I go to try out different systems or to play systems my regular group doesn't play. Also, to remind myself why I have a regular group and how fortunate I am that they are mostly sane and adjusted people.

Even you, shadow downvoter.

I really enjoyed the D&D 3rd Edition days, with the popcorn of d20-based games. Star Wars d20, d20 Modern, and the Sword & Sorcery Ravenloft were all great fun. The best part is that it was super easy to get your group to try new things, because the mechanics were all similar, if not exactly the same. People like to hate on D&D, but it's consistently been a great base to start from and inspiration for a multitude of other games.

I'm mostly in the same boat as you. I have tried several times to get into Critical Role since everyone raves about it, plus a few others. It's not for me. I suppose it's because I don't have any emotional connection with the actual play where I would have that investment with my own game. I will say that I did enjoy Dungeons & Daddies though, but that show is more like listening to a comedy podcast about fantasy rather than an actual play.

This is fucking cool.

I'm confused. Do you normally try to keep your players from talking and metagaming between sessions?

Objects that convey cover or height would be what I would like. Assuming they are made to a 1" grid scale, I think that would be most useful to support immersion during combat. Boxes and barrels always seem to come up. Also, a chest, wagon, sarcophagus/coffin, stone table, and a generic macgiffin (however you choose to represent it) would be the most useful at my table.

I am a real, semi-functional human.

Thanks for crossposting! Pardon my Lemmy ignorance, but I have a question. So, when you crosspost, it creates a copy of the linked thread on the new community? Meaning there are two separate but identical articles but on different communities with separate sets of comments? I had originally crossposted the first post to sci-fi, but I wasn't expecting the two copies thing, so I thought I had done something wrong. I deleted the crosspost after that and left it only on the traveller community. Was I doing it 'right' originally after all?

100%

Also, just read Mike's website: https://slyflourish.com/

This is excellent. Most of the answers here are what game to play, in other words, what mechanics can be used to force the horror feeling. This is purely about narrative, which can apply to any system. Thank you for sharing.

Original post from yesterday wasn't carried over to the new host. Not that it makes a huge difference, but still.

Okay, I bought those 3 books and I'll check them out. Thank you for the recommendation, kind internet stranger!

I will try to remember to occasionally report back.

I haven't seen this before but it looks interesting. Is the Story Engine the 'core' book, with the Character Engine and World Engine being something like ad-ons? I don't think there's anything keeping us from using multiple sources. I would be willing to give it a read and try it.

Happy fediversary! Thanks for letting us join in!

For anybody else that hates needless acronyms, FOSS apparently stands for Free and Open Source Software.

Traveller Discord?

As the others have said, I just straight talk with my players. I don't mind if they take a different direction and I honestly enjoy when they take the initiative to do what they want. I don't try to force them back onto the railroad track, but I will save bits of whatever they would have encountered for later (especially if I've already prepped it!).

If, however, they are taking that exit because I gave them the wrong directions, I will try to get them back on track. I don't consider this railroading, but nudging them in a direction. My players are willing participants in the adventure, but they don't always pick up subtle clues. If they need some more-obvious direction, I try my best to do that without taking away their freedom of choice.

How did you come to play a gelatinous cube? What do the other players play?

Looks cool and I like the art style. I would host an adventure in this.