Multi-System game group

[GeorgeJ]

Seats are filling for both Saturday and Sunday. We still have spots for both days open and are now considering a third group. Please feel free to reach out if you have any interest.


Greetings.....I have created a group with the intention of exploring different game systems. The idea is that we would play shorter, but full, campaigns of a system and then choose another and do the same. This is an ongoing group and we expect this to be a long journey together.

The format is thus; I am presently GM'ing a Blades in the Dark campaign. At it's conclusion one of the other members of the group will suggest a system and run a game for the group.

The purpose is to expose ourselves to a wide variety of systems and settings. I hope that we can find a group that is cohesive and enjoys each others company. As I have said this campaign will hopefully last many years. I presently own the books for around 85 Systems many of them popular/main stream, many of them Kickstarted and some more obscure from times past I am also not opposed to purchasing material as needed. RPG has become my passion and main hobby nearly to the exclusion of others. Just ask my wife, HA!

I live in the States in the Pacific Time Zone. UTC/GMT -8, but I am not opposed to most times Saturday or Sunday. As the group hasn't officially formed yet I am flexible on the days and times of the games.

Short and sweet for a reason. Please only respond if you are: Open to a very long-term commitment. Interested in playing many different game systems in all genres of RPG. Preferably able and interested in running games (this last is not a requirement but will make all of our lives easier). I am more than happy to discuss this with anyone interested. I look forward to meeting new people and finding a gaming group that will last. Thanks for reading, happy gaming

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! As we have had a great deal of interest, and thanks to vegaseriks comment/idea, I am opening the Discord channel to all interested. Just PM me and I will add you and also help coordinate groups. The welcome and general channels will be open to all and the group channels will be private for those groups. I have a group presently ready for Sunday mornings at 9am pst which still has a few spots open and have just created a group for Saturdays (Time TBD). Premise for all groups on this channel will be the same. Each group will likely stay together as a group and continue to explore different systems and lore. This beast is evolving so we will see where it takes us. I am open to any and all other suggestions and thank the community for the support I have received thus far!

UPDATE #1

A few questions for those interested then: Are you willing to share the GM responsibilities? What is your experience and background with TTRPG's and VTT's? What is your preferred genre/subgenre? Are there any barriers to your playing? I.E. are you willing to play in all genres, are there topics that you find too offputting to explore, do you travel a lot or have a regularly changing schedule (I have a one-year old son but he has a fairly repeatable schedule and I generally work the same hours every wee)? With respect, are you an adult? I would prefer to avoid the corruption and waylaying of a good young soul....lol. In all seriousness, while the group to date has not explored too many taboo subjects it is possible that something will come up in the long-term. What days and times are you most interested in playing? I can tell you that we will probably have to use several different VTT services as FGU is not set up to handle all systems. In truth there is not a single VTT that is. We do use Discord and I have played with the idea of also using video chat through Discord or Foundry or another service in order to add a layer of personalization to the games. We may come across a system that we would want to use just pen and paper for as it may just make more sense than having to code everything, are you ok with that?

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

UPDATE #2:

1) I am probably the least experienced of the bunch as I have only been playing/GMing for a year. I have been collecting and reading the various systems since 1987 however. The other players range in experience from 5-45 years.

2) Game changes will be left to the group. I do not plan on running any 1-shots. They will all be campaigns though they will likely be shorter than the typical 6-12 months that one normally invests. It is somewhat dependent on the system. Those that require a greater length of time spent learning the mechanics and lore will get longer campaigns. The point is generally speaking to suck the marrow out of each system. To try to understand it's nuances and to really enjoy what each has to offer.

3) I am looking to put together a group of 5-7 total members. This allows for the inevitable missed session, loss of interest etc that one typically faces online. It should allow for the best continuity of the group in my humble opinion. Plan originally was for 5-10 members. We are now expanding groups with an effort for 6-7 people in each group (which includes the person responsible for running that particular game). There has indeed been a great deal of interest and I have no problem with helping to facilitate several groups at a time.

UPDATE#3

As of this morning, we have a number of players ready to move forward on Sunday mornings at 9am pst. Those of you considering the group we still have several seats at the table open. Either pm me or respond here and I will do my best to reply to you promptly.

[HywelPhillips]

I would absolutely be interested in this! The only problem is that I'm probably in the wrong time zone: I'm in the UK, so it would depend what time slot you're planning.

I have Vaesen, Aliens, SWADE (various settings), D&D 5E, D&D 1/2E, Dungeon Crawl Classics and Deadlands, ready to run with FG automation and some scenarios prepped.

I'm happy to prep and run more or less anything else which has an FG ruleset ready; I don't have the time to develop my own at the moment unfortunately. So could try stuff like The One Ring (which I've enjoyed playing a lot but never run).

Also happy to try on other platforms if they have better system support, although FG is by far my favourite platform.

My game library is bulging with stuff I'd love to run or run again like Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Monster of the Week, Burning Wheel, 7th Sea, Star Wars d6, RuneQuest (either original RQ2 or the latest version), Wicked Ones, Tales from the Loop, Paleomythic, Righteous Blood, Zweihander, WFRP, Worlds without Number, Blue Rose, Genesys, Space 1889 (I like the SWADE version), Firefly/Cortex, 4E Gamma World, Coriolis, Forbidden Lands, Dune and dozens of other games I've got on my shelves but have yet to run or play.

I'd LOVE to try Blades in the Dark and many other systems as a player. As a GM I'm more comfortable running fantasy than SF, but as a player I'm game for anything.

If the times don't mesh up and fellow Europeans are reading this, would you be interested in setting something similar up on our side of the Atlantic?

Cheers, Hywel Phillips

[GeorgeJ]

Thanks for responding. You bring up a good point that I neglected to address. I am open to most any time on the weekends save that I have games both days from 5-8pm PST Yes I live on the West Coast of the States. So I believe UTC/GMT -8. However, I believe you and I could work something out and I wouldn't be opposed to being in multiple groups though I would much prefer playing with the same folks than using this approach. I am glad this has inspired in you the same idea. If our group doesn't work out I would like to stay in touch with you and maybe we can share thoughts as we go forward? If one of us comes across some incredibly brilliant idea (which I am convinced will happen lol) then we can share notes. Perhaps we can think of ourselves as forming a united guild of incredibly extraordinary gentlemen who are opposed to being pigeon holed by the major players in RPG (Looking at you WOTC, whom I actually love and support).

Any how, I hope we can stay in touch or even play together. There are some amazing systems coming out of Europe that I am always interested in exploring. Let me know your thoughts.

[vegaserik]

You could start a Discord server designed for this kind of gaming. I'm in one designed for Pick Up Groups that works very well especially if you want to play D&D 5e lol. I'm sure there's people out there that would love to try out all the games offered by FG. You might be able to get a whole bunch of groups going with campaigns and one shots of all kinds of rules.

[GeorgeJ]

Vegaserik, thanks for the thoughts. If I followed this suggestion I feel like it would just be another LFG Forum in a different media. Also, not really interested in running a series of pick up games and one-shots. I'm more interested in forming a gaming group that plays together consistently and can grow together as a group. Generally, that is what makes for a rich experience and the most memorable moments. Not sure if you've ever played in a long-term format but I suspect it is more like playing with friends than not. Playing constantly with different people offers a different experience but I have that already through the forums. Thanks again for your suggestion.

[damned]

My group does play different things. Primarily we play 5E but we have also run many, many things. Forming a group of people that are willing to share the GMing around is might be the best way to start. Some people are less confident in GMing but they only need to do a 1/2/3 session when its their turn and they will get used to it.

[Nod]

Hey, i would love to join in on this group. i'm up in Oregon , so in the same time zone. would love to hear the details.

[HywelPhillips]

I also have a few campaigns going on that will be coming to an end fairly soon. For me to be able to join in, it would probably need to be in the mornings Pacific time, so I can play in the evenings UK time. Which also probably means it needs to be at the weekend I guess. How are you fixed for Saturday or Sunday mornings?

In terms of game changes I agree that I would prefer runs that are shorter than the typical 6-12 month campaigns- the point is to try multiple systems, after all. I'd be happy with a certain number of one-shots (e.g. the Alien starter scenario is a kick-*** one-shot) but would ideally like it that the basic "run" would be one good adventure scenario, maybe a month or two, then on to the next game system and the next GM.

Cheers, Hywel

[vegaserik]

Vegaserik, thanks for the thoughts. If I followed this suggestion I feel like it would just be another LFG Forum in a different media. Also, not really interested in running a series of pick up games and one-shots. I'm more interested in forming a gaming group that plays together consistently and can grow together as a group. Generally, that is what makes for a rich experience and the most memorable moments. Not sure if you've ever played in a long-term format but I suspect it is more like playing with friends than not. Playing constantly with different people offers a different experience but I have that already through the forums. Thanks again for your suggestion.

Yeah I've played for 40 years at this point but I didn't suggest you start a pick up group or a lfg server. Maybe I wasn't clear and that's my fault. Good luck.

[MrKinister]

This is an interesting idea. I'd like to participate, but I am not sure I can offer a large variety of different systems to play with. I can certainly run, although I haven't done this in a long time. I live in LA, so PST is good, and Saturdays is fantastic. I imagine a relatively short session, perhaps four hours at a time, would be lovely, for just a quick afternoon adventure romp, perhaps something like from noon to 4, up to 5 if things run over.

Are things pretty packed right now?

Oh, yeah, and I also need to mention that I am relatively new to Fantasy Grounds, having little experience with the technology, although I've been playing and running games since '88.

Let me know.

[GeorgeJ]

MrKinister- It is looking like we will be running this group on Sunday mornings starting at 9am pst. Does that look like it would work for you? Not having access to a ton of systems is not a problem. As a group we will do our very best to make sure that everyone has what they need to participate. As far as being new to FG that is absolutely fine. I want to run games on this VTT as our first choice but as I mentioned we may have to utilize other services from time to time as no VTT offers universal support. We are not "packed" yet so if you are still interested after reading my response please let me know and I will pm you a Discord invite.

[GeorgeJ]

Vegaserik-

I hope my reply wasn't perceived as flippant. I agree that I probably misconstrued what you were suggesting. I would love to hear more about how this works. Maybe it would end up falling in line with the groups goals. I am totally open to new perspectives/thoughts on how we are pursuing this.

[MrKinister]

Unfortunately I work on Sundays, from 6 am to 2 pm. I only had Saturdays available.

Well, everything else looks ok, but for the day. If you find yourself in a different schedule, let me know.

Thanks. =)

[GeorgeJ]

MrKinister - I am not opposed to being a member of multiple groups functioning in a similar fashion. I see now, maybe, a but of what vegaserik was suggesting. It may be smart to add all interested parties to the same Discord channel and separating them by group/day/time. We could all exchange ideas about how this can work and answer each others questions which will undoubtedly arise. I will post this at the top under the original post as Update #4.

[MrKinister]

Hmm... certainly possible to do the exploration. Yes, we can talk it out, and put it on the table. Sure, an Discord invite would be just fine.

Let's see what happens. =)

[HywelPhillips]

I am going to run the first outing for the Saturday group: Crypt of the Sun Lord, using SWADE (fantasy). We'll play this adventure and subsequent ones in the same setting to get a good feel for the system for a month or two, then move on to another system and rotate the GM'ing chores. George is running stuff for the Sunday group. We'll see how it goes!

First session will be 11th September at 5 pm UK time (BST, UTC+1) which is 9 am Pacific and Noon on the East Coast I believe.

If you are interested in playing AND running games please drop me a message. We could do with another couple of people in the Saturday group to make sure it is viable.

Cheers, Hywel

[GeorgeJ]

Just had a fantastic session run by Hywel today for the first Saturday group. We ran a fantasy version of the SWADE system and even though my son kept me awake all night (he's teething, it sucks) I was wide awake and invested throughout the whole game! Any way, just wanted to bump this thread and let everyone know we are still taking players for the Saturday Group that has already formed. We haven't agreed on the system or setting yet though we may very well continue SWADE for a bit. Please let us know if anyone is interested. To answer some of the other inquiries we received Sunday group is full at the moment but we may have a seat opening so please keep in touch. Also, if enough players were really interested we can form a second group for that slot. Have fun!

[Dranthor]

Hi just found this tread.It sounds like something I would be interested in joining. A little about me. I've been playing RpG games since the late 70s and have a wide variety of exerience in many different systems. I have both Gm'd and played systems.. Mymost favorite system is Rolemaster but am open to many others. I would be intersted in playing in the saturday or/and sunday groups as that works best for me. I am USA EST time zone. Please let me know what I need to do to join one or oth of your gaming groups.
Dranthor

[Nod]

I spent a decade playing rolemaster. Gotta love the crunch of those critical tables.

[Dranthor]

Absolutely I love rolemaster ould love to get a game started in that system.

[jakemtl]

I am so happy I found this thread as I have been looking for a group to learn and play in new systems with, not as one-shots but as campaigns. If the organizer does not object to multiple groups, I want to put my hat in the ring as a potential resource and player/GM for a group of people that want to play various games which could take place over the weekend days, Friday or Saturday nights EST (UTC-4). I have played, DM'd and GM'd extensively, and while I want to play a game system before GM'ing it, I am willing to GM long term campaigns.

I have FGC and FGU and have become quite proficient with the system and can teach new players how to create characters and navigate the system.

I have the following game systems that I can use as a resource for our games:


5e
PF2
PF
SF
CoC
SW (AE)
SW (DE)
Symbaroum
Alien RPG
Vaesen


I have a particular interest in starting with Vaesen or Alien RPG (in campaign mode). I also would love at some point to play in a Savage Worlds Campaign. I have no experience with any of those systems. However, once I can become comfortable with the game mechanics of a new system, I will very quickly become comfortable preparing adventures and running campaigns.

One last piece of information which is worth noting is that I also use the Universal Module in FG (C+U) to convert adventures from one system to another, so for instance, I take Paizo PF and PF2 adventure paths and convert them to 5e to play with my groups. Therefore there is tons of potential to convert existing adventure resources from one game system to the game system we happen to be learning and playing at the time. I also use third party 5e compatible FG assets to replace encounters with more thematically appropriate components, such as creatures, traps, NPC's etc. Currently I participate and/or GM in Pathfinder 2, D&D 5e, and Starfinder campaigns.

[HywelPhillips]

Hi jakemtl!

Come say hi on our Discord here:
https://discord.gg/TG82ZfGDUP

We've got two groups already going. The Sunday one is full I think, although we could start a second one.

The Saturday group could do with another player or two, so if you can make it that would be awesome, but the times might not be right for you. We play at 5 pm UK time, or 12 noon eastern, 9 am Pacific. We're happy to help get another group going at a different time of course!

At the moment I'm running a short SWADE series on Saturdays; last week we saved the world or at least San Diego in a low-powered superhero setting (Disaster at Gran Atomica). Since everyone enjoyed that, we're doing a sequel set in the same world with action-movie spies and secret agents have a single low-level superpower each - think Mission: Impossible with a few subtle superpowers. Gives us a chance to experiment with vehicles and chases and see how they interact with the powers and big guns and so forth. My expectation is that this one will be a mini-campaign by the time we've got through an action movie's worth of plot :)

I'd love the chance to play Alien or Vaesen, I've done a few things with that ruleset but only one-offs and I'd like to see how it plays out for a short campaign.

I've also been playing with adventure conversion, it's fun!

Cheers, Hywel

[Dranthor]

Hi jakemtl!

Come say hi on our Discord here:
https://discord.gg/TG82ZfGDUP

We've got two groups already going. The Sunday one is full I think, although we could start a second one.

The Saturday group could do with another player or two, so if you can make it that would be awesome, but the times might not be right for you. We play at 5 pm UK time, or 12 noon eastern, 9 am Pacific. We're happy to help get another group going at a different time of course!

At the moment I'm running a short SWADE series on Saturdays; last week we saved the world or at least San Diego in a low-powered superhero setting (Disaster at Gran Atomica). Since everyone enjoyed that, we're doing a sequel set in the same world with action-movie spies and secret agents have a single low-level superpower each - think Mission: Impossible with a few subtle superpowers. Gives us a chance to experiment with vehicles and chases and see how they interact with the powers and big guns and so forth. My expectation is that this one will be a mini-campaign by the time we've got through an action movie's worth of plot :)

I'd love the chance to play Alien or Vaesen, I've done a few things with that ruleset but only one-offs and I'd like to see how it plays out for a short campaign.

I've also been playing with adventure conversion, it's fun!

Cheers, Hywel

that sounds vey fun. So are you plaig every week? I can do Saturdays noonish time for me. Do I eed to get there early to make a character?

[HywelPhillips]

We're going to play weekly so long as a sensible number of people can show up. No char gen for this one - there are pregens. Info for this game is below, more details will be posted on our Discord. GM name HywelPhillips on FG.

I've been playing it by ear with one-shots to get started as we build up to a stable group for Saturdays, only done two sessions so far (a fantasy one-shot and last week's superhero one shot). This week's game is an excuse for us to test out some of the system mechanics: automatic weapons, vehicles and chases.

Once we've got enough players who can make a short campaign, I'll poll for what sort of setting we want to try and it for a month or two. Then hand over GM'ing duties to someone else for a bit :)





The Blip: Mission Impossible
Two years after a strange “blip” in time and space, a small number of humans have been gifted with a low-key superpower each.

Last week’s heroes were ordinary Joes just trying to help out. This week we find out what happens to elite spies and secret agents when they get gifted. Plus I want the chance to play around with some of the other SWADE subsystems for vehicles, chases, extended skill tests and social situations.

Good Morning, Ms. Blunt. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to penetrate the tunnels under what used to be the Berlin wall to stop a scientific terrorist group called The Invisible College who are preparing to carry out an attack. Intel suggests their device is already planted and will be triggered with the next 24 hours. Your team is ready to meet you at the Brandenburg Gate.

As always, should you or any member of your team be caught or killed the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

This message will self destruct in five seconds. Good luck.

You are members of the IMF, the International Metahuman Force. Recruited after the blip, this organisation tackles the missions that no other agency can - because no other agency has superheroes on the team.

Think of the Mission Impossible films crossed with the same sort of minor-but-useful superpowers we had in the Gran Atomica game. It’s going to be an action movie all the way - do action movie stuff and get rewarded with bennies for playing to the genre.

Characters

Jessica Blunt - team leader. Specialist in physical penetration (including of course the “Roger Moore” double entendre). Superpower: Disguise. Mask on, mask off. Also, spend a benny to reveal that for the duration of this scene you have actually been one of the extras, pulling off your mask to reveal yourself.

Simon Scott - hacker. Specialist in electronic penetration. Also the brains of the outfit - runs the comms and keeps everyone in touch. Can share bennies to others. Always comes through, always at the last minute (gets +2 to all rerolls when spending a benny). Superpower: Smite. Here, try THESE bullets. (Can power up weapons or ammo for more damage and other special effects).

Charlie Cruise - marksman. Specialist in fast-and-furious combat- a gun in each hand and a flurry of kicks to go with them. Superpower: Havoc. Hurl debris and rivals around in all directions with psychic force. It’s not subtle, but chaos is useful!

Kames Elba - finder, fixer, pilot. Always knows who to call, where to find the safe house or weapons cache or helicopter to hotwire. Superpower: Puppet (bend foes to your will). Also, spend a benny to reveal that a human enemy wildcard was actually an undercover British Intelligence asset on your side from the start. (This character's already been reserved).

Damon Renqvist - ex-special forces agent turned analyst. Nobody actually LIKES him, for all that he has proven his ability in dozens of missions he just can’t help acting like a bit of a ****. Extremely tough, very hard to kill. Superpower: Protection. Create a shimmering field of light around something or someone to protect it. When used on himself, makes him almost impervious to bullets.


You need at minimum one point character (Blunt or Cruise) and one support character (Elba or Scott). Renqvist is a bit of a one-trick pony - very tough to take down but not as flexible as the other point PC’s. If there’s only two players we’ll run a third character as a shared PC.