I was wondering what people are looking for in RPGs. I’m talking about settings, gimmicks and set pieces.

I was wondering what people are looking for in RPGs. I’m talking about settings, gimmicks and set pieces.

I was wondering what people are looking for in RPGs. I’m talking about settings, gimmicks and set pieces.

Mounted Spider Combat? Giant robots that combine into larger robots? Adventure inside a human body? Prison life? Planetary colonization? Disease outbreak? Hollow earth? Anthropomorphic Dinosaurs? a demon possessed 18-wheeler? A Russian Plot to build an army cloned from Elvis Presley?

I tend to think in terms of things you could drop into Dungeon World or some other PBTA game but feel free to come up with less traditional or more abstract ideas. With any luck a GM will grab one of your idea and run with it on a future Gauntlet event.

28 thoughts on “I was wondering what people are looking for in RPGs. I’m talking about settings, gimmicks and set pieces.”

  1. My groups tend towards high-adventure type games. This means that we need interesting encounter ideas and set pieces. A castle under siege, an earthquake in the mountains, underground fortress collapsing, a fight in a high-speed train, etc. that’s a list of things I haven’t really gotten right.

    For me personally I want high-intrigue and espionage, but in a systems that flows narratively. Never found one that really did the trick. Perfect game(that doesn’t exist): L5R meets Mission: Impossible!

  2. My groups tend towards high-adventure type games. This means that we need interesting encounter ideas and set pieces. A castle under siege, an earthquake in the mountains, underground fortress collapsing, a fight in a high-speed train, etc. that’s a list of things I haven’t really gotten right.

    For me personally I want high-intrigue and espionage, but in a systems that flows narratively. Never found one that really did the trick. Perfect game(that doesn’t exist): L5R meets Mission: Impossible!

  5. Body swapping shenanigans.

    Misleadingly worded prophecies.

    Something subtle & unsettling simply because it shouldn’t be where it is (e.g. finding an old toy you owned as a child while exploring a derelict ship)

    A murder mystery involving supernatural/superhuman suspects.

    Versions of characters from an alternate universe, trying to escape the end of their world.

    An agency that finds temps to take on the jobs of Gods and other anthropomorphic beings when they want a holiday.

  6. Body swapping shenanigans.

    Misleadingly worded prophecies.

    Something subtle & unsettling simply because it shouldn’t be where it is (e.g. finding an old toy you owned as a child while exploring a derelict ship)

    A murder mystery involving supernatural/superhuman suspects.

    Versions of characters from an alternate universe, trying to escape the end of their world.

    An agency that finds temps to take on the jobs of Gods and other anthropomorphic beings when they want a holiday.

  11. Down to earth locally but world of wonders for people from other places (like for me) . Like: tribal life in iron age, factory workers in times of industrialization, slum in New Dheli.

    I’m currently working on a PbtA hack on life in the largest town of >90% Mayan decendents (Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala) . I think it Romeo and Juliette, of Fast and Furious kind of stories to be played here. Since I currently live here I could bring lots of local people and their knowledge into the game.

  12. Down to earth locally but world of wonders for people from other places (like for me) . Like: tribal life in iron age, factory workers in times of industrialization, slum in New Dheli.

    I’m currently working on a PbtA hack on life in the largest town of >90% Mayan decendents (Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala) . I think it Romeo and Juliette, of Fast and Furious kind of stories to be played here. Since I currently live here I could bring lots of local people and their knowledge into the game.

  15. I’m with you on many of those, James Mullen. I, too, like a Twilight Zone-style mystery or twist.

    Lately, I love a bit of erotica thrown into the proceedings, and I mean the sort of dripping in black velvet and/or leather luxurious erotica you might find in an old Anne Rice novel. Powerful, wicked people wearing fancy clothes and doing vaguely kinky things.

  16. I’m with you on many of those, James Mullen. I, too, like a Twilight Zone-style mystery or twist.

    Lately, I love a bit of erotica thrown into the proceedings, and I mean the sort of dripping in black velvet and/or leather luxurious erotica you might find in an old Anne Rice novel. Powerful, wicked people wearing fancy clothes and doing vaguely kinky things.

  21. Awesome! I’ve heard about an expansion that allows players to use Vodka as an additional currency. I haven’t played with that; have you? (and, if so, does it hold up?)

  22. Awesome! I’ve heard about an expansion that allows players to use Vodka as an additional currency. I haven’t played with that; have you? (and, if so, does it hold up?)

  27. Back on the topic of what gimmicks I’d like to see in games, I’m personally missing a lot of the pretty toys that traditional games use–like cool minis, pretty maps, and terrain.

    However, this doesn’t work great online. 🙁

  28. Back on the topic of what gimmicks I’d like to see in games, I’m personally missing a lot of the pretty toys that traditional games use–like cool minis, pretty maps, and terrain.

    However, this doesn’t work great online. 🙁

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