Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

[EnemyStand]

I would almost say Ars Magica is an exception, since any competent wizard either teleports everywhere or has an entourage of servants to do all the heavy work, lives a life of extreme luxury compared to everyone except highest nobility and one of the basic setting ideas is that the Gift for magic inspires immediate revulsion and distrust in other creatures. Plus the ideal Ars Magica endgame is either solving the adventure without leaving the lab or within 10 days so that you don't lose labtime.

But even there wizards need to be physically fit, since the Stamina stat contributes to spellcasting rolls and they can still use social stats for interacting with other wizards and teaching/writing books. That applies even to the mystery cult of magical craftsmen who ritually mutilate themselves to emulate Vulcan. And there's multiple virtues and flaws that can deal with being attractive if you want the character's looks to have mechanical effects including one which states that the character is so beautiful random wandering knights show up to save them from trouble.

That makes me think of that one commercial where there was a Russian dude who had a machine that transferred GAINS from a bodybuilder to him. I forget what it was selling, though.

Shadowrun has (or had, haven't been keeping up) a pretty meaningful way of doing characters who aren't fit. It's a Disadvantage called Infirm, and basically it takes off some of your health track because you're either a chubbo or have a medical condition. I statted up a NEET hacker whose parents kicked him out and since Hollywood's still a thing (thanks Horizon Group!) he thought being a Shadowrunner would be easy money and he'd finally be cool. Well, eventually he was but he had a few character arcs learning not to be such a pathetic neckbeard (and I bought off the Disadvantage). Too bad he ran smack into a Mitsuhama Zero Zone policy before his Big Score. So yeah, it's possible to do stuff like that and do it well, but if your personality is "fat and ugly" your GM's eventual suicide will be your fault.

 

[Fictional Character]

So yeah, it's possible to do stuff like that and do it well, but if your personality is "fat and ugly" your GM's eventual suicide will be your fault.

Ars Magica has explicit rules against taking more than one personality flaw. Not just because it's often free virtue points (especially the personality flaw that's "abstains from sexual relationships"), but because it tends to make characters into obnoxious caricatures.

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

I've been testing out Campfire for the past few months now and found that while it's good for world building its terrible for RPG's. It has zero support for such things (though it claims to be good for tabletop RPG's) and has no way to do any basic word processing tasks like bolding or underlining words. You can't even change font or size of the font which is something that's really needed as without any word processing everything just looks janky.

I'm looking into using World Anvil next. While it's online only (you can download Campfire and install it which is a lot better in my opinion as I don't have to worry about losing content as it's on my side), it has a lot more options for the paid version (yearly fee which sucks). Such as CSS customization for themes, full RPG support supposedly for over 30 games. Map interaction tools (editing maps with information after you upload them), character sheets for your players, most of the world building options Campfire has (you have to get the Master version for that).

You can also export your stuff so you can put it somewhere else and Discord webhooks with the Master version.

There's also some interesting things under Grandmaster version for content creators like the content tree to show your subscribers future added content. Advanced access for people who do patreon level content like those who do games with high paying patreons. Then there are other things like Custom tables and categories so you can make your articles look more professional, extra CSS customization. Extra map features. Custom character sheet creation.

 

[ShitlordroltihS]

Any good Star Wars Tabletop games?

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

Any good Star Wars Tabletop games?

Star Wars Saga and Star Wars d6 still remains my favourite though Saga is a huge power fantasy and it can be hard to kill players if you're a GM (against Jedi, always use AoE attacks and aim for the floor with assault burst weapons as they can't block those). Starfinder can do a pretty good Star Wars game.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

Any good Star Wars Tabletop games?

They still haven't managed to improve on D6 Star Wars, although in fairness it is more geared for the original Star Wars feel, and not so much New Star Wars, which is more like a superhero wuxia space fantasy.

 

[40 Year Old Boomer]

Star Wars Saga and Star Wars d6 still remains my favourite though Saga is a huge power fantasy and it can be hard to kill players if you're a GM (against Jedi, always use AoE attacks and aim for the floor with assault burst weapons as they can't block those). Starfinder can do a pretty good Star Wars game.

My group likes the FFG Star Wars game, which is a goddamn mess spread across too many "core" books. If you decide to try that one, you can find some handy pdfs on the trove that compile the careers, species, and force powers into some nice and organized pdfs. Also, spend as much starting xp on possible on main characteristics/attributes/whatever they are called, because for some goddamn stupid reason you can only raise them in game by going through your career's talent tree.
Edit: the dice are fucking dumb and it's the only game I use an app roller for because fuck that DRM dice shit.

 

[robobobo]

I also endorse the FFG Star Wars, there are free modules for it on both Foundry and Fantasy Grounds. Also top notch character builder by a guy named oggdude, out of the box it's copyright safe but several people have made replacement databases for it that contain full game rules for items, skills, etc.

 

[40 Year Old Boomer]

I also endorse the FFG Star Wars, there are free modules for it on both Foundry and Fantasy Grounds. Also top notch character builder by a guy named oggdude, out of the box it's copyright safe but several people have made replacement databases for it that contain full game rules for items, skills, etc.

A lot of people like it, but I found it overly cumbersome and disorganized. Easier to just keep track of my stuff using notepad. Never could find those comprehensive databases. Every link I found was dead or deleted.

 

[Stalphos Johnson]

My group and I have also been enjoying FFG Star Wars, but I do agree a lot of the stuff is spread across too many books. Here's a great database of all of the enemies, which I haven't seen a link to in the Trove. Most of the time, you can get away with the 3 core rulebooks depending on what kind of game you want to run. Age of Rebellion for Rebel focused or Imperial focused if you grab the Imperial Duty Chart off the Trove, Force and Destiny for Jedi games, or Edge of the Empire for anything else.

The dice being proprietary does suck and there is a conversion table for normal dice in the core rulebooks, but it's cumbersome. Here's a decent online dice roller. Despite that, the dice are one of my favorite parts of the game, mostly because it allows for outcome beyond fail/succeed. The gameplay is solid for the most part, but throw most of your XP into attributes like @40 Year Old Boomer said. It's much cheaper to level up career skills than go through your career tree to get another attribute point. The main problem is that vehicle combat and starfighting is pretty crap. D6 managed to do it the best, but you can fix it with a couple house rules. The ones I use are cutting 1 point of vehicle soak = 10 points of character soak to 1 vehicle soak = 5 character soak, and use the Starfighters of Adumar ruleset. You can grab that off the Trove.

The FFG Forums did have a lot of useful information, but FFG shut them down recently. Here's an archive of the forums.

 

[I-chi]

Got myself involved in an upcoming Skull and Shackles Pathfinder gam, will be my first foray into Pathfinder! I initially embraced my inner weeb and wanted to make a Ratfolk Ninja ( Why yes, I DO play Skaven, how do you know? ) who services as the ship's cook. Someone from the actual fantasy East just so I could make him a sushi chef who would harvest his poisons from the fish he prepares. The DM did reel me back in a little and told me I would have to come up with a reason for my character to have left the Tian Xia region, the route he took to get to the Inner Sea, and how long.

All very valid things to keep in mind, so I've been autistically deliberating.

At the same time, he was kind enough to tell me about some of the closer areas I could draw from, like Katapeshi or Qadira. The aesthetic and flavor would be easy to slot in and out, and I could still do the idea I wanted; just would have to consider a different recipe book. A friend even gave me some great advice on South Asian cuisine and how a ship would benefit from the fact that most ingredients for dishes like Vindaloo or Curry are pickled AND tend to be heavy into citrus; thus preventing scurvy. Tough decisions, but I've got plenty of time to think about it at least. Wish me luck.

 

[Hummingbird]

How dare games don't make things I don't like totally evil without any human side to them. So this person says that the books shouldn't let them play it.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

How dare games don't make things I don't like totally evil without any human side to them. So this person says that the books shouldn't let them play it.

That faggot's just mad that the Coalition States are cooler than his 3 butthole DB scum fav.

 

[Randall Fragg]

How dare games don't make things I don't like totally evil without any human side to them. So this person says that the books shouldn't let them play it.

hot world building tip: if you include eugenicists in your setting, make sure they're wrong

What if the eugenics guys mandate mix-raced partnerships to give humanity the largest amount of genetic diversity, and eliminate genetic diseases limited to certain races (such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis)?

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

What if the eugenics guys mandate mix-raced partnerships to give humanity the largest amount of genetic diversity, and eliminate genetic diseases limited to certain races (such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis)?

Let's take a look at an OLD game.

Gamma World.

Eugenics is practiced by some Pure Strain Human factions to eliminate bad mutations.

Let's look at fantasy:

Orcs, elves, other demi-human races practice eugenics because of pure bloodlines and 'strongest rule' bit.

This person has a shallow knowledge of game design.

 

[Corn Flakes]

Let's take a look at an OLD game.

Gamma World.

Eugenics is practiced by some Pure Strain Human factions to eliminate bad mutations.

Let's look at fantasy:

Orcs, elves, other demi-human races practice eugenics because of pure bloodlines and 'strongest rule' bit.

This person has a shallow knowledge of game design.

Go one further: a lot of sci-fi settings feature entire populations genetically engineering themselves, either to get a leg up on the alien competition, or to have an easier time living in inhospitable worlds or environments. That's also an example of eugenics.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

Racism in a game where other races are 8' tall muscle bound killing machine who eat your children, rape your women, and slaughter your men, is less racism and more survival.

These people also forget that the gods in these settings are REAL. Orcish Gods and Goblins Gods and Drow Gods pit their people against everyone else in a goal to take over all of reality.

Racism is less "ew, brown person in our vanilla empire" and more "Holy shit, those orcs are eating our people! Kill the orcs!"

 

[EnemyStand]

Racism in a game where other races are 8' tall muscle bound killing machine who eat your children, rape your women, and slaughter your men, is less racism and more survival.

These people also forget that the gods in these settings are REAL. Orcish Gods and Goblins Gods and Drow Gods pit their people against everyone else in a goal to take over all of reality.

Racism is less "ew, brown person in our vanilla empire" and more "Holy shit, those orcs are eating our people! Kill the orcs!"

Are you injecting nuance into a RPG again? But seriously, I don't think the RPG SJWs will ever really gain much ground. Because no matter what the rules say, the Gamemaster can add or ignore them all they like. They'll get their ultra exclusive horror story and they won't be able to do anything about it, because we just won't play with them,

 

[Adamska]

How dare games don't make things I don't like totally evil without any human side to them. So this person says that the books shouldn't let them play it.

Fuck it, let's do a runthrough of this:

* If you include racism in your setting, make them objectively wrong, and don't let people play the racists.

Reminder that some species literally cause massive amounts of damage due to their perception or way they work. Oh yes, respect the Mindflayer's way of abducting and enslaving people. Ignore their parasitoidal lifestyle that KILLS others for them to propagate.

* Like put it in the game text. They're wrong and you can't play them.

Ignoring of course that sometimes playing the villain is fun. Perhaps my favorite character I played was a Lawful Evil cleric who used religion and words as his tools to fleece and dupe others for his own gain. Thomas Caine was a conman who played at being self-righteous, and used his influence to gain off of others.

He would absolutely abuse racial tensions if it personally benefited himself and the party of warlords he was a part of if he needed to. Little L, big E was his way until the near end of the campaign, where he realized the fear of hell.

* If you include colonialism in your setting, make the colonizers Black Hat villains. Not sympathetic villains, not morally ambiguous villains. We're talking Ted Cruz or Mitch McConnell "fuck that guy" level villains.

Ignoring of course the good religious folk who in their ignorance tried to save the souls of the natives and who hated the exploitations. Or the religious prisoners who wanted to be free to practice as pleased... though those guys were self righteous fucks too tbh.

Hell, it might be the only way for a people to thrive sometimes; a lot of nomads "colonized" because of the better grazing lands. Saka for example.

* Also don't let people play them.

Welp, so much for one of my players bringing in their Mormon Cleric who also specs in investigating LDS corruption; because they want to preach the New Covenant they can't exist in the exploration Spelljammer setting that I planned out after the current games officially end.

* If your setting has TERFs, they also need to be "fuck that guy" level villains. DO NOT let people play the TERFs.

Since they cried about these guys, I now worry about any women living near them. None of them are safe.

* If you include violent heteropatriarchy in your setting, MAKE. THEM. THE. VILLAINS. And DO NOT let people play the oppressors.

Seriously, sometimes playing the villain is fun. Besides, you know this person probably has a shitload of BDSM nazi porn with this vehemence.

People will be unhappy about literally all of these things. Doesn't matter. Put it in the rulebook. These people are bad and you can't play them.

Don't make it ambiguous. Don't beat around the bush.

"They're bad and fuck them". Okay? Okay.

Have fun struggling to run a group you massively failed zygote.

Seriously, I think MovieBob is slightly more emotionally mature than this person; in the sense that I could see him actually play an edgy villain despite his ego.

 

[KimCoppolaAficionado]

Fuck it, let's do a runthrough of this:


Reminder that some species literally cause massive amounts of damage due to their perception or way they work. Oh yes, respect the Mindflayer's way of abducting and enslaving people. Ignore their parasitoidal lifestyle that KILLS others for them to propagate.



Ignoring of course that sometimes playing the villain is fun. Perhaps my favorite character I played was a Lawful Evil cleric who used religion and words as his tools to fleece and dupe others for his own gain. Thomas Caine was a conman who played at being self-righteous, and used his influence to gain off of others.

He would absolutely abuse racial tensions if it personally benefited himself and the party of warlords he was a part of if he needed to. Little L, big E was his way until the near end of the campaign, where he realized the fear of hell.


Ignoring of course the good religious folk who in their ignorance tried to save the souls of the natives and who hated the exploitations. Or the religious prisoners who wanted to be free to practice as pleased... though those guys were self righteous fucks too tbh.

Hell, it might be the only way for a people to thrive sometimes; a lot of nomads "colonized" because of the better grazing lands. Saka for example.

Welp, so much for one of my players bringing in their Mormon Cleric who also specs in investigating LDS corruption; because they want to preach the New Covenant they can't exist in the exploration Spelljammer setting that I planned out after the current games officially end.


Since they cried about these guys, I now worry about any women living near them. None of them are safe.

Seriously, sometimes playing the villain is fun. Besides, you know this person probably has a shitload of BDSM nazi porn with this vehemence.

Have fun struggling to run a group you massively failed zygote.

Seriously, I think MovieBob is slightly more emotionally mature than this person; in the sense that I could see him actually play an edgy villain despite his ego.

MovieBob plays an (impotent) edgy villain IRL.