Help me pick a game to run.

[jdrakeh]

If you like Glen Cook's The Black Company, you may want to look into Helm (available here as a PDF and here in print).

 

[innerdude]

How well does Ironsworn run with multiple players and a GM? I am only familiar with it by way of Me, Myself and Die -- which I loved. The system looks really intriguing and am definitely curious about Starforged.

I found playing with a GM to be fantastic, almost revelatory for me as a GM.

If you want to have a GM, just treat it like a relatively "standard issue" PbtA vehicle, and you're pretty much in the right head space. I found playing with a GM, as well as "GM-less" with all players participating equally but using the oracles to drive action, were both highly functional and presented a strong play loop we could all hook into.

If I'm being honest, I prefer having an actual GM versus going "GM-less" mode, but it's still very functional either way.

As a GM, be sure to take advantage of the additional character inputs via their assets, their momentum track, and their iron vows. Use your "fronts" to push the action toward these areas. Players quickly learn that if they really want to make progress (both narratively and in the PC progress metagame), they have to pursue and complete vows.

 

[innerdude]

One more note --- The Starforged iteration of the Ironsworn rules is overall a bit cleaner, a bit more refined, and a bit more user friendly, though "OG" Ironsworn is still awesome. If you think you'd like to try sci fi / space opera first, Starforged gets a resounding 5-star review from me.

The changes themselves are relatively minor, and overall give players a little more "oomph" (not a lot, but a little). The combat system gives a bit more guidance, character combat options are bit more varied, the momentum track is skewed a bit more in the players' favor.

Also, just in general for Ironsworn / IS: Starforged, my impression is that for anything other than really long, "epic" style quests, difficulty ratings for various progress tracks (especially combat) should skew to the "easier" side of the spectrum much more often than not. Be judicious in handing out "difficult" encounters and obstacles.

 

[Aldarc]

I am feeling the need for a lengthy break from running 5E and am trying to figure out what might be a good fit. I kind of want to try something new that I don't play or write for regularly (so no Savage Worlds) and I think I want less focus on violence as a core component of the fiction.

Due to how generally busy I am, I want something that is low to no prep. It should be episodic rather than a singular serial "story" and accommodate, say, 4 players. I'd prefer the rules to be a little more narrative but not necessarily a "story game." While I am okay with some system complexity I am not interested in either big fat rulebooks or extensive menus of PC abilities.

Genre wise I am not sure but I like supers, cyberpunk, space opera, weird fantasy, post apocalyptic, some horror elements and genre mash-ups. I don't like cutesy anything, though, and no children PCs.

Game wise I am okay with loo(ing at suggestions in the OSR, PbtA, FitD, Fate or other spaces. I don't mind a bespoke system either.

I will be playing weekly 2 hour sessions over the internet (probably just over Discord since I'm a little burnt on Fantasy Grounds).

So, all that considered, what game should I give a look to?

Thanks!

I would have potentially suggested Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures (B/X hack), but I'm not sure if that passes the "no children PCs" rule since it's focus is young adult fiction like the Prydain Chronicles. Character creation ties the PCs to each other and the adventures while also creating the village.

Homebrew World (a Dungeon World Hack) by Jeremy Strandberg: IMHO, it runs smoother and quicker than DW and it's good for episodic or shorter campaigns

Vaesen by Fria Ligan: 1800s supernatural/monster investigation set in either Scandinavia or the British Isles

 

[overgeeked]

Genre wise I am not sure but I like supers, cyberpunk, space opera, weird fantasy, post apocalyptic, some horror elements and genre mash-ups. I don't like cutesy anything, though, and no children PCs.

Game wise I am okay with looking at suggestions in the OSR, PbtA, FitD, Fate or other spaces. I don't mind a bespoke system either.

If you're okay with teenage PCs, the best PbtA supers game right now is Masks: A New Generation. It is very much a teenage-drama superhero game. Some general lighter supers games you might dig are Above the Earth, Supers Revised Edition, Galaxies in Peril, or Icons. If you don't mind out-of-print stuff, Marvel Heroic is a fantastic implementation of the Cortex system.

For cyberpunk, most of the books are fatter. The Sprawl is PbtA and clocks in around 256 pages. CY_BORG is a Mork Borg game that clocks in around 168 pages.

For space opera there's Classic Traveller, or the modern Cepheus Engine games. Many of them are free and span anywhere from a dozen to a few hundred pages depending on the variety you like. If you're familiar with most any version of Traveller, you can pick up Cepheus in a snap.

Into the Odd, Weird North, Cairn, Electric Bastionland, and Ultraviolet Grasslands are all great for various levels of weird fantasy.

For post apocalyptic you can't go wrong with the game that started PbtA...Apocalypse World.

There are various 2400-based games available on itch.io. It's a rules ultralight game. A few more pages than Lasers & Feelings, but it's in that neighborhood. There's also tons of hacks of L&F. Just about any genre you could want.

 

[payn]

Monster of the Week PbtA sounds like a good fit for this request.

 

[Reynard]

Monster of the Week PbtA sounds like a good fit for this request.

I really do need to give MotW another look. i bought it a long time ago thinking it was a Fate game. At that time, I had only had one negative experience with PbtA games and so shelved it. In more recent years I have given PbtA another look, primarily because of discussions on this very board and experiences with FitD.

 

[overgeeked]

I really do need to give MotW another look. i bought it a long time ago thinking it was a Fate game. At that time, I had only had one negative experience with PbtA games and so shelved it. In more recent years I have given PbtA another look, primarily because of discussions on this very board and experiences with FitD.

Even if you don't play MotW it's worth looking at, especially the mystery/monster creation stuff and the Keeper advice. It's really top notch.

 

[pemerton]

In A Wicked Age, by Vincent Baker, ticks all your boxes - no prep, episodic, weird fantasy, very thin rulebook, does not particularly foreground combat or violence in action resolution.

 

[RuinousPowers]

I would have potentially suggested Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures (B/X hack), but I'm not sure if that passes the "no children PCs" rule since it's focus is young adult fiction like the Prydain Chronicles. Character creation ties the PCs to each other and the adventures while also creating the village.

In that case, why not Through Sunken Lands and Other Adventures, as a more mature take on the world (though 100% compatible with the system I believe).

I'll mention Black Death, Honor + Intrigue, and For Coin & Blood for Age of Pike and Shot/Rennaissance fun.