I am a huge fan of tabletop rpgs, especially of the indie variety (PBTA et al.). I think it's one of the highest forms of gaming since it is so responsive to a particular group of people and the stories they want to tell, which creates a lot of potential for cool leftist gaming experiences and stories. However, I haven't been able to find time to run a game for a few years (and I struggle playing solo rpgs since it's basically just creative writing) so I wanted to hear from chapos that are (or have been) in a campaign so I can live vicariously through you.

What game are you playing? What's your character (or favourite NPC) like? Any highlights from your campaign? Are you living out a revolutionary power fantasy or playing a chill "beer and pretzels" type game?

  • barrbaric [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    My group's on hiatus atm, but we've played a couple games online through lockdown (all in GURPS):

    1. Neon Genesis Evangelion + Pacific Rim Vs Skynet
      A trio of traumatised nobodies are forced to mind meld with fragments of a genocidal AI to pilot giant murder robots to stop the other giant murder robots controlled by said genocidal AI. The twist was that the "genocidal" AI had been created to stop climate change, determined that global capitalism was not sustainable, and destroyed all of the over-consuming nations. The PCs tried to reach a deal with the AI, but the leader of the project was fanatical that it had to be destroyed and betrayed them, getting one of the pilots on board to launch a desperate mission at its stronghold. They succeeded in destroying the AI, and humanity went back to capitalism and destroyed itself shortly thereafter.

    2. Delta Green
      8 people dropped dead simultaneously across Tuscon AZ, and it was up to our crew of two FBI agents, a DEA agent, and a CIA agent to figure out what the aliens were up to this time. Eventually, they did, and burned down an apartment building (with occupants inside), because government agents are the real monsters. In the epilogue it turned out that two agents had been possessed by aliens the entire time, and one of them had to be executed after being freed because his brain was still contaminated with alien thoughts.

    3. Kung Fu Cowboys
      In the Wild West, 4 martial arts masters fought for JUSTICE against the Outlaw King and his martial arts gangs. Party was a Knife-Fighter who was looking for his estranged daughter, Eagle-Stylist looking for his friend's killers, Capoerista looking for his master's killers, and a Sumo looking for food/glory. After battling their way through the enemy gangs (Sumos, Escrimadors, Dragon Stylists, and Roman Cavalry), the party headed to Hangman's Mesa and the Pagoda of the Outlaw King. During the final battle, the Knife-Fighter failed to recognize his daughter, who had been mind-controlled, and killed her, then went mad with grief and was slain by the Outlaw King. His daughter turned out to still be alive (through miraculous rolls), got back up, and, with the help of the rest of the party, they narrowly defeated the Outlaw King and his lieutenants.

    4. Alien
      Just the movie Alien with some twists: the android was a different character, and there was already an egg AND an alien in the ship's cargo hold at the start of the game. Kane got face-hugged, then Ripley got killed because she wandered off on her own after getting in a big argument with the others, not knowing there was already an alien to deal with. Lambert got trapped in with the Alien at some point when somebody hacked the doors shut, Dallas suffocated when somebody pulled out his air-hose on the exterior of the ship, and, after putting Parker and Kane into cryosleep, Ash tried to betray Brett, but lost to Brett's secret android super-strength.

    Upcoming games include:
    -Post-apocalyptic/fantasy internal coup

    -Fantasy game in Bronze Age not!Greece where PCs become gods by fulfilling prophecies

    -40k either continuation of an old Deathwatch campaign or a heist on the Imperial Palace, he's not sure yet

    -30k playing as the human leaders of the 231st aka "Two-Thirty-Worst" expeditionary fleet; last campaign involved ferretting out a mechanicus planned coup and mass betrayal, then bringing a rebelling planet back into line.