SuperBiasedMan

Pen and Paper and Roll20.net Games

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I didn't seem to see any threads for this anywhere so I figured I could set one up!

 

I've become a next level nerd and played my first game of D'n'D with some friends this year so I got into other games and started listening to pods about it. It seems real fun! Even if I'm just an enthusiastic baby who hasn't played many games.

 

In particular I just discovered that there are a lot of 2 person games, so I want to find out about ones that I might be able to play with my brother who hasn't played any (that I'm aware of). Anyone got suggestions for 2 person games? Especially comedy ones that are welcoming to newbies like us, though we're both up for rules and systems.

 

 

Also if people wanted to play some sort of game together here might be a place to talk about it (wink wink, nudge nudge) I got bored and made a Google Sheet of info you can add to or peruse for possible players:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aV2-k1dcpwmZmS0HOJ9-33GNyXSQ3SQ1hYfOCWLHyTY/edit?usp=sharing

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There actually is a thread for this in the Multiplayer Networking forum, but this is probably a better spot.

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More substantially, while I'm not aware of any good two-player games, here are a number of RPGs that I would love to play online and would be willing to GM for.

 

Apocalypse World - fiction-first game set in a post-apocalyptic world evocative of Mad Max or Fallout.

Dungeon World - based on the Apocalypse World system, but with the flavour and trappings of classic D&D.

Monsterhearts - teenage vampires, werewolves and the like finding themselves and navigating life as a young person. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Vampire Diaries.

Masks - teenage superheroes finding themselves and fighting supervillains. Think Young Avengers or Young Justice.

Urban Shadows - wizards, ghosts, seers and the like  navigate the politics of a city with a magical underbelly. Think Angel or the Dresden Files or World of Darkness.

Blades in the Dark - a group of scoundrels seeking to make a name for themselves in an industrial fantasy city. Think Lies of Locke Lamora or The Wire.

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Ah, the only threads I knew of from multiplayer were (I thought) just trying to form up a group to play. Apologies if there were chat ones I missed.

Also having listened to Friends at the Table, I'm very curious about Dungeon world. I'd love to see what else could be done with that system, rather than the DnD I've played where it was inevitably combat focused.

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It seems like the openness of Dungeon World would make it tough to play with folks that you're not already friends with. I bought the book, I'm about half way through, and it has even less rules than I thought it would.

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Ah, the only threads I knew of from multiplayer were (I thought) just trying to form up a group to play. Apologies if there were chat ones I missed.

 

Oh yeah, sorry, those threads were only for making groups, I think.

 

It seems like the openness of Dungeon World would make it tough to play with folks that you're not already friends with. I bought the book, I'm about half way through, and it has even less rules than I thought it would.

 

I've only GM'd a very small amount of Dungeon World and it's been with people I know (although two of the players didn't know each other), but I don't know why this would necessarily be the case any more than it is for any RPG. The game may seem like it has very few rules, but the rules that are there support play really well. It also has really good rules for the GM, which is possibly the most important part of an RPG's design.

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I'm surprised that Reyturner's not in this thread trying to talk people into playing Burning Wheel. I'm surprised I'm not in this thread trying to talk people into playing Adeptus Evangelion or Bliss Stage.

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I would be super down for playing Burning Wheel, although I don't think I'd feel confident enough to run it.

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Also having listened to Friends at the Table, I'm very curious about Dungeon world. I'd love to see what else could be done with that system, rather than the DnD I've played where it was inevitably combat focused.

 

It's worth noting that while Dungeon World isn't nearly as combat-focused on D&D, it's still very adventure-focused - most time is spent overcoming (not necessarily fighting) monsters, delving through dungeons (obviously) and looting treasure. It's very good at that, but that's what it's about. If you want a more relationship-based game, I think Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts and Masks are more about that.

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I really want to try Apocalypse World or one of its offshoots. The Sprawl looks particularly cool. Also, a company called Lampblack & Brimstone has made some extensions to Dungeon World that seem neat.

On the Burning Wheel tip, I have Burning Empires and Mouse Guard, but never tried either. Holy shit I have a lot of RPGs (and board games) that I've never played.

I love RPGs, and I've been playing them since I was a kid. I kinda love all of them, even the bad ones. It's the best hobby. It's the one thing I've given up in the wake of becoming a dad that I really miss. Now that things have settled down, I need to get back into it!

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I'd be up for playing The Sprawl, although I'd have to warn that I'm a newbie to this stuff.  The only time I've ever done this stuff, I played one session with a group here trying to do some D&D, I died on that first night, and I don't think there was another session after that.  And my experience with The Sprawl is "I listened to the Counter/WEIGHT campaign of Friends at the Table"

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I would be down for The Sprawl. I think I would still prefer Dungeon World bit it would give me an excuse to buy the PDF for The Sprawl which I've kinda wanted to anyways.

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I'd... also maybe be interested in The Sprawl... My time has freed up of late.

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I found this on the same site as monsterhearts there's The Quiet Year where a small group of people play as a post apocalyptic town's council as they try to prepare their town for whatever dangers may be coming.

 

The game is played using a deck of cards – each of the 52 cards corresponds to a week during the quiet year. Each card triggers certain events – bringing bad news, good omens, project delays and sudden changes in luck. At the end of the quiet year, the Frost Shepherds will come, ending the game.

 

Anyway it sounds like it could be fun for 2+ people for about $8

 

Also I keep hearing good things about tabletop simulator so you might want to try that out SBM.

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I'm actually playing a PbP campaign of the Sprawl right now. As I said in one of the other threads, it's too early for me to fully review it, but early signs are good. I love the focus on narratively driving character actions and having the system really just be a way of facilitating that.

 

Regarding concerns about playing it with people you don't know... I think it requires more of the players than a more rigid system does, yes. You have to trust that people actually are going to play their characters rather than play the system. I don't, however, believe that by happening to have gone to dinner with the people you're playing with you guarantee that will be the case (nor obviously can you say that people you don't know will be bad at it). My PbP group is a mix of people I have played with before and people I haven't, and the ones who are impressing me most do not all fall on a particular side of that line.

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It's worth noting that while Dungeon World isn't nearly as combat-focused on D&D, it's still very adventure-focused - most time is spent overcoming (not necessarily fighting) monsters, delving through dungeons (obviously) and looting treasure. It's very good at that, but that's what it's about. If you want a more relationship-based game, I think Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts and Masks are more about that.

 

I am more aware of this, having now read the Dungeon World book ahead of trying out a campaign with my brother. I still like how it opens up other options but I do entirely see what you mean about it still being adventure-y. It's probably better for him in this case, since he's a new player. That said, he's made some amazing character choices.

 

He's playing a halfling Druid named Damask Rose. She has squirrels deliver food to her regularly, and she also has a staff that can turn into a huge sword made of roses woven together. The staff/sword is also possessed by her predecessor Moss Rose, the druid that used to protect the forest and is now her weary companion that tries to tell her how to protect the forest. We're gonna make the best magical girl game.

 

I'm also interested in the Sprawl in practically the same capacity as thefncrow, though I have played a full DnD campaign. My concern with the Sprawl was mostly that I don't think I've read/watched etc. a lot of the anime and sci fi stuff it draws on. But that probably matters less than I think.

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I found this on the same site as monsterhearts there's The Quiet Year where a small group of people play as a post apocalyptic town's council as they try to prepare their town for whatever dangers may be coming.

 

I played The Quiet Year and it was a great time! Gita explains exactly why it was a good time better than I could. (The stupid looking "OK!" building was mine! Wow we are such wonderful artists.)

 

I will say, however, that "Role Playing Game" may be somewhat of a misnomer for The Quiet Year, and what makes it a fun experience is very different from what makes a DnD-alike or a Powered by the Apocalypse game a fun experience. I don't want to say it isn't a "game" (of course it's a game) but I think of it more as a world-building exercise/conversation-enabler. It's great, though! I bought the PDF after playing it.

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So, it looks like Gormongous, Salacious Snake, SuperBiasedMan, Vulpes Absurda, Twig and myself would be interested in The Sprawl.

 

I will say, however, that "Role Playing Game" may be somewhat of a misnomer for The Quiet Year, and what makes it a fun experience is very different from what makes a DnD-alike or a Powered by the Apocalypse game a fun experience. I don't want to say it isn't a "game" (of course it's a game) but I think of it more as a world-building exercise/conversation-enabler. It's great, though! I bought the PDF after playing it.


"Story game" is the term I hear used most often.

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I'm also interested in the Sprawl in practically the same capacity as thefncrow, though I have played a full DnD campaign. My concern with the Sprawl was mostly that I don't think I've read/watched etc. a lot of the anime and sci fi stuff it draws on. But that probably matters less than I think.

 

My sense of The Sprawl is that it is much less about mecha-anime than Friends at the Table's game ended up being. Since they started in MechNoire and transitioned into The Sprawl, the giant robots and anime themes carried over. I think it's mostly a cyberpunk game at its most basic level.

 

EDIT: If you all end up putting a game of The Sprawl together online and need an alternate, I'd be interested. You probably have enough people already, but I've been in a (very slow moving) PbP game for a while now. More than anything it makes me want to try out more tabletop stuff.

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I will say, however, that "Role Playing Game" may be somewhat of a misnomer for The Quiet Year, and what makes it a fun experience is very different from what makes a DnD-alike or a Powered by the Apocalypse game a fun experience. I don't want to say it isn't a "game" (of course it's a game) but I think of it more as a world-building exercise/conversation-enabler. It's great, though! I bought the PDF after playing it.

 

I know what you call a "game" is wrapped up in all sorts of baggage, but for this thread's purpose at least, it seems like it's most useful to just think about whether you had fun with something. Was it enjoyable to 'play' at characters with friends and a loose system of rules.

 

Speaking of loose system. One thing I meant to ask for anyone who's played Dungeon World.

 

For a DW game are you meant to come up with a backstory about the world being post apocalyptic? I didn't see anything about that in the book, and maybe I just made false connections when listening to Friends at the Table. But I thought part of the whole Apocalypse World idea was that there was some calamity and the world has been rebuilding since then. And that as a group it's a good idea to flesh out broadly speaking what happened to the world.

 

Is that a thing or did I misunderstand? I'll probably do it either way, but if I missed out on a part of the book that goes through this broad worldbuilding I'd want to go back over that.

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The Sprawl is more about 80s cyberpunk. Like, Gibson specifically. Everything is derivative of Neuromancer, or derivative of something derivative of Neuromancer. Even the name "The Sprawl".

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The Sprawl is more about 80s cyberpunk. Like, Gibson specifically. Everything is derivative of Neuromancer, or derivative of something derivative of Neuromancer. Even the name "The Sprawl".

 

I uh, don't know what any of that is either! I'm not well versed in cyberpunk.  :getmecoat

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