The Players need a change of pace… game fatigue is real. What TTRPG setting/system do you think they should try/should Three use to torment the others? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll take a look at your suggestions and when the Campaign returns, they’ll delve into a new adventure!
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I would LOVE to see them take on Shadowrun. Plenty of gags to be had with a cyberpunk campaign, plus the system can be pretty damn lethal, and min/maxy. Given that 3 is looking to make them appreciate what they have here, I can totally see it turning into a DM vs Players moment.
Seconded! It is also a setting where you couuuuld introduce romanceable tentacles. 😆
Probably second only to CoC in that regard.
Yeah a Shadowrun/Cyberpunk game was my go to recommendation as well.
Shadowrun 5th Edition. Complex yet elegant rules for swift and deep Gameplay. Yes.
Call of Cthulhu’s numerous forms of sanity management and de facto war of attrition of the game mechanics vs your player is always fun. It even comes with octopus men, in theory.
A sharp taste of “God I’m glad I don’t have to deal with this anymore” in your morning coffee before a game can be nice from time to time.
Yes! And you can romance the octopus men too!
Well, meta-wise it needs to be a game a lot of people are already at least passingly familiar with, which scratches most games off the list. It also has to have buy in by the players. And since Starcaster Chronicles already coveres the sci-fi itch, I’d say one of the World of Darkness games. I can see the table jumping at the chance to play werewolves/vampires/hunters and the GM turning that power trip against them in short order.
So, Velvet Fang Games has done a 5e adaptation called Dungeons and Destiny set in that universe. Could be a neat universe to play around in with a fun style.
Obviously Call of Cthulhu, it’s the perfect choice especially if 3 wants to sadistically punish them.
And that would allow 4 to romance all the tentacles, even if… briefly. Good call!
3 is already on the edge, if their PCs are ‘realistic copies’ it wouldn’t take long for hers to lose it altogether.
Agreed. This would be the perfect continuation of the story. Modern day setting, which should be interesting for all characters. Octopus god, for Four.
And for Three? Why, the rush of setting your players against an outcome that they cannot succeed. Subjecting them to horror after gibbering horror as pieces of their minds and psyche are slowly whittled away until nothing but a husk remains; a husk in servitude to our god, the inexaminable Nath-Horthath, in whose dark scales glisten with a thousand thousand melodious screams of worlds and ages long past! Ngnah, blades ph’nglui n’ghft ahor ah vulgtmnah!
This was my first thought as well
Honestly, I think all of us in the comments saw the last panel and said “Yup, cue Call of Cthuhlu.”
Some fun? TPK?
For the Warhammer fan there’s always Black Crusade!
I genuinely hope that 3 isn’t about to punish them for wanting a complete change of pace.
Indeed. Sometimes you just need to play a new game.
I really think it’s more than 3 feels that he’s never appreciated for all the underlying effort that goes into it and just decided “Okay, you want something different, you’ll GET something different.” And then plans to exploit every twist in the book until they show some appreciation (and have them begging for the story he prepared)
Well, that would be vindictive and unfortunate (and likely offputting for the group). Really, if he wanted them to appreciate him, he should just run them through pre-prepared campaigns in whatever setting they choose, that he didn’t spend any time on and hope they find it boring without the extra work he puts in.
That said, a single large campaign over several years would definitely get hard to keep excited about.
Deadlands, Shadowrun, or even Cyberpunk with the Edgerunners pack coming out
I was going to say Deadlands too, could be some interesting situations with all that wierdness!
Something new and challenging…?
Dark souls meets Call of Cthulhu?
There would definitely be Tentacle people for 4 to romance. 😛
Mechwarrior tabletop… the mech stomping gags are nearly endless?
‘not-star wars’ Saga edition, with as absolutely OP as it could get, quickly. ^_^
I would like to see a hilarious non canon crossover with one or both of the other storylines. Three sends them
There’s so much to choose from. Some examples I’d enjoy:
For a modern horror to corrupt them with “KULT: Divinity lost”
For classical horror to kill them with: “Vaesen”
For horrific short-lived fantasy: “Mörk Borg”
For horrific short-lived cyberpunk: “CyBorg”
A what if in the future, where their characters died trying to save the world but failed…
System? All are cool
If it was still a thing, I would say Vampire the Masquerade. I loved that game when I was younger.
It’s very much still a thing. There’s a new-ish edition – V5 much more focused on your inner beast and struggles as an undead. I recommend watching LA by Night. It really reignited my passion for VtM which was dormant for a decade.
There is also the 20th anniversary edition, which is Old World of Darkness with some much needed system streamlining
+1 for VTM, it focuses on the social aspect in an amazing way and is great at creating memorable moments.
I’ve been playing Traveller for the first time recently and that is *chock* full of deep admin and highly detailed elements that we really have to think hard about (we spent two and a half sessions just scouting and buying our first spaceship at auction, figuring out mortgage payments, etc). Would be a perfect way to flip the whole ‘preparedness’ back on the players.
If they want challenging then throw Traveller at the and watch them die during character creation.
Paranoia!? – Yes, Friend Computer! 🙂
Back in earlier editions of DND, we started playing with Twilight 2000 (Post WW3 military based strategy/RPG), for a breather.
It was a definite change of pace and background, a great play, but the combat system was horrendously more complicated.
DNDs simple hack and slash became a break from that after some ‘interesting’ battles took a decidedly nasty turn with inflexible unbalanced situations that arose.
“Lets sneak in and recon this base, with tanks and ATVs highly visible, it’ll be fine…”
They _clearly_ need to play Paranoia.
Paranoia.
It’s different enough from the DnD setting that it would provide a real change of pace for the characters, and considering their personalities I think it would work quite well.
Plus they already have different coloured shirts 🙂
TPK oneshots? Not necessarily setting specific, it’s usually an adventure where they have to protect one spot against increasingly more difficult waves of monsters without rest. The point of the adventure is not to win, but see how long they can survive. There is also Honey Heist, a one page RPG. You have a complex plan to take all the honey from a big convention, but you are a party of bears (+1 panda). 4 would love the panda. It’s up on itch.io and it’s a very fun 1 session adventure. My other favourite is The Witch Is Dead one-pager… Read more »
Paranoia, to make everything torment everyone.
I second this
My two top contenders:
Vampire: The Masquerade
Dark Heresy
Hey, I love Dark Heresy! Not the best system, but fun.
It has to be “The Campaign for North Africa – The Desert War 1940-43”.
Would be fun to see them do something unusual, like a Stephen King inspired campaign for instance.
That said, I’m kinda invested in their current campaign and want them to continue😂
Savage Worlds. Specifically, the Dead End setting. With the way you portray this group, I could see 3 really punishing the rest for their impulsive behavior, and watching them try and navigate a zombie apocalypse setting that can really punish any bad decisions (like shooting guns will attract zombies) would be an absolute blast! I know for a fact that at least one of the guys who made the game is a fan of the comic and would be happy to help with anything related to seeing it here.
Kingdom Death Monster. or Shadowrun
1 and 3 actually played Kingdom Death Monster once. It did not go well for 1’s sanity.
Uh… that face in the last panel makes my blood freeze 🙂
As long it’s not one of the Table Top RPG that hasn’t switched to the dark side like Warhammer 40K has done.
Tomb of Annihilation?
That’s what I came here to say. 🙂
Ooooh, exalted, godbound, scion?
Beware. Of. Smiling. DM.
I think Cyberpunk Red felt flat after a while.
Or Fate system mainly doing combat encounters can be quite a torment.
I say go world of darkness. Pretty much be something completely new and I bet Three would find a whole lot of things to do to torment the party.
Without the torture idea: Pathfinder 2
To do something really dumb: Numenera
To go completely different: Shadowrun or Vampire/World of Darkness
In my bi-weekly experience, Pathfinder 2 *is* the torture experience. Our campaign has been going on for nearly 2 years and we’re all still perplexed by the new ruleset. Pretty sure the only one who likes it is the GM, and even then I’m not so sure… :(””
Any system where a “veteran” fighter can’t do the bare basics of his class is a loss for me. The fact it takes PC’s till level 12 to get a basic combat tactic such as “not dropping your shield every 5 seconds” is insane.
I was going to suggest Pathfinder 1e. Then we can get 3 pages of them doing math to determine if an attack hits, at which point 4 goes insane and murders everyone at the table. <Game Over>
This would be very tricky but I think it’d be amusing if each character was from a different genre. Say 4 is sci-fi, 2 is western, 1 is fantasy, and 3 is… a genre I haven’t thought of, haha.
You are describing Rifts. If you want a party of a werewolf, a space smuggler, a Wild West Outlaw, and a TMNT mutant, you want to play Rifts.
Traveller. Imagine Firefly the ttrpg, except you can die during character creation. Or start out crippled. It is fun and it is harsh. Probably JUST the thing. They want to create new characters? Cool. The character creation process will be enough to scar them for life.
So when I was much younger there was a game great for one shots called “Ninja Burger”. It could become very frustrating very fast.
A 40k setting would be *neat*. 4 is already…. unsettling enough to be a psyker. 2 would make an excellent tech priest, and it even fits his motif. 1 strikes me as guard fodder, and 3, could go for maximum torment and be an Inquisitor that drags them along on some insane warp fueled quest.
Cyberpunk!
Exalted or the old World of Darkness games.
Eldridge horror in a way the traumatizes 4 and 3 is the BB
I would suggest you take on GURPS as a system and blend your various IP into a single adventure! Starcaster alongside Console Wars, alongside the fantasy…
Add Analog and D-Pad to the list for a proper fun mashup. The GURPS system itself is a mind-bender with no Levelled progression and no classes.
Star Wars RPG
Came here to suggest the Fantasy Flight one. The Triumph/Despair dice are beautiful for letting the DM drive some amazing drama.
Paranoia 🙂
or Ctulhu
Star Wars RPG (Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, and/or Force and Destiny) would be fun!
Lancer, just casue lancer is cool, and if the dm is better at tactics then you are, you can easily get boned
Starship troopers RPG 😀