Pathfinder (2009)

Pathfinder 2nd Edition is a tactical, crunchy and highly customizable heroic fantasy roleplaying game system published by Paizo. Originally released in 2019 as the evolution of the Pathfinder system (which grew out of the D&D 3.5 system, as a reaction to the release of the simplified and more video game-like D&D 4E). The system recently received a comprehensive "Remaster" overhaul, which decoupled the game from the legacy Open Game License (OGL), moving it to the system-agnostic ORC License. The Remaster version has updated various terminology and streamlined different conflicting mechanics, the core engine of PF2E remains exactly the same as before. Description Like other d20-based fantasy games, players are an adventuring party that go on adventures, defeat enemies and uncover various mysteries while the Game Master (GM) is in charge of running the world around the characters and is in control of managing any enemies and non-player characters they might encounter. However, where D&D 5E leans heavily on "rulings over rules" and simplicity, Pathfinder 2E has shifted its focus on customization and making sure that with every system balance is maintained. Pathfinder 2E is ideal for players who are more into tactical combat, clear rules for exploration, and the ability to build unique character concepts with a reasonable amount of customization without accidentally breaking the game or worry too much about maintaining balance. The system comes with great tools for the GMs as the system provides clear guidelines and mechanics for most situations, meaning the GM rarely has to invent or interpret rules on the fly to keep the game moving. System Overview & Key Features The 3-Action Economy Pathfinder 2E is famous for their action system. Instead of pre-defined action types, the player can perform creatively distribute their actions how they see fit. Instead of always having a "move action" that the character can utilize or leave unused, the system allows a character to instead use that action as an extra attack. Or instead of attacking, the adventurer can move twice (or thrice, if using all actions). Degrees of Success Instead of approaching "1" or "20" on the d20 die as a critical result, The system considers "oversucceeding" as a critical success. Succeeding a roll by 10 or more points it is automatically a Critical Success. If you miss the DC by 10 or more, it is a Critical Failure. Because of this, every single +1 or -1 improvement feels more impactful and important. Feat-Based Character Customization There are no "useless level-ups" Every single level-up players make meaningful choices by selecting from an extensive assortment of Ancestry Feats, Class Feats, Skill Feats, and General Feats. This creates a situation, where even two characters of the same class can be played completely differently. Reliable Encounter Building The game's underlying math is rigorous and highly functional. An encounter mathematically classified as "Severe" will actually push the party to their limits. GMs can trust the system's encounter building rules completely. Keyword and Trait System Spells, weapons, and abilities have specific traits (like "Incapacitation" or "Fire"). If a rule has a trait, it consistently interacts with the rest of the game's mechanics in the exact same way, removing ambiguity. Edicts and Anathema PF2e has abandoned the traditional moral alignment system. Deities and classes are governed by Edicts (things your character must strive to do) and Anathema (things you must avoid), creating a more nuanced approach to roleplaying. Additional links paizo.com/pathfinder - Official Pathfinder website 2e.aonprd.com - Archives of Nethys (Official free rules database for PF2e)

SAKE is a traditional tabletop roleplaying game with a touch of strategy game. It is a crunchy, modular, d20 point-buy game set in an early-modern fantasy world, with detailed systems for domain-building and overseas trading. Description In SAKE, you play the ruler of a domain, a merchant prince, a pirate lord or start as an adventurer with the goal of rising to power. You delve into dungeons, explore pockets of the Otherworld to find treasures, make pacts with fickle gods, study dangerous magic, scheme to assassinate rivals, trade to gather resources and raise an army to fight wars. SAKE is a full point buy system, which means all character development happens by buying skills and abilities using EXP gained from your character's personality traits and events during gameplay. SAKE is designed to take place in an early modern (fantasy) world, with muskets and plate armour, cannons and galleys, rising capitalism and waning feudalism. With magic and gods mixed in. The game's rules support more serious types of campaigns, like balancing between different political interest groups when playing domain ruler, or deciding how far one is ready to go when meddling with gods or magic for power that could save their party and/or domain. SAKE comes with its own world – the Asteanic World – but it is by no means exclusive to it. It can be used to play in other early modern fantasy worlds, or even in Earth's similar historical period. Additional links sake.ee - Official website drivethrurpg.com - Full book

Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E (commonly called the "2024 rules" or "D&D 2024") is the revised and updated version of the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition tabletop roleplaying game, published by Wizards of the Coast. Released across three core rulebooks throughout 2024 and early 2025, it is not a new edition. It is the same game, refined. The revision was driven by a decade of player feedback and data on how tables actually run 5E, and it shipped to coincide with the game's 50th anniversary. The three revised core books are the Player's Handbook (September 2024), the Dungeon Master's Guide (November 2024), and the Monster Manual (February 2025). All three are reorganized, reworded for clarity, and mechanically updated. Rather than replacing 5th Edition with a "6th Edition," 5.5E expands and tightens the existing framework while maintaining backwards compatibility with every 5E adventure module, sourcebook, and campaign setting published since 2014. If you are new to D&D entirely, start with the Dungeons & Dragons 5e (2014) entry for a full explanation of how the game works. Everything described there still applies here. This entry covers what 5.5E specifically changed. Description D&D 5.5E plays identically to 5th Edition at the table. Players create adventurers, one player takes on the role of the Dungeon Master (DM), and the group tells a collaborative story driven by a twenty-sided die (d20) and the DM's rulings. The core loop, the "Three Pillars" of Combat, Exploration, and Social Interaction, and the fundamental mechanics (Advantage and Disadvantage, Bounded Accuracy, the Proficiency Bonus, the rest system) all carry over unchanged. What the 2024 revision addresses is the rough edges that a decade of play exposed. Martial classes (Fighters, Barbarians, Monks, Rogues) now have more tactical options in combat instead of repeating the same basic attack every turn. Spellcasting classes have been rebalanced to reduce the gap between low-level and high-level power. Rules that were famously unclear or frequently house-ruled (grappling, crafting, surprise, two-weapon fighting) have been rewritten. The Dungeon Master's Guide, long criticized as poorly organized, has been restructured into a book that new DMs can actually learn from rather than only reference. The result is a game that feels the same at the table but runs more smoothly. Groups that have been playing 5E for years will notice the quality-of-life improvements. Groups starting fresh will simply have a cleaner ruleset from day one. Both 2014 and 2024 material can be used at the same table without conversion, though the newer rules are recommended for new characters.

Fear of the Unknown is a zero prep horror mystery game designed for one-shots and inspired by horror movies, from slasher flicks to possession films to conspiracy thrillers Together, one Oracle and one or more other players will collaboratively create the small town setting and populate it with a diverse and contentious cast of characters. Each player creates their protagonist, and then the Oracle creates a horrifying mystery for them to solve. Every game has a real mystery to solve with a real secret to uncover, with zero prep required! Fear of the Unknown introduces the Seeking the Unknown system, which focuses on leading questions that help you create a world, characters, and story with no preparation, and lasting changes to your character with every decision you make and every time you roll the dice. It also has advice for how to make your own Seeking the Unknown game.

The campaign starts with a group of ordinary fantasy tavern workers who win their workplace lottery. Unfortunately, the prize isn't money. They've won a place in a televised dungeon-crawling competition run by a ridiculously powerful interplanetary corporation. The show is intended to be a mixture of Dungeon World, fantasy workplace comedy, corporate satire, sci-fi/fantasy and a televised death game.

We are an Actual Play podcast using Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars: Force and Destiny.  We currently running two campaigns, switching between the stories at the end of each chapter. The Coldfire Chronicles is run by Adam and tells tale of a group of escaped prisoners on the run from a member of the Inquisitorius and searching for the Jedi Knight Daveron Coldfire, and the Shadows of the Jedi run by Ed Fortune which tells the story of a group of unlikely friends and their adventures on a forgotten planet on the edge of Wild Space. Links forcemajeurepod.com - Official website youtube.com - "Shadows of the Jedi" Youtube playlist youtube.com - "Coldfire Chronicles" Youtube playlist spotify.com - Spotify feed podcasts.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed discord.gg - Discord server patreon.com - Patreon page ko-fi.com - Ko-Fi page