fair enough but he wants to reduce the workload and really many people and possibly including the OP, get way too worked out about small stuff.Sure. But this is about what the OP is looking for. If that's his stated goal, then...
fair enough but he wants to reduce the workload and really many people and possibly including the OP, get way too worked out about small stuff.Sure. But this is about what the OP is looking for. If that's his stated goal, then...
My group struggled with the dividing by 4, comparing wounds to Toughness and Armor Piercing, hitting and not causing damage, remembering to track the Wounds in the death spiral. We tried it for about 2 months (playing Holler), and most players didn't get it. It was also very slow - strange, I know - but we had a group sometimes as large as 8 players.
Humorous Sci-Fi: Star Riders (Ianus Games) same system, and sequel to, Teenagers From Outer Space (R Talsorian). very simplified version of Interlock (RTG, best known for being the core mechanics of Cyperpunk 2013, CP 2020, CP v3, CP Red, and one version of Usagi Yojimbō.)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. Players
Are they engaged? Do you have enough? Where can you find more? Do you have too many? If so, how can you shrink the group? Can you find the right gaming system to accommodate an atypical sized group? Are they causing issues with you or other players (cheating, arguing, inappropriate topics, disruption?) Do you get along okay? Do you consider them friends? Do they connect well with the other players? What about the style of game you're playing? Do they come consistently? How can you make the game better liked by the guy who isn't engaged enough? Is someone spotlight hogging or more effective than other characters?
Came to a crisis point a while back. I was sick of trying to fill my table from the stagnant pool that was the local gamer scene.Not going to lie, I'm going through a hobby crisis right now. I'm wondering if I should stick with it.
I'm listing my problem areas, which I seem to face weekly (if not more frequently). Do your brains work like this? If so, how can you continue to enjoy this hobby?
I. Players
Are they engaged? Do you have enough? Where can you find more? Do you have too many? If so, how can you shrink the group? Can you find the right gaming system to accommodate an atypical sized group? Are they causing issues with you or other players (cheating, arguing, inappropriate topics, disruption?) Do you get along okay? Do you consider them friends? Do they connect well with the other players? What about the style of game you're playing? Do they come consistently? How can you make the game better liked by the guy who isn't engaged enough? Is someone spotlight hogging or more effective than other characters?
II. Systems
What genre are you going to play? You're familiar with fantasy, but maybe it's getting tiresome? Are you going to stick with System A because your group is familiar and owns the books? Do you encourage them to try System B - even though you could be wrong? What has the right level of depth? What would be fun? Are the books affordable? Do you really like most parts of System C, but there's some dealbreaker component? How many books have you purchased, anyway? Have you gone over budget? Do you have room on your shelves? Can you even keep them straight anymore?
III. Larger Community
Do other hobbies look down on their participants? Should we care about corporate decisions? What about problematic past content? Should we try to promote diverse creators at our tables? Do people who go fishing or participate in bowling leagues worry about this stuff? Gee, aren't there a lot of people who get really fired up and will yell at you if you don't TTRPG the same way they do? Are other communities better?
IV. Work
How many hours is enough prep? What do I do with wasted prep? Will I ever have free time to do anything besides plan sessions? What's the use in planning, anyway? Are there shortcuts - because running published adventures has proven more difficult than just writing my own? Can you use shortcuts in complex systems? Back to point 2 - if you use a less complex system and the players complain - is it still worth it?
It certainly embiggens the pool greatly, and with Discord and other ways to curate your gaming social circle, it's fantastic.Came to a crisis point a while back. I was sick of trying to fill my table from the stagnant pool that was the local gamer scene.
So I switched to online. There are vast quantiles of good, reliable players hunting regular weekly games online. Roll20 supports vast numbers of systems (I hear good things about Foundry, too).
Online is the future.
A job well done, Sir. Its these moments that keep me going.So I did want to share an update.
I was invited to the graduation party for one of the players this weekend. While I sat hanging out with the other adults, talking about jobs and drinking wine coolers, the high-schoolers all got together in the dining room. The older son (who is in college now) ran a game for his brother and his fellow graduate friends.
I listened as they were having a great time. The DM was using some of my lines and quest hooks. It certainly felt like a "passing the torch" moment.
For online games, I also prefer 2.5-3 hours of gaming (plus maybe half an hour for socializing). But the nice thing about these shorter sessions is that they are easier to fit into an adult schedule. At least in my groups (all online), most people play at least once every two weeks (and many play weekly), whereas the schedule for gaming face-to-face was once a month or less for me before I switched.That said, I don't know if it's just me, but any session past 2.5-3 hours is painful. This really limits the amount of mechanically complex stuff I can jam into a session. 5E fights past low levels or with even slightly novice players go too long.