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

[Bedrockgames]

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.

I would say horror is a genre, and those are subgenres of horror

 

[Aldarc]

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.

I have definitely been interested in giving Traveller a try, but I'm not a fan of some of the crunchiness of the simulationism, particularly in terms of gear, equipment, ships, etc.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Romance and Melodrama focused games, Horror games and most period setting games are strict no-go's for me.

Romance, because I have no interest in "pretending" to be involved in romantic situations with people. Horror games because there's already so much that we have no control over in real life and horrific things that happen in a real world frame of reference I have no desire submit to that in a game for "fun"
Most period games because black people pre-1965 (especially in America)? If youre going for any kind of versimilatude? It's not exactly going to be a fun time and most importantly I don't trust a GM and random players to be appreciative or sensitive to that fact. So no Wild West, no Victorian England, no 1930's pulp action/fantasy/horror (also for reasons stated above).

 

[ShinHakkaider]

So that I'm not a complete debbie downer, my favorite genre hands down is a good modern supers game. Where i differ from most modern gamers it seems is the level of complexity. I grew up on Champions (Hero System), DC Heroes (MEGS) and later Mutants and Masterminds. I want to be able to have structure and emulate things that I've read in comics and manga.

I also love fantasy adventure stuff as well, especially settings as eclectic as Paizo's Golarion where EVERYONE has a place and it's not just shallow, hollow talk. They back it up with whole sourcebooks and AP's.

I'm also a fan of a very specific sub-genre of anime RPG, the mecha show. Not Battletech, which I dont consider mecha anime simulation but more Mekton. Closer to U.C. Gundam (specifically original Mobile Suit Gundam and Zeta Gundam (and maybe the tail end of Gundam Double Zeta) than Exo-Squad.

 

[overgeeked]

I have definitely been interested in giving Traveller a try, but I'm not a fan of some of the crunchiness of the simulationism, particularly in terms of gear, equipment, ships, etc.

Look into Classic Traveller. The core three Little Black Books clock in around 150 pages total. That’s more than enough to play with. Like most games that are published for a long time, the system has accumulated a lot of cruft over the decades. There’s also various editions of the Cepheus Engine, which is based on Traveller but tends towards the lighter side of things.

 

[dragoner]

With the current discount on DTRPG it was an easy buy.

Thanks, I have optimized the pdf's, though usually we just use the books at the table. The books are mostly either setting, like maps, and stuff, with the rule book Kosmic being mostly careers, gear, and other odd bits; the mechanics are fairly light.

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.

With all this understood, what system do you think is a good generic system for science fiction roleplaying?

 

[payn]

I have definitely been interested in giving Traveller a try, but I'm not a fan of some of the crunchiness of the simulationism, particularly in terms of gear, equipment, ships, etc.

Anything in particular? I find the crunch can pretty easily be avoided or worked around. For example, Traveller can do the rag tag team in space story really well. If you go for more a military aspect with fleet armadas duking it out, then its going to get crunchy. So, its pretty easy to modulate the crunch based on type of play. If what you do want is large fleet battles, then Id probably pick something else if crunch lite is the goal.

 

[Aldarc]

Anything in particular? I find the crunch can pretty easily be avoided or worked around. For example, Traveller can do the rag tag team in space story really well. If you go for more a military aspect with fleet armadas duking it out, then its going to get crunchy. So, its pretty easy to modulate the crunch based on type of play. If what you do want is large fleet battles, then Id probably pick something else if crunch lite is the goal.

It would probably just be the rag tag team in space. But that's also what Seth Skorkowsky does, and he still gets pretty heavy into the weeds of ship/gear/robot/etc. customization.

 

[payn]

It would probably just be the rag tag team in space. But that's also what Seth Skorkowsky does, and he still gets pretty heavy into the weeds of ship/gear/robot/etc. customization.

True, I do love Seth's work. Fortunately, my players have been a bit more interested in adventure then going down gear rabbit holes. Though, when they do its fun to focus on working towards things they are interested in. At the end of all of it, typically all it does is augment their skills in certain aspects. Like having a fancy maneuverable ship, or state of the art med bay, custom fit combat vacc suit, etc..

 

[MNblockhead]

Romance and Melodrama focused games, Horror games and most period setting games are strict no-go's for me.

Romance, because I have no interest in "pretending" to be involved in romantic situations with people. Horror games because there's already so much that we have no control over in real life and horrific things that happen in a real world frame of reference I have no desire submit to that in a game for "fun"
Most period games because black people pre-1965 (especially in America)? If youre going for any kind of versimilatude? It's not exactly going to be a fun time and most importantly I don't trust a GM and random players to be appreciative or sensitive to that fact. So no Wild West, no Victorian England, no 1930's pulp action/fantasy/horror (also for reasons stated above).

What about alt-history? An old west where racism doesn't exist? The problem with old west is going to be who will be the antagonist which is generally going to mean taking on one human group based on history against another. Unless you do a cowboys vs. aliens style game.