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.