I've been thinking about what actually frustrates me when a GM railroads an adventure, and I think it has little to do with player agency.

I've played adventures with extremely restrictive premises and thoroughly enjoyed them. I don't mind starting a scenario already aboard a ship heading somewhere dangerous. I don't even particularly mind a GM saying, "Sorry, you can't kill this NPC. He's essential to the rest of the campaign, so he gets to survive." It's mildly disappointing, but mostly because it breaks immersion. But I can live with it.

On the other hand, two experiences have stayed with me for years.

In one, we were trying to stop some cultists from reaching a ritual site. I knew they would have to pass through a gate on their own property, so I closed it, secured it with concealed ropes, and prepared an ambush. My plan was simply to force them to stop and get out of their car then do a Godfather on them.

Instead, they drove straight through their own gate at full speed.

I wasn't particularly attached to my plan. I didn't care whether the confrontation happened at the gate or during the ritual. I certainly didn't need to win. But why on earth would someone ram their own gate, at night, with no reason to suspect an ambush? As it turns out, there was no plausible pretext. The GM simply wanted the confrontation to happened as he had planned it.

In another game, I created an idealistic young man searching for the love of his life. During our first session, he approached some young women traveling with our caravan. The GM immediately introduced a beautiful, kind, funny woman who fell madly in love with him in seconds. Problem solved. Back to the adventure.

The two situations are almost opposites. In one, the GM defeated my plan. In the other, he immediately fulfilled my character's desire. Yet both felt equally artificial.

I think what bothered me was that the NPCs weren't behaving like people inhabiting a fictional world. They were behaving like instruments for protecting the GM's intended plot.

And that raises a question about the concept of player agency.

I don't necessarily need to determine the course of the story. I don't need my character to succeed. I can enjoy discovering that certain things are impossible within the fiction. I even like replaying a scenario or adventure I played before, knowing how the plot will go, as long as I get to react in character to what is happening.

But I need to trust that the world will respond to my character's actions according to its own circumstances, rather than constantly adjusting itself to keep the adventure on track.

I would call this fictional world integrity, and I suspect I find it a more fundamental concern than player agency.

What do you think? Have you ever enjoyed a highly restrictive adventure, or found a seemingly open-ended one frustrating because the world kept bending around the GM's plans?

This question is mostly focused at folks who migrated off of DnD into another fantasy system. I only anchor that point as DnD (traditionally) set a very rigid leveling system…EXP charts.

Over time if seems to me that many systems now lean more Milestone centric and I’ve migrated to that method as well since I left DnD.

My question is what does your group feel is the “sweet spot” for leveling? Whether you measure that by encounters (social/puzzle/combat/etc), hours of play, sessions of play, or something else. 

And I appreciate that each game system and each group of people have their own goals and visions, just polling the community on what you guys do.

Right now my group levels up about every session for Level 1->2 and 2->3. About every 1.5 sessions to around 6. Then continue to slowly stretch that out until it’s about every 3 sessions by the mid teens. We only get to play 1-2 times a month and occasionally get a marathon session. Under this timing we can do a moderately sized campaign to the early teens in about 2 years. That feels about the right timing to make new characters, swap GMs, and move on to a new campaign/world.

Thanks for sharing.

In D&D, most people use milestone leveling. To me, it's awful: it's not real progression, you level up only because the DM decides it's time for you to level up. It doesn't depend on what you did or what you didn't do; you could be the most useless most passive player at the table and still have as much XP as the character who leads every dialogue, comes up with the most creative solutions, and manages to always drive the story in an interesting direction. I think XP progression is a better concept, even though in D&D's particular case it still kind of sucks because you can only gain XP through combat but whatever, that's fine, it's a combat game.

World of Darkness has the GM assign XP to each player at the end of a session based on a few criteria (good roleplay, important choices and actions) which i would absolutely classify as arbitrary because how many XP you get depends ultimately on how nice the GM is to you

Chronicles of Darkness is already better in this regard, as it introduces a beat system, where the players set up a few objectives they want to achieve during the session before the sessions start and they gain a "beat" for each objective they manage to achieve. Simple as that. 5 beats make 1 XP. This system kind of falls apart with players who try to be smartasses to cheat the system and choose easy or menial aspirations to get easy XP.

Then we have Call of Chtulhu; i didn't play it much, only a couple one shots, but i absolutely LOVE that you can only progress in an ability depending on how much you roll with it. It's just an amazing concept. It doesn't depend on how many XP the GM decides to hand you, but on what you actually do in game.

See what i mean? i want a character-driven game that has a progression similar to COC. You get better at something depending on how much you do it, not how much you "spend" on it. A character wants to get better at fighting with a greatsword? well, pick one up and start beating stuff with it. you may suck at first, but you'll get better. THAT'S how progression has to be for me. Also i don't want a game focused on combat, i've had enough of those. i need something that relies on the social aspect, like World of Darkness.

Any suggestions for game that fit this criteria?

Olá, sou novo no Reddit mas é que estou procurando o fandom de rpg em geral para saber sobre algo

Estou Traduzindo e juntando grande parte do conteúdo do Marvel Multiverse (Poderes, armaduras, armas e itens narrativos tudo em um livro geral e traduzido para pt-Br)

Queria saber se existe algum fandom em específico para que possa ver e me corrigir caso tenha algum erro

Não tenho nenhuma intenção de gerar monetização em cima só quero realmente jogar o jogo e unir o fandom BR

Hey,

i've tried to figure it out myself, but I failed. I'd be very thankful for some opinions.
I have never played Deadlands but I need to run a 4-5 hour game for some friends in a few month and thought Deadlands might be fun.

1. This is a one time thing. I don't want to spend 10 hours reading rules. My players won't. Which version should I play? I assume, the newest?

2. I looked up some one shots and "Guess Who's Coming to Donner?" looked fun. But I think it is written only for Deadlands Reloaded. I assume thats not compatible with Deadlands: Weird West (2026).

3. Any opinion what system + oneshot would work well? Should I just not play Deadlands an look for something more rules-light?

Thank you:)

So from the beginning. After my friends made characters in Warhammer fantasy. One of them handed me in the story how the wizadr elf destroyed his village so he wants to kill him. So I came up with brilliant idea.

I called other friend that rolled a wizard and i asked him "do you wanna betray your party? "

After I explained my idea that we would be the one that destroyed the village and adding simple Tzeentch cult. I promised that at the end of campaign he will turned against the party and will be the final boss.

He agreed 😁.

I'm not sure if we will come that far but I love my idea.

Do you have some similar situations or any other brilliant and orginal ideas? Share in the comment I'd love to read some stories and maybe I would be inspired. 🥰

We are thinking of running a DM Workshop to explain the basic concept and ideas of making and running a D&D game; encourage new DMs to start their own adventures.

What do you think are some good areas or topics to cover?

And is there 1 or 2 BIG questions or worries that stop people from DMing for their first time?

We appreciate all thoughts and ideas!

Hey all, I am for all intents and purposes a total newbie, and have been drafted by my family into GMing RPGs. Exciting? Maybe, trying to learn a lot quickly in preparation.

My personal preference is higher-lethality/higher-consequences systems, but I am looking for some concrete examples of GMs killing off PCs and dealing with the consequences (roll a new character? OK, but how is she integrated into the game in progress? how do you handle the psychology at the table?).

I've looked, but haven't found an actual play podcast where the GM actually lets a PC die. Not in countless Mörk Borg APs, not in Cairn APs. Can anyone provide some tips, or some links, to study materials?

I know about Hollows and I really like what they are cooking with it as far as what a tabletop soulslike could be. But I’m interested to hear if there are games where money, leveling experience etc is tied to the same value or currency.

I have an obsession with playing classes that allow me to be a puppetmaster manipulating lil dudes for all sorts of things! From combat to puppet shows. I was inspired by anime like Karakuri Circus, Naruto, and Puppet Princess. Could anyone reccomend some games that have classes that would allow me to play out my fantasy? Please and thanks

Before anyone immediately comments "have an adult conversation with your group" or "this should’ve been handled in Session 0", please hear me out. I’m not angry at them. They’re my closest friends. I just feel deeply, quietly pathetic.

I’ve been running our campaign for about seven months. Last week, I had what I thought was an inspired idea for their investigation in the capital. I spent my entire Sunday afternoon writing three separate in-world letters, printing them in calligraphy, staining them with black tea, and even sealing them with actual red wax. I felt so proud of it.

Fast forward to tonight. They finally breach the magistrate’s study where the letters were. I set the real wax-sealed props in front of them with a grin, expecting some gasp of excitement. The barbarian player glanced at them, didn't even break the seal, and went, "Can I just roll an Investigation check to see if the desk is expensive? I want to chop it up." Everyone laughed, the wizard cast Fire Bolt to distract the guards outside, and they moved on.

They didnt even pick the props up. I just quietly slipped them back into my folder while they spent 45 minutes debating whether to adopt a stray goat. I know it’s just a hobby with plastic dice, but man... do I just have completely unrealistic expectations, or is running a game always just an exercise in emotional masochism?

So they just announced a feature film based on iHunt. I am excited based on who they've got working on it. Dunno if this is allowed, but thought I would get other people's thoughts.

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/ihunt-killing-monsters-in-the-gig-economy-movie-1236930441/

Hi! I just released my new game titled SQUIRE.

It's a dark, solo survival TTRPG. Think Star Wars Order 66 Survival meets Warhammer 40k. It's nearly 100 pages of gameplay, with unique character classes, unique villains to hunt you down, and optional journaling gameplay.

If you know the Carta SRD, you use a deck of cards to represent your fallen temple and do your best to make it through the wreckage, avoid (or overcome) attackers, and ultimately... escape! If you can.

Itch: https://bardlight.itch.io/squire

It's on sale for launch week to celebrate Halloween. I hope you check it out! You can use it to run a Star Wars adventure, if you want, or lean more 40k, or make a universe of your own somewhere in between - it's ultimately setting agnostic.

Okay so, I would say I am somewhat experienced with d100 systems. I have played CoC 6e and 7e, WFRP 2e and Mothership. I have read (not played) CoC 1e, WFRP 4e and Dark Heresy 2e.

My reasons for listing these is recently I was considering picking up more d100 systems but looking back at it I find that they are different but not better then the other systems I own (in my opinion), they offer a higher degree of granularity when it comes to results, so you can have systems with a higher degree of granularity.

I like CoC because its the first ttrpg I have ever played but I consider Mothership to be much more elegant and interesting mechanically speaking. WFRP and Dark Heresy really benefit from the setting, though WFRP has a cool thing going on with their occupations.

But like, what are the strengths of d100 games I am missing?

There was a thread a couple of days ago that asked for a comparison of Sword World, Fabula Ultima and Twilight Sword. But I think the more interesting comparison would be between Sword World and Last Arc Tactics Analogue.

FabU is structured very differently from SW (narrative focus and creating a world together) while Twilight Sword seems to closely emulate a Zelda universe. I think they fill different niches and won't compete too much with each other.

So the closest competitor to Sword World would be Last Arc Tactics Analogue, right? Both are trying to bring a more simulationist, flexible version of JRPGs to life, and both are currently running their campaigns for an English release.

What do you think? How similar or different are the two, and which one should people back?

I've been thinking about the difference between a villain and an antagonist in tabletop RPGs.

When the party encounters an evil necromancer raising an army of undead, the situation is pretty straightforward. The players might disagree about how to stop them, but generally everyone agrees they need to be stopped.

The characters I find more interesting are the ones who stand in the party's way for perfectly understandable reasons.

Imagine a city official refusing to open the gates during a plague, even though the party desperately needs to get inside. Or a village leader refusing to let adventurers investigate an ancient ruin because the last group that went there got half the village killed.

Neither person is necessarily corrupt, stupid or secretly working for the villain.

They're protecting something they genuinely believe is worth protecting.

And suddenly the players have a more complicated problem than figuring out which weapon does the most damage.

Of course, there's a fine line here. An NPC who refuses everything regardless of what the players say is just a frustrating roadblock. The interesting part is giving them understandable motives and allowing the players to change their mind, negotiate or find another solution.

I especially like when the party initially hates an NPC, then gradually realizes that they would probably make the same decision in that person's position.

So I'm curious about actual experiences from your tables.

What's the most memorable antagonist you've played against or run who wasn't really a villain?

And did the players eventually come to understand them, or did they end up fighting anyway?

It is one i remember seeing on itch.io and it looks incredibly fun. But i cant remember the name of it. Can you guys please help me find it?

Galera, podem dar uma moral seguindo o catarse, estamos na meta de 300 pessoas

Hello!

I have recently been thinking about building my own TTRPG system and was looking for inspiration from other ttrpg systems. I have a basic idea of how I want the system to run, but really want to look what other systems are currently out there with similar mechanics to gather a bit of inspiration.

I have been very interested in systems using cards for randomization as i believe such a system could lead to very engaging and strategic combat. Although I would like to use dice for resource tracking, although a pencil and eraser would do just as well. As such, I would like to look into systems and see how they have integrated cards into the mechanics of the game to figure out ways to stock my skill tree.

I am also very interested in using skill trees rather than classes, although a point buy system may also be a reasonable option for me. I want to learn how other designers have balanced the scaling of abilities in skill tree based systems. My specific idea is to have 2 separate skill trees, one relating to physical attributes and one relating to mental attributes, but I would place a little crossover between the 2, such as placing some physical abilities with a mental requirement or mental abilities with a physical requirement.

Thank you in advance for any of the systems you can point towards.

Kinda embarrassed to even type this out after running games for so long, but I need a reality check because I feel like a total fraud right now. I’ve been a forever DM for my group for about four years, almost exclusively running 5e and Pathfinder. Whenever the pacing dragged or I got mentally stuck, I’d just throw an ambush at them. Rolling initiative buys you an hour of game time where the system does teh heavy lifting for you.

Tonight we finally tried a Call of Cthulhu one-shot (The Haunting). No battlemaps, no tactical grid, just pure investigation and horror atmosphere. But about an hour in, my players tore through the library clues twice as fast as I planned, looked right at me, and asked "Where do we go next?" And my brain just completely flatlined.

I sat there in dead silence for two minutes, shuffling papers like an idiot. Without a monster stat block to drop onto a grid, I had zero clue how to maintain tension or improvise on the fly. I panicked so hard I basically fast-forwarded them to the basement and ended forty minutes early. has anyone else had this horrifying wake-up call when ditching combat, or am I just fundamentally bad at actual storytelling?

Me and my wife are fans of classic horror and slasher films, so for Halloween season we invited a couple of friends over to our house for a game of Shiver (https://www.parablegames.co.uk/pages/shiver), with myself as the Director (GM). I bought the Slasher starter set a year ago but only just got around to running a game with it. I have to say it has a lot of potential in its premise but I was very disappointed. I really did want to enjoy it but for a roleplaying game based on surviving a slasher film, the stakes were very low for the characters and combat was very boring when it did happen. The mechanics themselves did not seem to live up to the theme of the game. And running the included one-shot was difficult with errors in the text and on the character sheets, and very little room for improvising the story based on PCs actions and choices.

Has anyone else tried it? Was there anything you did to improve the game?

Granted I bought this some time ago and I know a Cryptid module has just been released so I do not know if there are any changes in the game to improve the aspects I found to be not enjoyable.

In future if I want to run a horror film themed game I will probably just homebrew something in Call of Cthulhu which is my go-to TTRPG.

11 years ago my crew and I sat down and used Dawn of Worlds to collaboratively make a campaign world. Then we played in it over three campaigns and over 100 sessions.

By making the world together including the species, cultures, factions, monsters, heroes of old, and more, everyone was invested.

People made characters with the species they created. They fell in love with each other’s monsters and wanted to fight them or harvest them. When I showed a monster, the creator would say, “Oh s%#*!” because they knew how tough they made it. And when one campaign ended and we advanced the world timeline by 40 years they knew intimately how to pick up the pieces.

Well, the world may have run its course. I can of course pick Dawn of Worlds up again. But I’m curious if people have other cooperative world/setting creation games you’d recommend.

I’m planning on running a reoccurring game at my local store, and wondering if anyone has suggestions for games that will be easy to pick up as a new player. Points for straightforward character creation; bonus points for setting flexibility.

So far, I’m definitely planning to run Monster of the Week, after that I’m considering Pico, FATE, Rapscallion, and Wildsea.

I slowly submit to the fact that I rather collect games/books than actually play them (due to a lack of mostly time and no friends who are into TTRPGs). So I was thinking whether it is time for me to order another book while I wait for the next KS to fulfil.
With Halloween at the horizon, the question is probably which horror-themed rpg I should buy - so the two mentioned ones are on my radar now.

The question:
1) which one would you recommend and why?
2) as I prefer rather rules heavy games or games with intricate systems, which one should I select and why?
3) is there a game which I should consider outside of the mentioned ones?