TTRPG Genres You Just Can't Get Into -and- Tell Me Why I'm Wrong About X Genre I Don't Like

[aramis erak]

Horror.

100% of GMs I've played with or seen run the genre do it like a mystery. Horror and mystery can combine like most genre do but horror and mystery are actually two different genres with different tropes.

Calling horror a single genre is a bit of a stretch.
You've got gore-horror.
You've got the impending doom horror, where they know their doom is coming, and they must either escape or end the doom before it gets them. (the difference betweem this and non-horror suspense is a fuzzy line, usually by the nature of the doom)
You've got the Jump-Scare based horror - which translates poorly to play.
You've got the slasher flick horror, which now tends to be gore horror, as well.
And Psychological horror.

Most franchises do multiple.

sound like you love the gore aspect... and your players don't.

Try some non-gore horror. The impending doom mode works well. For example, a Vampire on a cruise ship. Or on a tall ship.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

Calling horror a single genre is a bit of a stretch.
Try some non-gore horror. The impending doom mode works well. For example, a Vampire on a tall ship.

Example - What if the PC's are the crew of the ship that transports Dracula to England? Sailors can make great PC's from the DM's point of view, because they could be in any (coastal or maritime) location in the world that the DM wants to run an adventure in.

 

[Li Shenron]

I have the same problem as the OP. All superheroes stuff (games, movies, comics) automatically triggers a "lame! garbage!" voice in my head, and I don't know why... but it's been going on since I was in kindergarten. Maybe I had some early bias: maybe it was that back then it was always the stupidest kids at school dressing up as superheroes at mardi gras, and somehow that built the reference for me, because I can't talk about superheroes without invariably having a mardi gras image in my head.

Even when I actually enjoyed some movies (the first Spiderman, or Nolan's Batman) it feels like temporary. The only notable exception for me was the X-Men movies (not the comics though), those I generally liked overall. This could be my older self noticing a contrast between more traditional superheroes stories where the "strongman hero" saves the world by killing all the baddies (a semi-political message I personally detest) and a more complex scenario behind the story in X-Men where being exceptional is actually not that exceptional.

 

[aramis erak]

I should take a closer look at Traveller, but when I read discussions about it, it feels like it might be more crunchy than what I'm looking for. If I had the free time, I'd like to kitbash something with Cortex prime, but I just don't have the time to do everything from scratch.

Traveller is many things... for some of us, Traveller == the Official Traveller Universe. Or some subset thereof (I personally reject the changes of the GURPS version to the setting).
For others, it's the specific edition ruleset they homebrew settings for.
The core tropeset:
The Jump Drive: takes 7 days to go from point a to b; point b can be up to rating parsecs distance. Cannot be safely engaged within a gravity well.
6-guns in space: very few high-tech superweapons; the few that are present (plasma and fusion guns) have severe limitations.
Experienced PCs: Almost no fresh-faced 18yo characters; most will be in their 30's to 60's.
No FTL comms: No jumpspace radio. Interstellar comm is by sending couriers.
Technology progresses largely along a particular trajectory (hence, a single scale can be used)
Larger populations are less likely to have responsive government.

If you're looking for a solid "do anything sci-fi" - Traveller isn't it. Those tropes above are part of the core rules of all editions (excepting the GURPS and Hero ports, which lack the age factor.) It can do a lot, but there's little support for other tropesets.

Good entry points depend upon your needs - any edition supports the space trucker mode, most support the patron-hires-trouble-shooters well, Classic & TTNE have minis-games in parallel, while MegaTraveller has mass combat mechanics that play well and can handle asymmetric warfare easily. Mongoose's mass combat is in playtest.
Mongoose's recent rules update 2024 is probably the best start point for those wanting "currently supported" rules.
Most editions are able to convert on the fly... but running the same encounter in different systems can have very differing results.

 

[Theory of Games]

Calling horror a single genre is a bit of a stretch.
You've got gore-horror.
You've got the impending doom horror, where they know their doom is coming, and they must either escape or end the doom before it gets them. (the difference betweem this and non-horror suspense is a fuzzy line, usually by the nature of the doom)
You've got the Jump-Scare based horror - which translates poorly to play.
You've got the slasher flick horror, which now tends to be gore horror, as well.
And Psychological horror.

Most franchises do multiple.

sound like you love the gore aspect... and your players don't.

Try some non-gore horror. The impending doom mode works well. For example, a Vampire on a cruise ship. Or on a tall ship.

Actually I'm firmly in the "Psychological Horror" camp ("Gore Porn" is more amusing than frightening IMO) and contrary to your postings, horror IS it's own genre:

Horror fiction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What you listed were the sub-genres of Horror. There's so many of them, right? The players I spooked were people who didn't like being scared and that's okay.

 

[payn]

Yeah, but it would help if EN World would create more forums for other systems, so you don't have to scroll through the "what's new" threads looking for a discussion of a system you are interested in. I've tried to start and participate in WFRP discussions and some have been good. But it is easy to miss them and I end up just going to Reddit, other forums, or Discord to discuss Warhammer Fantasy.

I really do need to check it out. It is one of those systems that I've heard about forever, but have never played. Usually Game Conventions are where I try out new systems. I like to play in a session or two before I buy a system. I have too many TTRPG books that have sat on my shelf never played.

I will say Travellers chargen is one of my absolute favorites and spending a single session doing it might be the funnest session of Traveller. Worth a shot if you can find a one shot at a con or just one night of chargen to kick the tires.

 

[MGibster]

Thanks for the tip. I got the primer for the new edition. Looks interesting. I like the setting at first skim. I'll need to see what adventures they publish for it as that is going to make it or break it for me. I just don't have the time to create my own from scratch. Seems like the game is focused on the waterworld planet and that space travel and space combat are not going to be a big part of the game. Still I could see having fun running a short campaign using this system and setting.

Spoiler alert: The biggest flaw with 2nd edition was trying to figure out what the PCs would be doing in the game. The setting provides a myriad of options: Cyberpunk style criminals trying to make a buck, freedom fighters taking on colonialist, law enforcement trying to protect the frontier, miners searching for Long John, etc., etc. The one time I came close to playing I set the players up as a scientific expedition sponsored by the University of Texas. In addition to studying the planet, they were to look into what happened to UT's previous expedition which disappeared.

 

[MGibster]

I will say Travellers chargen is one of my absolute favorites and spending a single session doing it might be the funnest session of Traveller. Worth a shot if you can find a one shot at a con or just one night of chargen to kick the tires.

It is surprisingly fun to just roll the dice and see where they take you. Oddly satisfying.

 

[payn]

It is surprisingly fun to just roll the dice and see where they take you. Oddly satisfying.

I dont normally like random chargen, but the Traveller system embraces it. Out of 100's pf characters, I think maybe once or twice a Traveller that wasnt playable came out of it. Just plain fun anytime someone wants to start up Traveller!

 

[NN]

Middle Earth is a boring rpg setting.