Rare RPG Systems (Interest Check?)

[Dusk Raven]

Anyone else in a situation where there's some RPG system you like... but it's a rather obscure one, so unless you're down to DM a game of it yourself, you're pretty much at the mercy of fate, waiting for someone to make a game of it? I'm in that situation with a couple RPGs, and... I'm not quite sure what to do about that. Except, perhaps, mention what I'm looking for, and then see if anyone else has obscure systems they want to see games of, and then see if something mutual can be arranged!

Anyway. The main one I'm hoping for at the moment is called Masks: A New Generation, or simply Masks. It's... I'm not really sure how to describe it, in spite of or perhaps because of it's simplicity. It's very light on mechanics, and the fluff is highly flexible, and quite a lot goes so long as it fits the open-ended crunch. But the focus is not on the crunch, it's on the characters, their relationships with others, and their relationship with who they are and who they want to be. And, since it's based on shows like Teen Titans, the teenaged PCs have a lot going on.

I got introduced to Masks by a thread on this forum, but I didn't join since I was, at the time, totally unfamiliar with the system. A shame, since it's actually quite simple. Even more of a shame though is the fact that that game became one of those threads that just ends for no apparent reason. And ever since then, I have waited for another thread, even considered making my own - but I'd like to be a player as much as I want to GM it.

So, anyone else got a rare system they're wanting to play, if only someone would make a game for it?

[ProgressPaladin]

Nice marines

[Feathersnow]

I love classic Deadlands, but I'm willing to use Savage Worlds if the Marshal is willing to port some of the wackier source books and concepts.

[josienoms]

Oooh, I’ve only played Masks once, but it’s a lot of fun and I’d be down if anyone shows up to run a game. If not, I could maybe try.

I recently joined Comixology Unlimited, so I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately. Got superheroes on the brain, so I could definitely come up with something.

[Cygnia]

Classic Deadlands, 1st edition 7th Sea, 6E HERO

[Dusk Raven]

Oooh, I’ve only played Masks once, but it’s a lot of fun and I’d be down if anyone shows up to run a game. If not, I could maybe try.

I recently joined Comixology Unlimited, so I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately. Got superheroes on the brain, so I could definitely come up with something.

Might run a game myself, honestly. I got to thinking about how I would make my own superhero setting (because of course I'd try to make my own setting), and came up with something bonkers enough to fit... helps that I suspect Masks requires less, or at least different, prep time than other systems. It's all about the character drama, so I just need to come up with interesting characters as well as ways to get the PCs to bounce off each other, and I can do that while at work.

[RossN]

I'd like to play Advanced Fighting Fantasy (and it's sci-fi spinoff Stellar Adventures.)

Based off the old 80s/90s Fighting Fantasy gamebooks like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Deathtrap Dungeon.

[josienoms]

Might run a game myself, honestly. I got to thinking about how I would make my own superhero setting (because of course I'd try to make my own setting), and came up with something bonkers enough to fit... helps that I suspect Masks requires less, or at least different, prep time than other systems. It's all about the character drama, so I just need to come up with interesting characters as well as ways to get the PCs to bounce off each other, and I can do that while at work.

Oh, nice! Well if you do try to get a game going, you’ve got at least one interested player.

[truemane]

I am a bit of a collector of unusual and obscure and niche RPG systems. I love Masks. It's one of my very favourite PtbA games (and one of the best-designed as well, I think). I've run it on PbP a few times (with very mixed results).

Lately I've been enamoured of the "Polymorph" system from 9th Level Games. It powers a few of their games and I think it's an an amazingly elegant engine that gets a lot done in just a few simple rules. And some of their actual games are charmingly bonkers (like Pigeon's Eleven, tagline: "Be birds, do crimes").

Just before Xmas I bought myself an indie game called "Mutants in the Now" - which is a modern take the old Palladium Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness line of games. The system is pretty good, but I still love that whole genre and vibe.

And I took advantage of an insane Boxing Week sale to get the Wildsea RPG, which is a very cool setting, with a system that borrows a lot from Blades in the Dark (with some interesting changes).

Some events in my personal life last year prompted me to take a big step away from my online role-playing activities. But I really miss GM'ing. And if I was going to saddle up for one game, I would want something rules-lite and character-driven.

Which is to say, I'd consider starting a Masks game (unless you're committed to starting one up, Dusk Raven).

[Dusk Raven]

I'd like to play Advanced Fighting Fantasy (and it's sci-fi spinoff Stellar Adventures.)

Based off the old 80s/90s Fighting Fantasy gamebooks like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Deathtrap Dungeon.

I actually saw a game for that pop up a while back, and it piqued my interest... seeing as how I've got a bunch of the Fighting Fantasy books on Steam. I didn't join then, however.


Oh, nice! Well if you do try to get a game going, you’ve got at least one interested player.


Some events in my personal life last year prompted me to take a big step away from my online role-playing activities. But I really miss GM'ing. And if I was going to saddle up for one game, I would want something rules-lite and character-driven.

Which is to say, I'd consider starting a Masks game (unless you're committed to starting one up, Dusk Raven).

Honestly, I'm sorely tempted. I want to play it, but I've been getting a bunch of ideas regarding this concept of mine... and I kinda want both. Helps that my concept might be a bit more "out there," and some people might want a more traditional hero setting.

So... it's sort of a running gag that every setting I make is, on some level, a cosmic horror setting. Even my sci-fi setting emphasizes humanity's insignificance in the universe, and contains powerful eldritch entities and forces. Of course, my settings are more Lovecraft Lite, (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LovecraftLite) with humans still able to make a difference and protect themselves and that which they value against the forces of the unknown. 'Tis the consequence of me really liking Lovecraft's work while fundamentally disagreeing with some of its core tenets.

But anyway, I was trying to come up with my own take on a superhero setting, and I thought, "What if I just frontloaded the cosmic horror?" Essentially, imagine the Cthulhu Mythos (well, something based on it) interacting so much with humanity through the 20s and 30s that all hope of keeping it hidden gets blown away, and humanity learns of the true, terrifying nature of the cosmos they live in, and the godlike beings that inhabit it.

And along comes a superpowered human who punches one of those godlike beings in the face. And after humanity's been saved, and the shock wears off, people pretty much just shrug and go back to what they were doing.

So... a Lovecraftian mythos, yet made into a superhero setting. As a result, there are a lot of humans who, through some means or another, have harnessed or been given some of the same eldritch powers that the horrors from beyond possess. Where Lovecraft's heroes see madness, these heroes see possibility. Among those possibilities is the potential for understanding, for some of the beings from beyond are not as hostile as Lovecraft wrote them. They have the same potential to harm or help that humans do. And there are an increasing number of human beings with supernatural powers. Many use them for evil, but others use them for good, even if they don't understand the source of their abilities. They don't need to understand. They just need to have hope.

And through it all, humanity keeps on truckin'. Rather than go mad from the collective revelation, people have adopted the same cavalier attitude people in superhero settings seem to have. Sure, some cosmic entity could come and end everything, or it might be stopped by people far more capable than ordinary humans can ever hope to be. Either way, no point it worrying about it.

I've taken the above concept and really ran with it. I'm going to let it stew for a while anyway, just in case it turns out to be one of those ideas that hijacks my interest and goes for a weeklong joyride only to accidentally fling itself into a ditch right when I start to commit to it. But I certainly like it, and it's been interesting coming up with hero (and villain) ideas for it. Of course... some of those heroes might make for good Masks PCs too. Hence, why I want to play and GM it.

[Aleph Null]

I'll plop down the ol' eyeball of tentative interest and watch this in case it ends up being something I want to try out.

[Shiro_Nogard]

kamigakari, god hunters

And

Anima beyond fantasy

[RocknRollFTW]

They Came from Beyond the Grave! & it's spin-off They Came from Camp Murder Lake! are two games I would really like to try out, and which I don't think I ever hear mentioned on GitP or similar sites.

[Cygnia]

Those remind me of "It Came From The Late Late Late Show!"...

[Alhallor]

I always wanted to try out "Symbaroum" because of it's interesting setting.

"Paranoia" also seems to be some dumb fun which would probably be great with the right set of players.

And of course there's "Orpheus" the last oWoD game which I think I may have seen mentioned once in the forums and try'd my hand in GMing once, but sadly ultimately fell flat because I got tangled in my own threads.

"Golden Sky stories" also sounds pretty great from the whole premise even if I haven't took a peek in the book.

I heard about masks but I probably won't be a player, I don't enjoy interpersonal relationship game as much as I think it might be.

[Albinobrow]

I know exactly how you feel. I love my gaming group, and it's hard to bring a new game to the table because everyone is busy IRL and it's hard to dedicate time towards learning a new game.

I've been a big fan of Cypher System and SWADE! Love the flexibility of those systems to fit any genre or playstyle. I started playing a Masks game years ago and that game quickly died, but I loved the character I made so much I've actually translated him into Cypher and SWADE and have looked into other systems where I could make the same concept. But only ever played him in Cypher as a solo game because I feel like I really have to twist things around in other systems to make it work. And it's been a lot of fun in cypher as well!

I was just looking into Paranoia the other day and that looked interesting too. But I've looked into and have yet to play things like:
Across a Thousand Dead Worlds
Perilous Wilds
Stars Without Number
Four Color System Core Rules (I'm a big fan of the superhero genre!)
Forgotten Ballad
Maze Rats
Zweihander
Wushu
Fleshscape
Lancer
Ironsworn
Dominion (almost forgot this one)

Needless to say, I'd be down as well should a Masks game take off. To be honest, that's the exact reason I was checking the forums this morning; to see if there were any non-Pathfinder/DnD games recruiting.

[Aleph Null]

SWADE has a kaiju supplement.
Not as in players fight kaiju.

Yes, that is correct.
I was amazed when I saw it.
I absolutely want to play a dawn of the daikaiju game, though finding a GM to run that could be difficult.

Mostly because I can't imagine wanting to GM that and not also wanting to play in it even more.

[paradox26]

I have a copy of Zweihander sitting on my desk, and have doubts that I will ever get to play it, though my best friend has a copy too. I just doubt we will be able to get together to play it, as we live in different cities. I would be interested if a game ever does open up, though.

[Albinobrow]

Time and location is always in issue when it comes to games like this. That's why I'm a fan of play by post. The game goes significantly slower, which is the downside, but with dedicated players it constantly moves forward.

I have one game go for at least a decade now though it includes long breaks, we always came back. And some of my friends have other games that ran that Long or longer

[Eldan]

I really want to do Spire, but my regular gaming group is booked. Not sure it's really PBP-compatible, though, there's a lot of DM-Player negotiation and character creation pretty much needs to be done as a group. I'd run it too, if I could figure out how to do it.

[Lacco]

Someone said... rare systems? :smallconfused:

Riddle of Steel. Rare enough?

If not:

Hold the phone. You run a Riddle of Steel game, with bits of Burning Wheel soldered on, and you have players? I bow to either your charisma or karma. Each of those games always seems to land as 'This is one of the best games ever made if you're focused onHey come back you guys! I promise it will be fun! I have beer and wings and we're in the sunroom, not the basement, c'mmmonn!'

Rarer enough? :smallbiggrin:

I am also building up my own

And yes, I am always tempted to GM it.

[Morphling]

I love Masks so much, and I basically always apply to a game of it that I spot.

[ProgressPaladin]

I would love to play a game of stars without number.

[Albinobrow]

I've not heard of Riddle of Steel or Spine. What are they like?

[truemane]

I've not heard of Riddle of Steel or Spine. What are they like?

I only know Riddle of Steel by reputation, but Spire is a narrative-heavy game where the PC's play members of a permanently oppressed underclass plotting revolution in a vast, crumbling city in a grim, low-magic fantasy setting. It's an excellent game, but a hard to one to get right. Especially on PbP.

I've tried it once or twice and can't quite find my way into it.

[Eldan]

Oh boy, Spire. I'll try to keep it brief, but I'll probably ramble. The tl;dr is "religious terrorists use dark magic for the rebellion and go too far".

So, three things I like about Spire:

The Setting:
Spire is an ancient ruin built by mysterious precursors, a miles-high, windowless tower that is built over a nexus of otherworldly power deep below the ground, which twists reality, called The Heart. Time and space are strange, and dark magic is far too easy here. Spire used to be the capital of the Drow Kingdom of Desterra, but it was conquered a few centuries ago by the expansionist totalitarian empire of ice-themed high elves called Aelfir. Most of the Drow population is empoverished and forced to work under Durance, either was factory workers or as cannonfodder for the Aelfir's decades-long stalemate against the demon summoning gnolls of the southern deserts. The players are Ministers, rebels who worship the forbidden moon goddess of the drow and use various kinds of dark magic to fight the Aelfir. The city as detailed is vast and filled from top to bottom with religious cults, weird sciences and scheming factions. None of which, including the players, are nice people.

The Classes:
The player classes are awesome. None of them are quite generic RPG classes, and they are all tied into the setting in various interesting ways. Even those that closely conform to D&D classes in broad context are unusual in execution. The Knight belongs to one of the ancient and honourable drow knightly orders, all of whom have fallen on hard times and now mostly get by by mercenary work and banditry. Their powers are roughly themed around brawling, boozing and bluffing. From there, it just gets weirder. The Bound (rogue?) is a vigilante who uses their rope climbing skills to move across the sun-exposed outside of the miles-high tower and also has small gods bound in their equipment, which gives them powers. The Icon (bard, sorcerer?) is an artist who makes art so beautiful it can kill people and also can summon adoring fans to start a party anywhere. Midwifes are spider mutants who get enormous social respect for looking after drow eggs. And then you get to the really deep end, where you get the Vermissian Sage, a wizard who taps into a defunct interdimensional subway network to summon ghost trains, the Azurite who is a cleric of the god of trade who has made enough money to literally buy time or the Deep Apiarist who have replaced their internal organs with a hive of magical bees.

The system:
Relatively light and narrative. Only players roll dice, rolls result in stress to one of five point pools (Blood, Silver, Shadow, Reputation, Mind), getting too much stress produces Fallout, which is consequences from a list. Ranges from the relatively minor ("You are out of breath", minor blood fallout) to the dangerous ("Your business partners are arrested and might get tortured for a confession" - Shadow, Major) to the brutal ("You die", "You betray your cell for a bounty, the other players are arrested and get vanished at a blacksite", "you die, but your god sends you back into your body with a new religious mission"). Relatively lightweight, but custom designed to make a game spiral out of control and the PCs increasingly desparate.

[Aleph Null]

Well, not sure about everyone else, but desperate grimdark is just about the opposite of the kind of game I want, so if that's what it ends up being I'm dipping.

[Dusk Raven]

Spire is an ancient ruin built by mysterious precursors, a miles-high, windowless tower that is built over a nexus of otherworldly power deep below the ground, which twists reality, called The Heart.

...This is absolutely not the intent, but this gives me a sudden thought of a campaign or system based around Slay the Spire (a roguelike deckbuilding game). I have no idea what such a game would even involve, but that didn't stop me from having the thought.

[Eldan]

...This is absolutely not the intent, but this gives me a sudden thought of a campaign or system based around Slay the Spire (a roguelike deckbuilding game). I have no idea what such a game would even involve, but that didn't stop me from having the thought.


For that, there is Spire's spin-off game Heart, about people becoming obsessed with the distortion and going ever deeper underground until they become insane or turn into monsters.

[Eldan]

Well, not sure about everyone else, but desperate grimdark is just about the opposite of the kind of game I want, so if that's what it ends up being I'm dipping.

Oh, I didn't think this thread was for organising one single game, just people mentioning a few systems they'd like to play at some point and seeing if anyone else is interested.

[Lacco]

Oh boy, Spire. I'll try to keep it brief, but I'll probably ramble. The tl;dr is "religious terrorists use dark magic for the rebellion and go too far".

And now I want to play Spire. I have seen some of the stuff on LookRobot while it still updated and I always liked Grant's RPG ideas and style. Always wanted to run the Retrograde. Or something based on it.


I've not heard of Riddle of Steel or Spine. What are they like?

I'll also try to keep it brief; and hope this thread works on the premise Eldan mentioned.

So, to Riddle of Steel:
If you ever wanted to play a fighter, swordsman or any kind of warrior, and wanted to have highly tactical combat (both on personal and on encounter level) with strong narrative focus, you wanted to play Riddle of Steel.

The combat system is the main benefit: for a complext system, it runs fast - combats are fast-paced, energetic, dramatic and often deadly. From mechanical point of view, it is d10 dice-pool, roll-under-target-number and get as many successes as possible system. You have a wide range of maneuvers, but even with basic ones (cut, thrust, parry) you still have sufficient tactical choices. Initiative is not rolled: it is a double-blind throw, where only the color of a die you have chosen is important (red for attack, white for defence) and it changes based on the actions in the round. Once you get the basics down, you start exploring other maneuvers.

It's a HP-less system: different wound locations and levels impart in general blood loss, shock and pain - blood loss may slowly kill you, while shock and pain remove dice from your combat pool. The death spiral is quite an issue - you do not want to get hit.

The whole combat system - with all the moving parts - covers everything you want in a fight: advanced maneuvers, positioning, weapon reach, various types of armor, skill use in combat (including social skills), footwork, lots of various weapons (which have their own advantages and disadvantages), active use of shields (not only as passive armor bonus, but some maneuvers using shields are highly dangerous for the opponent), a working grappling system, fatigue and encumbrance...and even some basic guns.

The narrative part of characters (‚spiritual attributes‘) help the GM define scenarios that challenge the characters and reward roleplay. There are bonus dice and even reroll bennie points, so there is no single failed roll that leads to death of a character.

The bad parts: magic and editing. Magic – per RAW – has some good ideas but it’s so impractical that you’re better off just handwaving it or implementing the magic system from one of its successor games (Blade of the Iron Throne has a magic system that works very well once you map the attributes and skills).
Editing is... well, it’s an old game. And the best way to play the RPG is to combine rules from the core book with 3+ other books (e.g. archery, maneuvers and weapons from Flower of Battle supplement, animal/creature rules from Of Beasts and Men, skill packets from Companion, magic from Blade of the Iron Throne or no magic...) and there are small, very useful rules lost in some chapters (e.g. the fact that hitting a head with blunt object gives additional shock is stated only in the combat chapter dealing with shock, not in damage tables...).

It takes time getting used to it, and you have to approach it without clear idea how RPGs should be played – because it’s very different – but it’s a great experience. Would definitely suggest running a short limited one-shot adventure - you'll see if you like it or not.

The world presented in the books is your standard kitchen sink, but if you add the BoIT magic system, you can play a low- to mid-magic fantasy (conanesque 'magic is not safe and not for the sane' style). You can run Three Musketeers style of a game, you can weld the Burning Wheel social combat on top of that easily. But it requires some work.

I could go on, but I'm too tired to think now, and it shows on the quality of the presentation :smallbiggrin:

[Eldan]

Well, if we get a few more people together, I'm willing to try running it. Even though it's probably not a very PbP-compatible system.

[ShadowImmor]

I know this is super unlikely, but I'm always wanted to play Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet! Which as I understand it is pretty obscure 🤣

[Aleph Null]

I know this is super unlikely, but I'm always wanted to play Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet! Which as I understand it is pretty obscure 🤣

I've never heard of that one but its name is weird so obviously it's got something fun going for it (that's how this works, right?) -- could you elaborate?

[Saintheart]

I've never heard of that one but its name is weird so obviously it's got something fun going for it (that's how this works, right?) -- could you elaborate?

I am not putting up my hand to play or run it, but I'm a fellow lover of Continuum's setting so I'll gush about it a bit:

Basically, Continuum is a time travel RPG with brains.

Continuum assumes that all the theories about time machines, splitting timelines, alternate universes, are all bunk and lies. There is only one timeline, the causality of which has to be maintained for fear of destroying the universe. And there is an entire society of time travellers, hiding up and down history, who are expected to protect the timeline. Time travellers can shift time and space just through inherent genetic abilities simple as breathing, think of that old Hayden Christensen movie Jumper except through space as well as time.

The Grandfather Paradox never happens, because the moment you decide to kill your grandfather to see what happens, the resulting damage to reality - "frag" in the game's parlance - will prompt time travellers living or passing through the surrounding era to come and stop you doing it. And because they're time travellers, they can go right back to before you make the decision to kill your grandfather and stop you doing it, which usually involves putting you in a paradox sufficient to literally wipe you out and remove you from the timestream. The course has been set in that the causality has to make sense: events cannot be changed in such a way that any sentient being can remember the sequence of events being different. That sort of paradox is what prompts the 'immune response' of the time travelling society to go and find out what was changed and repair the breach. There are certain sections of history - especially those around prominent historical figures - where there is a constant struggle to keep the timeline intact.

From who? In short, the game's antagonists: narcissists, people who are time travellers and who are out to try and change the timeline so much that nobody can work out where the alteration was made. (The second book of the RPG, which was never released, makes an equally strong argument from the point of view of the narcissists: that it's the society which is wrong and is tyrannically trying to hold the timeline in place for its own selfish reasons, while narcissists are trying to change the timeline for the better. Just as the Continuum believes only one timeline is possible, narcissists believe that there's any number of timelines possible, and they're out to bring one or more of them about.)

This also explains why the time traveller society exists in most frames of human history but is hidden: because the biggest breach in causality would be where people learn time travel exists or is possible before it's actually discovered. Hence there's just as much obligation on a time traveller to leave no trace of their travels, for fear of 'fragging' themselves or their fellow time travelling colleagues.

Because you're a time traveller, you're likely to run into phenomenon or information that suggests you haven't done something - quite literally - yet, but that you will. So that forms part of a literal bucket list, a list of things that you know you have to do at some point further on in your life. This list is what the game parlance calls your 'Yet'. The list of events that you have already done since you became a time traveller is in game parlance called your 'Age', and it's very important that you don't cause a conflict between something that you know has happened (your 'Age') and your current life. It's possible to encounter your past or future selves, and you have to be careful how you handle those encounters.

Even if you don't run a RPG on it, read it if you can, it's one of the most immersive goes at making time travel work in a science fiction setting. At least read it, it's awesome.

[ShadowImmor]

I am not putting up my hand to play or run it, but I'm a fellow lover of Continuum's setting so I'll gush about it a bit:

Basically, Continuum is a time travel RPG with brains.

Continuum assumes that all the theories about time machines, splitting timelines, alternate universes, are all bunk and lies. There is only one timeline, the causality of which has to be maintained for fear of destroying the universe. And there is an entire society of time travellers, hiding up and down history, who are expected to protect the timeline. Time travellers can shift time and space just through inherent genetic abilities simple as breathing, think of that old Hayden Christensen movie Jumper except through space as well as time.

The Grandfather Paradox never happens, because the moment you decide to kill your grandfather to see what happens, the resulting damage to reality - "frag" in the game's parlance - will prompt time travellers living or passing through the surrounding era to come and stop you doing it. And because they're time travellers, they can go right back to before you make the decision to kill your grandfather and stop you doing it, which usually involves putting you in a paradox sufficient to literally wipe you out and remove you from the timestream. The course has been set in that the causality has to make sense: events cannot be changed in such a way that any sentient being can remember the sequence of events being different. That sort of paradox is what prompts the 'immune response' of the time travelling society to go and find out what was changed and repair the breach. There are certain sections of history - especially those around prominent historical figures - where there is a constant struggle to keep the timeline intact.

From who? In short, the game's antagonists: narcissists, people who are time travellers and who are out to try and change the timeline so much that nobody can work out where the alteration was made. (The second book of the RPG, which was never released, makes an equally strong argument from the point of view of the narcissists: that it's the society which is wrong and is tyrannically trying to hold the timeline in place for its own selfish reasons, while narcissists are trying to change the timeline for the better. Just as the Continuum believes only one timeline is possible, narcissists believe that there's any number of timelines possible, and they're out to bring one or more of them about.)

This also explains why the time traveller society exists in most frames of human history but is hidden: because the biggest breach in causality would be where people learn time travel exists or is possible before it's actually discovered. Hence there's just as much obligation on a time traveller to leave no trace of their travels, for fear of 'fragging' themselves or their fellow time travelling colleagues.

Because you're a time traveller, you're likely to run into phenomenon or information that suggests you haven't done something - quite literally - yet, but that you will. So that forms part of a literal bucket list, a list of things that you know you have to do at some point further on in your life. This list is what the game parlance calls your 'Yet'. The list of events that you have already done since you became a time traveller is in game parlance called your 'Age', and it's very important that you don't cause a conflict between something that you know has happened (your 'Age') and your current life. It's possible to encounter your past or future selves, and you have to be careful how you handle those encounters.

Even if you don't run a RPG on it, read it if you can, it's one of the most immersive goes at making time travel work in a science fiction setting. At least read it, it's awesome.

This is a very good explanation, and why I really want to play it 🤣

[Aleph Null]

I am not putting up my hand to play or run it, but I'm a fellow lover of Continuum's setting so I'll gush about it a bit:

Basically, Continuum is a time travel RPG with brains.

Continuum assumes that all the theories about time machines, splitting timelines, alternate universes, are all bunk and lies. There is only one timeline, the causality of which has to be maintained for fear of destroying the universe. And there is an entire society of time travellers, hiding up and down history, who are expected to protect the timeline. Time travellers can shift time and space just through inherent genetic abilities simple as breathing, think of that old Hayden Christensen movie Jumper except through space as well as time.

The Grandfather Paradox never happens, because the moment you decide to kill your grandfather to see what happens, the resulting damage to reality - "frag" in the game's parlance - will prompt time travellers living or passing through the surrounding era to come and stop you doing it. And because they're time travellers, they can go right back to before you make the decision to kill your grandfather and stop you doing it, which usually involves putting you in a paradox sufficient to literally wipe you out and remove you from the timestream. The course has been set in that the causality has to make sense: events cannot be changed in such a way that any sentient being can remember the sequence of events being different. That sort of paradox is what prompts the 'immune response' of the time travelling society to go and find out what was changed and repair the breach. There are certain sections of history - especially those around prominent historical figures - where there is a constant struggle to keep the timeline intact.

From who? In short, the game's antagonists: narcissists, people who are time travellers and who are out to try and change the timeline so much that nobody can work out where the alteration was made. (The second book of the RPG, which was never released, makes an equally strong argument from the point of view of the narcissists: that it's the society which is wrong and is tyrannically trying to hold the timeline in place for its own selfish reasons, while narcissists are trying to change the timeline for the better. Just as the Continuum believes only one timeline is possible, narcissists believe that there's any number of timelines possible, and they're out to bring one or more of them about.)

This also explains why the time traveller society exists in most frames of human history but is hidden: because the biggest breach in causality would be where people learn time travel exists or is possible before it's actually discovered. Hence there's just as much obligation on a time traveller to leave no trace of their travels, for fear of 'fragging' themselves or their fellow time travelling colleagues.

Because you're a time traveller, you're likely to run into phenomenon or information that suggests you haven't done something - quite literally - yet, but that you will. So that forms part of a literal bucket list, a list of things that you know you have to do at some point further on in your life. This list is what the game parlance calls your 'Yet'. The list of events that you have already done since you became a time traveller is in game parlance called your 'Age', and it's very important that you don't cause a conflict between something that you know has happened (your 'Age') and your current life. It's possible to encounter your past or future selves, and you have to be careful how you handle those encounters.

Even if you don't run a RPG on it, read it if you can, it's one of the most immersive goes at making time travel work in a science fiction setting. At least read it, it's awesome.

...that sounds like the "good kind of confusing" so yea uh
wow
XD

[Eldan]

I have read about Continuum, and it has always sounded very cool, but I've never looked at the actual books.

[Albinobrow]

Oh, I didn't think this thread was for organising one single game, just people mentioning a few systems they'd like to play at some point and seeing if anyone else is interested.

I think it's a little of both. Seeing what other games people out there like and the possibility of getting 1 or more going. That's my understanding at least.

[Dusk Raven]

I think it's a little of both. Seeing what other games people out there like and the possibility of getting 1 or more going. That's my understanding at least.

That was certainly the intention when I made this thread, though I have little control over the direction of it.

[Albinobrow]

Why don't we get a list or something together showing what's been offered and check interest. Also checking preference for PBP vs specific time play sessions.

I can't this second cause I'm on my phone And on the road. But I can later if y'all would like.

[Kvard51]

Well, if we get a few more people together, I'm willing to try running it. Even though it's probably not a very PbP-compatible system.

Which one?

[tonberrian]

I'm interested in Traveller (Mongoose 2e in particular) and Trinity Continuum: Aberrant - not the first Aberrant, the new one from Onyx Path.

[Eldan]

Which one?

Spire, specifically, since that was the one Lacco said sounded cool.

[Dusk Raven]

Why don't we get a list or something together showing what's been offered and check interest. Also checking preference for PBP vs specific time play sessions.

I can't this second cause I'm on my phone And on the road. But I can later if y'all would like.

I procrastinated on this a bit, but here we go, in alphabetical order:

Advanced Fighting Fantasy
Anima: Beyond Fantasy
Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet!
Deadlands
God Hunters
Golden Sky Stories
Kamigakari
Masks
Orpheus
Paranoia
Polymorph
Riddle of Steel
Spire
Stars Without Number
SWADE
Symbaroum
They Came from Beyond the Grave! & spin-off They Came from Camp Murder Lake!
Zweihander

...And everything mentioned in this (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25942337&postcount=16) post.

Of those, I've seen the most interest in Masks (myself among them), Spire, and Continuum. I'm also a bit interested in Anima - I've seen a couple games spring up, but they never actually got started. Alas. That being said, I'm more interested in Masks, possibly running it too, though I haven't really gotten feedback on that idea of mine... but perhaps feedback on that should be reserved for a thread of its own. I'm still giving it time to make sure the concept I have isn't just a flight of fancy, though.

[Albinobrow]

Across a Thousand Dead Worlds
Advanced Fighting Fantasy
Anima: Beyond Fantasy
Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet!
Cypher System
Deadlands
Dominion
Fleshscape
Forgotten ballad
Four Color System Core Rules (Superheroes)
God Hunters
Golden Sky Stories
Ironsworn
Kamigakari
Lancer
Masks
Maze Rats
Orpheus
Paranoia
Perilous Worlds
Polymorph
Riddle of Steel
Spire
Stars Without Number
SWADE
Symbaroum
They Came from Beyond the Grave! & spin-off They Came from Camp Murder Lake!
Wushu
Zweihander

I went ahead and updated with those other ones, as that post was mine.

I love a good supers game so I am down for Masks. Though I'm not in a position to run a game myself right now. (Got some things scheming away in the ol noggin)
I would be happy to assist however I can. Not sure how well an oracle/emulator could work with Masks, but it's been great for my solo superhero game in Cypher System!

[Dusk Raven]

Yeah, I kinda just didn't feel like typing all those out, or copy-pasting them.


I love a good supers game so I am down for Masks. Though I'm not in a position to run a game myself right now. (Got some things scheming away in the ol noggin)
I would be happy to assist however I can. Not sure how well an oracle/emulator could work with Masks, but it's been great for my solo superhero game in Cypher System!

That depends on what you mean by oracle/emulator. My particular take is going to be a bit more... eldritch than most.

Though Masks is very much about fluff and "the fiction" more than actual mechanics, so it may well work fine.

[Eldan]

Not interested in superheroes at all, so I'd be out on those. I'd be interested in almost anything else, but 90% of that list, I haven't read.

[Lacco]

All right. Went and scoured the posts. I split the columns between GMs that stated commitment/willingness to run the actual game and players (paople who stated they would play the game). The latter also contains the 'noncommital' statements ('I always wanted to play') where it's not completely clear the person is offering to run:



Game
Commited GM
Available Players


7th Sea (1st Ed)




Across a Thousand Dead Worlds

Albinobrow


Advanced Fighting Fantasy

RossN


Anima: Beyond Fantasy

Shiro_Nogard
Dusk Raven


Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet!

ShadowImmor


Cypher System

Albinobrow


Deadlands

Feathersnow
Cygnia


Dominion

Albinobrow


Fleshscape

Albinobrow


Forgotten ballad

Albinobrow


Four Color System Core Rules




God Hunters




Golden Sky Stories
Alhallor



HERO (6E)




Ironsworn




Kamigakari

Shiro_Nogard


Lancer




Masks
Dusk Raven
truemane
josienoms
Dusk Raven
Albinobrow


Maze Rats




Mutants in the Now
truemane



Nice Marines




Orpheus
Alhallor



Paranoia

Alhallor


Perilous Worlds




Polymorph (9th Level Games)
truemane



Riddle of Steel
Lacco



Spire
Eldan
Lacco


Stars Without Number

ProgressPaladin
Albinobrow


SWADE




Symbaroum

Alhallor


They Came from Beyond the Grave!

RocknRollFTW


They Came from Camp Murder Lake!

RocknRollFTW


Traveller (M2e)

tonberrian


Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

tonberrian


Wildsea RPG
truemane



Zweihander

paradox26
Albinobrow



Sorry if I missed anyone.

[Hemnon]

Anyone else in a situation where there's some RPG system you like... but it's a rather obscure one, so unless you're down to DM a game of it yourself, you're pretty much at the mercy of fate, waiting for someone to make a game of it? I'm in that situation with a couple RPGs, and... I'm not quite sure what to do about that. Except, perhaps, mention what I'm looking for, and then see if anyone else has obscure systems they want to see games of, and then see if something mutual can be arranged!

Anyway. The main one I'm hoping for at the moment is called Masks: A New Generation, or simply Masks. It's... I'm not really sure how to describe it, in spite of or perhaps because of it's simplicity. It's very light on mechanics, and the fluff is highly flexible, and quite a lot goes so long as it fits the open-ended crunch. But the focus is not on the crunch, it's on the characters, their relationships with others, and their relationship with who they are and who they want to be. And, since it's based on shows like Teen Titans, the teenaged PCs have a lot going on.

I got introduced to Masks by a thread on this forum, but I didn't join since I was, at the time, totally unfamiliar with the system. A shame, since it's actually quite simple. Even more of a shame though is the fact that that game became one of those threads that just ends for no apparent reason. And ever since then, I have waited for another thread, even considered making my own - but I'd like to be a player as much as I want to GM it.

So, anyone else got a rare system they're wanting to play, if only someone would make a game for it?

Oh I got PLENTY that I find absolutely facinating yet barely anyone here's heard of - Coriolis, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000ad, Mutant: Year Zero (and all the spin-offs for it), Star Trek, Terminator RPG, Vaesen, Warbirds, etc.

I find it very, well, not annoying cuz that'd be the wrong word for it... it's just a let-down to mostly just see those 'another Dungeon and Dragons game' threads popping up. I was even hoping for some Rogue Trader to pop up against here after christmas cuz of the videogame's release putting people back into the mood for it. But alas no.

So yeah, I totally get what you mean.

[Rokku]

Definitely add my name to Aberrant, or really any Trinity Continuum game. Or most of the Storypath games, Scion especially.

[Aleph Null]

I've played SwN before and it can be pretty fun --but only if options like True AI and alien characters are on the table (I won't play a human character, regardless of the system).
I...will have to do some searching because this list is extremely long and many of these games I don't actually know of.

[Lacco]

Spire, specifically, since that was the one Lacco said sounded cool.

And I went and bought the rulebook, going to read it over during the weekend. Even if we don't end up playing, I was already interested in it.

Table update:



Game
AvailableGM
Available Players


7th Sea (1st Ed)




Across a Thousand Dead Worlds

Albinobrow


Advanced Fighting Fantasy

RossN


Anima: Beyond Fantasy

Shiro_Nogard
Dusk Raven


Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet!

ShadowImmor


Cypher System

Albinobrow


Deadlands

Feathersnow
Cygnia


Dominion

Albinobrow


Fleshscape

Albinobrow


Forgotten ballad

Albinobrow


Four Color System Core Rules




God Hunters




Golden Sky Stories
Alhallor



HERO (6E)




Ironsworn




Kamigakari

Shiro_Nogard


Lancer




Masks
Dusk Raven
truemane
josienoms
Dusk Raven
Albinobrow


Maze Rats




Mutants in the Now
truemane



Nice Marines




Orpheus
Alhallor



Paranoia

Alhallor


Perilous Worlds




Polymorph (9th Level Games)
truemane



Riddle of Steel
Lacco



Spire
Eldan
Lacco


Stars Without Number

ProgressPaladin
Albinobrow


SWADE




Symbaroum

Alhallor


They Came from Beyond the Grave!

RocknRollFTW


They Came from Camp Murder Lake!

RocknRollFTW


Traveller (M2e)

tonberrian


Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

tonberrian, Rokku


Wildsea RPG
truemane



Zweihander

paradox26
Albinobrow



Sorry if I missed anyone.[/QUOTE]


Definitely add my name to Aberrant, or really any Trinity Continuum game. Or most of the Storypath games, Scion especially.

Added to Trinity Continuum. No idea which ones are Storypath games. Feel free to copy & edit the table.



Just to drum up the Riddle of Steel I'm offering: I'm willing to run a solo learning game, or anywhere up to 4 players. I'm pretty good at teaching the game, so it's really beginner friendly. Short adventure and then you'll know if you want to continue.

[Eldan]

The good thing is, the Spire core book is like... 5 pages of basic rules, 2 pages of equipment, 30 or so pages of classes and then 200 pages of setting, which you don't really need to read all of. The base game really is very simple.

[bramblefoot]

pokes head in

my dm siren triggered! i have some savage worlds experience, and i have a bunch of the classic deadlands stuff

whats everybodies poison when it comes to swade or classic deadlands

[Eldan]

And I went and bought the rulebook, going to read it over during the weekend. Even if we don't end up playing, I was already interested in it.

Table update:


Gimme a shout once you have a look and decide whether you like it. I may have another player from an earlier attempt, so I could put up a recruitment thread and see if we find a third, that should be enough to make an attempt. Keeping in mind that I'm not sure the game will work well in PbP.

[Lacco]

Gimme a shout once you have a look and decide whether you like it. I may have another player from an earlier attempt, so I could put up a recruitment thread and see if we find a third, that should be enough to make an attempt. Keeping in mind that I'm not sure the game will work well in PbP.

Skimmed through the rules chapter, quickly checked the setting. This is the closest an RPG can get to Fallen London-style discovery/exploration with the bad end (which I am a big fan of; twice a Seeker). Count me in.

I don't know how it will work in PbP, but if you decide to run it, I'm very intrigued by the concept of a Vermissian Sage.

[Eldan]

Who isn't. They are an awesome class. By the way, did you get the classic version of the core book, or the 5th anniversary edition? The later just came out recently, and includes two more base classes and some other extra material (demon summoning, for example).

(I never finished Seeker. I'm too much a coward.)

[Cygnia]

pokes head in

my dm siren triggered! i have some savage worlds experience, and i have a bunch of the classic deadlands stuff

whats everybodies poison when it comes to swade or classic deadlands

Loooooooooooove classic Deadlands (and Deadlands Noir)

[Aleph Null]

pokes head in

my dm siren triggered! i have some savage worlds experience, and i have a bunch of the classic deadlands stuff

whats everybodies poison when it comes to swade or classic deadlands

I'm super hoping to get a dawn of the daikaiju game running...it seems incredibly fun and neat

[Feathersnow]

Very much down for classic Deadlands, SWADE is fun, too

[Albinobrow]

pokes head in

my dm siren triggered! i have some savage worlds experience, and i have a bunch of the classic deadlands stuff

whats everybodies poison when it comes to swade or classic deadlands

I've not played Deadlands, classic or otherwise. But I really like the look of SWADE even if I haven't played yet. Still interested either way!

[RocknRollFTW]

pokes head in

my dm siren triggered! i have some savage worlds experience, and i have a bunch of the classic deadlands stuff

whats everybodies poison when it comes to swade or classic deadlandsI have a deadlands classic character I made for a previous game that I'd love to play. So Deadlands is my personal pick, although I'm interested in trying out some SWADE as well.

[bramblefoot]

alright, im gonna go swade, as i know it better. im a proud member of the no-prep dm club, so feel free to create with me, and we'll all get along

swade deadlands: dead mans hand (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?663917-SWADE-Deadlands-Dead-Mans-Hand&p=25949252#post25949252)

[Lacco]

Who isn't. They are an awesome class. By the way, did you get the classic version of the core book, or the 5th anniversary edition? The later just came out recently, and includes two more base classes and some other extra material (demon summoning, for example).

(I never finished Seeker. I'm too much a coward.)

It's the 5th anniversary edition: it was handily available on drivethru, so I bought it immediately. Can't get a printed one anywhere close.

Yup. It seems exactly in line with my favourite style of play: looking for secrets and lore. I have no idea how it will run, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

(I destroyed two characters to finish Seeking; I may return to London later just to once again delve deeper into the lore)

[Aleph Null]

I'd be interested in SWADE but not in deadlands because I don't play human characters.

...still hoping for that kaiju game. kekw

[Kvard51]

What I know of Spire intrigues me. I’ll grab the book tonight and be your third.

I’d also love to play Symbaroum.

[Eldan]

Nice. I'll give everyone some time to look at the book and then make a recruitment thread in a week or two.

[Dusk Raven]

I'll try and get a thread for Masks up, soon. We'll see if anyone takes me up on my concept. If not, perhaps Truemane or someone else will run a game. Or perhaps they'll do it anyway!

[Captain Cap]

@Eldan, are there many big differences between the original Spire and the 5th anniversary edition?

[Eldan]

It includes some additional content that was originally published separately in softcover booklets. First, the Black Magic supplement, which has a new base class (Blood Witch), and extra rules for Demonology (very destructive magic) and two extra advances (kinda like prestige classes in D&D 3.5?) called Grangou (magic based on cooking food) and Deep Apiarist (magic based on making a pact with an otherworldly swarm of bees, which live inside your body). Second, the adventure Blood and Dust. Total, about 20 pages of new content. They also did some cleaner layouting of tables and so on, including, I think, possibly some editing passes? The text mostly seems the same. And there's some extra artwork, some fancier title pages and page borders etc.

[truemane]

I'll try and get a thread for Masks up, soon. We'll see if anyone takes me up on my concept. If not, perhaps Truemane or someone else will run a game. Or perhaps they'll do it anyway!

You called it. I will indeed offer to run a game of Masks. That way you get your play experience, regardless of whether or not you get your own game together.

I don't usually run PtbA games without a specific scenario in mind, so expect some pre-game workshopping to tease out some common themes and motifs from the characters we can use to inform the setting and the story.

Two important things to consider: I'll be planning to run this as a "Limited Series" with some kind of defined arc. I won't know what the arc is until we get into characters, but think something like one summer, or a semester at school, or handling a singular event, or similar.
I recently had to take a step away from online roleplaying due to some personal events and my posting rate might still be a little wonky. I'll be trying to keep a schedule, and I'll keep everyone informed, but I may need a little patience here and there.
If DuskRaven, josienoms, and Albinobrow are still interested, they are all invited.

If anyone else is interested, claim a spot in the OOC. I'll take up to two more (five players, total).

Here's the OOC (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?663967-OOC-Unnamed-Masks-Game).

[Rokku]

So here's a few rare game systems I'd love to play: Henshin! A Sentai RPG (https://www.caveofmonstersgames.com/games/henshin) and its sister game, Rider Konchu (https://www.caveofmonstersgames.com/games/rider-konchu). I'm a big tokusatsu fan and these games inspired by two of the genre's biggest franchises have always tantalized me but I've never had the chance.

[truemane]

One that I would really love to play is the Root RPG. I want to play it so badly I'm tempted to just run a game myself.

[Kvard51]

I finally remembered I'd love to play Midnight.

[farothel]

I'm a big fan of Alternity, both Stardrive and DarkMatter. I've once GM'ed a game of DarkMatter here, but it died out unfortunately. I would love to play a game again, or even GM one.
I also like L5R. We're currently restarting our offline tabletop campaign, but some extra online stuff I wouldn't mind at all (we play 4th edition).
I've never played 7th sea beyond a demo once, but I have just about all the books.

[Eldan]

A thread is up for all our a-spire-ing ministers:

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?664077-Spire-An-Unknown-Game&p=25952909#post25952909

[PoeticallyPsyco]

I'd be interested in SWADE but not in deadlands because I don't play human characters.

Does the no-humans rule include zombies, vampires, and werewolves? Deadlands Classic has rules for playing as all three; the zombie rules are even core.

But yeah, I'd love a game of Deadlands Classic. I picked up all the sourcebooks in a bundle a few years back, but have only GMed it so far; I've got some character concepts I'm itching to try out.

I also might be interested in Masks; I'll have to check out those threads.

I used to love making characters and monsters for HERO 6E. One thing I've always wanted to try was using the Weaver's Dice (a game based on the webserial Worm) to create the characters, then model and play them in HERO, since Weaver's Dice has a very unique character creation mechanic but the mechanics for actual play were never finished as far as I know.

Last but not certainly least, Gubat Banwa is a fascinating game primarily inspired by Philippines' mythology, but also drawing influence from the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons, D&D 4E, and Powered By The Apocalypse, among other things.

[Aleph Null]

Does the no-humans rule include zombies, vampires, and werewolves? Deadlands Classic has rules for playing as all three; the zombie rules are even core.

But yeah, I'd love a game of Deadlands Classic. I picked up all the sourcebooks in a bundle a few years back, but have only GMed it so far; I've got some character concepts I'm itching to try out.

I also might be interested in Masks; I'll have to check out those threads.

I used to love making characters and monsters for HERO 6E. One thing I've always wanted to try was using the Weaver's Dice (a game based on the webserial Worm) to create the characters, then model and play them in HERO, since Weaver's Dice has a very unique character creation mechanic but the mechanics for actual play were never finished as far as I know.

Last but not certainly least, Gubat Banwa is a fascinating game primarily inspired by Philippines' mythology, but also drawing influence from the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons, D&D 4E, and Powered By The Apocalypse, among other things.

No, it doesn't. I'll even play half-human-half-(dragon/angel/demon) characters in some sorts of games. But I had thought Deadlands was a humans-only setting since the zombies and such were villains (I thought), and in any case the person running deadlands put in the 16 that it was humans only. Now that I know that isn't just a setting/system thing, my opinion of that individual has soured significantly, since I am of the opinion that "humans only" is an unforgivable rule if humans aren't the only possible species for a character in a setting.

[truemane]

Metamagic Mod: if discussing games based on real-world mythology, take care to restrict comments on the mythology to the fictional world. Also, if you feel the need to make unfavourable comments about other games, take care to restrict those comments to the games and not the people running them.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

No, it doesn't. I'll even play half-human-half-(dragon/angel/demon) characters in some sorts of games. But I had thought Deadlands was a humans-only setting since the zombies and such were villains (I thought), and in any case the person running deadlands put in the 16 that it was humans only. Now that I know that isn't just a setting/system thing, my opinion of that individual has soured significantly, since I am of the opinion that "humans only" is an unforgivable rule if humans aren't the only possible species for a character in a setting.

I think they're running the Savage Worlds version; I have no idea if that still has character options beyond human, or if they're well-balanced. In the Classic version of Deadlands, Harrowed (kinda zombies) are in the Players Guide, while the rules for playing as a werewolf or vampire are tucked away in... Rascals, Varmints & Critters 2. All three require explicit GM permission to begin play as, but anyone could get afflicted with one of them during play.

And you're not entirely wrong about these creatures being villains; Deadlands is a horror setting, so playing as one means that something other is sharing your body and soul, and involves making checks to stay in control of your character. Power always has a price in this game.

That's all I remember off the top of my head.

Damn, now I really want to play Deadlands. If nobody else wants to be Marshal (GM), I might have to step up for a dime novel or two.

[Aleph Null]

I think they're running the Savage Worlds version; I have no idea if that still has character options beyond human, or if they're well-balanced. In the Classic version of Deadlands, Harrowed (kinda zombies) are in the Players Guide, while the rules for playing as a werewolf or vampire are tucked away in... Rascals, Varmints & Critters 2. All three require explicit GM permission to begin play as, but anyone could get afflicted with one of them during play.

And you're not entirely wrong about these creatures being villains; Deadlands is a horror setting, so playing as one means that something other is sharing your body and soul, and involves making checks to stay in control of your character. Power always has a price in this game.

That's all I remember off the top of my head.

Damn, now I really want to play Deadlands. If nobody else wants to be Marshal (GM), I might have to step up for a dime novel or two.

Oh, I see.
Well, incidentally, I'm also not a fan of horror, since...well, I don't like the aesthetic, I guess?
Anyway, suffice to say that I'd be in for most sorts of SW games, but not a deadlands one.