#ttrpg

Vaesen is a game that should be right up my alley, considering it's a #ttrpg based on European #folklore and set in the 19th century - i.e. the topic and time I am studying myself.

Alas, so far I have been unable to find the time to actually read it. But hey - if anyone wants to write a Germany sourcebook for it, I am available as an expert consultant. 😉

Most #dnd / fantasy #ttrpg settings out there seem to be vaguely based on Europe and European cultural assumptions.

However, most religious conflict in these settings seems to be based on conflicts between the followers of different gods. What I'd like to see more examples of is conflict between followers of the same god(s) who interpret their faiths differenty.

I mean, consider the conflict between Catholics and Lutherans in early modern Germany, which ultimately led to the Thirty Years's War - arguably the most traumatic war in the country's existence, eclipsing even the World Wars in many respects.

Such conflicts between different theological interpretations of the same faith have thus plenty of potential for conflict - and thus stories. However, you do need to make sure that the gods of your setting won't settle theological disputes directly...

It's fair to say that this sourcebook on the "Mwangi Expanse" - the "not-Africa" region of Golarion, the setting of the #Pathfinder #ttrpg - is much better than the portrayal in the previous edition of Pathfinder, which drew upon lots of unfortunate "Dark Continent" tropes (including "Apartheit-era not-South Africa").

What I particularly liked that each region had its own cultural narrative - a story that served as its "founding myth" of sorts. This not only served as a cool bit of flavor, but also distinguished it from the more "conventional" regions north of the Inner Sea.

When the German licensees of the #Shadowrun #ttrpg developed their regional expansions for Germany, they tried to cram as much stuff as possible within the comparably small region of Germany.

And this included an entire nuclear wasteland...

Another one in the category "Weird #TTRPG That Time Forgot", Nephilim was a game where the player characters were reincarnations of supernatural creatures reborn in the modern world - though with a rather weirder basic concept than the "World of Darkness" games.

Who else has this #ttrpg , and who bas played it?

Not the easiest work to read, but very useful if you want to leave some Eurocentric thinking behind.

#ttrpg / #StarWars fans: Read about its central concept of "teotl" if you want to add some coherent philosophical underpinnings to "The Force" of Star Wars!

I bought Weapon of the Gods based on the recommendation of a friend, but I never really read it, and it doesn't seem to have had much staying power in the #ttrpg fandom - or at least, I haven't heard anyone talk about it in years.

Does anyone remember it, and has actually played it?

One of my long-running aspirations is to design a (#dnd -style) #fantasy #ttrpg setting that features truly vast cities, of a size comparable to modern-day major metropolitan areas.

As a result, I've accumulated a number of books that try to examine the structure and layout of cities - what makes a modern city a city, instead of just focusing on any single town. This particular book offers layout views of streets and buildings of major cities - without labeling them - so that readers can get a feel for their structure instead of getting bogged down in the details.

While I haven't bought it, I am curious - how did the latest incarnation of #Planescape deal with the Factions?

#dnd #ttrpg

I'm not sure if I will ever be a friend of diceless #ttrpg , but reading Nobilis was an experience that was as fascinating as it was trippy. In either case, time well spent!

If I had to choose, I'd say that #Eberron is my favorite #DnD setting. The world is simply well designed from the ground up, and not just an agglomeration of tropes. I also like that you can fit pretty much any D&D element into the setting if you put a little thought into it.

And I really like Keith Baker's attitude when it comes to character concepts: "What do these game mechanics mean for your character? How do you interpret this class/subclass/race for your game and this individual person?" This is as it should be. #ttrpg

Most #Steampunk #ttrpg settings have the problem that they tend to gloss over the evils of Imperialism and Colonialism. #CastleFalkenstein fares better than most, since it portrays Imperialism as something that ought to be opposed more often than not. It is perhaps unfortunate that the point-of-view protagonist is a white male 20th century American, but it should not be too hard to include other characters.

Still, I don't particularly care for the Castle Falkenstein rules systems, and I'm not sure what I'd use it instead. Yes, there was a #GURPS version published for it (which I recommend as a generic "World Guide" even if you don't use the rules, as well as the supplement Castle Falkenstein - The Ottoman Empire), but they'd need to be updated for 4E...

#TranshumanSpace was one of the few times Steve Jackson Games attempted to support an entire line focusing on an original #ttrpg setting for #GURPS , and it's still far away my favorite. And while it has its dark sides, it is also one of the more optimistic near-future settings out there - it portrays humanity largely being able to tackle their own problems.

Alas, I fear we are currently heading for a darker timeline. Still, it would be interesting to revisit this setting, and compare and contrast where we stand now vs. what the setting portrayed where we are going.

While Space: 1889 always had a tendency to gloss over the evils of Imperialism and Colonialism, this edition had the additional bad idea of having the Confederacy surviving the Civil War.

That trope really needs to die. #Space1889 #ttrpg

I frequently fantasize about a fantasy #ttrpg setting based on both German #folklore and the history of Germany, ca. 1600 AD.

Thus, when I came across this magazine in the Oldenburg train station while waiting for a late train, I knew that this was great research material!