Absolute Essentials every self-respecting GM should have:
Personal Favorites:
Indie/obscure/underrated:
and WHY?
I'm all for a thread about roleplaying tips and tricks but what OP wrote is confusing. Care to rephrase?
>>43634298
I think he's talking about RPG systems.
At least, that's what the "Indie/obscure/underrated" would suggest.
>>43634326
I think he's talking about accessories and shit for DMing
>>43634298
>>43634326
>>43634357
Sorry, I copy pasted that portion from a thread I made ages ago without explaining better. I mean rpg systems. Tips and Tricks are also welcomed.
>>43634401
Oh, in that case:
>Essential tier
WH40K RPG, Traveler and 3.5/PF
>Bretty good tier
Shadowrun, 2e/5e, WoD, GURPS, AFMBE
>Things I run that I wish more people ran tier
Outbreak:Undead, Stars without Number
>>43634476
If I've never given a chance to any 40k content, could I still like the rpgs?
>>43634514
I think the RPG mechanics are average to mediocre. The real joy of playing Dark Heresy et al. is that you get to play in the setting.
>>43634514
Yeah, it's not mandatory, I listed it because the setting is really good, it teaches team building and being smart with actions and is a d100 system so it lays the groundwork for other d100 systems.
Can someone help me out? I'm gonna be a new GM for my first play through next week (5e DnD) and I would like to know what the best dice set is.
Should I just get the random assortment ones off amazon or are they not reliable?
>>43634401
Right then.
>Absolute Essentials every self-respecting GM should have:
A desire to keep running the game (rather than just flaking out on sessions or giving up early), to learn and to improve.
There aren't any essential game systems other than 'one that works for you and your group'. Different people like different things.
>Personal Favorites:
Odd that I don't have much to put here despite playing RPGs for so long. Anima: Beyond Fantasy can be pretty fun with a good group that's willing to houserule though.
>Indie/obscure/underrated:
Anima probably counts. And I'm sure the system I'm developing myself counts as obscure too.
>>43634596
No, I would recommend two full sets of RPG dice, and various d6's for tokens/damage rolls/ random decisions.
>>43634610
What's obscure about your system?
>>43635114
What do you mean by that?
It isn't very well known or talked about. Latest edition has something like 200 downloads only, which is pretty low even for something like this.
>>43634558
>it teaches team building and being smart with actions
How does it do this?
>Personal Favorites:
Stars Without Number, Eclipse Phase, L5R, and Burning Wheel
>Indie/obscure/underrated:
Unhallowed, Cthulhutech (even if it's garbage), and Dogs in the Vineyard
>and WHY?
As is probably evident I like crunchy system, especially those with role play driving mechanics, Eclipse Phase is fairly good about this, as is L5R. Only my obscure are not that obscure, they're just not played very often (though what most people play is a D&D derivative anyway).
>>43635326
Because for the most part your characters can be one shotted by any mook with an appropriate gun, so you need to learn to do more than just run at things and hit them/blast them. Deathwatch and Dark Heresy you, for the most part only have your team, and you need to be able to work well together or you will be gunned down in a hail of bolt shells.
If you don't own a semen stained copy of the book of erotic fantasy, you aren't a real GM.
>>43634476
>Outbreak:Undead
Wasn't that the one where you could play yourself as a PC but inevitably end up with way lower stats than a constructed PC?
>>43636219
That's interesting but what's the point?
>>43636233
No idea.
I vaguely remember someone trying to explain the reason for that, but it was neither convincing nor memorable.
I think it had something to do with being able to pick perks you don't qualify for stat-wise, but have in real life.
Because RL PCs have such abysmal stats that they don't qualify for most of the perk list.
>>43634401
>Absolute Essentials every self-respecting GM should have:
Everyone is John, any Cthulhu Mythos game, another rules-lite system. Maybe a Sword and Sorcery game too.
>Personal Favorites:
Quick set up games. I'll try any of those. I'm a big GURPS boy though. It's incredibly intuitive to me. I also like some Shadowrun, but that's hard to explain to newbies, D&D5 is also pretty solid.
>Indie/obscure/underrated:
Traveller, I've only played the Mongoose update even though I'm a GURPS faggot. Spears of the Dawn was really cool when I played it. Awesome fluff thanks to radically (and racially) different source material, but still has a familiar feel. I've been thinking of picking it up to GM but I'm frugal and poor. Apocalypse World is awesome if you can get players past the "sex is important" thing. It's basically a GM trainer. Is nWoD still obscure? I don't know many goth types that are stereotyped as players but the few games I've been in were fun. Also the books are just rad. If it's not as obscure as I think though then just ignore that.
>>43636545
Traveller was the first game I ever played, and it's still one of my favourites.
>>43634476
>Essential tier
>WH40K RPG, Traveler and 3.5/PF
No. Just no.
>>43634173
Now for a serious answer.
>Absolute Essentials every self-respecting GM should have:
This is very hard, as I don't think a consensus can be reached. Personally I would say something very flexible, like Fate, something light for emergencies, like Risus, and at least one big crunchy game, like D&D or WoD
>Personal Favorites
At the moment I'd say nWoD. I like the toolbox approach and the baseline system works for modern games even without going into the personal horror lines.
>Indie/obscure/underrated:
Here there are a lot, so I'll just name a couple. For obscure I nominate SHERPA, it's an ultra-light system by the same guy who did FUDGE and it's sort of a serious Risus - plus it's geared for playing while hiking. Underrated - D&D 4e. It caught a lot of flak but IME it's still the most solid crunchy fantasy game in the last few years.
> tfw game cancelled this week-end because of the Paris attacks
After struggling a bit to make a viable plot, I was really starting to look forward to the interesting fights and atmosphere involved with the underground path the PCs were to take too.
>>43634173
>Absolute Essentials every self-respecting GM should have:
This screencap.
>>43634476
>Essential tier
FAE, Spycraft (also d20), Space D6, L5R, Dresden Files, Dungeon World
>Indie/obscure/underrated
Diaspora, Tianxia, Strike!, Monster of the Week, Ars Magica,
The essential tier games are the ones I think every GM should be familiar with because they teach good GMing habits through the reinforcement of the systems' mechanics. For players they're also valuable because they emphasize player initiative and cover the full spectrum of genres.
The second category speaks for itself. Games I wish more people had experience with because then we wouldn't be rehashing conversations about how to do X or Y because everyone would already be familiar with some of the best ways.
There are plenty more games out there that are fun to play, but I think are mechanically mediocre or worse. All settings have redeeming value.
>>43634173
Would anyone be interested in making an official /tg/ getting started DMing infographic?
>>43637451
Hey, this actually helped me with planning an upcoming game I'll be running. I think I have an idea on how to get the PC's involved with the plot. My players are the worst when it comes to ignoring my carefully baited plot hooks.
>>43637451
I don't know why this board is so obsessed with this style of GMing
it's harder than it's made out to be to present an emergent storyline as anything but arbitrary
a well structured and detailed adventure has a palpable richness
any middle ground advice shown here really just contradicts the spirit of the point. "only fools plan, but plan a set of events, locations, persons and items that are also context dynamic"
>>43638273
Because it works far better than the GM crying and bitching when the players inevitably throw a spanner in the works of his intricately plotted adventure.
Yes, planning is good, but don't stick that shit on rails, just remember what NPCs want and what they're likely to do when the PCs aren't around.
>>43638376
>Because it works far better than the GM crying and bitching when the players inevitably throw a spanner in the works of his intricately plotted adventure.
Of course it works better than some imaginary melodramatic situation. You want advice aiming for a bar a little higher.
People just confound planning with 'rails', a term which has a taxonomy differing form person to person. An adventure that isn't broken outside of a single outcome is great advice. 'Only fools plan is not'. It takes plenty of planning to insert dynamic NPC's into a living world and even more so to craft an entertaining scenario with multiple ways to engage with it.
>>43634173
>Absolute Essentials every self-respecting GM should have
None, each DM has a particular style and should choose the rpg system that fits better
>Personal Favorites
Trail of Cthulhu (GUMSHOE is just awesome); also AFMBE and d20Modern are not bad
>Indie/obscure/underrated
Nobilis (never tired it, sadly)
