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What 5 games would you recommend for the broadest possible sample of table top RPGs and story games? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 weeks ago by naught101@lemmy.world to c/rpg@ttrpg.network
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If someone was interested in understanding as much as possible what the world of TTRPGs and story games had to offer, which 5 games would you suggest they play first, and why?

Ideally this would include a broad array of mechanics, themes and settings.

Inspired by a discussion over at !rpgmemes@ttrpg.network : https://lemmy.world/post/33918016/18604654

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[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Ordered list because some differences can be understood better in relation to others, but then dropping someone new into the deep waters of crunchy games would probably only confuse them

  1. Knave/MorkBorg/Fireball
    Use applicable setting if fantasy is not their thing
    • get them introduced easily
    • show more or less what we are coming from
    • to understand later on, what this branch distills to
  2. Something Gumshoe based
    • it needs to be understood that without combat, TTRPGs are not "20 questions" - guess what GM wants you to do
  3. Blades in the Dark
    • show that it can also be very gamified, almost approached like a series episode
    • narration doesn't have to be only in GM's hands
  4. Shadowrun/GURPS/Traveller
    • crunch games can be heavy to play but offer the most character customization possible
    • lore doesn't have to fit in the rulebook
  5. SWADE/D&D
    • see what kind of games have the crown currently
[–] naught101@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Awesome list, thanks! A few I've never heard of in there, and lots of good reasoning!

BTW, I think maybe your lists need 4 spaces before the second level, and maybe no newlines between items?

[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

BTW, I think maybe your lists need 4 spaces before the second level, and maybe no newlines between items?

No, those are second level lists (under the numbering), so that's why are the empty ones. Deleting the sub-listing __ prefix makes numbering stop, adding additional two doesn't change anything

* thing 1
  * thing 1.a
* thing 2
  • thing 1
    • thing 1.a
  • thing 2
[–] naught101@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

OK, it wasn't rendering properly for me the first time I saw it

[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Huh. What are you viewing with?

  1. test
    paragaph
  • point
  1. test
  • point

EDIT: You're right. Apparently Lemmy needs 3 spaces before a sub-level, where PieFed is happy with 2

  1. fixed
    paragraph
    • point
  2. fixed
    • point
[–] naught101@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah, first one is borked, second one looks good

[–] Ziggurat@jlai.lu 13 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

That's a tricky question, but let's try-it

  1. A D20, level based, high fantasy game, so let's say D&D/Pathfinder or one of the many clones

  2. A prompt based, narrative immersive game with a lot of bleed potential let's say Alice is missing

  3. A horror games, I would say Call of Chtulhu because it's the classic one, but also to show player a percent-based skill mechanic

  4. Iron-sworn in GM-less mode, as it ticks both the narrative consequence driven game (PBTA) and the GM-less box

  5. A sci-fi game, in order to get a recent design, and a sample of dice pool I would say Coriolis

Only 5 games is actually quite restrictive, especially to show different game type and mechanics. I am a bit annoyed that I didn't found any slot for Vampire/World-of-Darkness (considering how popular is the franchise) and that Iron sworn is the only PBTA (especially considering it's not the classical PBTA) I would also love to add a Cyberpunk game (Shadowrun or Red) as it's also a popular franchise, extend the D&D clones with OSR, and add Blade in the Dark considering it's massive influence on the recent RPG scene

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Cool answer, thanks. I like the way you explore and combine attributes.

What do you mean by "bleed potential"?

[–] Ziggurat@jlai.lu 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

What do you mean by “bleed potential”?

Bleed is that moment where your in-game emotion starts to mix with your IRL emotional system. A non RPG example would be crying while reading a book/wathcing a movie. The same can happen in RPG where you're feeling angry, sad, happy because your character feels so. It's something that some RPG player (Mostly narrative games and nordic LARP) players look for.

The word actually comes from nordic larp but is also commonly used in tabletop https://nordiclarp.org/wiki/Bleed

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I'd never heard of "Bleed" until one player got very in-real-life upset about their character having a moderately bad time. The rest of us were like "this is some great drama and storytelling! And good job {upset-player} roleplaying!", but then they were like actually mad at us. Kind of unsettling. Not a good experience.

Their character was a musician and had been cursed, in a recent session, so if they played music then unknown bad things to the tune of a demonic incursion would happen. The other players didn't like this, and the bleed player didn't really believe it. They'd tried to play a song anyway, and when I described how the lights in the room became thin they physically stopped the ~~player~~ character from continuing, and put their instruments in their locked chest. The bleed-player didn't like this. They secretly went and broke into the chest to get their stuff back. The other players were then mad, in-character, that this had happened. Like, they put the group at risk by fucking with their curse, and also broke into their personal belongings. It was good drama. Good interpersonal conflict. Big argument and juicy scene. Both sides had good points.

Except the bleed-player was actually, genuinely, real-life, upset about all of this. We had to pause the game.

To me it just felt messy and, I don't know, like poor emotional regulation. You can feel a thing but why are you lashing out at the other players?

Maybe that's not a typical usage of bleed, but that's what they said was happening.

[–] MolochAlter@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah no that sounds like a messy person being messy, at least in my circles "bleed" is more like when your character grieves and you feel a pang along with them, or when they're moved by an event or angry at a character and you get the same physiologic responses, not throwing a tantrum at the players for their in game actions.

Then again you did say they physically stopped the player so maybe they're not the only person whose lines are a bit blurred.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Then again you did say they physically stopped the player so maybe they’re not the only person whose lines are a bit blurred.

I communicated poorly! In-game they stopped the player character by saying their characters physically took the instruments away. We were playing remotely, so no one was physically interacting.

[–] MolochAlter@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I got it, it was just a funny slip in a conversation about mixing up player and character roles/feelings.

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Sounds like something that should be dealt with via safety tools, and mentioned in a session zero. I've never seen something like that explicitly mentioned in safety tool guides though..

And last session I did start to get (mildly) annoyed in real life at a character who was annoying in-game.. so maybe I'll add this to my list of things to mention pre-game.

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Ah, cool! I reckon I'm into that, though it wouldn't be my primary aim. Thanks!

[–] tiberius@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

Good to see a GM-less option in the comments. Not everyone has the time to get a group of people together.

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Excellent list but Call of Cthulhu is tapping the same old vein of horror since the 80s and it doesn't carry the same weight. Delta Green is a very good update on the genre that has some really weird stuff to shock and amaze.

[–] Ziggurat@jlai.lu 3 points 3 weeks ago

Indeed, I am old enough to remember the time when delta green was just a COC sourcebook but it's a great take on COC. There is also a couple of modernized Chtulhu games, let alone non mythos horror games (Kult 😍😍😍)

[–] Gwimdor@ttrpg.network 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I don't keep up on every single system, but I'd go:

  • Call of Cthulhu/Delta Green
  • D&D 5e
  • Savage Worlds
  • MORK BORG
  • Kids on Bikes

I think that's a good spread. Edited: bullet points

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This might be a bit more readable as bullet points..

Any comment on why these examples in particular?

[–] Gwimdor@ttrpg.network 3 points 3 weeks ago

Fixed. It was super early and I'm not used to the formatting in these comments...

  • CoC or Delta Green use the basic roleplaying system, which i really love.
  • 5e because I think it's the most user-friendly iteration of D&D and despite Hasbro being douches, I have a deep and abiding love for D&D.
  • MORKBORG because I'm not a huge fsn of any of the OSR gamrs I've tried but it seems like they should be included ss a rules-light option for newcomers to get their feet wet and I think it's the most fun out of those options
  • I haven't played Savage Worlds or Kids on Bikes, but they both seem like really good systems that wouldn't be hard to learn and look like a lot of fun. Also, they have mechanics the others don't so they're good from a variety standpoint.
[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 4 points 3 weeks ago

I'd want to do some research before making a serious answer, but firing from the hip, not in order:

  • DND 5e. It's the big one. Even if you don't like it, it's popular. If you're going to learn about a hobby you should learn what's popular in it.
  • a white wolf game like Vampire. This was also pretty popular. It's got dice pools, no levels and classes, and themes that are more than "get treasure"
  • a pbta game. They're popular now and typically have a very different feel from DND. I'm not sure which one to pick but there are many.
  • one of those one page games, where you have like two stats. I don't like them but it's a good exercise to show what's possible.
  • some other indie game with an unusual mechanic, like drawing tarot cards instead of dice, or using a Jenga tower.
[–] BirbSeed@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
  • Mothership, great pulp scifi horror that works for one shots or long campaigns.
  • Blades in the Dark, think oceans 11, or peaky blinders but haunted Victorian London.
  • Slugblaster, angsty teens traveling to other dimensions to skate and tag.
  • Numenera, billions of years in the future on earth. Medieval societies with tons of weird science so advanced its magic
  • Draw Steel, classic tactical mini based heroic fantasy. An evolution from D&D
[–] naught101@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I've got slugblaster coming in the mail - the character arc mechanic looks awesome

I don't know most of these - how well does this represent the diversity of mechanics?

[–] BirbEnjoyer@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Tons of mechanical uniqueness. I can't go into it here but at a very basic level with dice:

  • Mothership percentile roll under
  • Numenera d20 roll over
  • Blades in the Dark d6s with tiered success
  • Draw steel 2d10 tiered success
  • Slugblaster d6 pools, highest result