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Tabletop Games Thread (And Roll20)

I'm fine with anything, really.
Any character I make that isn't an alteration of an existing one is gonna end up getting recycled for future use, I ain't shredding any character sheets.

Also I linked this to Grooktook already but
I found a Wuxia (Chinese/Kung Fu aesthetic) TTRPG I'd probably enjoy playing, but of course that's up to other people
Check it
 
a long while ago, when I was a wee babby Ruin, I had the idea for a setting that was half nuclear winter and half scorched earth
it just came back to me but it seems like a neat idea
maybe we could use that as the base and go from there?
 
We'd probably have to establish how long it's been since everything went to shit too
like, has the world just gone to shit, or is it in the early stages of finally being able to rebuild?
Is there some semblance of civilization in places, or is it just general anarchy?
 
Yeah you should also decide if there's magic, more emphasis on close ranged combat (As I said, are guns rare, or common place?), or other stuff.
I kinda think a 100% guns-ish apocalypse world would be really boring, but that's my opinion.
 
You could maybe make it so that there's one faction that has a bunch of guns, but they're otherwise rare

I also like the idea of magic but it'd probably have to be something more like
Fist of the North Star style "not magic but might as well be" kind of stuff
like Toki's jesus beams
 
If Guns are super rare you could also have a moment wheer it's revealed someone has a gone to be a major "OH SHIT" moment too.
A faction that hoards guns would be feared for that reason alone.
 
but maybe the gun hoarding gang isn't all that bad! Maybe they go around collecting firearms to destroy them, or because they're the only way to defend from peeps that want magic to be big G in the wasteland
there's a lot of options here
 
That's also very good, especially since guns are very destructive.
A thing you could do is say the Nuclear War brought Magic back, that's what happened with Adventure Time
Nukes fell, life flourish afterwards, but most of all, Magic came back.
 
Ruin said:
Fist of the North Star style "not magic but might as well be" kind of stuff

How about just leaving it ambiguous and mysterious enough that it will fall into Clarkes third law.
 
That works too. I just think a straight up classical fantasy wizard style magic would be a little out of place, is all.
But I do like the idea of the nukes bringing magic back a la AT. That's good.
 
A few suggestions for non wizardy magic:

-Magic is ki/life force/the force/chakra, emitted by living things. Works if you want it to be relatively lo-power and fit in with the fist of the north star style impossible kung fu.

-Magic is PSI. PSI is good if you want lo-fi powers that barely do anything and that only a few people can use. You could say that the radiation unlocked an ancient repressed gene in the human biology (ala X-Men), or that the tragedy did a number on the collective unconsciousness and resulted in PSI becoming stronger.

-Magic is powered by captured souls. IIRC Babylon 5 is sci-fi but had scientifically proven human souls which were occasionally bartered with, and the cancelled shooter Heaven Variant was going to work under a similar premise.


In general, I like my magic to:
-Give the opportunity for fun things that wouldn't be possible in a setting where a believable scientific explanation is demanded for everything.
-Add some open-ended metaphysical elements and mysteries to the workings of the universe, essentially saying "there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio..."

^^On the above note, I don't like for it to be explained too much. Always pisses me off when shitty animes have characters monalogue for 10 minutes about how the universes magic works. Takes the fun out of it and feels like author wank. I like the "rules" to be as simple, elegant, and flexible as possible, and leave the rest to the imagination. Its inner workings should be vague in order to keep things mysterious and appropriately "magical".
 
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nah, I agree
the workings of the magic should only be explained deeply if those workings are highly integral to the plot
but I like just having "nukes awakened us to Ki/PSI" for this kinda setting because it's broad enough that you can do more or less anything with it without having to go deep into it
 
As for as wasteland settings I am fond of the setup "The Arms Peddler" has going. It's post-apoc wild west, meets H.P. Lovecraft. Magic is present but it has the esoteric, ritualistic qualities commonly associated with Lovecraftian horror which keeps it from being too reliable.
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I think just as important as setting, is trying to figure out what people want out of this campaign. What kind of hooks do you all envision. Personally I like the idea of the a frontier settlement finding itself besieged by forces from without, whether they be mundane of supernatural in nature. But a wasteland setting itself is really geared towards a journey of some kind where staying alive from points A to B is just as important as what you do when you get there.
 
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and Kit graces us with her presence.

While we're on wastelands, though, I'm trying to remember if there was ever a Call of Cthulhu setting for post-Old Ones Rising.
I think it was for Trail of Cthulhu, though, which I dunno how to feel about.
 
I like fantasy with an emphasis on FUN and doing FUN things. Not to say everything has to be campy escapism, but not totally grimdark either. I'm okay with darkness as long as it leads to a greater light.

This is one reason why I'm hoping that Cthulhu Mythos related things don't show up, at least not for an adventure game. A bit too dour and doomy for my tastes. Unless of course it was handled Bloodborne* style where its ultra ambiguous...or its possible to karate them to death.

Plot structure I'm not too picky on.


*
Actually, what I like most about Bloodborne is its ultimately dreamy atmosphere. Ever play the game late at night or in the morning while trying to fall asleep following a night of restlessness or insomnia? Feels amazing. Especially the Hunters Dream chapter.
 
I think Fun would help me ease into TTRPG most of all too, as long as rules aren't a thing (Fun comes before rules, never forget that!)

Pulp Cthulhu is just that, your characters are more durable and the monsters can be defeated.

Though, holy shit, a Bloodborne styled game w/ like four hunters? I can dig that.
 
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Alas, we're more Tabletop RPGs, but I think a DOOM RPG would be fucking awesome.

I've heard good things about Edge of Empire, as well.

What's your RPG setting, by the way?

ALSO GUYS I FOUND THE TTRPG THAT IS SO DARK SOULS I TALKED ABOUT
It's called "Cold Ruins of Lastlife", it's so so Dark Souls, I'd play this :O

And I found ANOTHeR Dark Souls/Demon's Souls-like
it's called Dark Tales, and again, looks fun
 
the character concept I'm working on for wasteland is so silly that I can't do anything but Fun with him.
Plus, focusing on fun moreso than hard math or complex mechanics is the easiest way to ease into new stuff, especially since we're all kinda new as a group

Also, do you guys think we should make a Discord for this group?
It might be easier to coordinate and discuss ideas in a private chat rather than a public forum
 
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ah, yeah, that's true
forgot about Roll20 for a hot second there
 
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Some RPGs aren't supported on Roll20 currently, but you can definitely still play them, it'll just take a bit of work, don't sweat it, whatever we play will be doable on Roll20...
Or Google Hangouts :PUN:
 
Jutsei said:
What's your RPG setting, by the way?
Real world, zombie apoc. Cliche but there's reasons behind the madness. Game starts on Day 0 instead of several years in. Chars "level up" by getting older. Days are split into smaller events. There's even classes, item builds, special dice rules and what not.. I don't talk much about it cause it's still in the infancy phase of pure planning. Most of it is worked out, but still very alpha like.

edit: Also, if you guys do add me to a PnP game, we have to make my char have a special "cursed" rule. It's like, a real thing I have and fits stupidly well in a Pnp setting
 
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Sounds fun and like a good idea, starting on 0 day ain't a bad idea.
Maybe one day in the future?
I wanna fucking play all the RPGs we talk about here, the ones I link and the ones we making up, I can tell this is gonna become a problem.
 
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I'll be sure to gm some games sometime too.

Though I've mentioned or alluded to this before, I'm working on some vidya games, so I'd love to try and "test run" some of the settings in trpg form. I try to brainstorm games by creating mechanics that "communicate" the idea behind a character concept, so accompanying worlds often come naturally.
 
I might try that too, I have a ton of settings but I dunno if they'd make for good TTRPGs, nor if I'd be a good DM

At the moment, I'm just hopin' we play some Wastelands or Dark Souls-y things first
 
I actually came up with a second idea for srpg that conveniently fits into a setting I already came up with for another both mechanically and thematically. I'd love to try wargame rules with Savage Worlds for some military hero skirmish action.

How would you guys feel about using WarioWare style "micro games" as substitutes for dice rolls during combat? REAL SKILL BASED TACTICAL ACTION. Seriously the idea was "Mario and Luigi RPG meets Final Fantasy Tactics" I would totally script a prototype program of the dodge/block/attack/aim mini-games for everyone to use as part of the campaign. I've actually had this idea for years, ever since a convo with that old first page friend I mentioned.
 
It would be fun to try out my rule sets and also ZM (Zombie Master XD) an event. I just don't have all the info set up.. mostly due to it being stuck on my dead desktop, and some is also with my BF and his friends (they was getting rules and ideas put together since they are more experienced in multiple PnP games).

What's funny about my lil game is it's actually a video game idea hehe... But since it runs a lot like a Pnp, I figured I'd go the Fallout route and start PnP first then transition it later
 
Squire Grooktook said:
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It does sound interesting. Something similar to how Undertale used bullet hell/top-down shooter mechanics as substitutes for menu driven combat.
 
^^^Cool yo. If your stream commentary is an indication of your overall wit and creativity, then you'd probably be the coolest kid at the (virtual) table.


Anyway, the votes are in ladies and gentlemen

Your top picks!

GURPS [12]
Nechronica [10]
Tokyo Nova [6]
Pathfinder [6]

Gurps it is. I probably could have slanted things towards Nechronica by weighting my votes differently, but I figured it'd be better if I voted based on my actual preferences, and those 3 were overall even for me despite the allure of Dark Souls Prepare to Loli edition. Maybe next time!

But what setting? We've got 3 on the table right now per previous discussion in this thread. I hope you guys decide on whether you want to be post-apocalyptic kung fu warriors, daemonic mafioso, or skullgirls while I'm at Jury Duty tomorrow. I'll be sure to chip in when I get back.
 
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