Sell me on your favorite system, Veeky Forums

If you can come up with a character idea, you can make it. No matter how crazy it is, you can make it.

This seems like a good thread for the question. If I wanted to do a post apoc or grim future sort of game with rules easy enough for noobs to tabletop to understand, what should it be? Many bonus points for being able to enjoy themes such as barren rainy worlds and needing to wear gasmasks. Lethality doesn't matter too much but being a little easier to survive would be good for the new players so they don't get too frustrated.

Apocalypse World.

Just... Maybe play without the Sex Moves. They're a bit weird.

I think the sex moves are weird on the sheet more than in actual play - at least because they're not really played that much.

But, maybe yes, maybe not. Worth considering. I'd suggest letting them because jesus christ, you're a fucking psycho with a squad of psycho guys on wheels, killing and mutilating whatever you can imagine, in a world of ruins, mutants, acid rain, whatever, and the problem is the sex? Gamers have to step it up.

Buuuuut that's me. It's not like putting them out in monsterhearts which is unthinkable, sure

It bugs me the most because it's a recurring pattern I've seen in other RPG's, that the highest form of emotional intimacy can only ever result in sex. It just feels a bit weak to me.

They make a lot more sense in Monsterhearts, I'd never suggest removing them there, but in AW they always felt rather dissonant.

I've really liked Dungeon Crawl Classics, it's scratched most of my itches. Streamlined 3e, easy and intuitive skill system, a great old school feel but is not a retroclone, more geared toward appendix N/sword and sorcery, the 0 level is a way awesome part of character creation, and the magic system is amazing.

Thanks for the tips. I will have to check it out.

Oh, come on. Sex moves are there and in MH and... I dunno, honestly. Perhaps the Veil*, but it's way more general. PBTAs tend to have problems with some shit that it's bascially a given in most run of the mills hack, but sex moves are rare.

I think Vince was on right about them: put more viscerality in game. Gamers (and... I dunno, moviegoers, now, basically anyone) are anesthtized to violence. But sex? Love, even? In the fucking apocalypse? Powerful shit.

>maybe I'm just salty because no one boned my Hocus

*=which btw I'm reading right now and seems way better than I would've said. The non-stats are simply brilliant.

I like the idea of emotional intimacy being given more primacy, with sex being a part of that, but the idea that sex is the only way to meaningfully express it is what gets me, or giving sex a unique role within the system.

I've been kind of turned off it ever since reading Bliss Stage, though. That game had tiers of relationship, with a lot of flexibility from levels 1 through 4... But when you hit 5, no matter what, it had to be fucking. Doesn't matter if you were rivals or friends before that, now you bone. Never mind that it's a game where most of the characters are teenagers with a single adult. Creepy shit.

I hate to break it to you but teenagers fuck. Honestly anytime I hear complaints about the intimacy tiers in BS I can't help but think that what's really bothering them is that they are mortified of having to roleplay people who have sex with each other.

I ERP like a demon, that shit has never bothered me.

I just think the idea that sex is the highest form of emotional intimacy, and that no other form of connection can be given equal weight, to be really weird and kinda immature.

Not really a roleplayer (I prefer mass-combat wargames) but all of my favourite wargames have a non-linear-result systems (or similar) implemented.

Non-linear-result in this case means that, when you roll for result, you don't get just Yes/No answer, but a degree of it as well.

Lighter examples of it are Apocalypse World (and it's various hacks) and THW's lite-RPG's.

The straightest example though, and the one I prefer, is Freeform Universal Roleplaying (and/or it's hack FUBAR).
The 'Degrees' in it are, basically divided into And & But parts:
And means that you Pass/Fail, and then immediately get another automatic Pass/Fail.
But means that you Pass/Fail, but immediately get an (opposite) Fail/Pass that subverts your Pass/Fail.

So, let's say my Battalion assaults a Company on the Hill.
If I get a 6, it's a Yes, And - Assault succeeds, and the Company is wiped out.
If I get a 5, it's a basic Yes - Assault succeeds, but Company is merely pushed back.
On a 4, it's a Yes, But - Assault succeeds, but my Battalion is wiped out.
On a 3, it's a No, But - Assault fails, but the Company is wiped out.
On a 2, it's a basic No - Assault fails, noone is wiped out.
On a 1, it's a No, And - Assault fails, and my Battalion is wiped out.

As you can see, it provides much more results, giving a quicker (and more fluid) wargame, which can be resolved in a reasonable time.

>the highest form of emotional intimacy can only ever result in sex. It just feels a bit weak to me
I want to make moves for Eros, Philia, Ludus, Agape, Pragma and Philautia but at that point I should probably just go outside and meet some people.

I'm pretty sure AW goes out of its way to mention that the sex moves represent emotionally connecting/opening up (and the dangers of doing so) first and foremost, the bumping uglies part is just a bonus.

I may be wrong though

The gayest story-based mechanics with the most grog-tarded crunchy elements smashed together at last for a mere 25 shekels!

Wow, another Strike! fan?

Burning Wheel, actually

Underrated.

Aw, shit. If I'd have seen this thread, I wouldn't have made my thread asking for a system suggestion. It's too late to delete the thread, but I'll ask here anyways, I guess.

>I want to run a campaign in a space opera universe with a touch of cheesy 80's cartoon tropes. If anyone watched Space Dandy on Adult Swim, basically that universe (though I'd probably goof off just a tad less.)
>Does anyone know of a good system I could use for being a band of mismatched mercenaries/couriers/explorers trying to make a living in a universe like this?

Strike does look interesting though, since the very first testimonial compared the non-combat bits to BW/Mouseguard, I'm inclined to learn more. Sell me on Strike.

Close enough, they share some DNA.

Okay,

Strike! is some guy taking a look at WotC D&D (mostly 4e) and going "I think D&D is holding it back", and then proceeded to remove all the D&D-isms that weren't absolutely essential. In a surprising twist, he then did not replace it with GURPS-level autistic, but also badly thought out and clunky simulationism, and instead used games like FATE, Burning Wheel/PbtA stuff as a base to make a very simple adventuring/skill system, with a grid based tactical system for handling the important combats.

For specifics: every roll is d6 with adv/disadv, with almost no modifiers (2d6 variant exists that can use mods for those who prefer curves). Results depend on a table (what table you roll on depends if you have an applicable skill), is going to be some combination of success/failure/bonus/cost.

Characters also have Complications which you can use to get Action points.
Action points can be spent on Tricks, which are usually "you always succeed at *limited application of one of your skills*".

Basically every character at this point is just skills/tricks/complications. You get those from combining a Background (like 5e backgrounds) and an Origin (Races/subraces that fit the setting; "royal family" could be an acceptable Origin, with "noble" as background, or "Knight" or "Wizard", etc.), or you can just make up your own character without using them.

Anyway, pretty standard fare. There are some optional systems like Kits which complicate things a bit (a bit too much for my taste), and Team Conflict, which I think is ripped straight from BW, where it's your characters vs some sort of obstacle that you have to overcome (crossing a desert, cramming for exams, getting into a treasure vault, possibly exploring a dungeon even) abstracted into a pair of rolls with modifiers based on what you do.

It's fast, simple and moddable to add some depth if needed.

That's half the system. Other half next.

Okay, so the other half is the most distilled form of grid and turn based, squad level tactical combat up to date I've seen.

Basics: Characters have 10 health, can move 6 squares, regular attacks do 2 damage, ranged attacks reach 5 squares, there's Charging and Shifting, and Opportunities (that automatically hit), you can Crit and Graze on top of Hit/Miss, flanking for Advantage, etc. There's a pretty cool cover system. Really, nothing outstanding if you had played 4e/5e before, aside from being extremely streamlined.

You create this half of your character by picking a Class and Role combination that you can fluff in a way that makes sense with the other half. Class gives you your basic tools, Roles enhance them. Putting it differently, Roles decide What you do, Class decides How you do it (Classes also have leanings so it's not a 1:1 thing).

Classes usually give you a passive ability of some sorts (usually picked from 3 choices), 2-3 at-will attacks (again, picked from a list) and an encounter at 1st level... but a bunch of the classes pout a twist on this, so it doesn't get boring (Martial Artist gains stances, Rogue gains movement abilities, etc.) with some expansion classes playing downright like Invoker from DOTA or the Magica wizards, combining elements on the fly for effects.

Roles give you passive boosts that are applied to all of your attacks, and your minor actions (which are even called Role actions). A Striker role character deals more damage with all of his attacks and can pick between being extra mobile or aiming extra well with his role action. A Controller character can weaken enemies and slow/push them around, etc.

There's a lot of character variety, and most combinations or viable (even ones that don't look so at first). There's also feats, which are actually pretty strong/fun (no straight bonuses), and you are encouraged to brew some of your own.

Combat itself is tactical, focusing a lot on positioning and valuation. There's a short "generic monster by role" list, but there's also a point-build method for the GM to customize them. Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, going from "dies from one hit" goons that you can drown the to "if you are fighting these without spending a session preparing for it, you are gonna get fucked" unfair types.

There's also a bunch of optional sub-systems (because of course there are) like an "element wheel" (could be used for "fire beats wood" but also "axe beats spear"), "brutal cover" (XCOM cover rules, i.e. not in cover? get fucked), 2d6 (doesn't have to be used with the 2d6 skill rolls variant, just to make things confusing) and things like that.

The fights "hook back" into the "main game" so it's not just a pointless minigame. You can of course use skills in fights, in facts it's expected you can tie all your powers to your characters skills somehow (improvised attacks are judged very favorably, but also for other stuff), there are Action Triggers, which are strong powers that needs action points to use, and taking damage/being knocked out is converted into Strikes, the amount of which determine how badly beat up you are (what modifiers you get), and how well you managed to achieve the objective of the fight.

There's lots of other small stuff (example settings and rules for settings, hardcore mode, adversarial play, etc.), but that's about it.

There's also a dropbox with the pdfs around somewhere that gets posted occasionally.

Hmm, thanks for writing all that out. Will look out for the pdfs in the share threads, cheers. Starting to get a bit burned out on Burning Wheel anyway.

Got you hombre: dropbox.com/s/a1i5mhmasq77iqm/Strike Books.zip?dl=0

Dank. Danke.

Go fuck yourself.

TOR shill #66

>you like Tolkien, like really like Tolkien? Its a game for you. It isn't shit that spits right into the feel and themes of original works to create some weird D&D-ME hybrid like MERP, it's geniuinelly fitting adaptation that fills blanks in Tolkien's worlds with lore and plothooks so smoothly i feels like i could be created by the professor himself.

>You don't especially like Tolkien, but still don't have anything against him? Well, if the following feels appealing to you, it still might be very much for you

>You're tired of combat-centric games and instead want a game that makes non-combat tast like travelling, negotiating, sneaking, avoiding temptations of the dark forces and many more as important game elements as occasional fight.
>You're tired of games where magic solves everything and/or are flashy and everpresent and instead would like more to play in a world where magic is subtle and mysterious force while heroes do their job by their brawn, wits, and will instead of relying on special-snowflake magical tricks
>If you'd like a game that focuses more on a narratice yet still resembles traditional RPG and not going full into "vague storygame" teritorry
>If you'd like a game that has gaming element that is varied, fun and satisfying, but in simple, boardgamey way instead of becoming a tacticool miniature wargame requiring a game mat, with tons of numbercrunching and theorycrafting, or a d100 simulator with skilllists 4 pages long and tons of tables

>GURPS using the core magic system
I know the core magic system gets a lot of grief, but I really like that you have to learn prerequisite spells for the more powerful spells in a school of magic. Like how you have to learn to ignite a fire before you can toss explosive fireballs around. And I've seen so few systems where you have to actually progress your spellcasting that way, rather than just cherrypicking the spells you want.

best game

>Anima: Beyond Fantasy
Martials are on an even level with Casters, and Monks are fucking scary strong.

You want classic elves and dragons and dwarves and orcs? We got that shit. You want dwarves but they hoard magic? We got that too. Driders? Half-giant Vikings? Minotaurs? The Predator? Lizardmen? Space angels? Psionic plant greys? Got them all. Can play all of them but the dragon, too, plus extra.

How about some classes? Got 34 of those. Assassin clowns? Why the fuck not. Guys who have dedicated their lives to bringing together and mastering two diametrically opposing martial arts schools? Sounds good. Literal rockstar turbo-bards? What's a metal-inspired game without them? Necromancers who can claim the abilities of the undead or demons by slaying them and stealing their essence? What do you think our liches are?

And we got some neither-class-nor-race-but-a-combination-of-both's, too. Seven of them, ranging from vampires to guys whose whole power set is based around telling magic to fuck off to shapeshifters to guys who can steal souls and the abilities thereof.

And if that weren't enough you can get some mutations as well. Firebreathing dog-people? Go for it. Four-armed jungle tribesman with the ability (if not yet the power points) to lob his enemies 1000 years through time? If you can spare the points, go for it.

And I'm not even going to get into some of the nuttier parts of the setting, like the battlestation lurking in the depths of the solar system that makes the Death Star look like a tennis ball with a laser pointer stuck in it, or the moon that was enchanted to spew UV radiation over the planet, and so had to be sealed away for most of the year.

This whole damn game is a Gloryhammer album cover in the making.

This is a perfectly reasonable SenZar campaign outline:

He seeks the Ultimate Chords, which together will form the Primeval Riff, which will allow him to bend the world to his will. The ancient lich-lords known only as the Metalwrights discovered them eons ago, and, fearing that they may be used against them, secreted them away beneath their mighty volcanic fortress. When at last the Metalwrights were brought low, they were flung screaming into the depths of the volcano, taking with them the knowledge of the Primeval Riff they had tried so desperately to play in those final moments. And there it has lain for these eons past.

This is the sort of shit that can end up with your Spellsinger engaging in a rock-off with a thousand-year-old lich lord in the crater of a dormant volcano while the rest of the party holds his skeletal army at bay, and the druid-analogue debates whether or not to summon an eruption from the earth below you, and risk setting off the whole range, only to ultimately decide that things look grim enough, so you have to duel the remnants of the army's elite while a rain of fire and rock plummets around you and the power of metal crackles through the air as the guitar duel reaches a fever pitch.

Like that Metalocalypse guitar duel. But with more volcanoes and skeletons.

For a mechanical overview, it's nice and simple. Attribute checks work on (21-stat) roll over, until you get to 20 or higher, when it switches to percentage roll over. The Power stat is an exception, IIRC i's always percentile. Saving throws are attribute checks. Skill checks are attribute checks, but you can get modifiers for having more skill ranks. Instead of alignments you have Karmas and Codes, which monitor your mental health (in an 8-axis way) and obedience to external codes of behaviour respectively. Character creation is point-buy, your class and race set minimum and maximum stat requirements and give you blocks of special abilities. Combat is pretty simple, most complex thing is probably initiative, which is a simple "you can act on these x phases per round, spells take a certain number if phases to cast".

As for flaws: The pure martial classes tend to be comparatively underpowered, because they seem to occupy the design space of "cheap to qualify for, giving you more points to spend on other shit to bring your power level up". 3e is trying to do something about that, giving buffs in the form of new martial arts schools (which have yet to appear, and actually got deleted off the rogue and assassin when I brought them up) and the energy DR of armour being switched from a flat rate to a percentage of the damage. Technically an optional rule, can make magic more effective at low levels/weak armours, but makes high-power magic significantly less effective while not affecting high-power martial attacks. There was also a nerf put in place on the hybrid martial/magic classes, because they were very powerful. Secondary magic used to give one less Power per level than Primary (which correlates to less of a power pool, which means they can't quite cast as many spells), but 3e changed it to giving the same Power per level, but halving the power pool calculated from that.

Not OP, but I'm sold.

Mega

/#F!UhhhmASR!pLn-w2GwA9giKjGLUeiWNA

Most of all:

>a game in which halflings are pretty much the most valuable asset to the party

Someone in the pdf share thread managed to upload what they had of Senzar but the Core Rulebook pdf only contained 68 of ~245 pages

That Mega's complete, up to and including the WIP third edition and the very rare second supplement.

It's Lehman. If game designers were PBTA moves, he'd be Open your Head to the Psychic Maelstrom, for good and for worse

I have my qualms about BS particulary but... I dunno, I think he's kinda right in that. Those are kids in a fucked up war, shit is dramatic as fuck (you know Monsterhearts? That is low-key in comparision), all of the intimacy levels are very prescriptive and the game is mostly an answer to anime clichés.

Thanks, I'm snagging it as we speak. I've been looking for a 'Metal Album Cover' RPG.

>the WIP third edition
It's important to note that this is called WIP for a good reason. Some of the MA schools mentioned in the character generation section don't exist, because they were meant to be a buff for certain classes but didn't get made. The Master Table is missing the column that tells you how much weight you can carry. Some of the place descriptions have the wrong demographic information.