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.

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.

This is fucking cool.

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?

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

I am a real, semi-functional human.

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.

Happy fediversary! Thanks for letting us join in!

Of the responses so far, this one brought me the most joy.

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

I wanted to circle back and thank you for recommending the Motif system to me. I read most of the core book and the world generator book. It does strike me as streamlined but robust. I pitched both Motif and Mythic to my friends for our Traveller game, and they decided to give Mythic a try first, since that's what we were initially leaning towards.

Instead of the Traveller game then, I am going to try to use Motif on a solo Star Trek Adventures game I've been wanting to try when I have time. That way I'll get a feel for it. Just wanted to say things for sharing.

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.

Dang, somebody gave $2,500 (and ten cents) towards that bundle.

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

I think they look great but I would have a problem with the variable length. If my DM gives me magic item cards, I will for sure buy a binder with card sleeve pages to put those cards in (no matter if they are cards or just paper). Having the variable length would keep me from doing that. I would prefer the text be variable font size with the card sized fixed to the standard 3 1/2" x 2 1/2".

Edit: I thought more about this and, if the main feature of your design is the variable length, maybe make that more obvious in the title/description. While it might not be to my liking, others may love it. Also consider adding some example 11" x 8 1/2" pages showing the layout you're going for using these cards. Marketing is (almost) everything.