The Sort of TTRPGs You Want More (and Less) Of

[Count_Zero]

For what I'm personally looking for:

I want a, basically, modular cyberpunk RPG. If I want fantasy elements like Shadowrun, I can use the magic rules (or take them out if my setting doesn't do that), some rules for powered armor or moderately large monsters if I'm doing something like Appleseed or Bubblegum Crisis, and a choice of light or heavy hacking rules depending on how much the group wants hacking to be a part of the game.

And I really don't want to do it in a Fate or Blades derivative. The way I teach myself a game to run it is to run a solo adventure or campaign with some pre-gens I've created myself - and while I appreciate what those games do, the way they handle game narrative basically means that for me to feel comfortable enough with the game to run it myself, I'd have to play a game that someone else was running first... and nobody in my group is interested in running cyberpunk at the moment.

 

[Aldarc]

Going back, when thinking about the sort of TTRPGs I would love to see, I decided to jot down a list of the sort of stories that I would want to be able to emerge out of character play:

• The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
• The Dark Crystal by Jim Henson & Brian Froud
• The Twelve Kingdoms / Juni Kokki by Fuyumi Ono
• Princess Mononoke / Mononoke Hime by Hayao Miyazyki

Similar-ish Games:

• Blue Rose
• Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures
• The One Ring

I think that one of the unifying aspects that perhaps draws me to these works is that they are typically not tinged with the sort of grim dark cynicism that pervades a lot of other "adult" fantasy or fantasy TTRPGs.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Settings which have depth, careful thought in the design, and original concepts.

They are very rare; the market is glutted with shallow, generalized settings based on slight variations of the traditional D&D or sci-fi settings.

 

[DammitVictor]

I love the fact that Old School D&D is making such a huge resurgence... but it seems like so much of the OSR community is only into FFVN, grimdark, and horror gaming.

That's not what I played in the Old School.

Everyone's talking about Spelljammer for 5e, but where's the Spelljammer OSR? Where is my Saturday morning cartoon D&D, my Hong Kong action-fantasy D&D, my incomprehensible 30 year old JRPG D&D?

I mean, I'm trying to be the change I want to see in the world... but I can't be the only person who likes this stuff, can I?

 

[DwarfHammer]

At first glance, this seems like Blue Rose, where there is a prevalent lack of blasting magic. It's typical magic covers things like psychic powers, divination, elemental shaping, animism, and meditation. Blasting magic does exist, albeit as dark, corruptive "sorcery." However, it is a setting where is magic is more akin to talents or powers, so it is "at-will," but cast against fatigue checks.

I get this. One of my favorite summoning mages I have seen has been in Invisible Sun by the Goetic "class." Every time that you summon a creature (e.g., demon, spirit, angel, fey, etc.), the summoner has to negotiate the cost and task. I too would enjoy - for certain settings and/or games - a greater weight to the magical process and distinctions between magical types.

For one campaign setting idea that I brainstormed, I wanted to toy with a world where the constellations embodied divine figures, astrology was real and suggestive of a person's nature, fate, and divine favor. And star priests served as astrologers and astronomers who divined the future, portents, and divine will from the stars, used astrology to play matchmakers, and called upon the astral heavens for blessings.

So I also would definitely be interested in something other than just repackaged D&D-style spell slot magic.

I do agree that it remains a solid game. What I would probably prefer is something more akin to a True20 version of the AGE system. Blue Rose (AGE) is probably the closest version, as its magic system most closely harkens back to how it was in Blue Rose/True20, but I don't see FAGE going in that direction.

Not at all referring to blasting spells in my example. Just an example of how an example can be taken the wrong way. lol. Love it.

Blue rose is exactly a game I don’t like. lol

 

[Son of the Serpent]

There are a lot of TTRPGs out there in the market, and more are being produced every day. There are a lot games covering a tremendous breadth of genres and the like, but what sort of TTRPGs would you like to see more of? This is an intentionally broad question that is meant to cover a variety of matters covering the system, genre, tone, or setting.

Though I would not necessarily like to focus on this, though it is related, maybe what sort of games do you think that the market may have too much or enough of already?

I'll wait a bit to gather contributions before making my own.

Not trying to start an edition war. Thus just happens to be the most accurate way for me to answer the question.

Ttrpgs I'd like to see less of: 4e d&d, pathfinder, gurps, vampire the masquerade.

Ttrpgs I'd like to see more of: call of cthulu, wheel of time, flame princess, cypher systems, and any that are similar to any edition of d&d other than 4e and 5e.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

I love the fact that Old School D&D is making such a huge resurgence... but it seems like so much of the OSR community is only into FFVN, grimdark, and horror gaming.

That's not what I played in the Old School.

Everyone's talking about Spelljammer for 5e, but where's the Spelljammer OSR? Where is my Saturday morning cartoon D&D, my Hong Kong action-fantasy D&D, my incomprehensible 30 year old JRPG D&D?

I mean, I'm trying to be the change I want to see in the world... but I can't be the only person who likes this stuff, can I?

You are not alone. I and several others here also like the older stuff. There just arent that many of us.

 

[Retreater]

I like rules that reflect the setting and intended mode of play, not so much the toolbox approach of systems like Savage Worlds, GURPS, FATE, etc. So I'm more into WHFRPG, Forbidden Lands, Star Wars, D&D, etc. The toolbox approach just takes too much fiddling by the GM to fit a campaign feel; there are so many optional rules that a GM needs to make a primer for each campaign.
What I'd love is a streamlined D&D/OSR type of game that doesn't use a "character funnel" - where there is a chance of character survival.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

I like rules that reflect the setting and intended mode of play, not so much the toolbox approach of systems like Savage Worlds, GURPS, FATE, etc. So I'm more into WHFRPG, Forbidden Lands, Star Wars, D&D, etc. The toolbox approach just takes too much fiddling by the GM to fit a campaign feel; there are so many optional rules that a GM needs to make a primer for each campaign.
What I'd love is a streamlined D&D/OSR type of game that doesn't use a "character funnel" - where there is a chance of character survival.

I think taking a cypher system and slightly modding/retrofitting it to a d&d world setting and some d&d-like abilities could acheive that quite nicely.

 

[DwarfHammer]

I think taking a cypher system and slightly modding/retrofitting it to a d&d world setting and some d&d-like abilities could acheive that quite nicely.

Better yet. Just play the cypher system. They’re great.