Help me choose a game to run.

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Stumpydave

Stumpydave

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I've offered to run a game for friends but I'm torn.
Ultimately whatever I run has to have something for the PC's to do and I need to be au fait enough with the system that I can fudge things even if I can't remember the exact rule.

I'm split between the following.

The Walking Dead: Straightforward gameplay loop (don't get eaten, oh we're about to get eaten, don't get eaten), but its more table and rules heavy than my normal speed and I've never run it before.

Esoterica: Straightforward gameplay loop (Find magical artifacts to store metaphysical corruption, use magic to gain/defend said artifact from rivals, get more artifacts to store corruption earned during step two). I've run it before and the rules are simple enough (miniD6) though I'd probably swap the skills for those from the Walking Dead.

Untitled God game: A self penned game of old gods being reborn into the modern day world, finding their purpose or just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm still unsure as to if its a street level game or something on the cosmic scale. I want a game of old myths resonating through the ages, Highlander style flashbacks and clever plays on old stories but I don't think I'm clever or knowledgable enough to pull that off. I thought it was a work of genius when I wrote it but now self-doubt has crippled me. Its diceless which can scare people and its never been run before. If I choose this it's pure playtest and is it worth the risk?
 
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For a one (or two) shot I'd go for ravenous dead. For a longer game I'd go for collect the sparklies.
 
Stumpydave said:
Untitled God game: A self penned game of old gods being reborn into the modern day world, finding their purpose or just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm still unsure as to if its a street level game or something on the cosmic scale. I want a game of old myths resonating through the ages, Highlander style flashbacks and clever plays on old stories but I don't think I'm clever or knowledgable enough to pull that off. I thought it was a work of genius when I wrote it
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Good.You wrote it, now run it:thumbsup:!

Stumpydave said:
but now self-doubt has crippled me.
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No doubts allowed. You wrote it, now run it::honkhonk:!

Stumpydave said:
Its diceless which can scare people and its never been run before.
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Pure excuses, man:madgoose:!
Stumpydave said:
If I choose this it's pure playtest and is it worth the risk?
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Yes.
And if anyone complains, tell them AsenRG told you to run it! On the Internet, and we all know randos on Internet are never wrong:grin:!
 
Both Untitled G and Esoterica sound very interesting.

I'd note though that at this point in time and space no one is better qualified than you to run Untitled. Just saying.
 
TWD was a pretty popular show which should translate into an easy to run easy to play rpg session, no?

giphy.gif
 
Stumpydave said:
Untitled God game: A self penned game of old gods being reborn into the modern day world, finding their purpose or just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm still unsure as to if its a street level game or something on the cosmic scale. I want a game of old myths resonating through the ages, Highlander style flashbacks and clever plays on old stories but I don't think I'm clever or knowledgable enough to pull that off. I thought it was a work of genius when I wrote it but now self-doubt has crippled me. Its diceless which can scare people and its never been run before. If I choose this it's pure playtest and is it worth the risk?
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This sounds far more fun. If you didn't go with this, at least start putting pen to paper.
 
Triumvir said:
No-one said Mythras yet..?
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You did:thumbsup:!

Also, I'm trying to stay within the systems mentioned in the OP. He's on the Pub, I'm sure he's heard of Mythras...:grin:
And of course, that's what I'd run (and in fact, I am planning to:shade:). But I'm not him...

And hey, he's written his own system, if he doesn't run it, who would:shock:?

Triumvir said:
Or is it Rolemaster these days?
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Nope, though it's a nice system:grin:!

I do read others, too, but at the end I always return to Mythras, as you all know:heart:!
 
Run your own game, as long as the players are up for helping you playtest. If they just want something tried and true, go with what’s easiest for you cognitively so you can focus on the fun, which sounds like Esoterica.
 
Stumpydave said:
Esoterica: Straightforward gameplay loop (Find magical artifacts to store metaphysical corruption, use magic to gain/defend said artifact from rivals, get more artifacts to store corruption earned during step two). I've run it before and the rules are simple enough (miniD6) though I'd probably swap the skills for those from the Walking Dead.

Untitled God game: A self penned game of old gods being reborn into the modern day world, finding their purpose or just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm still unsure as to if its a street level game or something on the cosmic scale.
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I'd go with the God Game. As I suggested on another thread....it's street level but conflicts are god level....but always reframed in the past. Just to make it very different to SCION.

So, Seth is sizing up against Erik Thorson. And the battle shall be on the plains of Erebus, under the light of the seventh moon. In the real world, they're just taking a second to pose....but in the spirit world....it's an EPIC battle.
 
I put the same message to my group and immediately got two favourable replies for the God Game (Working Title: Yggdrasil Falling).
Need to rewrite the whole thing so it's at least presentable.
 
The one you were running from... :hmmm: Seems like your group found it as well. :hehe: Time to step up and turn theory into applied! Good luck! :thumbsup::dice:
 
Stumpydave said:
I've offered to run a game for friends but I'm torn.
Ultimately whatever I run has to have something for the PC's to do and I need to be au fait enough with the system that I can fudge things even if I can't remember the exact rule.

I'm split between the following.

The Walking Dead: Straightforward gameplay loop (don't get eaten, oh we're about to get eaten, don't get eaten), but its more table and rules heavy than my normal speed and I've never run it before.

Esoterica: Straightforward gameplay loop (Find magical artifacts to store metaphysical corruption, use magic to gain/defend said artifact from rivals, get more artifacts to store corruption earned during step two). I've run it before and the rules are simple enough (miniD6) though I'd probably swap the skills for those from the Walking Dead.

Untitled God game: A self penned game of old gods being reborn into the modern day world, finding their purpose or just trying to stay out of trouble. I'm still unsure as to if its a street level game or something on the cosmic scale. I want a game of old myths resonating through the ages, Highlander style flashbacks and clever plays on old stories but I don't think I'm clever or knowledgable enough to pull that off. I thought it was a work of genius when I wrote it but now self-doubt has crippled me. Its diceless which can scare people and its never been run before. If I choose this it's pure playtest and is it worth the risk?
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All those sound good, but Untitled sounds awesome!
 
Kage2020 said:
Isn't that just All Flesh Must be Eaten or, perhaps, any number of any other z-games out there?

Or, put another way, could you paint a quick picture of what you're talking about?
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Yeah, just come up with some cool zombie game using the Walking Dead RPG rules, but don't tie it into the TV show. In particular, I like some fun and humor thrown in with the grittiness.
 
Make your own Canon with 'ZOMBI' or tie into Twilight 2000 with Twilight Tangents ;)

Tacky sales pitch aside, what canon are you looking to build. There was a thread on TBP about making the zombie apocalypse 'liveable'. I find TWDs loop to be unbearable. TLOU is slightly better with the "cure" (which was also a thread in TWD at least twice).

Clearing your hometown might be fun.
Doing a time travel adventure back to the 80s to stop the development of the Zombie plague at secret government lab of your choice is interesting - especially if it is revealed that you bring it back with you and start the apocalypse 40 years ahead of when it was meant to be. (A 12 monkeys vibe there)
 
sharps54 said:
Palladium has you covered
View attachment 81711

And if you prefer a universal chart there is always Rotworld
View attachment 81712
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I've got Rotworld, AFMBE, Infected!, Z-land , Hunger: Zombies Must Feed! for genreDiversion and Era: Survival so I'm sufficiently covered. But as a player I'd be interested in trying out a MYZ zombie game.
 
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I ran demos (lots and lots of demos...) of The Walking Dead RPG at Pax Unplugged last year, and came to really like the system. I'm running a one-shot for my college gaming buddy reunion later this month. The YZE engine is very straight forward and easy to teach, the stress mechanic (while slightly different from the one in Alien) is good at ramping up the tension, and I like that the walkers are treated more as an environmental hazard rather than a typical RPG opponent. For a longer term game, the focus would definitely be on the inter-group and intra-group relationships.
 
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