Besides D&D, what are you playing?

[Bluenose]

I completed the Barbarians of Lemuria scenario we were playing over Zoom a couple of days ago. We'll be playing some more this weekend.

 

[mordenkainendogpissbeer]

LotFP
Chronicles of the Outlands by Better Games
Barony by Better Games
Crimson Cutlass
Skyscrapers & Sorcery
Ruins & Ronin
White Lies
White Star
Era Ten by Better Games
Demon Hunter by Better Games
I run Acirema Dungeons for some kids
Shadowrun 5th Ed
Ruins of Arduin

 

[Campbell]

@pemerton

Silent Legions uses the same base system as Stars Without Number, Godbound, and Wolves of God. It's a more modern stream lined variant of B/X with a skill system that was originally designed to be compatible with Classic Traveller.

Spoiler: Detailed Information

The B/X stuff is fairly obvious.

1. Heavy emphasis on sandbox GM techniques.
2. 1-18 attributes rolled 3d6 in order. Bonuses range from -2 to +2.
3. Character classes and levels (up to 10th level).
4. Descending AC
5. Morale and reaction rolls are important.
6. Attack rolls are 1d20 + Stat + Skill + Class Based Attack Bonus + Target's Armor Class. Beat 20 to hit.
7. Pretty low hit point totals.
8. Traditional category based saving throw tables (roll over the listed number). This game uses Physical Effect, Mental Effect, Evasion, Magic, and Luck.

The skill system is where these games really shines

• The core mechanic is 2d6+Stat+Skill versus a TN set by GM. This dovetails to match up pretty well with Classic Traveller TNs, but also fits pretty well in the Apocalypse World scheme at low levels making it fairly easy to build in success with consequences.
• You get starting skills from background (chosen or randomly rolled) and class.
• Every level you get skill points to invest in skills, but progression is gated.
  • Level / 3 + 1 rounded down. A 6th level character could reach a skill level of 3.

Experience is gained for survival (if there was a risk of death) and accomplishing goals you set for your character.

On a systems level the main wrinkles that Silent Legion brings to the table are Expertise and Madness.

Expertise represents the special insight and talents your character has that makes them a capable investigator of the occult.

• You start with a pool of 2 Expertise. This increases by 1 every level. A 3rd level character has a pool of 4 Expertise.
• You recover 1 point of spent Expertise for a full night's rest.
• May be spent to :
  • Reroll a class skill. Toughs may reroll attack rolls.
  • Activate a class ability. These are generally investigation focused and represent special insight for the Investigators, Socialites, and Scholars. For Toughs this is often combat related.
    • Ex. The Blood-Read Book: At 3rd level, the socialite may intuitively sense the current emotional state and perceive the general train of thought of another person. Specific thoughts are not revealed, but an intent of violence, treachery, fear of a topic, or other generalities can be observed. Humans tainted by the supernatural may make a Mental Effect saving throw to resist this ability for an hour.
    • Ex. Know the Line and Form: At 7th level, the scholar may gain a sense of the purpose of an occult object or perceptible enchantment. A scholar may not be able to discern the exact rituals or operating methods of an occult object, but can distinguish true artifacts from fakes and identify the general purpose of an object or spell.
  • Use a spell or discipline without gaining Madness.

Madness in Silent Legion skews much more towards things man was not meant to know, but also does a fairly good job of representing the sometimes tenuous relationship mythos protagonists might have towards their own humanity. Here's how the game describes it :

Madness in Silent Legions bears only a notional resemblance to conventional mental illness. Such afflictions in the real world are the product of biochemical imbalances, traumatic experiences, or damage to the brain itself. The madness of the outer darkness is something incomparably worse. It is the intrusion of a fundamentally incomprehensible reality into human awareness.

This is not to say that the two kinds of affliction can’t exist in the same person. A hero who wades hip-deep through the blood of slaughtered children and is forced to murder a half-dozen cultists with his teeth is going to be scarred by that experience in ways that any human can understand. Yet it can be harder to understand why the simple sight of an eldritch abomination could be as traumatic to a hero as the butchery of half their dearest friends.

The truth is that exposure to the occult leaves a human vulnerable to stimuli, sense perceptions, and revelations that human minds were never meant to perceive. The knowledge is like an infection. It burrows, it burns, and it consumes. Recognizing the strange angles of a damnable creature’s wings reveals to the hero a whole new panorama of inhuman shapes and horrific vistas, such that she might suffer uncontrollable fits of panic when confronted with some mundane object that just happens to echo those hideous arcs. A human mind is forced open and compelled to receive impressions that more blessedly ignorant souls need never confront.

Mechanically it is represented something like a countdown clock for your humanity. Witnessing or performing acts of bloodshed (murder, torture, seeing allies die), exposure to mythos and sorcery (learning spells, having them cast on you, casting without Expertise) have specific madness impacts.


You recover 10 madness every time you gain a level. You can also take on strictures called deliria that represent defense mechanisms you develop to deal with your slipping humanity. These deliria often make your life harder, but feel like genuine defense mechanisms rather than anything like real world mental illness.

Examples :

• Treacherous Artifact: The PC is convinced that a particular class of things– guns, cars, computers or other implement widely important to heroes– is tainted by the outer powers and will not use them under any circumstances. They will allow other teammates to use them on them or drive for them if they must.
• Protective Lies: The character is utterly unable to tell the truth to anyone but a close ally. She cannot bear to reveal any truths about herself or her knowledge for fear of the consequences.

 

[megamania]

Dungeon Mayhem card game and we are about to start Torg: Eternity RPG

 

[mordenkainendogpissbeer]

Last night I became enslaved to a Cat Lord in Ultraviolet Grasslands.

 

[megamania]

Cats rule everyone in any cosm

 

[erc1971]

Savage Worlds - using custom Savaged settings for Cyberpunk and OT Star Wars.

 

[willrali]

Since we can’t say Pathfinder 2...

Exalted 3! The learning curve is ridonculous, north-face levels of absurd, but it’s worth it in the end.

 

[KlausMikalson]

I have owned both Mutant Year Zero and Genlab Alpha for a while now but I am finally going to run a one shot of MYZ next weekend to see if I want to try a longer form game with it mobdro bluehost kodi.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Mostly Numenera - I only first got into the system a few weeks ago, and have the "newly converted" love for it.