I’m looking for a better TTRPG experience.
Started with AD&D in satanic panic era, left, came back to 5E a half dozen years ago. Got a great group & GM but some things just don’t suit me.
For one, wouldn’t mind being done with Hasbro.
My biggest issues in D&D? Character regret, & swinginess. Rolling up a character idea that sounds fun, but in-game always seems to go some completely different direction & now I’ve got an established character everyone depends on but locked into an un-fun stat / ability set.
And ALWAYS whatever my concept is I can’t seem to roll for crap in those stats even with the bonuses, failing check after check when it’s the one thing I should be good at. That should only be possible rarely IMHO.
Goals:
I want above to go away or be much weaker.
I want to be able to introduce friends & family who are new & unsure, probably rules light? But I do like dice rolling & some structure, don’t know if a pure storytelling game would work. Can’t be purely abstract.
I love a good campaign but also a lot of times just want to be a beer league player, sit down, go to a cave & smash stuff, without needing a complex story to it. Party needs gold, rescue the missing turtle, let’s get swinging. Have thought for a long time about maybe west marches type scenarios. Show up, solve problems, check boxes, bring a new sheet to the next game whenever. Would work great for some of the gang.
Not at all adverse to player death.
Sorry so long, love to hear opinions!
I think I may have seen Glass Cannon play this on New Game Who Dis? I thought it looked fun but isn’t there like massive heaps of stuff to roll up just to play? Not only your characters whole life so far but like the whole star system? I’ll admit I was intimidated.
Yes, but that's all part of the first session! Character creation is playing in Traveller! 🤗 It's usually most people's favorite part, even. It's collaborative and engaging, and shit can get really wacky and fun. I've had friends over just to roll up characters together that we had no intention of playing.
Gameplay rules seem like a lot, but it's very step-by-step and spoon-fed to you. The GM needs to prep, obviously, but the flow is really intuitive. The core rulebook is loaded with tables to tell you what to do.
The star system bit is nbd. Just make that stuff up as you go and to suit your needs. You can totally play a game that follows Traveller canon and lore if you want (it's pretty cool), but there's no need.
And don't let Glass Cannon freak you out! They have to ensure snappy pacing because they're doing 90 minutes episodes that need to be enjoyable to passively listen to. Playing at home with your friends doesn't come with that baggage.
That said, their permanent Traveller show called Voyagers of the Jump is very good. It's a good companion to the rulebook for getting a sense of how to play.