Hi Everyone!

A bit of a convoluted story as to how I found this place. I contributed to "Cool Name RPG" on Kickstarter, which is going to be a community-owned RPG system as envisioned by Marc Tassin and the folks at Mechanical Muse. Curious about the company, I discovered their 5e compatible setting World of Aetatlis. I was intrigued, so after picking up a copy of their player's handbook, I searched for open games in the setting. That led me here. :)

I confess to not playing 5e, though I've browsed it a bit. I'm an original AD&D player/DM, but I stopped playing after I discovered Traveller. Fast forward a few decades and it seems like my Traveller campaigns are winding down or ending. Sadly, my friends are at an age where disinterest, divorce, and death are claiming them. Recruiting new Traveller players is tough. There's a lot of baggage in the community, and I haven't been shy about saying that the emperor has no clothes.

So I thought that it might be a good time to try out some new games as a player, and maybe meet some new people. As a GM, I really like the resources that Stars Without Number and its ilk offer, but I'm not sure if it's fun place to game. Across a Thousand Dead Worlds is finally making its way to market (Another Kickstarter I backed), but I'm not sure if that's going to be fun either. It seems really focused on death and madness. Finally, there's World of Aetatlis which inspires me to return to my D&D roots.

I haven't done a play-by-post campaign yet. I've been running (and playing in) play-by-email (PBEM) for 20 years, which has been great. F2F was fun, but adults have jobs and families and very little free time. And players had a nasty habit of wandering off-plot into areas I didn't have materials developed. PBEM enabled me to game with people all over the planet at a relaxed pace (and I could easily take time to develop materials for unexpected journeys). I couldn't have continued gaming without it. I'm interested to see if PBP works just as well.

\_/
DED

Welcome, DED!

If you want to see how GP functions, here are links to the New GP Member Guide, the forum rules, this video introduction made by user Qralloq and a little helpful formatting guide made by user Adam. You might also be interested in looking through some public games as well to get a feel for the site.
If you have any questions about how to use the site, you can put them into our Questions and Help subforum.

To join a game, keep your eyes on the Games Tavern, where GMs advertise their games and look for players.

You're also invited to join us on the Discord server for some friendly conversation, about the site, RPGs in general or anything else!

If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to contact any of the following moderators:

bowlofspinach
CancerMan
Dramasailor
Len
Naatkinson
Qralloq
Keleth (site owner)

Happy gaming!

Thank you, bowlofspinach. I shall make use of those links.

\_/
DED

Greetings and Salutations DED! I think you'll find pbp runs a lot like pbem, and the community here is a good one, very welcoming and accommodating.

Welcome to GP DED!
I love Kevin Crawford by the way.

Thank you, Joshua and Windy.

Joshua: Good communities are a treasure in their own right.

Windy: Ahhh, any particular games of his that you really enjoy or just what he's provided for the gaming community?

Welcome, ForeverDED.

I played tested Across A Thousand Dead Worlds before it went to KS. It was pretty polished and thorough, if not with a playstyle that got me excited. I am in a Traveler campaign here on GP, a game I've long had an eye on and am finally getting to see under the hood. Loving it so far.

Anyway, hope you find some great games to join!

Welcome!

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome DED.

I did not have any trouble recruiting players for Traveller --after decades away. I admit part of the reason it took so long to get back to it has been the opinionated communities, but I found none of that here, and have a game with both brand new and experienced players. There was more interest than I could handle, if you decided to run a game, I am pretty sure you would get players in no time. :)

I too found the ... Without Number games to present themselves well on paper and to offer quite a bit for the GM (and their 'lonely fun') but to fall flat at the table, it just does not offer that much for the players to engage with. If the players are self-motivated any system can work, but then it does not matter what system they are using (so long as it does not get in the way which these don't) Empowering the GM to make a living feeling world can help player immersion, but I worry that ... Without Number might focus the GM in the wrong direction for what the players get to play with. :(
Nearly backed the new Cities Without Number anyway. :)

Thank you, Qralloq, CancerMan, and witchdoctor!

Qralloq, I've been reading through chunks of the last two pdfs. I agree that it's both polished and thorough, even if it is a bit heavy on death and madness. The Antagonist Generation Tables are especially useful as it offers the GM a chance to create their own "Monster Manual." Do you think you'd be interested in running a campaign or know someone who would?

Hi vagueGM,

See, you hit the nail right on the head: "opinionated communities." Traveller ran through so many flame wars over preferred rules versions, campaign settings, and whose version of Traveller "destroyed" the game on the MLs and forums over so many years that the community fractured. But then MM anointed Mongoose as the game's standard bearer (yet still put out his own version). They put out a solid product, and things settled down. People decided to go along with it or go away. Glad to hear that none of that old mess is here. :)

It sounds like you and I share similar concerns about ...Without Number. Yes, I backed Cities Without Number on Kickstarter. I want to see what Mr. Crawford comes up with for cyberpunk and hacking rules. That's always been something that Traveller lacked, so I've had to homebrew some rules when the situation arose. Maybe Mongoose addressed that. I don't know.

Hello and welcome!

Welcome to GP, ForeverDED. Lots of good gaming to be found 'round these parts, as I suspect you can already tell from the responses above. I ran PBEM games almost exclusively for about ten years before switching to PbP -- I think you will indeed find it an easy and rewarding transition.

I'm not the Traveller fan some are (I'm old enough and was playing back then, but we were an AD&D crew), but I adore a lot of the lighter-weight Travelleresque stuff like Bulldogs, Offworlders, Night Tripper and the like. Crawford's stuff I have enormous respect for, but I just can't bear to plow through the Without Number books... despite owning most of them. ;)

Anyway -- welcome indeed!

Welcome

Welcome to GP!

Welcome :)

Welcome to GP, ForeverDED!

Thank you Phil, Harrigan, Sterfteerst, nezzeraj, Furmyr, and RAAM.

Harrigan: Not familiar with Bulldogs, Offworlders, or Night Tripper. I'll have to take a look.

Welcome to the community, ForeverDED! Glad to see another Traveller fan. A group of us are playing a game right now in the ol' Spinward Marches using Mongoose 2e. I think Cepheus Deluxe or some of the systems Harrigan mentioned might be a better fit for PbP, but I have a deep, abiding love for all the fiddly bits. I bought Marc Miller's Traveller5 (maybe the crunchiest Traveller? I haven't played GURPS Traveller) just for the lonely fun of reading it.

I hope you find a group to run the systems you're excited about!