Basements & Beards- Analogue Gaming Thread

[Le Redditeur]

Google Alerts shows that someone posted about Morbius on some internet forum! That means there's interest in the movie and it's ready to be released on theaters again!

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

#ReleaseTheMorbinCut

[Kugelfisch]

They can't. Sony already caused the inflation with the second run because world governments had to print additional billth to satisfy the demand to buy Morbius tickets. The banks just ran out!

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Powered by the Autism Apocalypse: Numbers Filed-Off Edition

So I decided to sperg out some more about PbtA games. No we already know that DHI's PbtA game of choice is Thirsty Sword Lesbians, a game which - like many PbtA titles - mostly revolve around inner-party drama (because PbtA characters that aren't player characters don't actually exist in a mechanical sense) but which - unlike many PbtA - doesn't really have a focus at all (those PbtA games generally pride themselves on their tight focus, because that's the only thing that really differentiate these games).
Now hang on, I hear you, how can Nymphomaniac Scimitar Dykes not have a focus? It's right there in the title!
Well, because I guess Evil Hat Productions are hacks and/or wanted to please the entire SJW spectrum, they have dedicated an entire page ensuring us that all three pillars of Horny Rapier Homosexual's design are wholly optional, resulting in the entire game being nothing but quirky bullshit with some kind of queer code of paint to fit in with the cool kids.
It's almost like the PUR of RPGs.

But that is not what I want to actually rant about this time. Oh no, I'll highlight some infamous PbtA games that have the opposite problem of too much focus. And by "too much focus" I mean "waiting for a lawsuit".

Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined

This is such an unabashedly blatant ripoff of Kingdom Hearts that some of the examples of play just use KH characters. And of course every playbook (aka class, aka effectively premade character) maps directly to some KH character, except when the writer's are ripping off something else (like Time Lords from Doctor Who).
Just like in KH, the characters are hopping from one world to the other, which this time around aren't limited to Disney or Final Fantasy. Pick any original or existing setting you want! Except you don't actually need a dedicated book for that. If I want my whismical Ryuutama campaign to make a trip into Berserk's rape troll fantasy woods, I can just do that, and I'll probably have better mechanicaly support for it in anything that's not PbtA.
It also does what some PbtA games do in that some of those playbooks are "main characters" while others are merely "supporting characters", which is always "fun". Some of those latter can get pretty weird. You know how KH games generally give you a world-dependent buddy (usually the main character of that respective world)? There's a playbook that isn't actually a character, but just a placeholder for whatever buddy the rest of the party runs into on their dimensional adventures. You're basically playing an assistant for the GM.
Aside from being a shameless ripoff, the team behind this is also excessively money-grubbing. The book costs 20 dollars, or 30 if you buy it on DriveThru (now doubt because DriveThru itself takes a bigger share of the profit), which becomes even more absurd when you realize the entire book is only 60 fucking pages.
60 pages. About half of which are just the playbooks. This fucking thing doesn't even have a proper GM section, which you'd think would be kind of important if the entire premise is about travelling to different worlds/dimensions.
To make matters worse this isn't even a particular "pretty" book. Even though more than half of the kickstarter money supposedly went into the layout and art department, the entire book looks very amateurish and has barely any art in it (which of course also looks very amateurish).
Also apparently there are still backers waiting to get their physical copy sent to them years after this Kickstarter

Our Traveling Home

Now this fucking thing just has to win the award for the most shameless and over-focused PbtA game every made. It's literally Howl's Moving Castle: The Slashfic Cut.
The entire premise is Howl's Moving Castle.
The setting (two countries on the brink of war, with our heroes stuck inbetween) is Howl's Moving Castle.
Every playbook is one of the characters from Howl's Moving Castle (complete with mandatory story beats you have to hit, which of course mirror the characters' development in Howl's Moving Castle).
The entire game can only played in one specific way: To repeat the general plot of Howl's Moving Castle, complete with Not-Howl and Not-Sophie being forced to fall in love (they're the main characters btw, everything else is once again just a supporting character).
You can't even hope for different outcomes since the ending is always the same (Not-Howl and Not-Sophie get married or something, and everyone else also gets a mandatory Happy Ending).

Now Someone's Traversing Residence tries (and fails) to but a bit of a different spin on this ripoff by repeatedly pointing out that this game is about queer romance.
Which it mainly does by ensuring us that being queer is accepted in the setting (don't want anyone feeling oppressed I guess), and by giving just about every playbook retarded "gender" choices like "witch" or "yes".
If you then factor in that the main queer romance is mandatory, you realize this is like the LGBT equivalent of a shotgun wedding.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Here's some new art for the upcoming trainwreck that is Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th edition:


Can you spot the trace (at least the one I am aware of)?!

You've got to be fuckin' kiddin' meShow

[Kugelfisch]

Absolutely haram!

[rabidtictac]

So what is everyone's favorite tabletop combat system, mechanically? I don't really play tabletop but I've been playing a fair few games based on tabletop systems, like Shadowrun, Dark Sun and D&D. Mostly 2nd edition D&D or 3.5 with the numbers filed off (aka kotor.) I know about Pathfinder and that's based on 3.5, right? A lot of the names and shit seem identical to D&D and mechanics look very similar to what I remember of Neverwinter Nights.

I guess I'm just curious what people on here actually like/play to have a good time. I already know tabletop is pozzed to shit in current woke year +infinity.

[ebin namefag]

What's everybodies favorite D&D song? Mine is BRAND NEW LOVE.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

The only good D&D song is the ending for Record of Lodoss War.

I know about Pathfinder and that's based on 3.5, right? A lot of the names and shit seem identical to D&D and mechanics look very similar to what I remember of Neverwinter Nights.

Pathfinder literally is 3.5 with a couple houserules added (at least the 1st edition the vidjas are based on; the second one is a bit more unique, but still recognizable), so it's no surprise you're getting flashbacks.

Boring basic comparison between PF and 3.5Show

The classes have been tweaked here and there, but nothing too dramatic. Some noteworthy examples include Wizards now having a d6 Hit Die, and Fighters specializing in entire weapon groups as they level up to gain passive hit & damage bonuses.

Combat-wise the biggest difference is that they added a version of the Attack Bonus and Armor Class for use with combat maneuvers (like tripping people), in an attempt to unify those maneuvers (they're still pretty yank).
They also changed a number of Feats, usually to the detriment of warrior-types. The most notorious is definitely Power Attack, which changed from a flexible penalty you could add to your hit roll in exchange for dealing more damage, to a toggleable hit/damage modifier that increased at a painfully slow rate (topping out at -5/+5 in endgame).
Speaking of detriments of warrior-types, the writers of Pathfinder also liked reminding people to not get their hopes up with cool Feat combos, as they're probably illegal. Because I guess doing a Power Attack and a Spring Attack (aka move-attack-move) at the same time would be too overpowered.

So what is everyone's favorite tabletop combat system, mechanically?

I'd say overall it'd be Mythras, aka The Roleplaying Game Formerly Known As RuneQuest 6th Edition.
It uses the klessik percentile system known from Call of Cthulhu and, well, RuneQuest, which is about as straightforward it it gets since your chances of success are right before your eyes. It then adds a lot of bells and whistles to flesh out combat and give The Riddle of Steel (the out-of-print medieval combat simulator) a run for its money. Just trying to deal damage is only half the fun, it's also about gaining combat effects to use to your advantage (aiming for specific body parts, tripping the opponent, temporarily preventing him from using his shield to opening him up for a follow-up attack...). Combat can end up pretty dynamic and cinematic as a result.
Mythras also as what is probably the most sensible approach to "weapon skills". Instead of having to put points in different weapon groups you just have actual combat styles. So instead of "Swords" and "Polearms" you might have the "Landsknecht style which lets you wield anything Landsknecht-related with the same proficiency (and unrelated stuff at a penalty depending on how unrelated it is).

For video-game-y weebshit stuff there's not much that can compare to Kamigakari (aka Urban Fantasy Animu Simulator Where You Beat Up Monsters In Pocket Dimensions, a genre sadly not quite as popular as isekai). It uses a 2d6 system that's pretty standard over in Nipponland - with a very cool addition: The Spirit Pool.
The Spirit Pool is a pool of pre-rolled dice that refill over time and can be used for all sorts os shit. Rolled too low on your check/attack? You might just make it after all if you can swap out one or both of your dice with higher ones from your pool. Rolled way more than you actually needed to succeed? It might be a good idea to replace a die or two with lower ones from your pool, to save up the higher ones for later.
Shit gets really wild during combat, since the Spirit Pool basically also doubles as your mana points. All but the more basic powers require you to spend at least one die from the pool. The stronger the power, the pickier the requirements. Maybe the power requires a die with an even value. Maybe it needs any doubles. Or it demands two 5s.
Since every character picks what are basically two different classes, you better watch out that those two classes have good synergy in the types of dice that they need for powers. Also everyone loves a good buffer whose entire shtick is messing around with the dice in the Spirit Pool.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Gen Con 2023 had a booth dedicated to Disney's upcoming CCG Lorcana (aka the next MTG Killer that will be forgotten in a couple months). Look at those fucking soybois


(Also notice the rich diversity of the average tabletopfag)