Episode 1

RfP #001 - Exploring New TTRPG Systems

Published on: 1st July, 2024

This week on "Role for Percepticast," we delve into the rich and diverse world of tabletop roleplaying games beyond the classics of Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. While we still enjoy the adventures of Pathfinder 2E, we've ventured into new realms and discovered a plethora of exciting TTRPG systems that offer unique and captivating experiences.

In This Episode:

  • Why Branch Out?: We discuss the benefits of exploring different TTRPG systems and how they can enhance your gaming experience.
  • Hidden Gems: Learn about some lesser-known but incredibly enjoyable TTRPGs that we've come across in our journey.
  • Comparative Insights: Hear our thoughts on how these new systems stack up against the tried-and-true classics.
  • Personal Experiences: We share our personal stories and experiences with these new games, including the challenges and triumphs we've encountered along the way.

Whether you're a seasoned player looking to diversify your gaming portfolio or a newcomer seeking alternatives to the mainstream, this episode is packed with insights and recommendations that will inspire you to explore the vast landscape of TTRPGs. Join us as we uncover the hidden treasures that await beyond the familiar shores of D&D and Pathfinder.

Tune in and discover why stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to some of the most rewarding adventures in tabletop gaming!

You can find us on the web at:


Transcript
Terry:

You're listening to Roll for Percepticast.

Terry:

This is episode one, exploring new TTRPG systems.

Terry:

It's time once again to roll for Percepticast.

Terry:

I am Terry, your forever GM and lover of all things role play.

Evelyn:

And I'm Evelyn, role player, GM, and unrepentant dice goblin.

Terry:

Join us as we roll our dice and

Evelyn:

talk in strange voices

Terry:

and bring to you our excitement and joy for all things tabletop role playing.

Terry:

Today, we'll be chatting about all sorts of reasons to dip your fingers into

Terry:

the vast world of TTRPGs that doesn't include basements and giant lizards.

Evelyn:

No dinosaurs.

Evelyn:

Now it's time to get lost in the plethora of TTRPGs.

Terry:

Oh, yeah, well, I'm excited to, this is our official episode one.

Terry:

We've done our episode, our, our episode session zero, where we shared with

Terry:

people, uh, lots of stuff about us.

Terry:

But today we are talking about exploring new TTRPG systems and I'm

Terry:

super excited to talk about this.

Terry:

So first off, why is this our first part top first topic?

Terry:

Well, Partially because I've fallen in love with TTRPGs far and wide.

Terry:

Mm hmm.

Terry:

Um, there are so many different systems out there that I

Terry:

didn't know when I started.

Terry:

I, I was clueless.

Terry:

I, you know, I fell into the trap that everybody does and just

Terry:

thought D& D was what TTRPGs were.

Evelyn:

Yeah, I mean, it's because it's what everyone talks about, you know.

Evelyn:

Even with the with the rise of the streams and the even the stranger things focus on

Evelyn:

D& D there has been definitely a Dungeons Dragons Renaissance, I would say in the

Evelyn:

past several years and so a lot of people who are Coming into the TTRPG world.

Evelyn:

Now they go into, um, you know, a game store maybe to check out something and

Evelyn:

there are people playing and they're most likely playing Dungeons and

Evelyn:

Dragons because that's kind of what's getting a lot of the love right now.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

It's, you know, um, which, which is good in the sense that we're

Terry:

getting lots of players out there.

Terry:

I think that's fantastic.

Terry:

But one of the things that, that our hope is obviously with this podcast

Terry:

is to kind of expand on that and let people understand that there are other

Terry:

games out there that are just as cool, that may fit your style better because

Terry:

that's one of those things, right?

Terry:

Because.

Terry:

You may get people who go in and play Dungeons and Dragons and it's

Terry:

not their thing and they think well I'm really not a TTRPG player then.

Terry:

Mm hmm,

Terry:

but that's not true.

Terry:

What they are is they haven't found the TTRPG That's right for them.

Terry:

Now when we when we talked in our session zero We know I started

Terry:

with D& D 5e and then D& D 3.

Terry:

5e slash Pathfinder 1e and those were great starting

Terry:

points You You started with 3.

Terry:

5?

Evelyn:

3.

Evelyn:

5, yeah, and it was actually shortly after it had originally come out,

Evelyn:

was when, when I started playing 3.

Evelyn:

5, um, Pathfinder wasn't even on my radar at that point.

Evelyn:

Um, I don't know how long it had been after 3.

Evelyn:

5e that Pathfinder 1 actually came out, I'd have to look at my history

Evelyn:

of, of TTRPG's notes, but um, Yeah.

Evelyn:

It's the early 2000s.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

I mean.

Evelyn:

It was, it was shortly afterward.

Evelyn:

I just don't remember exactly when.

Evelyn:

So that one wasn't one.

Evelyn:

And when I first started in the other group that I had joined, you know, in

Evelyn:

later on in 2017 when we were playing Pathfinder, I was like, Oh, we had,

Evelyn:

you know, cause there was mention of Dungeons and Dragons when we were

Evelyn:

first getting that group together.

Evelyn:

And I was like, Pathfinder, what's Pathfinder?

Evelyn:

I thought we were playing Dungeons and Dragons, you know, so Even that was

Evelyn:

a little more obscure to me now like Pathfinder starting to get a little more

Evelyn:

loved now too because you know There's definitely a lot more people Streaming it

Evelyn:

and Paizo is being very smart in the way.

Evelyn:

They're doing a lot of the things that they're doing Um, so, you know, there is

Evelyn:

that, but there are so many other systems.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

And, and we're going to dive pretty deep in that today, but we, you know,

Terry:

we do have to, we have to say that, and, and this is my feeling, right?

Terry:

Right.

Terry:

That without D and D, the.

Terry:

Rise of all these other systems may not have occurred quite so quickly or even

Terry:

at all in some instances, because my feeling, and this is, this is just me.

Terry:

DND is popular for a reason, but at the same point, there are enough people

Terry:

out there who want other things from a TTRPG, but learned on DND, which then

Terry:

they said, okay, I need to adjust this.

Terry:

I need to change it.

Terry:

I need to make it more.

Terry:

Like what I want.

Evelyn:

Yes less math.

Terry:

Yeah Definitely less math.

Terry:

And so but but but we you know You're not gonna hear us necessarily talk

Terry:

bad about D& D or talk bad about Pathfinder They I mean we both still

Terry:

play Pathfinder in some of the games we play Neither of us play D& D currently.

Terry:

I will be honest As a player and as a GM, I will probably never play D& D again.

Terry:

I've had folks ask me if I'd be interested in their games.

Terry:

And I've, I hate to say it.

Terry:

I've, I've said, no, it doesn't interest me.

Terry:

Um, it is not a system that I enjoy.

Terry:

But it works for a lot of people.

Evelyn:

It's never any negative to the people who enjoy 5E, or you know,

Evelyn:

any of the other versions of D& D.

Evelyn:

Cause there's folks who, who even still play 1E and 2E.

Evelyn:

Um, and that, enjoy it that way.

Evelyn:

Um, it's, you know, it's just, it's fun.

Evelyn:

What games fit you and what ones don't, you know, and, and like, I've played

Evelyn:

in a couple of one shots of 5e games.

Evelyn:

Um, it's definitely a different style.

Evelyn:

Um, it feels a little more restrictive than I like.

Evelyn:

Um, but that's just my personal preference.

Evelyn:

Um, and I have had fun playing in those games.

Evelyn:

Because of the people I was playing with.

Evelyn:

I mean, and that's really what came down for me, even though I don't necessarily

Evelyn:

enjoy the system, enjoying the company was a big part of it that that brought

Evelyn:

me into more of the enjoyment side of it.

Evelyn:

So I've, you know, I've never minded doing a one shot here or there.

Evelyn:

Um, I don't know that I could play a full campaign though.

Evelyn:

Just personal preference.

Terry:

Right?

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Full campaign would be, I think it'd be tough for me too.

Terry:

But we did, you know, we did want to mention those big kind of.

Terry:

Companies that are out there now, what, let's, let's talk a little bit about what

Terry:

the appeal of those popular systems are.

Terry:

And I think the first one we run into is familiarity, right?

Evelyn:

And accessibility.

Evelyn:

Right.

Terry:

Um, so, you know, we talk about a lot of people start with the ND and then

Terry:

they just kind of stay with it, right?

Terry:

Uh, D and D has been around a long time, like it's comfortable,

Evelyn:

you know, it's like, it's like your favorite sweater.

Evelyn:

Like you got it, you wear it in and then you stick with it.

Evelyn:

Cause it's, it's cozy.

Terry:

Yeah, no, that's, that is exactly it.

Terry:

And so, uh, and there's a nostalgia, right?

Terry:

Especially for older players who may have played when they were young, right?

Terry:

There's this nostalgia of wanting to relive their youth,

Evelyn:

which.

Evelyn:

Well, and I think that's part of the reason why I'm still so fond of 1e

Evelyn:

Pathfinder because it's so similar to 3.

Evelyn:

5 D& D and that's where I started.

Evelyn:

And so like, it feels like the coming home sort of thing because it's,

Evelyn:

you know, that's where you started.

Evelyn:

That's, that's where you first got your feet wet.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

And of course, those companies can put in a lot more advertising.

Evelyn:

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Evelyn:

Because, you know, they have, you know, They have the, you know, base

Evelyn:

numbers just from the fact that, you know, Paizo branched off from the

Evelyn:

original, you know, and the Erechmonas and, and those folks who, you know,

Evelyn:

had been part of Dungeons and Dragons before they moved on to create Paizo.

Evelyn:

So, you know, they had the fan base with them of the people

Evelyn:

who loved what they were doing.

Evelyn:

And so they were able to, you know, take that on.

Evelyn:

And of course, you know, Dungeons and Dragons has been around since the 70s.

Evelyn:

And so, um, they've got the, they've got the, the, the dads who brought their

Evelyn:

kids in, who brought their kids in now, because, you know, we're talking about

Evelyn:

three generations, basically at this point of playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Evelyn:

And It's it sort of became a a family activity in a lot of ways And so there's

Evelyn:

that that part of it too is like some for some folks You know those those

Evelyn:

long standing games are how they connect and spend time with our families,

Terry:

right?

Terry:

and then of course you've got the the the

Terry:

The celebrities that make it popular right?

Terry:

I mean you've got critical.

Terry:

I mean

Evelyn:

Matt Mercer, uh, and then you have Dimension 20 with, you know,

Evelyn:

Brennan Lee Mulligan, and you have Bria Iyengar, and you know, those, uh,

Evelyn:

major, uh, DMs on that side of things.

Terry:

And, and that raises the popularity, which, which is great.

Terry:

I mean, it is another piece to the puzzle to keep TTRPGs in the landscape.

Terry:

Now, Critical Role has moved away from D& D.

Terry:

They were playing.

Evelyn:

Well, so their main campaigns are still Dungeons and Dragons.

Evelyn:

They actually started in Pathfinder before they started streaming, which

Evelyn:

they converted a bunch of stuff into D& D 5e to be a little less

Evelyn:

crunchy for streaming purposes.

Evelyn:

Um, but they, they've actually started creating some of their own

Evelyn:

PTRPGs that are not necessarily their mainstream, but they have been doing

Evelyn:

some little, uh, mini campaigns.

Terry:

Daggerheart.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

And.

Evelyn:

Candela Obscura.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Daggerheart's the big one.

Terry:

I think that's the most recent one, right?

Evelyn:

Uh huh.

Evelyn:

And they, I thought they did one other one, but I can't remember now.

Terry:

Well, I know they did, didn't they do a world setting for D& D?

Terry:

And I can't remember.

Terry:

Again.

Terry:

I mean,

Evelyn:

they've, they, I mean.

Evelyn:

Matt and like some of the other folks that work with Critical Role have put

Evelyn:

out some books specific to the world that he's created using the D& D rule

Evelyn:

set because they play in his world that he built But they use the 5e.

Terry:

Yeah, now if you're listening to your Critical Role fans understand I

Terry:

I've never watched any of their stuff.

Terry:

I

Evelyn:

have watched a lot of their stuff.

Terry:

And so, so my information obviously is very limited.

Terry:

Um, it's, uh, you know, uh, uh, they, they had the cartoon too, right?

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

The Legend of Vox Machina, which was based on their first campaign.

Terry:

And I mean, I've never seen that too.

Terry:

So please don't, don't, uh, burn me to the ground.

Terry:

Uh, if you're a huge Critical Role fan.

Terry:

Um, I, I do like Dimension 20.

Terry:

Uh, I, I haven't listened to a lot of their stuff, but it's interesting to

Terry:

me, the characters that are created are interesting, but a lot of my,

Terry:

the stuff I tend to listen to are, are more, you know, lesser known.

Terry:

And so, you know, for me, and maybe that's why I'm not as much as a D and D fan.

Evelyn:

Well, and you have to consider the, on the other side of the, of the

Evelyn:

two popular ones, you've got like the.

Evelyn:

Glass cannon podcast.

Evelyn:

You've got um, what is it role for combat for

Terry:

combat?

Evelyn:

Um, those are two major Um groups that I think piezo sponsors in question.

Evelyn:

I don't know if

Terry:

they they they might they might yeah

Evelyn:

but like so they're kind of those podcasts are a big reason I think

Evelyn:

Pathfinder actual plays are starting to pick up in popularity as well.

Evelyn:

So yeah on the other side of things I think I think what critical role did You

Evelyn:

Within the Like time period that they started streaming became its own like

Evelyn:

cultural zeitgeist for tabletop RPGs that has brought people in to come back to

Evelyn:

Tabletop role playing where they might have not been as like willing to try

Evelyn:

necessarily before because you know At least when I was a teenager it was viewed

Evelyn:

as uncool to play in tabletop RPGs And so like, you know, a lot of people were like

Evelyn:

nervous of being perceived a certain way,

Evelyn:

right?

Evelyn:

and so like Now you have all these really cool like sexy Hollywood

Evelyn:

actors who are like playing Dungeons and Dragons and everybody's like, okay

Evelyn:

Well, if they can do it, so can we?

Evelyn:

so like, you know, I think Part of that is the reason why a lot of people have kind

Evelyn:

of, and I, I know for a fact even that some people even were commenting, um, way

Evelyn:

back when campaign one was going on, it was like, hey guys, you're the reason I

Evelyn:

started getting into Dungeons and Dragons and stuff, I didn't know that this was

Evelyn:

as cool as it was or whatever, and so, like, I think what they have done for the

Evelyn:

tabletop landscape in general has been, you know, they at least kind of, sort of,

Evelyn:

We're the catalyst for people starting to explore not just Dungeons and Dragons

Evelyn:

but all these other tabletop role playing games and like seeing all of the various

Evelyn:

things and you know sending people into a full on like dive into the main games

Evelyn:

but also all these really cool indie games that are out there and a lot of you know

Evelyn:

indie publishers have started putting out more because that that That, um, there's

Evelyn:

the demand for it now that there wasn't, you know, uh, even a decade ago, really.

Terry:

And so, um, some of the other advantages of these popular systems are

Terry:

things like accessibility, which you mentioned earlier, resources, community

Terry:

of familiar familiarity for new players.

Terry:

Uh, you know, just, just talking Paizo since, since I'm a pathfinder lover of

Terry:

sorts, I mean, we still have the Paisa subscription for the PF2E core rule

Terry:

books, the Lost Omens line, the Adventure Paths, and the standalone adventures.

Terry:

And we get something every month from them.

Terry:

They keep putting out stuff and having that availability is fantastic.

Terry:

I mean, you look at our bookcase right now.

Terry:

Our bookcase is majority Pathfinder because of the amount

Terry:

of stuff that they put out.

Terry:

And this is, this is great for those that follow that system.

Terry:

Go ahead.

Terry:

I

Evelyn:

was going to say, and they also, they're smart about the way

Evelyn:

they create their adventure paths.

Evelyn:

They put out something for everybody, regardless of who you are, what

Evelyn:

your background is, whatever.

Evelyn:

Paizo has been really smart about, you know, putting out the things that are

Evelyn:

approachable for Anybody who wants to I mean, you know at the same time, you know,

Evelyn:

if you're not a big high fantasy fan It's not gonna really be your cup of tea, but

Evelyn:

for the people who are in there they can find characters that feel familiar that

Evelyn:

feel like You know something that they might be able to find some commonality

Evelyn:

with And then, and then they, they know what their, their, uh, fan base likes.

Evelyn:

They brought back Sandpoint because Sandpoint is awesome.

Evelyn:

Um, and so like, you know, they, they ha they, they, they are paying attention.

Terry:

Right.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

And, um, Uh, then, you know, you add on to that, that the community is so large

Terry:

it's easier to find groups for, right?

Terry:

Oh,

Evelyn:

absolutely.

Terry:

Uh, if, you know, if you check out start playing.org, and

Terry:

for anybody that's looking for paid dms, that's, that's the place to go.

Terry:

But I was, uh, I sat there the other day and in just the hours of

:

00 AM to 12:00 PM on a Sunday, there were 70 open campaigns.

:

On start plane.

:

And that doesn't include campaigns that are full on start playing.

:

Those are just the ones that have openings and that's huge.

:

And then I, I just did a cursory check of several of the smaller ones

:

that I know of, uh, that we have books for, and it was like two or

:

three or maybe five open campaigns.

:

It was very small.

:

And so being able to find a game, you know, that with the larger.

:

You know the larger systems out there.

:

It's gonna be super easy,

Evelyn:

right?

Evelyn:

Yeah, absolutely Well, and like no matter what game shop you're you go

Evelyn:

into right you're gonna find Dungeons and Dragons What you might find a

Evelyn:

little bit of Pathfinder Some of them are you know have more or less but

Evelyn:

you can go into a bars and noble and pick up Dungeons and Dragons Yes,

Evelyn:

you

Evelyn:

can Like so, you know, you don't even have to be in a in a game store

Evelyn:

specifically to find Dungeons and Dragons book Yeah Um, I know that they, like,

Evelyn:

they sell the starter box for Dungeons Dragons at Target and Walmart, you know,

Evelyn:

like, so, like, you can, if you want to get started in, in D& D specifically,

Evelyn:

you can basically go anywhere and find what you need to get started.

Evelyn:

Um, So, you know it's there and so that that's why so many people

Evelyn:

can just jump right in Yeah,

Terry:

and then and then they have the money for things like

Terry:

modules like pre builds for roll 20

Evelyn:

foundry

Terry:

D& D has D& D beyond Path builder for Pathfinder 2e

Evelyn:

and they're working on their

Terry:

oh, it's called Something similar to D& D Beyond.

Terry:

It's

Evelyn:

Nexus.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Yeah, and although Nexus if I remember correctly Now is

Terry:

building for multiple other games.

Terry:

Oh very nice Uh, uh, Pathfinder, which, you know, I think is both good and bad.

Terry:

I mean, a demiplane, that's what it is.

Terry:

Um,

Evelyn:

it's Pathfinder Nexus is

Terry:

what that's okay.

Terry:

But yeah, demiplane, uh, they've got Daggerheart in their alien RPG, Avatar,

Terry:

Vampire, the Masquerade, Marvel, Candela Obscura, and then Starfinder 2E.

Evelyn:

And that's specifically for like character management stuff.

Evelyn:

Yes.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

It's not something, obviously, because I don't.

Terry:

I don't fully, you know, can't fully talk about it because I don't use it.

Evelyn:

Alchemy.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Well, that's, it's adding Pathfinder and I am, is Dungeons and Dragons in?

Evelyn:

Oh yeah, yeah.

Evelyn:

I thought it was, I thought it was.

Evelyn:

Um, but yeah.

Evelyn:

Because it's the biggest one, of course.

Evelyn:

Um, but yeah.

Evelyn:

So there's lots of, lots of places you can use for, you know, And I think that's one

Evelyn:

of the huge things right now, too, is all the technology and we can talk about this

Evelyn:

forever in its own podcast episode, but like all the technology that's available

Evelyn:

now makes it so much more approachable because you get a group of friends

Evelyn:

together who's never played and someone of you is like, I want to be the DM.

Evelyn:

Let's go just play and we can get online and we can just

Evelyn:

run this game, you know, so

Terry:

and and I gotta admit, uh, uh, Paisos done it well, Very

Terry:

well, the Foundry modules that Paizo puts together are awesome.

Terry:

They make it so easy to run a session.

Terry:

Like, I mean, like I said, when I was running those 10 sessions a

Terry:

week, all of them were on Foundry and it was, it was so easy.

Terry:

Pop it up, play, go, and, and It has all

Evelyn:

your notes in there and everything's linked together.

Terry:

It's so good.

Terry:

But that takes money, right?

Terry:

Paizo has the money for that.

Terry:

Wotsi has the money for that.

Terry:

Yes, I called him Wotsi.

Terry:

Okay.

Terry:

Uh, so, you know, it, it is what it is.

Terry:

Now, obviously there are then limitations of sticking to these popular systems.

Terry:

Um, the, the, the first one, and, and I'm going to kind of go out of order in

Terry:

our notes here, because I want to talk about, cause it hit me is system fatigue.

Terry:

Oh, absolutely.

Terry:

And the burnout or feeling boxed in creatively, that is running

Terry:

the same thing over and over.

Terry:

Like I said, I was doing 10 games a week.

Terry:

Of Pathfinder 2e 2e and when you're running it that much.

Terry:

The same thing over and over there's burnout, even, I mean, right now, I,

Terry:

at one point I was just running, um, the four games a week now I'm down to,

Terry:

I'm officially running four, right?

Terry:

So Monday or Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and

Evelyn:

Monday is a pathfinder though.

Terry:

I, you're right.

Terry:

You're right.

Terry:

So it's Sunday, Wednesday, Friday.

Terry:

So I'm down to three, right?

Terry:

That are pathfinder pathfinder.

Terry:

I'm running other games, just not have finder.

Terry:

And so.

Terry:

I'm, you know, I'm thrilled that I'm still doing it, those

Terry:

games, but burnout was real.

Terry:

And because we dropped Monday night from Pathfinder to a different system,

Terry:

because I just needed a different system.

Terry:

Tuesday night was paused because I needed a different system.

Terry:

And that's the one we're going to be recording Vaseon on and

Terry:

a couple others as we go on.

Terry:

Very

Evelyn:

excited.

Terry:

And so burnout can be real.

Terry:

And.

Terry:

You know that is an issue of playing the same thing over and over

Evelyn:

and player burnout is a thing You like, you know, you can you can play in

Evelyn:

the in the same system over and over again You know even in a single campaign and

Evelyn:

just start to feel burned out from it, you know especially I love, I love Pathfinder

Evelyn:

2E, but Abomination Vaults, I was feeling so burned out because it's just combat

Evelyn:

after combat after combat after combat.

Evelyn:

And you know, some people, that's what they love.

Evelyn:

That's not me.

Evelyn:

I know.

Evelyn:

And like, cause I needed more like downtime to have a break

Evelyn:

and do some roleplay, you know, and it just, it wasn't there.

Evelyn:

And so, you know, when you have.

Evelyn:

Very, and, and there was moments in Outlaws of Alconstar that we were feeling

Evelyn:

that too, where it just, you feel so burned out because you're having so

Evelyn:

many combats after combats and you just want some down time to sit and talk

Evelyn:

with your friends around, you know, the table at the tavern, you know.

Terry:

And Bloodlords, I think, is allowing that more for that

Terry:

sort of Wednesday night game.

Terry:

Oh, absolutely,

Evelyn:

yeah.

Evelyn:

Because, I mean, Bloodlords is very much a role play style.

Evelyn:

Oh, yeah.

Evelyn:

It's, I mean, because it's such a, like, a diplomacy based

Evelyn:

sort of intrigue, um, you know.

Evelyn:

You're working your way to the top.

Evelyn:

So you got to convince everybody that you're totally, totally,

Evelyn:

uh, reliable and trustworthy

Terry:

or not trustworthy because it's blood Lords.

Terry:

It's it's, you know, if you like evil, that's honor

Evelyn:

among bad guys.

Terry:

And so, and so you got burnout, um, create creativity

Terry:

and innovation, popular systems.

Terry:

Can limit that a little bit.

Terry:

And what I mean by that is they have their dice rolls.

Terry:

Well, and that's the other big thing.

Terry:

Both of these are big D twenties now.

Terry:

Okay.

Terry:

I'm not gonna, I'm not going to get into the whole homebrew

Terry:

discussion for D and D because it's a whole, that's another podcast.

Terry:

We'll talk about that at some other time.

Terry:

Um, my feeling is, is that the rules are there for a reason.

Terry:

Yes, you can bypass them, but, you know, I like, if, if rules

Terry:

are there, I like to use them.

Evelyn:

Right.

Evelyn:

Well, and like, I don't want to have to rewrite a game that's already written.

Evelyn:

Like, I'd rather find a different game that works within what I'm looking for

Evelyn:

than trying to rewrite an existing game.

Terry:

And when you look at these, they're very much based on d20 roles,

Terry:

uh, that allow you to do things.

Terry:

One of the things that really annoys me, a good example is Pathfinder 2e.

Terry:

Is rolling for lockpicking if you have the time, then why, and

Terry:

you're, you're supposedly an expert at lockpicking, why do you need

Terry:

to roll for it is you just do it?

Terry:

And there are some other systems that we have that, that are like that.

Terry:

That you're an expert you have the time.

Terry:

There's nobody actively attacking you You don't need to

Terry:

roll to try and pick the lock.

Terry:

You just pick the lock.

Evelyn:

Yeah

Terry:

there You know, there's a lot of those types of things I remember

Terry:

and I'm gonna go back to extinction curse and the door the door The

Terry:

door

Terry:

the party was trying to get into this.

Terry:

It was one of the Wagon wagon houses.

Terry:

Yeah things

Evelyn:

for the circus Circus

Terry:

And they had, they, they were trying to get in, didn't have the key.

Terry:

And so they were trying to break down the door.

Terry:

And in the rules, it says It's funny that the

Evelyn:

sorcerer ended up being the one that got the door open.

Evelyn:

Okay, we'll get to that.

Evelyn:

And so in

Terry:

this, it says, you know, that they have to meet this thing

Terry:

to be able to get the door down.

Terry:

And we have a barbarian.

Evelyn:

It was a

Terry:

fighter.

Terry:

Was she a fighter?

Terry:

He was a fighter.

Evelyn:

He didn't rage.

Evelyn:

He just got frustrated.

Terry:

She did rage that day.

Terry:

We had a fight.

Terry:

Just not mechanically.

Terry:

She could not get the roll down, but there's nobody attacking the groove.

Terry:

There's nothing happening.

Terry:

Why am I making her roll to break the door down?

Terry:

It's in the adventure path.

Terry:

It says what I should do, what I'm supposed to do.

Terry:

And I tend to follow those.

Terry:

Yes.

Terry:

Could I have just ignored it?

Terry:

Yes, I could have.

Terry:

And.

Terry:

You know, as I've played more, I'm a little more loosey goosey, but my feeling

Terry:

is if the, if the players are playing a certain system, they know the rules too.

Evelyn:

Right.

Terry:

So if I'm going to be loosey goosey with that, then they're going to want me

Terry:

to be loosey goosey with another thing and then another thing and another thing.

Terry:

And then you get to the situation, which I've seen in D& D.

Terry:

Where somebody, a GM made a ruling on one thing here, one way and then

Terry:

the same thing happened but he made a different ruling and you're like,

Terry:

wait, so why did they get that treatment and I get this treatment?

Evelyn:

Because there's always someone at the table that remembers

Evelyn:

exactly how something went.

Evelyn:

Exactly,

Terry:

exactly.

Terry:

Um, so yeah, so it, I feel like sometimes those games, Do stifle a little bit,

Terry:

your creativity, your innovation, your ability to create things.

Terry:

So let's look at the other TTRPG systems that are available to us out there.

Terry:

Now we are not going to be exhaustive right now.

Terry:

And right now we're talking about.

Terry:

Full systems.

Terry:

And the reason I say that is there's lots of individual games

Terry:

that might have their own system.

Terry:

A good example is the one we're doing on Monday night break RPG.

Terry:

That has its own system.

Terry:

We're not talking about that today.

Terry:

What we're talking about are systems that are maybe used by several

Terry:

different games or they're hacked into several different games.

Terry:

So the first, the, the, the.

Terry:

First that was big to me is powered by the apocalypse, right?

Terry:

Which is based on, is it the apocalypse

Evelyn:

or

Terry:

apocalypse?

Terry:

Something

Evelyn:

like that.

Evelyn:

I can't remember.

Evelyn:

I can't remember the name of the base game.

Terry:

It's it's a, it's a, it's apocalypse something.

Evelyn:

Is apocalypse keys.

Evelyn:

Is that, that, that one?

Terry:

No, no, no, no.

Terry:

Um, it's, uh, apocalypse world.

Terry:

I knew it was apocalypse something.

Terry:

Uh, and so these are games that all kind of use that base system.

Evelyn:

Which is.

Evelyn:

Punch was a week there.

Evelyn:

She sort of lesbians roll by girl by midnight

Terry:

root RPG I mean, there's there's magpie games has a lot of

Evelyn:

them Evil hat is primarily powered by the apocalypse.

Evelyn:

So anything that they put out so it's like masks.

Evelyn:

I think is one So they have I mean they've got a whole bunch that are

Evelyn:

that are powered by the apocalypse

Terry:

And it's a 2d6 system.

Terry:

And it's, I mean, it's a cool system.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

It definitely simplifies a lot of things.

Evelyn:

You don't get XP in the same way.

Evelyn:

Um, you get XP for failures.

Evelyn:

And then if you.

Evelyn:

You know, learn certain things from your, um, experiences, and you, you don't really

Evelyn:

roll to attack, you just say what you're gonna do, and then you, um, roll for,

Evelyn:

like, to see if it's a success, basically.

Evelyn:

Right.

Evelyn:

And then your weapon does however much damage the weapon is

Evelyn:

marked you so you don't roll for damage And the GM doesn't roll.

Evelyn:

No, it doesn't

Terry:

roll in in this guy.

Terry:

What if you're a GM who hates rolling dice?

Terry:

Okay, that's a weird statement to me.

Terry:

I

Evelyn:

mean just let your players do all the math.

Evelyn:

That's that's what powered by the apocalypse is Yes, no math players all

Evelyn:

the math and it's I mean, it's not that much math No, it's just adding their

Evelyn:

their modifiers to to the 2d6 rules.

Evelyn:

So

Terry:

And, and I, I'm a big fan of the root RPG game.

Terry:

We ran, um, kind of a friendly game of it at a coffee shop.

Terry:

Uh, it is in a town that we were living in for a little bit and it had a lot of fun.

Terry:

It does take some rewrapping of your brain around it to fully comprehend

Terry:

how to use it in the best manner.

Evelyn:

Well, especially if you're, if you're coming from a D20.

Evelyn:

System

Terry:

right

Evelyn:

he's just getting the oh, I don't have to roll the attack.

Evelyn:

Oh, I don't have to roll for damage Oh, I don't have to roll to try to do this thing

Evelyn:

I just if I succeed at it and at varying degrees of success or failure you know

Evelyn:

and so it's it's it's it does take some like Re reconnecting those wires after,

Evelyn:

you know, having played, you know, the standard D 20 plus the other polyhedrals.

Terry:

Oh my gosh.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Uh, so the next one up that I've got in here is fate and fate core

Terry:

is, it really is just a system, um, It's one that I bought a little

Terry:

bit ago, didn't, wasn't able to get right into reading it right away.

Terry:

I'm still in the process of reading it now, but I have started, um,

Terry:

purchased a second book with a bunch of scenarios in it, but it really is

Terry:

about the group that you're a part of and the adventures that you get into.

Terry:

It is much more rules light than many of the games that I've seen, but it has

Terry:

the ability to be anything for anyone.

Terry:

Um, it's one that I'm still reading.

Terry:

I haven't run a game of it yet.

Terry:

Hoping to in the future, uh, we'll have to kind of wait and see that's the

Terry:

same with forged in the dark, which is based off of blades in the dark, right?

Terry:

Uh, which now we have a, we purchased a couple more that are forged in the dark.

Terry:

Um, uh, it's the space one, uh, scum and villainy, uh, and then band of something.

Terry:

I can't think of it.

Terry:

It's over on our bookshelf.

Terry:

Uh, but we've got a couple of the forged band of blades, band of

Terry:

blades, uh, a couple of ones that, uh, I'm going to kind of be reading

Terry:

and I'm, I like blades in the dark.

Terry:

That was a cool one.

Terry:

You're literally playing bad guys.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Which is cool.

Terry:

So

Evelyn:

it's just bloodlords, but like assassiny more?

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

I mean, to a certain extent.

Terry:

And you've got your Borgs, your Morks, uh.

Terry:

Mork

Evelyn:

Borg, Pirate Borg.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Uh.

Terry:

Which, which I have not.

Terry:

There's the

Evelyn:

Space Borg, I think is what it's called.

Evelyn:

Yeah, I'll

Terry:

be honest, I have not read any of those.

Evelyn:

But they look cool.

Terry:

And I've heard Mork Borg is very deadly.

Terry:

Yeah, oh yeah.

Terry:

You expect your character to die.

Evelyn:

Oh, make sure you have lots of backups.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Uh, you've got your year zero, which is based off a mutant year zero.

Evelyn:

And then that's also Coriolis and alien,

Terry:

alien RPG.

Evelyn:

And I think

Terry:

is vase and vase and has to be too then.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

And I think, um, the one ring is that, is that the, I think that's the same.

Evelyn:

Cause it's.

Evelyn:

I think they, the, so that's published by, um,

Terry:

That's Free League.

Evelyn:

Free League, and I think they use the Year Zero system for most of

Evelyn:

their, most of their publications.

Terry:

And, free, funnily enough, uh, Free League Publishing, uh, the way

Terry:

they got their name is, Free League is one of the groups in Coriolis.

Evelyn:

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Evelyn:

And so

Terry:

they were playing Coriolis when they developed the company.

Evelyn:

Oh, awesome.

Evelyn:

The

Terry:

old Coriolis.

Terry:

Yeah,

Evelyn:

the, the, cause we have the, the re

Terry:

We have the remastered, but then a new version is coming out.

Terry:

Another, another.

Evelyn:

Oh, that's right.

Evelyn:

I forgot about that.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

So.

Evelyn:

We kickstart a lot of things.

Evelyn:

Anyway.

Terry:

Miss system, which is actually super technically based

Terry:

off of powered by the apocalypse,

Evelyn:

but it's, yeah, I know, but it, it, they, it was, it's more inspired

Evelyn:

by then based off of necessarily.

Evelyn:

So it's kind of its own thing.

Evelyn:

They have branched out.

Evelyn:

You can see where the influence was, where the inspiration was.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

But it uses this really cool tag system.

Evelyn:

And so that is city of mist, which is super awesome.

Evelyn:

If you like neo noir detective y style.

Evelyn:

Um, then there's legend in the mist, which is more of kind of a standard fantasy.

Evelyn:

Um, well, they

Terry:

call it, they call it rustic.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Like it's a little cozier

Evelyn:

than like.

Evelyn:

It's not as like high fantasy as like D& D or Pathfinder and then there's,

Evelyn:

uh, Tokyo Tokyo, Otherscape and just their Otherscape in general, which

Evelyn:

is their cyberpunk one, which I'm super excited about this one Um, I

Terry:

want that book out so bad.

Evelyn:

I've been wanting to delve into some cyberpunk stuff.

Evelyn:

We will be

Terry:

doing that'll be another one on our our Our, uh, actual play podcast.

Terry:

So make sure to keep an eye out for that.

Evelyn:

We'll have to do

Terry:

that.

Terry:

Uh, and then, oh, there was one.

Terry:

Oh, and then one I didn't write on here is Cypher system,

Evelyn:

which I totally

Terry:

forgot about, and part of that is we don't have the hard cover for it yet.

Terry:

We've got the PDF for the core rule book.

Terry:

We kickstarted a couple of theirs and we want to get the rest of

Terry:

the system because it's awesome.

Terry:

But Cypher system is another one that can kind of go in a

Terry:

lot of directions, but you have.

Terry:

And these are just the systems ones where you could get into a system

Terry:

and play several different games.

Terry:

We're not talking about the quest RPGs or the break RPGs or the, um, little

Evelyn:

game

Terry:

masters or yeah.

Terry:

I mean, there's a lot of other ones out there.

Evelyn:

We'll get to those eventually trust us like we, we have lots of

Evelyn:

indie games that we want to talk about.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

And so, you know, the, the great news is, and there's more coming out.

Terry:

I mean, We, we just backed.

Terry:

What was our most recent Kickstarter?

Evelyn:

Uh huh.

Evelyn:

Most recent?

Terry:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Uh, I mean, we did the, the King Arthur one.

Terry:

Thirteenth Age.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Um, the Zweihander.

Evelyn:

Which, oh, which we have, that's a system too.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

And we, we got Fever Nights, which is, is, it uses the Zweihander system.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Um.

Terry:

Is

Evelyn:

that what we backed was the, like, remaster of Zweihander.

Terry:

And so, you know, that that's all, you know, again, just, it

Terry:

continues to come out and if you pop up on Kickstarter or backer kit or,

Terry:

uh, Oh, uh, what's that other one?

Terry:

Oh,

Evelyn:

the, the games, the game specific Kickstarter style thing.

Evelyn:

Oh, uh, cause we did one on there, didn't we?

Evelyn:

It was the.

Evelyn:

It was the same ones who did Raven,

Terry:

which is another fantastic game, but that's a whole nother

Evelyn:

story.

Evelyn:

Like I said, we'll get to all of them eventually.

Evelyn:

And

Terry:

so let's talk a little bit of the benefits of exploring these

Terry:

systems, which includes, you know, allowing you to test out new mechanics

Terry:

and see what fits your table better.

Terry:

Um,

Terry:

I know for a good examples for me.

Terry:

Uh, I'm going to be, I'm going to be, I'm going to be not so humble.

Terry:

I'm good at DMing a Pathfinder 2E game, but it's not my favorite

Terry:

type of game to DM, right?

Terry:

Um, I prefer more story based narrative.

Terry:

Uh, and, and I know I'm going to, somebody's going to come at me and say,

Terry:

but Pathfinder 2E can be narrative.

Terry:

Yes, I, I know it can be, we've, we've done campaigns

Terry:

that have narrative style to it.

Terry:

Um, but rules light for a different specific reason, that's what I like doing.

Evelyn:

I would, like an example is like when you have these rules light.

Evelyn:

Games, players feel less restricted to try things.

Terry:

Right.

Evelyn:

Because they're not so worried about the dice rolls, because it's

Evelyn:

much easier when the rule of cool just becomes the rules of the game.

Evelyn:

If that makes sense.

Evelyn:

You know, it's not so much like, okay, I would really like to try this, but

Evelyn:

I'm afraid that I like, because my, my agility or whatever, score is too low

Evelyn:

that I'm not going to be able to do it.

Evelyn:

And it's like, just give it a shot, see what happens, you know,

Terry:

just give it to go is what we're trying to say.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

And, and we've actually, and when we, when we get into break a little

Evelyn:

more, we can talk about that.

Evelyn:

But, um, we've actually had to, to, To encourage our, our long path,

Evelyn:

long playing Pathfinder players to take a minute, try the thing.

Evelyn:

You're you, you know, it's not a, what do I have to roll to try this?

Evelyn:

It's just do it.

Terry:

That's exactly it.

Terry:

Don't, don't ask me about the role.

Terry:

Just tell me what you want to do.

Terry:

And that's, you know, that's what I like.

Terry:

Um, additionally with smaller indie games, what I find is that the community is.

Terry:

Can be very engaging and helpful, and there doesn't seem to be as much

Terry:

toxicity within those communities.

Terry:

And I'm not saying there's a super significant amount of

Terry:

toxicity in the major groups, but you can find them in Paizo.

Terry:

You can find the toxicity in D& D, not in Paizo, the company, but in the community.

Evelyn:

Yes.

Evelyn:

People that are playing Pathfinder, people that are playing D& D, they're,

Evelyn:

they're our gatekeepers, and, you know, some people get very protective of, of

Evelyn:

things and do not like change, and so, I've found, I think we, we have found

Evelyn:

that in general, the communities for these smaller games where people aren't so

Evelyn:

Protective of these games where they just really want to get more people playing.

Evelyn:

They're like, yes, come track it out.

Evelyn:

It's great.

Evelyn:

You guys are awesome.

Evelyn:

Let's show you all the cool things behind this.

Terry:

And, and a lot of times you'll be able to talk with

Terry:

the designers of the game too.

Terry:

I know on the mists and on break and on Marriott and on myth craft, I've I've

Terry:

gone back and forth on those discords with the people who are writing the game

Evelyn:

or

Terry:

created the game.

Evelyn:

And a lot of the creators are super excited to engage, uh, with the

Evelyn:

community to understand, like, what's working, what's not working, you know,

Evelyn:

and, and what people are looking for in, like, especially with these newer

Evelyn:

systems where they might want to do their own, quote unquote, Avenger path.

Evelyn:

Um, that, you know, their own campaign guide or whatever you want to call it.

Evelyn:

Um, they want to know what people are looking for and kind of what's working

Evelyn:

as far as the system goes so that they can create something like this so that

Evelyn:

you can have, if you don't want to have to completely homebrew a story

Evelyn:

for your players, if you want something that's a little more, you know, pre

Evelyn:

scripted for you, they're, they work on, they work on those things and,

Evelyn:

and, and, Like to get and are willing to take some input on those things.

Terry:

Yeah, that's exactly it.

Terry:

Um, and then, you know, one of the notes you mentioned in here is that, uh, is

Terry:

less restricted, uh, the storytelling is less restricted by mechanics and rules.

Terry:

And we, we kind of touched on that with Pathfinder, but it's so true.

Terry:

Some of these systems allows you to allow you to tell the story.

Terry:

Without relying on a role to go a certain

Evelyn:

way.

Evelyn:

Or if you have a feat, or if you have a skill.

Evelyn:

Like, you know, in, in some games, like, can I even do this with the

Evelyn:

things that I have prescribed to me based on what I picked at level 2?

Evelyn:

That might not necessarily work now at the character that I want to be

Evelyn:

at level 11, you know, and so you're like, dang, I should have taken this,

Evelyn:

but how are you going to know that, you know, in the long term, you don't,

Terry:

and then of course, the exploring of other settings.

Terry:

Oh, absolutely.

Terry:

You mentioned it earlier going more the horror.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

So I mentioned this in our, our episode slash session zero, um, that being

Evelyn:

able to, you know, if you step outside of the D and D's and the pathfinders,

Evelyn:

you, you get a lot of opportunities to try different genres and settings

Evelyn:

because yes, these two are the big thing, but there isn't a lot of like.

Evelyn:

You know, D& D doesn't have cyberpunk, you know, as part of their main system,

Evelyn:

you know, people may have created a homebrews that, you know, you can

Evelyn:

use the 5e system with because I know that lots of people are creating

Evelyn:

things for, uh, the 5e rule set.

Evelyn:

But it's, it's, it's really cool to have systems that are tailored to the

Evelyn:

specific genre because it's designed to make that the world feel alive.

Evelyn:

And breathing and, you know, it's, and the mechanics that fit with a world that is

Evelyn:

of that type, um, rather than trying to

Evelyn:

shoehorn, you know, a sort of different sort of Feel of a game

Evelyn:

into an existing rule set, right?

Evelyn:

So, yeah, I mean, you know get away from those Strict high fantasy medieval

Evelyn:

feel and then you get you know, and you get more modern stuff with a lot.

Evelyn:

Oh, yeah

Terry:

Oh the podcast we've been listening to the Delta Green Which

Terry:

is modern day is, is my, my guess.

Evelyn:

Well, and like with, um, with monster of the week, you can play a

Evelyn:

completely modern day with, um, I mean, there's like kids on bikes, um, there's

Terry:

those butters, which

Evelyn:

is, is, is a modern setting.

Evelyn:

Um, but I mean, even.

Evelyn:

Things like, um, Call of Cthulhu is more modern feeling because it's, you know,

Evelyn:

within the more recent, you know, you know, 1900s onward sort of, um, and you

Evelyn:

can even play that up to modern day.

Evelyn:

Um,

Terry:

well, and I think, I think we backed a, um, a more modern day

Evelyn:

Cthulhu

Terry:

signs of the dark goddess, a new modern era, call it

Evelyn:

Cthulhu, but I'm just saying in general, like a lot

Evelyn:

of these, these other settings

Evelyn:

tend to give you more

Evelyn:

ability to kind of play a character that like feels like

Evelyn:

someone you would know in this day and age.

Evelyn:

Um, so especially, and I think that's like makes it a little more approachable

Evelyn:

for very new players because if they can just play themselves basically

Evelyn:

with just cool stuff going on, then it's a lot easier just to slip in and

Evelyn:

out of it because they don't have to try to imagine themselves as like Mr.

Evelyn:

Nightman who has saved all the, you know, princesses from the

Evelyn:

dragons and stuff, you know?

Terry:

Uh, Mr.

Terry:

Nightman.

Terry:

He was, he was a good guy.

Evelyn:

Yeah, it's been a long day.

Evelyn:

You have to forgive me for not being able to come up with awesome NPCs.

Terry:

Well, you know, Mr.

Terry:

Nightmare.

Evelyn:

I was, I was preparing for camping.

Terry:

All right.

Terry:

So let's talk a little bit about tips for transitioning to a new system.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Um, you know, we, we, we wrote down a couple of things.

Terry:

First off, we got to find the system and, uh, I'm going to

Terry:

reorder this a little bit.

Terry:

I think our big one is Kickstarter.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Uh, we live off a Kickstarter.

Terry:

We, and what I found with us, it tends to come in bursts.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Like we'll kickstart like four or five projects in like two months and

Terry:

then we won't touch it again for like six

Evelyn:

months.

Evelyn:

Facebook will tell me that there's a new Kickstarter, uh, for a TTRPG and I'll be

Evelyn:

like, Hey hun, have you seen this one?

Evelyn:

And he'll be like, yes.

Evelyn:

And we need to back this one and two others, please.

Evelyn:

Thank you.

Terry:

And so Kickstarter is a great, now we do have to understand with Kickstarter,

Terry:

you're going to have a wait time.

Terry:

Right, yeah.

Terry:

Um, but we've been fairly lucky, and I have to say this, we've

Terry:

been very lucky in that so far we've gotten almost all the books.

Terry:

Yep.

Terry:

And

Evelyn:

if nothing else, we've gotten PDFs for pretty much every game that

Evelyn:

we've backed, which is awesome because in, you know, while, while you're

Evelyn:

waiting, you can start playing it.

Evelyn:

And, and, you know, and it's, you kind of get to test it out before it's done.

Evelyn:

Um, and then you come back to the whole.

Evelyn:

The creators listening to you could be like, Hey, this is what's working

Evelyn:

with this, that you sent me so far.

Evelyn:

And they'll be like, Oh, let me go look at that.

Evelyn:

You know,

Terry:

you've got your friendly local game stores, which that was huge for us in

Terry:

this last trip that we did now understand.

Terry:

We do not have a lot of game stores where we're at.

Terry:

We are small town.

Terry:

We're a small town in, uh, upper peninsula, Michigan.

Terry:

We are out in the middle of nowhere.

Terry:

And so when we do travel, we, we do make sure that we hit

Evelyn:

as many game stores as we can.

Terry:

And we, we did that on our trip and came away with more

Terry:

books than one could even imagine.

Terry:

And I've been reading through them as quick as I can right

Terry:

now, reading Wander Home,

Evelyn:

which

Terry:

is a cozy TTRPG.

Terry:

Very

Evelyn:

Rolls Royce.

Terry:

Like you don't even have stats.

Terry:

I mean, that's how rules like it is Oh, yeah,

Evelyn:

cuz you're not meant to be like heroes.

Evelyn:

You're not one.

Evelyn:

You're just you're just helping people.

Terry:

You're on a journey.

Evelyn:

Yeah

Terry:

So having a blast read that one.

Terry:

I was just I'm still in the process.

Terry:

I haven't finished it but art to the city beneath which is really kind of

Terry:

cool and creepy and Your character is not meant to live, uh, which is,

Terry:

you know, and so we got both of those with a whole variety of others at

Terry:

the, Oh, apocalypse is another letter

Evelyn:

heart

Terry:

letter hearts

Evelyn:

that you were, you, I think you read, I read that one

Terry:

entirely.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Um, yeah, so, uh, we went to, wow, it was like two games, Virginia beach and like.

Terry:

We did two in Virginia Beach.

Terry:

Four in Nashville.

Terry:

Yeah, probably four in Nashville.

Evelyn:

Yeah, so.

Terry:

And if, had we been in the Chicago area enough, we would have

Terry:

stopped at that one that we went to.

Evelyn:

Went over

Terry:

Christmas.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

That was a good one.

Evelyn:

The, the, the staff in there was very helpful and they, like, talked

Evelyn:

us into to get in a couple of things.

Evelyn:

I mean, like, literally the, the.

Terry:

That's where we got Mason.

Evelyn:

Yeah, that was where we got Mason and almost grabbed

Evelyn:

Chicago by night as well.

Evelyn:

Because we were this close to getting

Terry:

it.

Terry:

Oh, we need to get, we

Evelyn:

ended up getting canola obscura actually at, in, in that shop.

Evelyn:

Oh yeah, that's right.

Evelyn:

We did.

Evelyn:

Um, but we, that

Terry:

it was, we got so

Evelyn:

much like description of stuff.

Evelyn:

It was introduced

Terry:

to Dragon Bae there.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

And now we have Dragon Bae.

Terry:

Yes we do.

Terry:

So

Evelyn:

it was on sale

Evelyn:

. Terry: Make sure you get your Dragon bae.

Evelyn:

Um,

Evelyn:

oh yeah.

Evelyn:

That's another, uh, another um, free

Terry:

league game.

Terry:

Uh, year zero

Evelyn:

free.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Free league game.

Evelyn:

Free

Terry:

league publishing.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Of course you can find on the TTRPG category in Twitch you can find

Terry:

different games being done there

Evelyn:

like Brenda Wood Bay

Terry:

Oh my

Evelyn:

gosh.

Evelyn:

I want that one so bad.

Evelyn:

You know that one's golden girls meets Like what was it?

Terry:

It meets the detective writer

Evelyn:

Murder, she wrote.

Evelyn:

Yes.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

So yeah, that's kind of how it was described in the

Terry:

Angela lands.

Terry:

Yeah

Evelyn:

Yeah, it seems pretty cool you you play You play elderly women.

Terry:

Yeah, and then of course, you've got your actual play podcast,

Terry:

which like I said, we're listening to a Delta green one right now.

Evelyn:

I mean, and we've listened to a bunch of.

Evelyn:

Oh yeah.

Evelyn:

We just kind of flipped it.

Evelyn:

Actually, I was

Terry:

listening to a bunch.

Terry:

Each time we take

Evelyn:

a road trip.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

I was listening to a bunch as I was writing notes this week on stuff.

Terry:

So, so all of those are places that you can find those new systems.

Terry:

Now, how do you prepare for the switch?

Terry:

And these are things.

Terry:

Uh, that players accustomed to popular systems, uh, how they approach to adapting

Terry:

to the new mechanics and settings, because many of the games that we're talking about

Terry:

are very different mechanically speaking.

Terry:

Um, first off, you can always try out other D20 based systems.

Terry:

Uh,

Evelyn:

like Quest.

Terry:

Quest RPG was the one, the first one that comes to

Terry:

mind, which is a very simple.

Evelyn:

The only die you use is a D20.

Evelyn:

Is a D20.

Evelyn:

And that's it.

Terry:

Um, actually Break RPG only uses a D20 as well.

Terry:

Break RPG only uses a D20 as well.

Evelyn:

Yes,

Terry:

yeah, so that's another

Evelyn:

cuz yeah, you don't roll for damage in that one You know and then

Evelyn:

that's a that's a roll over under depending on yeah, which that's I love

Evelyn:

the whole roll over under thing But we'll get into that in our break Break

Terry:

episode.

Evelyn:

Yes

Terry:

And then, um, and then you, you gotta start looking, you know, um, after

Terry:

you do that, you start looking at the other systems, the 2D6s, the, the, the,

Terry:

the lots of D6s based on what you have for bonuses, that's Coriolis, um, you

Terry:

know, there's, uh, well, no, that's, uh, the Myst stuff is 2D6, but it's

Terry:

tag based, it's a little different.

Terry:

Um, so yeah, so, so, so there's, there's those and then Wander

Terry:

Home, which is no, no dice at all.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Terry:

Which I'm a fan of.

Terry:

Um, the big thing here, when you're looking at these,

Terry:

you gotta have an open mind.

Evelyn:

Yeah, absolutely.

Terry:

You gotta be willing.

Terry:

This is where I find people have difficulties.

Terry:

Because they get so stuck in the way, um, you were talking earlier about, you

Terry:

know, moving away from, can I roll this?

Terry:

I don't know.

Terry:

Tell me what you're doing and then we can talk about how to achieve that.

Terry:

A lot of these games.

Terry:

Are in that direction.

Terry:

You're not, you're not saying I want to roll for insight.

Terry:

Oh my gosh.

Terry:

If I, when I was playing D& D, uh, if I heard another, can I roll for insight?

Terry:

And it's just been like, all you do is look for insight.

Terry:

I feel like you don't have enough wisdom or intelligence for that.

Terry:

I didn't say that to the player at the time, but, uh, you know,

Terry:

there are times that I want it to.

Terry:

Definitely look at RPGs with a similar feel to your favorite.

Terry:

If you love the fantasy genre, there's a lot of them out there.

Evelyn:

Oh yeah, there's tons of them.

Terry:

If you like the space genre, a lot of them out there.

Terry:

There's even western genres.

Terry:

Yep.

Terry:

Uh, I mean, there's lots of different ones.

Terry:

Uh, but find the ones that kind of clue you in horror is super easy.

Terry:

Oh

Evelyn:

yeah.

Evelyn:

'cause I mean, you have the Kaulu of course, which is your cosmic horror.

Evelyn:

You've got, you've got Heart, the

Terry:

City Beneath, which we talked

Evelyn:

about.

Evelyn:

You've got, um, like Blue Beard's Bride for example, which is a, it's not

Evelyn:

necessarily like a full system right thing, but it, it, it gives you horror.

Evelyn:

Um, Delta Green.

Evelyn:

Yeah, Delta Green, definitely.

Evelyn:

Um, trying to think what else.

Terry:

I mean, there's a there's a

Evelyn:

good amount like if if you want spooky gods of Appalachia.

Evelyn:

Oh, yeah.

Evelyn:

Yep.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Yeah invasion

Terry:

Oh,

Evelyn:

yeah.

Evelyn:

Yeah, we're just

Evelyn:

talking about that.

Evelyn:

But yeah, I mean like if you like horror There's lots of stuff available.

Evelyn:

If you want cyberpunk, there's no cyberpunk red.

Evelyn:

There's you know, obviously Tokyo otherscape There I

Evelyn:

mean and there's a Blade

Terry:

Runner one.

Evelyn:

Yeah, there's a Blade Runner one And and there's a few

Evelyn:

other ones, I mean they even have ones based on like popular like

Evelyn:

video games There's a fallout one, you know that and which that one actually

Evelyn:

looks pretty cool But like I mean if you can imagine it it probably exists.

Evelyn:

I mean tales from the loop

Evelyn:

There's

Evelyn:

alien there's you know, Coriolis if you like space

Evelyn:

stuff, there's a doctor who?

Evelyn:

Um, podcast, or not podcast, uh, uh, but, uh, uh, I mean,

Evelyn:

there is a Doctor Who podcast.

Evelyn:

Yeah, there is a Doctor Who podcast, but, no, there's a,

Evelyn:

there's a Doctor Who game system.

Evelyn:

I think there's a Star Trek one, if I remember correctly.

Evelyn:

Oh, yeah, there is, Star Wars one.

Evelyn:

Yeah.

Evelyn:

Um, even, like, Warhammer has its own, like, role playing game.

Evelyn:

I mean, you can do the, the mini battling stuff, but there's also the,

Evelyn:

they have their own role playing system.

Evelyn:

I mean, so if you can dream it, it probably exists and if it

Evelyn:

doesn't, maybe you want to write it.

Evelyn:

It could exist.

Evelyn:

So,

Terry:

so make sure you, you know, you can find what you want, um, uh,

Terry:

and rules light systems means for your rules to learn, though you do again,

Terry:

have to kind of wrap your head around the direction that you want to go in.

Terry:

And then of course, always look into the new genres.

Terry:

You never know where you might be surprised.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

About

Evelyn:

especially like if you went to something that's like super different

Evelyn:

to what you've already played because it breaks that like muscle memory,

Terry:

right?

Terry:

You know

Evelyn:

you get out of the the habits that you were like you've ingrained

Evelyn:

it into yourself So like if you want to try something new if if playing

Evelyn:

something too similar to what you already play is just like Keeping

Evelyn:

you from enjoying a new thing.

Evelyn:

Maybe it's time to try something completely different from what

Evelyn:

you've ever played before so

Terry:

All right, um, so this has been a lot of information.

Terry:

We, you know, we have talked about a lot of things and so really what it comes

Terry:

down to is to find the system that you like, but, but don't be afraid to explore.

Terry:

Don't be afraid to try different systems, try new things, see what.

Terry:

Might pique your interest.

Terry:

This is what I want you to do though.

Terry:

I want you to send us a message now, whether it's on Twitter, whether

Terry:

it's on Blue Sky, whether it's on Discord or on roll for perception.com.

Terry:

Send us a message and tell us what new TT RRP C systems you have gotten into and

Terry:

or you're interested in, or that you're interested and why you think it's awesome.

Terry:

Uh, because we want to hear what you guys are playing, but we also want to

Terry:

see if there are things that we haven't played yet or haven't looked at yet so

Terry:

that we can get it and play it as well.

Evelyn:

There's more reasons.

Evelyn:

Okay.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

Again, exactly.

Terry:

Another bookcase.

Terry:

And so, so yeah, so, so do that.

Terry:

Send us messages.

Terry:

Let us know.

Terry:

All right.

Terry:

It has been almost an hour, which has been fantastic for our first podcast.

Terry:

Um, we're actually going to go ahead and pull this to a close.

Terry:

Uh, but I do want to thank Evelyn for being with me.

Terry:

And for those of you that are listening to our first full

Terry:

podcast, thank you for tuning in.

Terry:

We want this podcast to be successful, and we know that you, the listener are

Terry:

one of the most important pieces for that.

Terry:

So check us out, as I said, on Twitter, on blue sky, on Instagram, on Tik TOK.

Terry:

Kofi, Patreon, uh, discord, YouTube, Twitch, you name it.

Terry:

You can probably there.

Terry:

Yeah.

Terry:

You can find overarching group role for perception and we're there and chat us up.

Terry:

Let us know what you're playing.

Terry:

We want to know.

Terry:

As always, thank you for joining us for this week's podcast.

Terry:

We hope we inspired you to continue your TTRPG journey, however, that may look.

Evelyn:

Make sure to stop by www.

Evelyn:

rollforperception.

Evelyn:

com and leave a comment on our podcast page.

Evelyn:

We're always looking to answer questions and discuss new TTRPGs.

Terry:

So make sure to have your D20 ready.

Evelyn:

And your goblin voice rested as you head out into the world of

Terry:

TTRPGs with Roll

Evelyn:

4 Percepticast.

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About the Podcast

Role for Percepticast
A Podcast for Tabletop Roleplaying Lovers!
Welcome to "Role for Percepticast," your ultimate destination for all things tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). Our episodes delve into various aspects of the TTRPG universe, from in-depth reviews of indie and Kickstarter games to engaging discussions on roleplaying techniques and world-building strategies. We also keep you updated on the latest news and trends in the TTRPG community.

Hosts Evelyn and Terry bring their extensive experience in playing, GMing, and streaming games to the table, offering fresh insights and perspectives to enhance your gaming experience. Unlike other podcasts, we don't focus on D&D or Pathfinder. Instead, we celebrate the diversity and creativity found in other TTRPGs.

Join us for a journey fueled by passion and dedication to the art of roleplaying. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting your adventure, "Role for Percepticast" has something for you.

About your host

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Terry Jachimiak II