Make sure the system you use matches the kind of players you have, for an optimal experience
Admin Note: This is part of the ongoing series called “D&D isn’t the only TTRPG if you don’t want fantasy play another goddamn game!”
I already reblogged this once but this is important:
Like I run a D&D blog. I understand that D&D is the most well-known and popular RPG in the world. But a lot of the time I see people going like “Hey I want to run a D&D campaign and throw out all the D&Disms and here’s all the notes I have for running a campaign about courtly romance and chivalry in a historical setting” and I’m just like STOP YOU DON’T NEED TO RUN THIS USING D&D
There’s a sort of a mistaken assumption that because D&D is the biggest game on the market and that it’s fantasy that it should be the go-to fantasy game but look it’s not D&D isn’t a generic fantasy game it’s a very specific kind of fantasy all of its own, one that steals liberally from swords & sorcery and high fantasy and adds fucking extradimensional cube robots for good measure
So next time you’re thinking about a fantasy campaign in a decidedly non-D&Dish setting consider instead of jamming the square peg that is D&D into a round hole trying to find a system that actually supports what you’re trying to do
And this is not to say that you shouldn’t play D&D: D&D is hella fun. But there’s a lot of genres and styles that D&D does a piss-poor job of doing, and because of that it’s so good we’ve got other games
*cracks knuckles*
All right then. I’ve been meaning to dust off my own D&D sideblog for a while, so here we go with providing some examples. I’m limiting this specifically to other types of fantasy outside of the standard high fantasy and sword & sorcery millieu.
Courtly Romance and Chivalry
There are a number of options for this, and they range from standard secondary world fantasy to more historical and mythological settings. My list here shouldn’t be treated as fully extensive.
Blue Rose – based on the romantic fantasy subgenre, specifically as seen in the works of Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey. A lot of courtly drama and intrigue and swashbuckling, based in a fictional world.
Pendragon – naturally based off of Arthurian mythology, and having a lot of stuff given over to the court of Camelot and the chivalric adventures of the various knights. The same company also has a kickstarter for a spin-off called Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne that might be worth checking out.
Historical Fantasy
This one’s a bit more prominent as historical settings serve as an inspiration for a variety of fantasy worlds and games, and this of course invariably extends to settings that actually use historical settings with a degree of fantasy elements thrown in. Note that I’m going to emphasise Europe here simply due to greater familiarity with games in that millieu, and as a European myself I’m ill-equipped to judge how accurate or respectful games using other settings actually are.
Because of this, feel free to add other examples in reblogs
Chivalry & Sorcery – one of the early tabletop games inspired by D&D, taking a more pseudo-historical approach.
It’s based on 12th century France and strives for a degree of historical accuracy and medieval politics.
World of Darkness, Dark Ages (including Vampire and Mage) – while the World of Darkness has earned some negative attention lately (and for good reason), the dark ages RPGs are still an old favourite of mine. Also worth checking out is Mage: The Sorcerer’s Crusade, set during the Renaissance. The Mage stuff has a really cool open-ended magic system worth checking out.
Ars Magica – this exists along very similar lines to the dark age material above, based around mages and magic-users in a ‘Mythic Europe’ setting. It also has a really cool open-ended magic system, and one of my personal favourites.
Awwww shit heck yes I might want to add to this list but this is a really good starting point
Monsterhearts – horny teenagers in suburban American 80′s/90′s highschool. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Scum & Villainy – a crew of space scoundrels trying to make a less-than-earnest living. Think Fire Fly, or the Han Solo bit of Star Wars.
Epyllion – a group of young drakes investigate rumours and work together to keep the encroaching, evil Darkness from seeping into the realm of Dragonia. Whimsical adventures meant to explore the lives of dragons, and discover the value of friendship. Think My Little Pony meets The Legend of Spyro meets Little Witch Academia?
I’d say Monsterhearts is more Twilight but with an explicitly queer twist and also it rules
I only recently became aware of Scum & Villainy and I was like okay it’s based on Blades in the Dark (Hey you want to play a cool dark medieval fantasy heist RPG in the style of Dishonored and Thief CHECK OUT BLADES IN THE DARK) and it’s got cool space stuff and I’m going to get it tomorrow once I get my next paycheck
I love Shadowrun with all my heart, I love its setting and worldbuilding and presentation gimmicks, but dear lord, nobody should ever actually play Shadowrun using the rules they give you.
my advice: have fun and play–play is learning | always be watching real life to see how things move | also be watching cool animations to learn from them | don’t wait until you’re ‘good at art’–animating will help you improve | it’s hard but so worth it when things turn out well, good luck!
Spider plants are among the best natural air filters you can put in a flowerpot. They don’t just produce oxygen, they clean out other gases and toxins and whatever else is floating around the room.
Also they’re easy as fuck to grow more of because they reproduce by putting little mini plants out on stalks. Clip one off, stick it in a pot and you’re good!
wassup gaymers, i have decided to make this list of gay visual novels/dating sims bc i love playing them and i want more people to know of their existence. if there are any that i haven’t added to the list just tell me and i’ll check it out!
please note: i haven’t played all of these. i have tried to link to the creator’s social media/shops/patreon, but if i couldn’t find them then i didn’t add them. please support these creators if you can!
butterfly soup – “a visual novel about gay asian girls playing baseball and falling in love” (itchio – windows + mac + linux | creator’s tumblr + shop)
can you say my name again – “This game is about anxiety. This game is about getting intimate and having sex. And above all, this game is about being a trans lesbian“ (itchio – web browser | contact/social media + patreon)
emperor’s lesbian new groove –
“
Enrolled in a super-exclusive school full of beauties, take advantage of your luck ♥
first kiss at a spooky soirée – “you play as marzipan, a light witch who’s gone her whole life without kissing anyone–UNTIL TONIGHT!” (itchio – windows + mac + linux | tumblr + patreon)
last night in tokyo – “Tindra has spent a week in Tokyo with her friend, Emil. But she’s not been able to enjoy her time there as much as she had hoped.On the last day, she attends a monthly night club party for queer women and meet the dashing “Midnight Prince” of the club, Yozora.And she’s ready to do whatever it takes to make Tindra’s last night in Tokyo memorable…” (itchio – windows + mac + linux | website + patreon)
liar liar – “a middle schooler named Yukari, whom you must aid to kill her boyfriend for reasons she doesn’t specify“ (itchio – windows + mac + linux | tumblr + shop)
lone wolf – “Laika, an overworked werewolf slaving away at a tech-support desk, is having a hard time navigating her budding relationships between full moons. Between her long-suffering nymph best friend and a new succubus co-worker, Laika finds life turning a whole new level of complicated.“ (itchio – windows + mac + linux | team)
love on the peacock express – “As a private investigator you’ve always been interested in two things: solving mysteries, and kissing hot older women“ (itchio – windows + mac + linux | team)
magic warrior diamond heart – valerie amanrath is a 17 girl who suddenly gets magical girl powers and has to fight along with her friends the nightmares that have started terrorizing her world. (itchio – windows + mac + linux | creator’s tumblr + patreon)
//TODO: today – “
College dropout and aspiring artist Teal only wanted to live life without major complications.” (itchio – mac + linux + windows | website + website + team)
war of the lilies: an eons lost story – “
Live tonight! Come witness firsthand the story of how our Nation of Odessa came to be. Rife with romance! Inundated with intrigue! This is the tale about how the Lord of Odessa fought for both love and country.“ (itchio – windows + mac + linux | website)
This seems like something everyone should know if they’re in the sciences and/or interested in reading scientific papers.
Also, Sci-Hub is totally not a thing that doesn’t allow you to access papers, so don’t even think of trying it. This isn’t the link, so don’t bookmark it: https://sci-hub.tw/
gayfeline 