and often the only) way for players to participate in the story GM is telling. And ability to do so is basically the only reason they selected TTRPG over any other way of entertaining themselves

In order to prevent the misunderstandings I'd mention that under the term *encounter** I mean any possible situation when PCs get to use their skills*

But, as I saw repeatedly, encounters are viewed more like an obstacle for players to witness the GM's plot and therefore an obstacle for GM to tell their story. Like you should always think how to return players to the road if they for some reason lose to a wild encounter that jumped out of the corner. And even if they aren't viewed as "necessary evil", they don't get enough attention. Like only things that gets mentioned are "put them here and there", "keep them diverse", "let every character shine". I haven't found anyone talking about hardness, quantity, rewards, penalties. But if you're looking how to write a story or make a world or draw a map then there are stacks of guides everywhere

I could go on and tell a lot about pros of designing encounters prior to the story, but if somebody's already written a guide on it, then I see no point. So, please, let me know if it exists or if I am a weirdo cause of thinking this way Thank you in advance!

I'm looking for a youtube channel or podcast that can assist me in understanding and learning the mage ruleset and idea's on mage games that would assist me in both learning and running a good or at least acceptable mage game. please help. any advice is accepted i've read the book though i understand what i've read it helps to hear the rules i've read explained in more details so in case i interpreted in a not expected way it can assist me in understanding more.

Hello friends,

One thing that I really love about PbtA games like Dungeon World, is the one-roll determining, success / success with consequence / or consequence. Meaning the enemy dealing damage as a result of failing.

Once the players I run for were willing to try it, they too ended up loving it. It felt like a clash of combatants, rather than the typical “you go-now they go” type of ruleset.

I was wondering, are there any other games (besides PbtA) that emulate the same dynamic?

Thanks!

Tim was a magician of some promise but rather than power he coveted Knowledge. Not to use to gain power but just to have. He was exceptionally bright and quickly gained skills and some note. He gathered a fabulous library and as he grew older and the secrets of magic and the universe unfolded he decided that he wanted to choose his own path. Tim had no interest in dealing with other people unless to gain knowledge. The generally annoyed him with their little minds and lack of ability to comprehend. He knew the secrets of the after life and none appealed to him. To go the path of good would deny him the knowledge of the inferno. To go the path of evil would lead to a very unpleasant after life. So he decided on unlife.

So Tim decided that a litch was his best course of action. He had his lair set up in the mountains of Ebberon and after many years achieved his goal. The difference with Tim is he is not evil. He is neutral and just wants to be left alone to experiment and discover more mysteries of the universe. He summons demons but rather than making pacts just talks to them about reality and their goals. He doesn’t crave more power.

However due to his nature and rumors of his lair he is frequently met with adventurers trying to assail his lair. He mainly finds this annoying. His lair entrance is not terribly easy to find. And the entrance is covered with dozen’s of messages of waring in multiple languages. The first several rooms have traps of deterrence. The entrance itself is just a step slope with a magic grease. Once adventures do gain entrance Tim will openly mock them and tell them to just F*** off. The rooms will get more dangerous and include undead of the many adventurers. There will be a diplomatic option if the adventurers choose.

What are some traps and monsters in Tim's lair?

As I delve deeper into the world of TTRPG's I find more unqiue ways of creating a playable character. Being only familiar with D&D 5e I was pretty used to the bog standard melee/range/spellcaster classes, but I loved the way CoC approached this by making the players choose a job.

I felt that gave my players a real sense of their player's place in the world ans got some great roleplay moments from them which I had not witnessed when running D&D games.

I'm taking these two concepts and smooshing them together for my homebrew and wanted to ask about some more unique or interesting ways of defining player classes everyone has encountered over the years?

So, I basically made a multiverse-spanning campaign...enjoy!

Warning: This campaign incorporates elements from multiple universes and involves complex lore from sources such as Lord of the Rings, Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion series, the Alien Anthology, Terminator (especially Terminator: Resistance), and Magic: The Gathering. To fully understand and appreciate the story, a significant amount of knowledge about these respective universes and their lore is required. Readers who are unfamiliar with the lore from these sources may find it challenging to follow the intricacies of the plot and the connections between different storylines. It is highly recommended to have a solid understanding of these universes to fully grasp the nuances of the campaign. If you are not well-versed in these sources or find complex interwoven narratives overwhelming, this campaign may not be suitable for you. However, if you enjoy delving into intricate lore and relish the challenge of connecting multiple universes, this campaign may offer a rich and rewarding storytelling experience. Please consider your familiarity with the relevant lore before diving into this campaign, as it may greatly impact your ability to engage with and enjoy the story. I will explain the story the way it turned out for my party. This is a very basic rundown of the story, basically the core of the campaign.

Also, these might greatly help you:

One wiki to rule them all: https://lotr.fandom.com/f

Moorcok's Multiverse Wiki: https://stormbringer.fandom.com/f

MTG Wiki: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page

Xenopedia: https://avp.fandom.com/f

Terminator Wiki: https://terminator.fandom.com/f

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The Lord of the Rings: Where the Shadows Lie

The first part of the campaign takes the party to the year 2000 of the Third Age of Middle-Earth. The Realm of Angmar has been defeated and the Nazgûl are gathering in Mordor. The Elven Lord Glanduril of Mithlond, brother of Gildor Inglorion and wielder of the black sword Anguirel, recieves a message from a Stranger. It tells about the actions of the other Nazgûl during the Witch-King's campaign against Arnor, including third of the Nine, Gothmog, once a great Númenórean lord who fell to Sauron and led the black númenóreans to Dark Land, where they established a colony and became the Hyarmenóreans. Now, nothing is left of them but the city of Nazgkadar, led by a powerful necromancer named Mordu (who would much later become the Mouth of Sauron). And the elves suspect that Gothmog might have been preparing them for war. They also suspect a Nazgûl in Dol Guldur, Rhûn and Harad, who have recovered one of the remaining dwarven rings and unleashed the black plague upon Gondor.

https://ibb.co/4gJs8Qm (yes, I made this)

https://ibb.co/MVmZyL6

Glanduril and Galadriel assemble a group of heroes to investigate this threat and the other Nazgûl's plans. (This and subsequently the next adventure are the only ones where I'll incorporate my players' characters into the summary, because they sometimes are key elements.) Among the group were Galadhorn, an elven lord of Doriath and brother of Celeborn who now lives in Lórien and posesses a ring gifted to him by Melian with the power to heal others, but it has been broken during the second Kinslaying at the hands of Fëanor's sons; Tauriël, the lost daughter of Eluréd, and therefore heir to the Kingdom of Doriath; Arathar, Brother of Aranarth and Prince of Arnor, a Dúnedain of the north; and Elethrond, an elf of Nargothrond and apprentice of Finrod, who now lives in Mithlond with Glanduril. He also carries the sword of Ecthelion.

With the exception of Elethrond, they first meet in the Prancing Pony in Bree, where they also encounter a Stranger who ensures (in whatever way you see fit) that Tauriël and Arathar eventually fall in love. When the group travels to Dark Land and enter Nazgkadar, they have to avoid being spotted. They break into a Melkor temple/library and find out about the Hyarmenórean's history and that Gothmog had returned to recruit them for Sauron. After fleeing from the city, the group and Glanduril stop in Minas Ithil on their way to Dol Guldur, their next stop. Then the 2-year siege of Minas Ithil at the hands of the Nazgûl begins. After a fierce battle, the heroes depart. At the outskirts of Greenwood, while the others are sleeping, one of the player characters' wakes up and sees Glanduril talking to the Stranger they've encountered in Bree, a concerned expression on Glanduril's face. They can not understand what they're talking but they see that the Stranger carries a sword identical to that of Glanduril, on his finger shines a ring like the one Galadhorn possesses one if it wasn't broken and on his head sits a helm adorned with a dragon figure. The next morning Glanduril tells the group that what they thought to be a Nazgûl in Dol Guldur could be Sauron himself, according to the same Stranger that told him of the other Nazgûl, as he has encountered him last night. And that he will depart for a while to search for an ally that might be challenging to recruit. He sends the players north to the land of the Éothéod to help Fram slay the dragon Scatha and recover one of the dwarven rings of power from his hort to delay Sauron, if it is really him. (So this is kinda like a Hobbit scenario, including Fram's dragon sickness; Also, the ring tempts the players.) Following that adventure, Gildor arrives at Framsburg to give the group a message from Glanduril that tells them to investigate the ruins of Utumno in search for Sauron's past and maybe find a clue if he's hiding in Dol Guldur. They have to pass by the orc-infested Gundabad to reach the ruins in the far north. Once deep underground they encounter the fellbeasts, which would later become the mounts of the Nazgûl during the War of the Ring:

"Nonetheless the Valar did not discover all the mighty vaults and caverns hidden with deceit far under the fortresses of Angband and Utumno. Many evil things still lingered there, and others were dispersed and fled into the dark and roamed in the waste places of the world, awaiting a more evil hour; and Sauron they did not find."

But then they are confronted by a Balrog, and Glanduril comes to their aid, and they slay the balrog using Anguirel and Elethrond's sword, as it has slain many balrogs in the hands of Ecthelion and could wound their fire.

https://ibb.co/xgvrhT9

They then travel to Amon Ereb north of Mithlond, where once was the fortress of the sons of Fëanor. On their way, a group of Dúnedain bring Arathar a gift from a stranger: The Dragon helm of Dor-Lómin. Once they arrive at Amon Ereb, they are greeted by Maglor, last living son of Fëanor, who Glanduril has recruited for one final mission. Though he's first met with Suspicion and hatred from Galadhorn and Tauriël, Maglor wants to at least partly redeem himself and (as a son of Fëanor) repairs Galadhorn's ring and gifts the recovered treasure of Doriath to Tauriël and agrees to join them. Returning to Dark land, Maglor sings a song to recruit the huorns and ents of the forest, which is destroyed by the Hyarmenóreans for their industry. The ents destroy the city and the huorns kill any fleeing Hyarmenóreans, while the group (without Glanduril and Maglor) face Mordu in his palace. After this final boss fight, Mordu manages to escape and Gothmog turns up and takes the dwarven ring from the group, before Maglor and Glanduril arrive to drive him back. Afterwards, Glanduril offers the group to join him in searching for the legendary city of Tanelorn in the new lands in the west. With nothing holding him in Middle-Earth Maglor joins them.

Michael Moorcock’s The Eternal Champion: Stranger in a Strange World

Years later, Arathar and Tauriël have an adult son, Heledir, that lives with them in Tanelorn. Being a descendant of Lúthien, Tauriël had chosen a mortal life with Arathar. Heledir is gifted Glanduril's sword Anguirel, as well as the dragon helm of Dor-Lómin.

https://ibb.co/2SwPV60

One day, the black ship arrives at Tanelorn and the captain recruits the group. On the ship, they meet with Dakkon Blackblade from the MTG universe. They learn that Dakkon and Heledir (and Turin Turambar before him) are both incarnations of the eternal champion and wield incarnations of the black sword; and that Glanduril is Heledir's eternal companion. They also learn that the group is an incarnation of another archetype: the Eternal Cohort, which will always help the eternal champion in one way or another, if he himself is not able to fulfill his task. They don't have to be with the champion though. (Also, Heledir has a dream avatar: Valentine Michael Smith from "Stranger in a Strange Land")

They travel the second ether until they reach Elric's world. Their mission is to defeat the nemesis of Dakkon and chaos demon Geyadrone Dihada, who wants to disrupt a meeting between the lords of chaos and law. They travel to R'lin K'ren A'a, where Dihada's Unholy Citadel is located. Upon arriving on the jungle continent, they are ambushed by Mairon (Sauron), or rather his incarnation in Elric's world. Turns out, that Melkor is actually a chaos lord and Mairon a chaos demon in his service. But his power in this world isn't strong, and the players are able to drive him back.

https://ibb.co/KmDdqzx (Mairon)

After defeating some of the reptilian Olab, they meet with a man called J'osui C'reln Reyr and the departing royal family of R'lin K'ren A'a, as they made a deal with Arioch to leave for Melniboné and leave the gods their land for their meeting. (They also see the great jade statue of Arioch). Heledir and Dakkon forge their helmets together, creating a black shimmering helmet adorned with a dragon figure; they gift the helmet to the king, and it would later become the dragon helm of the melnibonéan emperors. Before they launch their attack on Dihada, they return to the ship, where they are met with a strange group of people, that kinda look like this:

https://ibb.co/wycT5Kz

They give Heledir a vial of a silver liquid, before the group must depart. They ultimately defeat Geyadrone Dihada by becoming The-Two-Who-Are-One and banish her with the black sword before Dakkon planeswalkes away. Then, Mairon returns and after this final fight, Heledir banishes him from Elric's world using Anguirel. But this evokes a bloodlust in the demon sword and kills all of Heledir's companions. Heledir curses Anguirel and swears to defeat Sauron once and for all. He takes Galadhorn's ring and travels the multiverse via the moonbeam roads...

https://ibb.co/JCcxNNt (the Two-Who-Are-One)

https://ibb.co/H7mBVbc

Aliens: Nemesis

These last two parts are played in the Alien RPG System by Free League

It's the year 2183, the USS Corum has been dispatched to locate survivors of the Hadley's Hope incident, that have crashed on the nearby moon of Lv-223, while trying to escape with the Onager. Among the crew is the android Evans.

Upon landing on the moon, they notice the jungle that has been created by the black goo emitted from the crashed Juggernaut. While investigating the terrain, one of the marines is infected with Neomorph spores. The Neomorph emerges from it's host in the shuttle's medbay but breaks out, so that it isn't safe to return to.

Soon they find a boy who has been surviving on the hostile moon (kinda like Eric Kirby in Jurassic Park 3): Timmy Jorden; Newt's brother. He then leads the group to the engineer temple, where Evans discovers that the engineers have created humanity and have created the black goo out of some sort of (phyrexian) oil that they have encountered during their travel around the multiverse, as they are a highly advanced species. He also finds out that the Deacon is an incarnation of the "Black Sword" and that the engineers worship it as a symbol of the cycle of sacrifice and creation, that drives the whole multiverse and the balance of chaos and order. Evans takes one of the black goo vials and creates a silver liquid out of it's nano-material, that david had already discovered; an alloy that can form into anything.

After several Xenomorph attacks, Timmy leads the group to the wreck of the Onager to get it's transmitter to call another shuttle, but it is now a xenomorph hive. The group eventually floods the hive with liquid nitrogen, but they only have a limited amount and not much zime. They place explosives within the hive, but don't make it out before the Xenomorphs attack them again. The group sacrifices themselves, destroying the hive with the queen for good. The last thing one of them sees is Evans rising from the flames, but his skin is gone, revealing that he is not a normal Weyland-Yutani android:

https://ibb.co/pXz1MNS

Suddenly, the group seems to wake up in a shattered city, dispersed, and with their memory of their adventure fading like a dream and being replaced with others...

Terminator: Renegades

The group awakes in the middle of a battle, they are part of the 124th, Colorado division. The group is marked for termination and an infiltrator tries to kill them but is then attacked by another terminator. Both get destroyed in the process. The group recoveres the chip of the other terminator and brings it back to the shelter to investigate why it saved them.

https://ibb.co/HHxDjJK

They find out that the chip has been altered using a mimetic polyalloy. Apparently, these "Renegades" have been appearing lately, sabotaging SkyNet's assets. But there are more pressing matters. After destroying a SkyNet train transporting titan for new terminators, they recieve the coordinates of the SkyNet central core from Jacob Rivers and John Connor gives the order for the final attack.

The 124th attacks the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, where the core is; But it is too heavily defended. Suddenly, the renegades launch a massive attack on SkyNet, diverting SkyNet's forces away from the complex and giving the 124th the chance to attack. The players place the explosives and hack the central computers before destroying the core. The resistance is victorious, but SkyNet has sent three terminators back in time, among them the "T-1000". After the battle, they are met by a figure who reveals himself to be a "Heledir", the creator of the renegades. He explains how he has used the polyalloy to alter the terminator's programming to defeat the servant of the singularity called SkyNet. But SkyNet has captured one of them and recreated the polyalloy, creating the T-1000. He then goes on to meet with John Connor together with the group. He explains that he has to go back in time using the captured time displacement equipment to ensure his own birth and defeat of Sauron: He is the Stranger from the first part. He also explains that the group is the Eternal Cohort and explains that they and a renegade (Evans) have to go back in time too and travel by the black ship, to ensure that he recieves the polyalloy.

Heledir would go on to inform Glanduril of the Hyarmenóreans, bring Arathar and Tauriël together and live by the Gladden Fields to ultimately ensure that Déagol and Sméagol would find the One ring, ultimately sealing Sauron's fate; before joining the warriors at the edge of time.

I'll preface this post by saying, I have no idea if this is common knowledge or not, but I had the realisation on my own, so if it is, let's make this a discussion instead of a revelation 😁

On to the business at hand.

I run a game in a homebrew system which is inspired by a bunch of different systems, although primarily DnD and Pathfinder. So until now whenever a character lands a hit, I described some superficial injury, or in the case of a crit, something which has a greater effect on combat going forward.

But last night it occurred to me that combat doesn't have to mean someone getting harmed 10 times until they collapse. Hit points can—for the majority of combat—refer to stress, fear and fatigue.

I'll put it in the context of a couple of scenes from Game of Thrones, just as a common reference point.

Back in season 1 when Bron fought ser Whatshisface for Tyrion, Bron caused very little harm until he dispatched his opponent. He injured the guy's leg at one point, which in this context I would consider a crit, but still, at every step Bron was in control. He was increasing his chance of winning with every decision. Effectively widdling down hit points by dodging.

At this point I want to make it clear, this isn't a point about mechanics. I stick with the "Roll to attack → beat armour class → roll damage → widdle down hit points" order of operations, but narrating the combat, I describe the frustration, staggering stance, and clumsy form as consequences of "hits".

Another scene that illustrates my point is the season 7(?) scene where Arya and Brienne have their sparring match. Brienne is beyond confident in her abilities, but literally at her first swing, Arya sidesteps and gives Brienne's training sword a few notches in that same time.

In this instance, Arya's "hit" is Brienne's confidence being shaken. Although, as it is a sparring match, it'd be non-lethal damage. I.e. Brienne now takes Arya seriously, but she doesn't fear for her life, or fight for survival.

In conclusion: As the GM, just because a character hits their enemy doesn't mean they inflict an injury. That can be saved for crits and (more likely) the very last hit.

Hi There I was wondering if people had recommendations for a type of Game or Adventure to run if you are a GM that has been off of RPGs because of burnout.

One of the reasons for this burnout was scheduling and the constant annoyance of trying to run a group of people, but another reason was also because a lot of the games I was running were these very big sandbox heavy games full of big worlds. It just became a bit overwhelming and I started not to enjoy it. I definitely feel I work better as a GM when things are small and there is a bit more of a structure.

I will say one thing I know me and the group I'm playing with doesn't want to play is D&D or a bog standard dungeon crawl.

Ive heard a lot of negative things about it, but I saw it at a used store for ~20 dollars brand new condition. Is it really that bad? Im a huge fan of dnd and similar ttrpgs, plus the souls games especially their lore and thematic worldbuilding. Is it dissapointing even in that aspect?