Fun despite the system

Currently I am running a 5e D&D game for some friends of mine that I know through swordfighting. They invited me to start a D&D group and are really cool people, so despite my personal distaste for 5e, which I quickly learned they were most fond of/familiar with, I accepted. This was going to be more about hanging out with friends, than about prime gaming. 

Still, I held out hope: The players had said to be open to trying out other stuff as well, so maybe I could sway their opinion by introducing them to new, and in my opinion, better stuff like Into the Odd, Cairn, Mauseritter, Maze Rats or even Adventure Hour!. 

Until now I have run 6 games for this group, all in 5e, and am surprised with how much fun we are having despite everything I dislike about 5e. Remembering how much I didn't like using 5e before, this made me wonder how I was having this much fun despite adhering rather strictly to 5e rules. 

There are currently three reasons I can come up with, one of which is rather philosophical so I'll be sure to save that one for last. 

Gods and their servants

Here's how Gods work in the open table game I run for my students. Also, a God Soother class and three Cultists (Sun, Life and Death, and Moon). This is somewhat inspired by my previous religion post, but it is tailored more to this world.

Gods:

• Gods govern domains of the physical world: the larger their domains, the bigger their power.
• Domains are not so much aspects of human life, as they are places, conditions or things in the world. 'A river', 'anything the moonlight touches', and 'decaying matter' are all examples of domains.
• Gods are beings of order: they want the world to be more of the same, specifically more like them. Therefore: all Gods strive to increase their domains until they assimilate the world.

Yet another magic system: Chaotic Spells and Strange Charms

Finding a magic system that does what I want is difficult. Not in the least because what I want from a magic system differs constantly depending on the sort of game I am (considering) playing.

However, one consistent ask that I have of magic is that it makes sense in the world, at least to me. So very gamey takes on magic, though they might be fun to play with, don't do it for me personally. 

Other than 'making sense in the world' I wanted the magic for this game to feel like a genuine force of nature, rather than vague innate power. I think it worked pretty well, but we'll see when I test it at the open table game I run for my students if it actually works in practice. 

Some more twisted vanilla: Ranger, Paladin, Witch/Druid

After doing the fighter, thief and wizard last post, I'll share the ranger, paladin and witch classes I made as well. These have been quite fun to work on, and I hope to expand the organisations/classes based on some ideas I still have lying around somewhere as well as based on input from my students on what they want to play.

Wilderness Warden

The natural order is under constant threat. It is up to us to maintain it and root out the chaos that would undo it.

Gear: Hunting bow, quiver of 20 arrows, a waterproof cloak, a fishing rod, and a hunting knife.
Duty: You must present a trophy of a chaotic being you got rid of at each Equinox Moot.  
Stipulation: You are not allowed to upset the natural order under any circumstance.
Rituals: When you take up the responsibility of the Wardens of the Wilds you are inducted in one of the following rituals to aid you in your duty. Those who make a major contribution to the efforts of the Wardens are allowed to participate in a ritual they haven’t yet experienced.

Vanilla classes with a twist: Fighter, Thief, Wizard

At the school I teach at, I run weekly games for students. This year, I want to run an open table game set in a slightly gonzo fantasy world, where an ancient empire has suddenly fallen into decline. Power is fragmented, and seemingly up for grabs. Alongside local governments various organisations are vying for power. 

Here's three such organisations for the classic three: variations on Fighters, Thieves  and Wizards (format inspired by unions from bastionland, the GLoG from goblinpunch, and materialist progression from adventures buffo.) 

Condemned Conscript

Your lives were forfeit the moment you went down the path of crime. Only through facing death can your humanity be redeemed.

Gear: A helmet, a spear, a shield and a pouch of blood red berries.
Duty: Answer the call when the Vanguard is deployed in war.
Stipulation: You must wear a noose around your neck while you are serving your sentence.
Rituals: After you are convicted to serve in the Condemned Vanguard your fellow convicts will put you through one of the following rituals. Those that serve another campaign, willingly or as punishment for a crime, will be put through a ritual they have not gone through before.

Gygax 75: Reflections and Results

Over on Yochai Gal's lovely NSR discord server some folks (including your's truly) tried there hand at the Gygax 75 challenge during the month of June.

The opportunity to so this alongside a bunch of other people who would regularly check in on each other was great, as in the weeks prior I had attempted several procedures to make a classic dungeon, all with lack luster results (which just goes to show that different methods will work for different people, as these were perfectly functional procedures). 

As I've had a blast doing this challenge (way more than I expected to) I feel like sharing the results, despite being over a month late.

You can download the challenge for free over here. 

The 2nd Age is here

The first part of the project Adventures Buffo and I have been working on is complete. I originally approached Adventures Buffo after reading a great blogpost of his asking if he minded if I took a stab at the idea. Instead, he proposed we attempted something colleboratively and this is the result:

How I run: 'Overpowered' abilities

 Intro: Overpowered Abilities

A staple of my recent design is to work with absolutes whenever possible. This is because to me, these are a lot easier to track. Examples of these are 'mortal steel cannot penetrate dragon scales' or 'fairy dust allows you to fly until you touch the ground'. 

Worldbuilding without canon

 "There is no canon."

This, I feel, is the best way to deal with worldbuilding in tRPGs. Rather than fight against the given fact that people will alter your work based on the preferences and needs of their tables, you can learn to embrace it and actively make settings that do not have a canon, or at least very little canon. There are a number of ways I have seen folks embrace this idea: from sharing unfinished projects and incomplete thoughts to publishing material that deliberately leaves gaps that need to be filled in during prep or at the table.

How I run: complete adventures in under 90 minutes

 Intro: Not enough time

Almost every day I am confronted with an annoying fact: I have more interests than I have time for. Add a job and a relationship to this and I have not nearly enough time to do all the things that interest me. In short: there is little time for me to run and prep tRPGs.