Thank you all so much for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it! I will certainly check out those resources (thank you bowlofspinach) and then I can see about setting up a game to get started.
Len says:
As a moderator, I sometimes have to deal with bot accounts but this is one bot I'm happy to see. Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Commander!
Thank you, sir!
Adam says:
(Adam mumbles something pedantic about the singular being datum)
The other difference between 'data' and 'datum':
/j
Dr_B says:
Welcome aboard! I'm a big fan of CoC, as well as many others on GPlane.
(and would also love to try Paranoia at some stage, I hear it's a woot! )
Paranoia is a lot of fun, and I have a pretty good mini-adventure for it that does a good job at introducing the world to new players.
One of the great things about Paranoia is that it is very easy to jump in as a player. You do not even need to know the rules. In fact, it is against the rules to know the rules - including that one, so you are already on thin ice.
SavageBob says:
Welcome, Data! Glad to have you. There's a lot of of CoC that gets played around her, as well as CoC-adjacent games, like Trail of Cthulhu and so on. Have you tried the newest Star Trek system? That might be a fun one to get a group together for here. Maybe...
I do have the Star Trek Adventures Starter Set - but, I have never had the chance to play or run it. It does seem like there would be a few people interested in that here, though, which is exciting. I will review by books and see if there is something I can put together for it.
vagueGM says:
What sort of systems do you think you would be interested in learning?
Do you want to do up or down on the crunchiness scale (compared to DnD and CoC)?
What sorts of stories interest you? General genres and types or specific titles may help us find a fit.
I did leave that pretty vague, mostly because I have a broad range of likes, and I really do not know if I dislike something until I try it. I come from a forum-rp background, which is entirely fluff, so I can enjoy pure-roleplay experiences. However, I was definitely drawn more to the structure of TTRPGs, and I enjoy tactics, math, and reading, so I do not think crunchier systems would throw me off much past the initial learning curve. I would be happy to try them in PbP games, especially, since it gives me time to calculate, rather than being put on the spot in-person.
As a GM I am fairly flexible with making D&D and CoC fluffier or crunchier depending on the type of players I have. Generally, I just try to keep the in-game stakes proportional and relevant to the out-of-game effort. If players want to put their effort into roleplaying-out a conflict, then the narrative should become more elaborate to make that style of play worthwhile - likewise, if players prefer hard-tactics, then the technical challenge of the encounters should increase in response, to encourage player engagement.
I also have a wide-spanning list of genres I enjoy, so the vagueness is still intentional, but for some specifics:
Fantasy: High Fantasy, naturally, but I have a specific love for Magical Realism and Surrealist Fantasy. Maybe sit me somewhere between Wheel of Time and Discworld.
Sci-Fi: I am comfortable with most science fiction softer than or equal to Star Trek. Space exploration and alien civilizations interest me specifically, but I also enjoy dystopian and/or planet-side settings. I enjoy hard sci-fi as a genre, but I am not sure if I could play a game of it. Though, I am always open to try.
Horror: I am always up for anything horror-related. Cosmic or supernatural horror, psychological horror, body horror, slasher or survival horror - it is a genre I love in almost all its forms.
I am also a fan of action/adventure, comedy, and mystery - which pretty much just leaves Historical Fiction, Slice-of-Life, and Romance as genres I could never quite get into. Pretty much everything else is fair game.