Are TTRPGs Even a "Good" Hobby?

[overgeeked]

Mostly echoing what others have said.

There’s no such thing as perfect. Perfect is the enemy of the good. If you’re not having fun, stop. If you have problems at your table, talk about it with your players. If the problems can’t be resolved, no longer invite the player(s) in question. If that leaves you with no players and you want to keep playing, find new players online.

Stop prepping so much. Mike’s book Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master is fantastic for quick and easy prep.

Find games you and your players enjoy and play those. It doesn’t matter what the herd is doing. If it’s not fun, stop.

If nothing else, take a break and play some video games.

 

[Retreater]

Stop prepping so much. Mike’s book Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master is fantastic for quick and easy prep.

I've got it. It just seems that the games I'm running are too complex to be able to take advantage of the tips.
So it's a desperate need for me to streamline and run an easier game - or to take a more complete break.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I've got it. It just seems that the games I'm running are too complex to be able to take advantage of the tips.
So it's a desperate need for me to streamline and run an easier game - or to take a more complete break.

Are there specific streamlined games you're looking at? That's definitely a step in the right direction, though.

 

[Retreater]

Are there specific streamlined games you're looking at? That's definitely a step in the right direction, though.

For fantasy games...
Dragonbane
Castles & Crusades

I'd like to consider some different genres as well for more of a palette cleanse.
I have Call of Cthulhu (which I would probably run with Pulp Cthulhu overlay)

Would like to find a streamlined sci-fi game to consider. (Maybe Esper Genesis? I think Starfinder is too much. I don't think Starfinder 2 will be much better for my needs. I don't know about Voidrunner's Codex - I'd like everything in one book instead of requiring purchasing A5E and other genre books.)

I've looked at Scum & Villainy - it's just too different for us.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

For fantasy games...
Dragonbane
Castles & Crusades

I'd like to consider some different genres as well for more of a palette cleanse.
I have Call of Cthulhu (which I would probably run with Pulp Cthulhu overlay)

Would like to find a streamlined sci-fi game to consider. (Maybe Esper Genesis? I think Starfinder is too much. I don't think Starfinder 2 will be much better for my needs. I don't know about Voidrunner's Codex - I'd like everything in one book instead of requiring purchasing A5E and other genre books.)

I've looked at Scum & Villainy - it's just too different for us.

Dragonbane seems like a great choice. I'm not personally into d20 games, but it's got a lot going for it, and definitely seems pretty low-prep—or at least better allows for low prep.

For SF, you could look at Traveller? Definitely easier to run and prep than Starfinder or similar. And it's nowhere near the leap for your group as moving to Scum and Villainy (much as I love SaV).

 

[timbannock]

Along those lines, even if it's not your bag I strongly recommend looking at Shadowdark and The Monster Overhaul. Both are very different, but one thing both do better than most products is give you so many useful resources for building stuff very quickly and/or on the fly. My preferred game is those books plus Errant for procedures and event dice. With those combined, I pretty much can throw out my entire fantasy RPG collection and never skip a beat, prepping entire adventures in about 5-10 minutes, entire sandboxes in an hour.

Edit: And yeah, for sci-fi spacefaring stuff, Traveller can't be beat. Gonna recommend the earliest editions for that, since for all that I love Mongoose's recent facelifts, I find the Third Imperium super boring (and all the names are atrocious), and the original Traveller stuff is much less setting specific.

 

[payn]

For fantasy games...
Dragonbane
Castles & Crusades

I'd like to consider some different genres as well for more of a palette cleanse.
I have Call of Cthulhu (which I would probably run with Pulp Cthulhu overlay)

Would like to find a streamlined sci-fi game to consider. (Maybe Esper Genesis? I think Starfinder is too much. I don't think Starfinder 2 will be much better for my needs. I don't know about Voidrunner's Codex - I'd like everything in one book instead of requiring purchasing A5E and other genre books.)

I've looked at Scum & Villainy - it's just too different for us.

I dont know when it drops, but maybe Pathfinder Quest would interest you and your players. Sounds like a fantasy board game themed on PF stories and APs. I know its not a full blown RPG, but maybe it could be a good short term change of gear.

 

[Retreater]

Re: Shadowdark ... I have Old School Essentials and Swords & Wizardry. I've been hesitant to consider B/X-style retroclones. My group is resistant about dungeon survival games where starting characters can have 3 HP, +0 to hit, one 1st level spell, and can get one-shot by a single goblin.

Re: Traveller ... My group would prefer something with high adventure. Our experience with Traveller has been more diplomatic and investigative.

 

[Retreater]

I dont know when it drops, but maybe Pathfinder Quest would interest you and your players. Sounds like a fantasy board game themed on PF stories and APs. I know its not a full blown RPG, but maybe it could be a good short term change of gear.

It might be. I have Hero Quest. And this dungeon crawling/RPG hybrid called Dungeon Universalis.

 

[TwoSix]

Re: Shadowdark ... I have Old School Essentials and Swords & Wizardry. I've been hesitant to consider B/X-style retroclones. My group is resistant about dungeon survival games where starting characters can have 3 HP, +0 to hit, one 1st level spell, and can get one-shot by a single goblin.

Re: Traveller ... My group would prefer something with high adventure. Our experience with Traveller has been more diplomatic and investigative.

I do wish there were more games in the space of "light OSR style mechanics" but also "combat is fun, not reckless and dangerous".