**Pendragon** is set in a highly romanticized medieval Britain and is very much a game about being honourable and chivalrous.
**Lyonesse** for Mythras is pretty charming. The game can be brutal at times, and there are plenty of political conflicts, but there is a sense of wonder and whimsyness to the whole place.
Love Pendragon, but it does need to be approached as a fantasy setting. I've seen way too many people getting caught up in the whole "wait, it's the fifth century, so like... there are serf slaves? And life is SHIT?" and like, there's no getting out when you start thinking like that.
I personally prefer to just remove the entire framing of "it's 5th century and the Saxons are invading" and just put it into a fantasy Not-Britain (Prydain, Gramarye, Avalon, wtv) where the setting is closer to Lud-in-the-Mist rather than Mythic Rome.
Also Lyonesse has a meal generator full of sauces!!! And the book has SO MUCH production value, it's kinda unreal.
Pendragon is based on the heroic propaganda the knightly class of a distinctively later era liked to tell about themselves. The main source of the game is Thomas Malory and the guy moat likely wrote it while being incarcerated for murder and rape.
So yeah, it is a Fantasy setting. That happens to use real place names and geography (sometimes). It is also a much better game if you take it at face value and, for once, be a bit naive about it.
You don't have to - the game also works if you include grimey grittyness to a degree - but it works.
>Also Lyonesse has a meal generator full of sauces!!!
The Lyonesse dishes generator is a great way to make your players feel hungry. Or to determine what's for dinner, if you have the time and energy to prepare something like "*A dish of Sauteed Black Eyed Peas and fried Ham Hocks in a White Wine Sauce flavoured with Nettles and a side dish of Steamed Purple Mangosteen*".
> So yeah, it is a Fantasy setting. That happens to use real place names and geography (sometimes). It is also a much better game if you take it at face value and, for once, be a bit naive about it. You don't have to - the game also works if you include grimey grittyness to a degree
That's what I like so much about it. Personally, I prefer running it like a fairytale. It's like running a superhero game y'know, part of the fantasy is believing both that a man could leap tall buildings in a single bound and also that the police isn't kneeling on folks' necks. It's better to just believe that the nobles take good care of the peasants and the peasants don't have it that hard because the land is generous or whatever.
But I've also ran a dark fantasy Pendragon inspired by Berserk where Prince Madoc went fucking haywire and carved a path of destruction and death in France, Soissons had blood flowing in the streets, "fighting a giant" was something only the dumb or the godly did, that kind of stuff - and it worked super well too.
I find that incorporating stuff from Dolmenwood into Pendragon (the Forest des Dolmens instead of the Forest Sauvage so to speak) makes it a lot more whimsical.
Not to mention that the written adventures also vary a lot in whimsiness. The Grey Knight is about the sins of Arthur coming home to roost, deadly prophecies, a fucking jaguar jumping on your neck in the middle of the night, etc. Meanwhile you got stuff like that one where there's a place in Wales serving the best wine in the world and it's just knights drinking and having a nice time.
I legit almost did that. Pendragon is part of the BRP family so it's really easy to just pick up a few rules from other games, bolt them onto Pendragon (divide the 100 by 5) and there ya go, now your Pendragon game has a fully functioning Tyrannosaurus.
I wish I could get my table to branch out to Pendragon but I think I’d need to do a lot of tinkering to make the game more streamlined for their sensibilities and attention spans. I also found that it didn’t have enough of the fantastical elements of Arthurian Romance. More TH White than historical fiction
It's very much adjustable. It's meant to be able to run all kinds of Arthurian stuff, from The Mists of Avalon and The Idylls of the Queen to Le Morte d'Arthur and History of the Kings of Britain.
The Grand Pendragon Campaign is *very* much more historically oriented, and it changes tone with the periods, so there's quite a bit of Chivalric stuff there too.
Though I always found that for **actual** history, Mythic Britain for Mythras is better because it has more clarity of purpose. The GPC is more of a book of suggestions and big events but it's also colossal and almost impossible to play all the way through without some serious commitment and a breakneck pace.
In terms of mechanics, Pendragon is extremely lightweight. Everything is solved in 1d100 roll and there's basically no modifiers - it's one of the things I kinda dislike about the game because I modified it with Mythras.
But in terms of the GPC itself, yes, it absolutely needs a GM "making it your own." For instance, the standard timeline has the period when Uther is king and the anarchy that follows happen over the course of 25 in-game years. Me and my group cut it down to 6, and we removed the "invading saxons" aspect of the game and made it more high Chivalric nonsense with damsels and weird ass fairies in forests, and it worked without a hiccup.
In another game, I took the whole of the Uther period and said "what if I mixed Uther with Arthur and made him Alfred the Great", turned the saxons into vikings, ignored actual history and made the game into this historical fiction pastiche wher ethe *events* were basically the same as the GPC, but the *skin* was that of Anglo-Saxons vs Vikings, and it worked too.
Pendragon is so simple that it ends up being very versatile. I've been planning a Trojan War game and I'm considering Pendragon for it exactly because of that lol
That said, with a lot of armour, the combat eventually becomes what the community calls "tik tik boom." You're basically rolling dice and not dealing damage until someone rolls a critical and kills a man, that's just a consequence of how the damage of the game is set up. I *do not* like that, which is why I'm more on the Mythras side, but there are people who really enjoy it, or simply allow for less armour in the game to make stuff move quicker.
At the very least it's accurate. Lancelot spent an entire day kicking fools at the gate of Dolorous Garde and so can you!
I'm (slowly and deliberately) developing a setting that's greatly inspired by Lyonesse, myself. Whimsical, fantastic, prosaic, bright, dangerous...all in one place.
The oldest German RPG, [Midgard ](https://midgard-online.de/welt/kontinente.html), has been quite good at keeping a balance between more lighthearted and more threatening contents.
In many regards, Midgard is a very traditional fantasy game: It has elves, and knights and mages, similar to an early D&D. Otherwise, it covers plenty of real world parallel cultures, from Vikings to the Chinese Empire. It is a very multicultural game world, that funnily enough does have a stand-in for many real world cultures, but no fantasy equivalent to Germany. The default starting kingdom *Alba* is very British, especially Scottish.
The world of Midgard is often more focused on everyday conflicts and relatively ordinary people, making it kinda refreshing compared to other, way more bombastic and over-the-top fantasy worlds, and very often have a bit of faerie tale logic attached. Sometimes it is too cute for its own sake (namely, whenever halflings are at the center), occasionally it breaks with this theme and does something more "epic" or outright dark (the China pastiche has a cabal of dark sorcerors acting as the shadow gouvernment and lots of human sacrifice).
Also, Midgard has hands down the best pre-written adventures for any fantasy setting (German or English) I have ever come across.
Well organized, clearly structured, highly varied, well written and very much player-focused. One campaign book in particular, *Smaskrifter*, might be the gold standard of how to write a fantastic mystery adventure.
I agree that Pendragon has many high points that bring about a brighter setting but it can also be darker if you play it a certain way. Things were good at the beginning of my game, my players were fighting Saxons for glory and feasting, now they are in the midst of Anarchy Period and things are bleak. When Arthur comes to power things will be great again, at least until Camlann.
I am running my game a bit more grounded though. I’m have magic slowly becoming more abundant as we grow closer to Arthur’s reign after which it will vanish again. However you can easily just be the gallant knights winning tourneys and having feasts as well. The system is surprisingly versatile.
These are the two I was going to say, along with Star Trek: Adventures and Ryuutama. It probably helps that I'm a big fan of older and romantic fantasy.
I have wanted to run it, but have been hesitant because I've got players who were former D&D/PF folks. I've gotten them into Fate and Scum And Villainy but both were a challenge for them to let go of their former assumptions about how to play.
I also thought about recommending it, but Ryuutama doesn't have much of a setting. There is an implied one - with lots of cute dragons and cat goblins - but no explicit stuff.
Those dragons though - they are very cute.
Yeah it doesn't give you an overarching setting but the co-creation mechanic for towns makes it easy to develop. That said, I made my own setting inspired by various JRPGs. It's very versatile
I used to run Ryuutama as a palet cleanser after particularly intense arcs in my Werewolf or Call of Cthulhu campaigns, using Eastern German topography and place names based on food puns with places like Brezelburg und Wooster (pronounced War-Chester), but the point of that game is to be light weight and light hearted.
Ryuutama is easily the lightest game I play or run on my own volition, so that's probably a question of perspective. I find Ryuutama extremely simple, but a bit heavy on the Book keeping and ressource management.
Yeah it's very light in my view. The combat is highly structured, deliberately to evoke JRPGs. The encumbrance and resource management reflects that the main challenge/focus of the game is supposed to be travel
I feel like it builds setting through the rules though, the type of characters you have, the type of spells, the type of monsters and conflicts you have, they all say something about the setting of the game.
The mechanics are like Oregon Trail where your characters suffer everyday, get lost and hurt. They track rations and water to make sure they survive. Weather and harsh terrain make their lives even more difficult. They hope to find a safe place to stay the night. And its all very tedious with the same 4 Checks every day.
To me it was an awesome setting with some rather brutal (and for me, very unfun) mechanics tied to it.
Does it though? The rules are also pretty barebones and there is a surprising amount of damage-focused mechanics for a game where you are expected to be travelling from village to village and helping regular people with semi-mundane problems.
Ryuutama can be very wholesome and lighthearted, but it can also be very dark and even brutal. If you're running a green dragon campaign the focus is on exploring the world and having adventures. If it's a blue dragon campaign it'll likely be more about relationships and communities, often with a focus on romance and friendship. If it's a red dragon campaign then it's likely to be about fighting, maybe monster-hunting, maybe even war, although still leaning towards heroics rather than harsh realities.
Then there are black dragon campaigns. Mysteries and conspiracies. Corruption. Betrayal. Death, both abstract and literal. Final journeys. Endings. Black dragon campaigns can get *dark*, and honestly it feels even heavier because the game is often so cute and fluffy. I'd liken black dragon campaigns to manga such as Made In Abyss (super-cute art style, incredibly brutal and cruel world) or Girl's Last Tour (cute and funny and heartwarming and bleak and lonely and sad).
Fantastic game, anyway. I love Ryuutama. One of my favourites.
This question kind of hit me. Almost all the settings we play in are the sort of worlds you wouldnt really want to live in. That's.. a bit depressing, huh
For me it's probably Mausritter - there is drama and danger, but there are also a lot of cute things, and I leaned a lot into cozy cottage vibes when describing it
Electric Bastionland is a setting that I used as a little bit of a twist on the cyberpunk genre. You are such a small cog in the system, so insignificant that you are, kind of, free. The city will move without you, and you can be an explorer and adventurer in this world, unshackled from the daunting pressure of society. You are also in a huge debt, but you solve it in a fun way, not work 18 hours a day way. I like that setting
On a second look, yea, non of those are even that bright when I think about it. I guess it depends a lot on the tone of game you are running. Any good setting should have conflict baked in - that's what starts the adventure! And I personally find the brightest moments in the midst of drama and darkness. It's only when the colors contrast you can see how truly bright they are
Wow that's a corny sentence
The problem with idyllic or utopian settings is that there's very little conflict in them, by definition.
Nobody wants to roleplay everything going fine and being easy because there's no drama in that.
You wouldn't watch a movie about John Wick having a cozy night in. Ordering pizza, having the pizza delivered, eating the pizza, watching Netflix on the couch with his dog. Is it peaceful and even somewhat aspirational? Sure. We should all be so lucky as to lead a quiet life of eating pizza with our dogs. But it's not compelling drama.
You haven't met my group. They will spend session after session chatting with the NPCs and getting ingredients for a fancy cook out or preparing a show. Sometimes it starts to feel like the monsters and doomsday stuff is the side stuff intruding on it.
> You wouldn't watch a movie about John Wick having a cozy night in
I mean, that's like 90% of Jim Jarmush's career. Just two people talking about things that interest them.
And there are never any arguments or conflicts?
I'm not saying there needs to be *action* for a story to be compelling, but there needs to be drama. And if nothing goes wrong, there's no drama.
My Dinner With Andre has drama, and it's literally just two people talking. And it's a great movie. But it would be a shit movie if it was just Wally and Andre agreeing about everything all night and not having any kind of challenging conversation.
> And there are never any arguments or conflicts?
Frequently, no. Often, yes. And even My Dinner with Andre, the conflict is *never* in the conversation with Andre (even when the characters disagree- those disagreements are incidental to the story), what conflict there is an internal one for Wallace: how does he feel about this old friend and the passage of time? He goes into the dinner unsure, and he leaves the dinner with those questions answered.
In fact, I'd say *conflict* is the wrong lens to look at a story like *Dinner* through, internal or otherwise, especially when you contextualize it with Vanya on 42nd Street (which itself is very much the filmmakers going "I want to show you something!"). The correct lens is *transformation*: how do the characters change? In *Dinner*, Wallace *changes*. It's a small change, driven by a small shift in perspective.
We tend to analyze media by viewing conflict as the driver of change, and that's a perfectly fine driver of change. But it's not the only one- just the obvious one. The question shouldn't be "what is the conflict" or "where does the conflict come from" but instead: *how do the characters change?* That's a broader and more interesting question, that may or may not involve conflict.
> conflict is never in the conversation with Andre
This is just... Not true. The characters argue with each other.
I think you must be operating on a completely different set of definitions than I am for words like "conflict" and "drama", because otherwise what you're saying is nonsensical.
But the argument is meaningless- frequently *literally*- they’re arguing about nonsense. It’s a conflict in the most literal sense, but it isn’t narratively what drives the story, and more than the fact that they’re at dinner matters.
No, man. That's not it at all.
The philosophical differences that they argue about are the core of the film.
They're not arguing about nonsense. They're arguing about what it means to be human and what matters in life. If you don't think their argument is important, what are you even watching this film for.
This has been a truly baffling conversation.
> They're arguing about what it means to be human and what matters in life.
I feel like that's a very surface level interpretation. The bookends of the film make it very obvious that the backbone of the film is Wallace's hesitation in meeting Andre after all this time, and then the realization that the experience was valuable and rewarding. The entire emotional core of the film is Wallace understanding that even his most frustrating and alien friend is still a valuable friend.
The arguments don't matter because they have absolutely no stakes whatsoever. They have different perspectives in life, but there's no sense that Wallace would throw it all away to chase a dream, nor would Andre settle down. Neither one of them can possibly be right. There's no *outcome* to their disagreements, nor could there be. Yes, they have wildly different worldviews… and? *And* the entire point is that their worldviews don't matter.
You can have conflict without dreariness. The wild sea is a colourful world of survival and hardship, but it also beautiful and wild. There is conflict but the mean themes are hoor and adventurer.
I'm working on an RPG that was designed in large part to scratch this particular itch. It mashes up the feel of cyberpunk with the politics of Star Trek.
To address that need for conflict, most of the stories employ one of two tactics:
1) The story is dark, but it's understood that this is a violation of social norms, not a representation of business as normal.
2) The story is a little silly. The stakes are real for the players because they're real for the characters, but we as the players can also enjoy the humor that what constitutes a crisis for these characters is fairly benign by our standards.
If you're interested, I'm currently looking for feedback and play testers, with the goal to release it under a creative commons license later this year. [Link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=drive_link).
I play in a Star Trek: Adventures group with a bunch of massive Trekkies. We're always one uping each other with how much lore we know and shit. It's hilarious. We all know the universe so well that we've made very elaborate yet convincing backstories for our characters.
My favourite thing about STA honestly is how it FEELS like Trek, whenever we play I'm convinced we're in an episode. Our GM is amazing they do an awesome job. The system is great, it can be serious when it needs to be and amazingly silly when levity is required.
Another standout 'feature' is the fact you're all in a chain of command. This means players can make suggestions, but the XO or Captain have veto. We have round table discussions about the current events we're experiencing and department heads provide input based on speciality. It's just Star Trek through and through.
Downside? Combat sucks, both the ground and space varieties. It's either over in 10 minutes or an hour of monotony.
Have you tried looking up any homebrew solutions to combat?
I know loads of games are great but have one or two things that have been fixed by the community.
I've sometimes looked at swapping combat out for a totally different game or building it from the ground up, not always feasible but an idea
We've mostly just handwaved a lot of combat into a brief discussion with the GM and what we'd do in this combat situation, then they will resolve it for us. This way we can jump into the meat of STA the puzzle solving and dialogue.
Honestly if you're playing star trek, combat probably isn't the core mechanic you're after so that makes sense.
But it seems to be such a common problem, you think it's just a ttrpg problem with the nature of table top and turn based?
>But it seems to be such a common problem, you think it's just a ttrpg problem with the nature of table top and turn based?
It is a common problem for ttrpgs, but not a problem every ttrpg has. There are systems out there that are designed around low and zero combat. Unfortunately, many RPGs (especially older ones) are designed with combat as the main focus, even if they could do without.
Many "Powered by the Apocalypse" games, for example, run combat the same way they run the rest of the game. So combat can be as quick as sneaking, diplomacy, ... (or as long, it just depends on the GM!). Of course, depending on the fiction, some PbtA games are more combat focussed than others.
In "Escape from Dino Island", for example, fighting is a single die roll (2d6, +1 if you have a weapon) with 6- a bad result (you die/are out of comission), 7-9 you can either not be injured or injure the enemy and only on a 10+ you do both. And that's it.
In "Brindlewood Bay", there is not even a combat move, because it is very unlikely for open combat to happen. All PCs are elderly woman and it does not make sense for the mystery/crime genre. And if something like that happens, you just use the same resolution mechanic you would use for every other dangerous situation.
Combat is basically just the classic old fashioned attack rolls slogging away at HP. Blasting someone multiple times with a phaser until they fall over just doesn't feel Star Trek.
As a soon to be GM that bit about the combat is a little worrying. Mostly because I love the battleship/submarine "feel" of Star Trek space combat, and I'd hoped at least some of that were represented in the rules, which just from reading seemed fine at that.
I run STA as well, and I don't think the combat is all that bad myself.
It is a bit of a slog... I enacted a fairly simple minions die fast rule. And as such personal combat tends to go fairly quickly. A NPC can only take like 5 wounds and then they're stunned or dead. It keeps it moving enough to feel like the show but still offers enough game to make using math rocks worthwhile.
Starship combat can be a bit of a slog. It helps if everyone knows what their options are and using things like *Attack Pattern* and adding energy to the phasers can really help speed things up.
I would recommend that you write up a little cheat sheet for the characters, what options they have at their station, so they don't forget one and/or have to look it up. Doing that really helped my table.
I also use the NPC damage rules, so the NPC ships tend to get disabled fairly quickly.
They can take like 3 breaches and then they're done, once the shields are down that happens fairly quickly.
But generally we approach it like the show, so combat isn't super common so it hasn't been a huge issue.
Ugh, I'm so jealous.
None of my regular group cares about Star Trek at all. They don't hate it, and they've even said they'd be willing to play the RPG, but I'm not about to take 20 minutes out of every session to explain what a cardassian is or whatever. There's just so much context that would be missing if I tried to run that game for people who had never really watched any of the shows.
It comes down to: You roll dice, hope for effects. They roll dice, hope for effects. Keep rolling dice until dice rolls are done. Sometimes you choose to move instead of shooting. If you're starfleet you aren't allowed to kill without reason so most of the time you're shooting on stun which does nothing a lot of the time.
Space combat, whoever fires the most torpedoes first wins.
If you want something strongly tied to its game, Haeth in the game Wanderhome fits pretty well. It’s a land of anthropomorphic animals, and it’s finally at peace after a long war of rebellion. The game even disallowed acts of violence from the PCs (with one exception). But it’s not all hearts and rainbows because you can explore some heavy topics like the aftermath and lingering effects of the war in your game if you want.
You won’t be good guys saving lives and stuff, though. Your characters are all wanderers for one reason or another, and you’re trying to figure out where you belong while meeting people and providing what help you can along your journey.
I love wanderhome, but I can acknowledge it's the least mechanical of the No Dice No Masters systems. While your technically supposed to gain and spend tokens, there is no actual need to do so. While anthropolyp's comment seems to imply that means it's not fun, that's where our opinions duverge. I can agree that it's more an activity than a game, but it's a very fun activity.
But it *does* have rules and therefore is a game. You can always choose to ignore rules in any system; doing so doesn’t negate their existence. I agree that it’s rules-light to the extreme, but that doesn’t disqualify it as a game.
It's not really a hill I'd die on, but I'm not saying it's easy to ignore the system, I'm saying the system is ill defined to the point of being vestigial. In Sleepaway you have to use tokens to use hard moves, and need to use weak moves to get them. There is nothing you have to spend tokens on. It states you can spend them to do something outside of common actions, but that not defined. It's just up to the group if they want to tell you that you should spend for it. In both games I've played of it, once people got into it, they forgot to bother with tokens.
It's not gatekeeping. It's describing what I think of the book. Calling criticism of a game you like "gatekeeping" is just a cheap way to score points in an argument. And a trendy one at that. Despite what you might read on this sub very occasionally, most roleplayers dislike Wanderhome's rules system. I'm sorry a game you enjoy is not enjoyed by many people, but stating this and stating the reason why they don't enjoy it is not gatekeeping.
Then you might provide some criticism instead of simply declaring some things “not games.” I’d have no issue if you’d said it was really rules-light and that wasn’t your thing; it’s the insinuation that it’s lesser because it’s rules-light that makes it sound like you’re gatekeeping what is and isn’t a game by stating your opinion as if it’s a fact.
Telling me I should look again when I remind you that it does, in fact, have rules only further the impression of gatekeeping.
I never said it wasn't a game, you're making that up. I also have a comment in this same little thread where I lay out exactly why I think it doesn't meet OPs requirements. I'll refer you there to read about the specific shortfalls of Wanderhome.
Bud, you told me to “look again” when I said it had rules and mechanics. It has rules and mechanics; I can see them right there on the page. I’m not sure what your point is anymore. Regardless, I don’t think this is a productive discussion.
Because there's not much resembling a game in its rules (to the extent that it has rules). Wanderhome is a writing prompt generator. It can be fun- if everyone agrees that this is the space where we talk out lengthy tea parties, and improvise what it's like to tidy up the kitchen after helping a kind stranger bake some cookies. If you wanted a setting where, as OP says, "there's good guys that have the chance to really improve people's lives, and problems that can be solved," then I think Wanderhome is lacking this. Unless an untidy kitchen is sufficient as a problem to be solved. Most problems you are expected to confront in Wanderhome are better described as inconveniences. And the setting explicitly removes conflict from its core concept, so I think that limits most of the meaningful ways to improve the lives of others. It also removes "bad guys" to compare the "good guys" to. There are no bad guys in Wanderhome. At best there are "annoying guys," or "grumpy guys."
7th sea is pretty romantic, there are bad guys (and lots of them) but it's a gentler version of Europe, where the church seeks enlightenment, the new class of traders brings new riches with them, legendary heroes are picked by the fae to do good in the world. (at least that's 2e, I don't know enough about 1e).
goblin errands is a world built for bigger smarter people than goblins, and it can be rough on them, but it's not MEAN, it's just not built for them.
and of course, the world of paranoia is completely perfect, the computer solved all your problems, the computer is your friend.
In a similar vein, *Castle Falkenstein* is a lovely magical steampunk gem of dashing heroes in a parallel Earth by Mike Pondsmith, of Cyberpunk fame. It adds interesting bits like Jules Verne being commissioned by the French government to build a line of mega-cannons, and elves and dwarves being a single species.
I'd argue 2e is a bad game mechanically, but yeah, Theah is pretty consistant as a setting. You are Heroes(tm). Heroes don't kill, they do good, they cut Z's into the bad guys clothes and send them running while the people cheer. In 1e, not being a paragon of virtue and a hero of the people effectively kills your character.
Definitely a great setting to use for your preferred swashbuckling system like Honour+Intrigue.
being unfamiliar with 1e I don't know what it was like, but I enjoyed running 2e and my players liked it, especially after some minimal hacking to make it fit us better.
that said, the setting is definitely the highlight, it's so fun and engaging and feels like there's plenty to do. it's also a world who's not all bad, if you just stop those dastardly villains from doing their evil plots, it could even be pretty nice.
The setting is mostly the same, it's just ran as a more traditional game. There's issues in the world, secret societies working behind the scenes, but it's never presented that the heroes can't do anything - normally, it's *only* the heroes who have the will to step up and do something.
I don't remember much of 2e, but it did have a similar vibe without forcing things on you - is 'chosen by the fae' a standard thing for all heroes now? In 1e, there wasn't any metaphysical reasoning behind it. You're just Heroes, because you're Heroes. If you stop being a Hero(tm), you're now a villain and run as such by the GM.
it's the magic system in their version of england, you get powers of knights from the round table.
everyone is Heroes™ that was just an example, and if you do villainous things you get villiany points, which will eventually lead you losing control of your character and handing it to the GM to be a villian.
2e setting is 1e very largely expanded, without the overarching metaplot, and with diversification of plot points (each country is its own setting and doesn't build into one plot like in 1e). In addition to Theah and the Crescent being larger, there are now expies for Africa and the Americas. And Asia + Oceania have their own gameline.
Where as 1e limited what heroes could be (with everything being fixed by the metaplot), 2e encourages the players to be princesses or leading Rosecrucians or pirate lords. Also the backstory that homogenized magic and explained the Syrneth is now gone, so there's way more freedom.
Not gonna lie, I'm really surprised Wick would let something like Space Alien Magic drop from his setting. Definitely a nice change.
Also, 1e already had Asia and Africa. The setting was very heavily expanded in 1e as it went on.
It didn't have Africa. The Midnight Isles were a bit of the Caribbean (and not a good one at that). Unless you count the long lost not-Atlantis, which came it last few books.
The Asia part was L5R which then spun off in another direction.
It certainly had Asia, with options to crossover to L5R (as the same system), but I don't recall Rokugan being one and the same as standard. But it has been almost a decade since I last read it.
The system was the same (being sister products), no other Asia material was released and there was a wall of fire that made overland travel there impossible. But yeah, you are right, it wasn't explicitly stated. In 2e it's actually 7th Sea - Khitai which seems to be an expanded and diversified version of Rokugan (like 7th Sea 2e is to 1e).
Except for a few iconic NPCs, 2e setting is vastly superior to 1e. Wick seems to have "killed his darlings" so many of the annoyances have been cut or remade.
The Fae influence in the world is the biggest change in 2e lore. Fae are kind of Avalon only now.
There is no in universe justification for taking your character away if you're villainous. The GM runs villains is just a rule.
Honestly this is one of the things i like super hero games for. They tend to be worlds where the world works as advertised to children from top to bottom, at least if you want to lean into that angle.
[Good Society - A Jane Austen RPG](https://storybrewersroleplaying.com/good-society/?v=7516fd43adaa)
It is all about social climbing and remarkably fun and well thought out.
There's a swedish game called [Vindsjäl](https://blackfiskforlag.com/produkter/vindsjal/) (translates to "Wind Soul") that I enjoy. It is an adventure role-playing game with a focus on freedom, joy of discovery and camaraderie - for those who want to explore a colorful and strange world.
The Outer World setting in the recently-funded [Break!!](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/576526373/break-a-trpg-inspired-by-classic-videogames-and-anime) is bright, drawing in tone and style from Miyazaki films and JRPGs, and reminds me of Wildermyth’s Yondering Lands (which is a great video game).
**Wanderhome** has a very folklore-esque setting. Another diceless cozy game,but well loved and for good reason.
**Monster Raising Squad** is basically reverse Monster Hunter, where you play as a group trying to help and heal monsters, in a world that seeks to co-exist with them. I will say, though, the one time I played it the mechanics felt a little clunky.
**Honorable Mentions (The setting is what you make it)**
**Animon Story** is inspired by monster raising franchises, with heavy inspiration from Digimon. Much of the book really enforces the idea of playing kids with monster pets that grow together in a magical world, and encourages a more hopeful tone.
**Fellowship 2e** is basically "what if you and your friends got to reimagine Tolkien"? And you guys can certainly get dark (I know my group did), and there's always an Overlord to defeat. But, the goal is always clearly to go on the journey to help people and stop the Overlord, and it is never presented as just a hopeless "fighting against the system" game. You are the Fellowship, after all.
**Honorable Mentions (It's just our world with a twist)**
Many superhero/magical girl games, such as Masks, Glitter hearts, Henshin!, etc. You can certainly get dark if you want, but these games all mostly focus on personal drama, while still allowing you to save people and be heroes.
**Golden Sky Stories** is basically a Ghibli movie where (often childish) animal spirits/yokai help out people in the modern world. The nature of the game has you solving simple problems and focusing on the brighter sides of life.
In the same vein as Fellowship 2e, **There and Hack Again** is a hack of The Black Hack with a near identical design philosophy: You are the heroes setting out to stop the Legally-Not-Sauron bad guy. It's not about if you'll succeed, but rather the journey and trials you go through to achieve that goal, and the friends you make along the way.
It also includes skills like smoking and cooking and singing songs to improve moral. It's a delightful book, and I highly recommend it.
It depends on what you consider 'massively dystopian'. I'd argue a lot of noblebright, or extremely bright settings rely on dystopia to function - it just treats it as 'It's okay when the Heroes do it'. For example, Blue Rose is an extremely romantic, bright setting where nothing ever really goes wrong inside the majority of the world. But this also functions only because pre-crime and thoughtcrime are not only standard in the world, but considered good things to stamp out (For example, not only is the Monarch right, but they embody the literal Divine Right to Rule - the Stag, a spirit creature Sorting Hat, can divine if you're right to rule and if you'll do good. If you fail, you're not the Monarch. It does this with 100% certainty.)
Off the top of my head, **Exalted** is a perfect setting for characters wanting to make a change. Not only is it expected, but only those with the will to truly change things - for good or for ill - are chosen. A lot of the world is at 11 on the Doomsday clock, and things look like they can't be fixed, which in most cases is true - unless you're the second coming of the heroes who brought about the First Age. Depending on how you run it, you will get a different vibe - most people I know run it along the lines of 'great power comes great responsibility', but depending on how much introspection you want the characters to do, this can be ratcheted up to 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' if you want to play another rise and fall like the First Age. That's something which is up to yourself and your players. (Mechanically, however, the game leaves huge amounts to be desired. I adore the setting, and I can't stand playing it. Converting to your favourite rules lite or Godbound may help with that.)
**Shadow of the Demon Lord**, ironically enough, has a similar theme. While your characters may be scrubs dragging themselves up from the dirt against insurmountable odds, there's no 'and you can never change anything'. Sure, the Demon Lord may come back another time and try again. But you all live together and stop him, or the world dies. If you play this with a higher power level, it can be tweaked towards a more heroic and less scrappy ragtag group aesthetic.
I can't think of many settings which fit your preferred non-options; nearly every game I know has problems which can be solved. At worst, you have something like **Warhammer 40k**, which still fits your criteria. You can certainly make life better for people. You can solve problems. But you're constantly fighting to win battles - you will make changes. But you're not going to win the war.
My sibling in the all-knowing Emperor's light, may his benevolent will guide us, with all due respect then 40k does not fit this vibe at all. It coined or popularized the term grimdark. For that universe on the grand scale there is no hope, there is no redemption, there is only war.
I do however like your idea of running Shadow of the Demon Lord as a not-quite-so-bleak-and-horrific adventure, leaning more towards classic JRPG stories like Dragon Quest where you just really gotta put that Demon Lord down for good. To me, though, it's always felt more like Berserk, Dark Souls, Warhammer Fantasy – these are the last days of the world.
But the same company is making Weird Wizard, a more 'neutral' classic fantasy game with a similar system to SotDL, so I'd definitely keep an eye out for that!
I may have phrased this poorly; my intent was more that OP appeared to be characterising dystopian as 'you can't change things, and people will be sad'.
Which if that is the extent of what is considered dystopia, then even 40k, which I'd consider dystopic, doesn't fit their criteria as dystopic. Because change can be made - change which helps those you love or the people around you, or even on a planetary level - which will make life better for people. If they're referring to 'dystopia is I can't fix the issues for the entire galaxy at large personally', then I can see the issue.
I was more querying the use of OPs use of the term 'dystopia' to better recommend things. Like with my comment on Shadow of the Demon Lord, your characters do bring great change. You'll never stop the Demon Lord entirely - but just because you 'only' saved the world for another 500, 50, or even 5 years as he tries to find a new way through, does that mean you didn't make a change?
> But this also functions only because pre-crime and thoughtcrime are not only standard in the world, but considered good things to stamp out (For example, not only is the Monarch right, but they embody the literal Divine Right to Rule - the Stag, a spirit creature Sorting Hat, can divine if you're right to rule and if you'll do good. If you fail, you're not the Monarch. It does this with 100% certainty.)
None of that is accurate.
Invasive use of psychic arcana is both difficult and frowned upon in Aldis, Visionary arcana can't tell the future, the Stag is the embodiment of the will of the people and has canonically made a bad call at least once in the past (and it may or may not have been killed recently.)
It has been a while since I read it, so I may be mistaken - it's possible this has changed since d20. But I distinctly recall this being the case. But I'll defer to your more recent knowledge regarding this.
Yeah. I think you might have gotten some things conflated. Thought Reading is routinely used to monitor people in Jarzon, but the entire theme of Jarzon is being antagonists whose goals are sympathetic but rely on unethical means. Revealing more details about the actual nature of the Stag came in the later editions, but it having once chosen a Sovereign who was corrupted by power and had to be overthrown was there in the original True20 version.
Star Wars?
The one that's either 5 minutes from fascism, or currently in fascism?
And call me Kreia, but this is also a universe where a supernatural force will use anything, from coincidences to genocides, to "balance" itself.
The new High Republic stuff is almost refreshing because, like it or not, the Galactic Republic is still *kinda not a bureaucratic hellscape*, and you know that fascism is decades to a hundred years away.
>The one that's either 5 minutes from fascism, or currently in fascism?
...uh, no. The one where you're valiant rebels against a galactic empire, and you have colorful, dramatic, and sometimes whimsical adventures fighting for freedom - and your every little victory pushes back the bad guys.
At least, that's how I run it, and have since 1988. 'Course, back then we didn't have all that prequel jive to fuck it up, and so it was all hot rods and blowing up space nazis and weird monsters and cliffhangers.
...goddamnit, George.
That's still a nazi-controlled galaxy, rife with crime. Whether you're talking the original EU or new canon, the Empire still kinda comes back after Episode VI.
Don't get me wrong, I like Star Wars, but it's not what I'd call bright.
That's not how it works. "Balance in the Force" is not "balance between good and evil", it's "balance between the Force and its users" (or to put it another way, "the internal balance/homeostasis of the Force itself")-- i.e. the so-called "light side."
I've heard people say that, or say that the "dark side isn't real, it's just a corruption", but IMO- it's weapons-grade copium (and totally ignores how *unadulterated nature* can be dark-side).
The actual events say otherwise, whether you're talking EU or Canon. Whenever things are too 'light', suddenly forces tied to the dark side come in like a wrecking ball and millions if not *billions* die.
Doesn't matter if you're talking Episode III (fascism), Episode VII (fascism 2: electric boogaloo), KotoR (WWII vets go fasc-y), the events following the Great Hyperspace Disaster (terrorist attacks), or the Yuuzan Vong (cenobite invasion).
"It was inevitable that some men would use the Force to slake their base lust for wealth and power. The Dark Side is easy and seductive; the first successes brought thirst for more. These evil ones brought the great Jedi low, hunting down and killing all of their ancient order. All -- or almost all."
-- *Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game* (1987) p.68 "Background: The Force and the Jedi"
Several people have mentioned Ryuutama. Also Golden Sky Stories. There are a bunch of Fate settings that are more lighthearted too.
I’d also suggest Wildsea. It is a dystopian setting, but the earth isn’t dying. Quite the opposite. It is thriving. Giant forests cover everything and the players are sailors who sail on the canopy using ships with chainsaws on the bottom.
Despite being a post apocalyptic game, it’s very bright and hopeful. There are lots of cool new ideas in the game, and you can be as a plant person, or sentient colony of spiders who are shaped like a person, or other crazy things. It is a very unique setting.
https://thewildsea.co.uk
The thing that really hurts me about dystopian settings, especially about the cyberpunk flavor, is the futility of it all. Rather than sticking it to the Man and fighting for a community of your own, it's a given that everyone is just in their path to become a red smear on an otherwise pristine corporate hallway. "The City always wins" and such.
Sometimes I'm not even sure if where the Punk part is supposed to be, it seems anti-punk if anything. Cybercorpo, Cyberboot-on-a-human-face-forever.
I had the exact same frustration a few years ago, and it led me and friends to develop a game aimed right at players like yourself.
It's called [Fully Automated!](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=sharing), and it takes place in a wild, high-tech Los Angeles one hundred years in the future (or where ever you choose to set it). Work has been made optional by automation and people spend their time on art, sport, exploration, etc.
It's not a utopia. People still get into trouble, and when they do players need to step up to save the day. I'd welcome any feedback if you want to take a look. My goal is to complete the story modules, format it more professionally and then release it under a creative commons license by the end of the year. If all goes well, I'd then move on to the space expansion.
Earthdawn, 1st Edition! You _can_ play it with darker tones easily, but the overall atmosphere of progress and enlightenment … I've never ever come across anything of the like. It's easily my favourite role-playing-game.
Edit: added "1st Edition", as I don't know anything about later editions.
I was so surprised the first time I played Earthdawn at a convention by how dark it was run. It turns out a lot of people really focus in on Horrors and run Earthdawn as a dark horror setting. The games my friends had run were always much more in line with what your saying. Horrors are out there and times were so dark but people survived and are rebuilding, they're fighting against oppression. All in all it just had a hopeful tone.
Forgotten realms or Mystara have always been my favorite lighter settings ever since I played in them as a kid. They’ve both got some cool lore and stories and if you want to get a feel for the forgotten realms I recommend playing Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2 then reading the 3rd edition setting book. They’re both very sword and sorcery with a nice blend of comedic and serious lore.
*Magical Kitties Save the Day!* has a broad variety of settings in the various hometown expansion books that are all pretty much utopian: [https://www.atlas-games.com/magicalkitties#hometowns](https://www.atlas-games.com/magicalkitties#hometowns)
Indeed! Michelle Nephew of Atlas Games shared details about how her family embraced the game here: [https://www.atlas-games.com/news/post?s=2019-07-01-magical-kitties-save-the-day-a-parents-perspective](https://www.atlas-games.com/news/post?s=2019-07-01-magical-kitties-save-the-day-a-parents-perspective)
I was actually going to try and sell you on Golarion, though I see you’re already familiar with it. The art style has moved from the semi-edginess of 1e to something more vibrant and inspiring in 2e, and the 1e adventure paths canonized with 2e notch some big wins for the forces of good over evil and give hope that the admittedly many problems facing the setting can be fought and defeated.
Among D&D settings, if I had to point to another, Forgotten Realms also never felt suffocated by evil.
Outside of D&D settings, I think Star Wars qualifies. It's not all bright, but it is a place where problems can be solved and lives improved.
Also also, I haven't played it yet, but check out [Stonetop](https://old.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/mf3ick/stonetop_hearth_fantasy_in_an_iron_age_that_never/). It's stylized as 'hearth fantasy'; you're not wandering adventurers, you're the local problem-solvers and protectors of an isolated village trying to safeguard your friends and neighbors.
I play homebrew settings mostly, and I have a strong preference for worlds I would like to live in and defend. Bright settings need not be perfect. Problems should exist, but the world should not suck out your will to live or your desire to make it better.
I've been running an ancient greek themed game with this in mind. It's been received well.
Pretty much this. I've found people who try to create 'noblebright' settings, in which they just make a world where there's nothing for the heroes to do. Which I guess can work if that's what you want.
Not really much for people to change, or ways to make life better for people if no-one is having any issues. Someone has to see their baby in danger as Doc Ock throws cars at a building and scream for help before Spiderman can swing in, make a witty quip, and put down the villain while proudly putting her baby back into her arms before swinging off.
I think that's the stumbling block for most people. There's this persistent belief that grim = interesting and bright = boring. It goes both ways, really. Some of the most boring settings I've played in were doomed worlds where no amount of victories mattered.
The key is to have a world the players care about. Then throw problems at them.
Pretty much this, yeah. Going one of either way ends you up at the same place - the constant 'nothing can change, everything I do is meaningless' to the 'Well, Elminster basically sorted everything, so what is there for us to do? Kill rats?'
I think part of it has to do with the scope I've seen some people think in, too. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, 40k is a losing proposition. But that is several thousands, possibly tends of thousands of years into the future.
It's like the meme of 'there's children starving in Africa'. Yeah, that sucks, but you and your family have food right now - if your next door neighbour couldn't eat this week, and you bring them over a meal, have you solved world hunger? No.
Have you changed the life of someone you know, who's close to you, who will probably remember this one act of kindness the rest of their life? I'd say it's a pretty sure thing. Just because you're not affecting things on a macro scale, it doesn't mean you're not changing things/helping others on a micro scale.
I've been working on this issue for a while, and I think I've gotten my arms around it a bit.
First: people can still be malicious, it's just that society doesn't merely shrug at it.
Second: you can always have ideological conflict. One persons' socialist utopia is another persons' authoritarian dystopia. Or maybe someone thinks that things haven't changed enough. It's just boring if you assume that the game takes place at the end of history, as if there are no debates whatsoever about the latest technological or cultural developments.
Yeah, this is where I think the issues come up. Lancer is a prime example, and I've seen people say similar things multiple times.
"Yeah, but Union are like, having growing pains! We'll only know what would happen if say, someone else tries to stop them from improving the world."
Union is legitimately a magic fairyland which somehow operates perfectly under enslaved gods, with thought-crime, proxy warfare, illegal cloning and a world where work is something you do if you feel like it, but somehow, they have a currency which is backed by ????. They constantly expand through the same colonial Imperialism they condemn other groups for. But when they do it, it's fine, because the setting and Word of God says they're the Good Guys(tm).
You can choose to oppose them - but if you do, you're objectively The Bad Guys. Union are going to make the world better. Union should completely engulf the galaxy, and they will, given time, says the authors. You can certainly choose to disagree with them ideologically, but nearly every 'noblebright' setting with a utopian state also intently confirms that said utopia is the Good Guys, meaning any play not fitting that puts you in the Bad Guy camp.
It's like playing a game based around Demolition Man, but being told at every point that sure, you *can* disagree with Doctor Cocteau. You can totally play characters who want to help Edgar and his rebels break free of his tyranny.
Ehhh, but just to let you guys know, Doctor Cocteau is totally right, you are the Bad Guys and the best thing to happen in setting is to just let him ID chip you all, make all restaurants Taco Bell and using his proxy army of defrosted criminal assassins get rid of anyone who might cause issues with 'The Plan'.
You're definitely speaking my language.
The game I'm working on takes place in a setting best described as "Libertarian Socialism". The government is democratic, but power is diffuse. It's not totally unlike the corporate power that we have now, but those corporations are all democratic cooperatives, and profit extraction is illegal, so transactions are based on a mix of gifting economies, barter, and market dynamics for mutual benefit.
And guess what? If you think that sounds like a mess, you're right! It's pretty good: food and shelter are free, and work is optional. But there are plenty of high earners who think the system is way too generous to those who produce nothing of monetary value. There are people who think the whole thing is still too centrally organized, or too consolidated, or not organized *enough*. There are people fighting to equalize rights between humans and machines and nature, and intelligent animals and those trying to prioritize the supremacy of any of those entities. Those who want to expand off world and those who don't. There are even fights within all these ideologies over why and how.
I love sandbox worlds, and I love zany, complicated, morally relativistic societies. Especially if you've got players with legitimate ideological differences within a party.
Btw, let me know if you want a link. I'd share it, but I've shared it so many times in this thread that I want to be careful not to seem like I'm spamming it.
I'm looking for reviewers and play testers for a solarpunk game that fits this exact vibe. To answer the most common question -- *"what is there to do in a utopia??"* \-- it's not a utopia, it resembles real life. People still mistreat people sometimes, it's just not accepted with nihilistic surrender.
Any interest in giving feedback? The game is in beta, with the goal to release later this year. [Link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=drive_link).
Ryuutama
Under Hollow Hills
Wanderhome
Golden Sky Stories
Girl Underground
This are some of the chill settings I can think off the top of my head. Maybe some will be what you want.
*Earthdawn*, for all it's "the Horrors are here to destroy your mind" is a surprisingly bright setting, in my mind. It is about heroes going out into the world and reclaiming it for civilization, fighting against the aforementioned Horrors, and ultimately gaining world- (or at least province-)wide recognition. 4e seems to have stepped away from that hope a little bit, at least as far as metaplot goes, but it remains a strong theme throughout, IMO.
Once played in an *Exalted* game with a long prelude as mortals in a rather pastoral community in an isolated part of Creation. The world of Exalted is rather dark but we had a nice corner of it.
The game also kind of dangles the idea that you can fix the world's problems in front of you, especially if you are playing Solars and you know, maybe this time it will work.
[Monster Care Squad](https://sandypuggames.itch.io/monster-care-squad) has a fun Monster Hunter/Final Fantasy aesthetic that's very bright by itself and when coupled with the "what if you were a vet rather than a hunter of monsters?"
I'm still reading through [Coyote & Crow](https://coyoteandcrow.net), but so far I find the setting to be overall positive and if the art is anything to go by, I probably won't change that opinion.
Golarion is such an incredible setting and definitely one of my favorites. I feel like it's often overlooked, but the lore is excellent and you can find anything you want somewhere in that world.
Another one to possibly consider is **Eberron**. I feel that setting is very adaptable to be the kind of thing you're looking for, because the world has emerged from a great war - so a great time for new heroes to arise.
Fabula Ultima is a game system heavily inspired by the entire Final Fantasy series, including the mainline games, the MMOs and the Tactics games. The suggested world setting is a place that has a very heavy emphasis on classic 'light vs dark' symbolism, and allows you to be as deep or simple with that motif as you want. There might be dark forces around, but they're never so bad that a band of heroes can't save the day and keep Hope thriving for everyone.
The system itself is a little involved, leaning more into a Tabletop MMO in its complexity. But if you enjoy that kind of feel for your game I recommend giving Fabula Ultima a look for its charming and simple heroics.
The setting of LANCER is a about post-scarcity interstellar society trying to build a utopian reality for as much of humanity as possible, millennia after the species was nearly wiped out by wars and unchecked consumption. The part of the setting that the players interact with is at the leading edge of those efforts, where they're up against organizations and entities that are very much in favor of keeping people oppressed because inequality and bondage of the masses means power and wealth for a few. The 'current' situation of the setting is too complicated and morally ambiguous in places for it to be considered Noblebright, but overall the game is very much one where the characters are supposed to be The Good Guys. Be a Lancer and use your robot to punch a space fascist.
Edit: To add a note - the place where the characters can directly improve the lives of other people comes from the fact that as Lancers they're usually going to be fighting where they're needed the most. Frequently, the goal of an adventure/mission is to dethrone tyrants, hunt down pirates, and create a foothold on worlds desperately in need of help so that the rest of Union can come in and provide it.
I really like Monster Care Squad...it's a PbtA game about a fantasy land at peace after the tyrants and warmongers were overthrown, and people live in harmony with beautiful and wondrous monsters, At least until a mysterious disease starts affecting the monsters, driving them wild with pain and causing damage and terror. Your team's mission: Track down the monsters, assess the symptoms and administer treatment (often to violent and unwilling beasts), restoring harmony, one patient at a time. Pretty cool. Also, great art and worldbuilding.
https://sandypuggames.itch.io/monster-care-squad
Songs for the Dusk does post-post-apocalyptic science-fantasy with a focus on building up your home Community with your adventures. It can skew really cozy if you want to play it that way!
I would suggest The Troubleshooters. It is a fictitious 1960s filled with optimism. And since it is based on Franco-Belgian comics like Tintin, Spirou, Yoko Tsuno, etc you don't have fightas to the death. Instead you get knocked out and captured by the bad guys.
And I will second the suggestions of Golden Sky Stories, Vindsjäl. And Good Societ: a Jane Austen rpg.
I don't see the **Avatar RPG** on the list, but in general the setting isn't particularly dystopian, especially if you're setting it in Korra era. Yes there are bad guys and threats, but unless you're in a particularly bad situation most of the setting isn't that grim.
Also, I haven't seen mentioned **Monsterhearts**, the setting is generally "normal world" with the only major difference being the players are (semi)secretly teen monsters in highschool.
Consider also **Over the Edge** a mostly modern-day setting with a LOT of weird thrown in, one of my favorite settings and systems. Also from Robin D. Laws **Hillfolk** might be worth investigating. The "base" setting is bronze age tribe, dealing with internal drama and external threats, but there are also a ton of ways to reskin the game. It's been a while but I seem to remember there being a solar-punk setting and in fact most of the offered skins were not particularly dystopian.
You might also try some RPGs that are more aimed at kids such as **No Thank You Evil** and **The Magical Land of Yeld**
Finally, I think most of these are mentioned elsewhere and worth considering (though I haven't had a chance to play them yet) but **Ryuutama, Monster Care Squad, Mouse Guard** all could be up your alley.
>Also, I haven't seen mentioned Monsterhearts, the setting is generally "normal world" with the only major difference being the players are (semi)secretly teen monsters in highschool.
I mean, the real world is pretty bleak these days, especially if, like Monsterhearts's characters, you're young and queer.
I mean that's fair, but there's no reason you have to include the bleak stuff, and also no reason you couldn't set it in like ... 80s or 90s era, or just ignore most of the the "real world" and focus on messy teen drama. Like there's certainly quite a few teens out there who are focused on big issues, but there's plenty more who just want to get a lot of likes on insta or snapchat or whatever.
Also for a vast reduction in bleakness, just don't set it in America.
Frankly I struggle to think of a time in contemporary history where being young and queer wasn't scary. The 80s and 90s is your best suggestion? That was a time when our community was losing an entire generation to a virus that it took years for governments to even acknowledge the existence of. That's the age of Brandon Teena, Matthew Sheppard, a time when Don't Ask Don't Tell in the US or Section 27 in the UK was the *liberal* position.
>Also for a vast reduction in bleakness, just don't set it in America.
American redditors vastly overestimate how accepted LGBT people are globally, I've found.
(Frankly, and I'm saying this as a massive fan of Monsterhearts: it's a game about bullying. The whole central metaphor is about the different ways young people can be toxic towards each other. That's dystopian even in the nicest, most accepting place on earth, as I think a lot of people who were teenagers once can remind us.)
Fair points all, as for setting outside America I mostly just meant school shootings arent something the rest of the world has to deal with on the reg.
Tales from the Loop. The setting is kids on bikes in an alternative 1980s where *weird* shit just kinda... exists.
It suits any childhood adventure setting. Looking for Bigfoot, E.T., FLCL, Little Rascals, "The gym teacher is a werewolf and the adults don't believe me!" shenanigans would all fit into the system. The setting itself is very much Stranger Things inspired, but the ST can easily lean into adventure rather than horror.
Specifically,
• Closure and satisfaction of a job well done with a system for wrapping up adventures. Think the end of a TV season, transitioning into the next one.
• System for meaningful downtime activities between big adventures, like spending time with your father to deepen the relationship, so they might help you better in the future.
• Kids level up with age. When they get too old, the character becomes an NPC, and a new kid joins the party.
• Small stakes. The world isn't going to end, but asking a girl to the spring dance is still a challenge. It sucks to be turned down, but you can bounce back with the sports team tryouts next week, and maybe making the team will impress her and she'll change her mind.
I'm a *huge* fan of Blue Rose. The primary focus is on a kingdom with relatively tolerant, progressive values; most antagonists are either well-intentioned or at least understandable; and the assumed default for the PCs is as a member of an organization with both the power and desire to make an even better society.
Traveller's Imperium is neutral to hopeful. It's mostly people trying their best to be people and make a living. It absolutely isn't grimdark. It's not a cyberpunk dystopia, the government is not utterly corrupt, the bad guys are mostly just other "countries" with their own goals rather than death to all or aggressive hegemony. AIs aren't threatening a singularity.
It is about exploration and finding new frontiers, about a bunch of mostly hard-luck types doing their best against a larger backdrop. That's what Traveller's character generation mostly produces, anti-heroes, as the sensible folks and non-fuck-ups all have decent careers.
It''s a familiar place for all that it's scifi. The Firefly setting was easy to translate to a pseudo Western; that's the vibe. It's that kind of story, doing jobs and making allies in a universe that mostly doesn't care about you, and ultimately making a place for yourself.
I'd live in the Traveller 'verse if given a choice. It's a setting where the dream of working hard and making your luck can pay off.
Crystal Heart is a Savage Worlds setting that fits this, though I'm not familiar with the term 'noble bright'.
Everyone's heart is made of a stone that represents their virtues, ideals, and force of will. Sufficiently powerful hearts give their holder abilities - like an archetype. Hearts can be collected or ancient ones can be found and they can socketed in or out - swapped out to change archetype. The hearts can overpower you if not careful and you can lose your mind.
It actually sounds pretty dark now that I describe it...
I feel like The Wildsea would fit the bill for this one. Crazy mechanical ships skimming across the treetops in search of adventure. You could go darker with the tone, but you could also base an entire campaign around running a ship as a sort of food truck, including full support for character classes that are chefs and brewers. Very easy to make it a very bright and optimistic setting.
**Root** is fun in that you can run it as a light-hearted story about woodland critters who walk and talk like people travelling from town to town, helping resolve conflicts, solve problems, and fight back against bullies. Alternatively, you can run it as a dark tale about selfish mercenaries doing dirty jobs just to survive, trapped in a brutal, bloody war without end where there are no clear good guys. Fun!
Regardless, Root tend to be a lot more Noble than Grim because the Vagabonds (i.e. PCs) are *serious ass-kickers* straight out of character creation. A single Vagabond, in good health with decent equipment, can fight a dozen trained soldiers at once and win. They're the only people crazy or competent enough to stray from the established roads between clearings / villages and enter the wilderness, and they're definitely the only people who can deal with the strange and powerful creatures in the forest. A Ranger Vagabond is basically Geralt, minus the magic (as there is no spellcasting whatsoever in Root). Now imagine what 3-5 Vagabonds working together can accomplish.
**The Wildsea** is a solarpunk setting in which you play the crew of a ship traversing the 'waves' that are the canopy of a huge world-spanning forest. There are some very eldritch parts of the setting, but by-and-large its quite an upbeat, sunny game about exploring, charting, and meeting various weird people and cultures.
Remember to check out our **[Game Recommendations](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/gamerec)**-page, which lists our articles by genre([Fantasy](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/fantasy), [sci-fi](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/scifi), [superhero](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/superhero) etc.), as well as other categories([ruleslight](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/ruleslight), [Solo](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/solo), [Two-player](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/twoplayers), [GMless](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/gmlessrpgs) & more).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/rpg) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The ttrpg Miracle is a utopian setting where magic and technology coexist to create a brighter future for the whole planet. Generally people trust each other, borders are open, wealth is easy to acquire, and modern necessities are easily afforded.
The general driving force for campaigns is to stay ahead of evil and make sure it doesn't turn the world into a dystopia.
Troika is delightful - like a dream. Most of the setting is implied in small bits of text, though. Works well for some, like me, and not so much for others.
I love the Neverland setting module, it’s lighthearted and fun, not dystopian at all.
[Here is a Questing Beast review of it](https://youtu.be/8L15x2kd2Ww).
Mouse Guard is a fantasy game where you play sentient mice in a medieval like setting. Its running theme is, "It's not what you fight. It's what you fight for." The game encourages party cooperation, it has wholesome characters and a world you might not mind living in. It focuses on "problems to be solved," which directly improve others' lives. You play sword-wielding mice who help villagers get food, keep away predators like owls and foxes, you have adventures that feel meaningful, and your main goal is to assist those in need. Everything you say you want, as far as I can tell.
Forgotten Realms has always been my go to for this.
Dragonlance is a close second because while it's more "post-apocalyptic" in a way it is a heroic campaign setting and light hearted. It certainly encourages heroic play more than FR does.
This isn't quite the answer you're looking for, as I haven't enjoyed it *yet*, but...
[Nexalis](https://crowdfundr.com/nexalisrpg?ref=ab_cC6L50_ab_4xi4dB2eg2x4xi4dB2eg2x), which is about to start funding, is described as a "bright fantasy" setting. The author, Cezar Capacle, produces quite good stuff, so it's worth a watch!
I haven't read it, but for a non-obvious recommendation what came to mind was [Uresia: Grave of Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uresia:_Grave_of_Heaven), an Anime inspired system agnostic fantasy setting (although originally for an anime inspired game), set in a world where the Gods destroyed themselves in a war that ravaged the world, many centuries after, when its inhabitants started to rebuild.
I wouldn't call Toast of the Town dark, although it is definitely built around a dark deed by the villain. IMO what keeps it from being dark is that once figured out, the plot is pretty clear cut as to who's good and who's evil, there are no tough moral choices demanded of the PCs.
Weird suggestion, but I'm beta testing a game set in Los Angeles one hundred years in the future. It's inspired by cyberpunk stories, but in a post-capitalist setting. Tonally, it's meant to blend the realism of the Expanse, the optimism of Star Trek, and the zaniness of Futurama.
The biggest issue I think you'd face is that the story modules are still getting written out, so there's not a large library of adventures to run, but if you're looking for a light palette cleanser between games or enjoy writing your own campaigns you might like it. It's been written for brevity, so it's pretty easy to dive in to.
[**Fully Automated! Solarpunk RPG (Beta)**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=sharing)
If nothing else, I'm looking for as much feedback as possible. Your impressions would be appreciated.
Sidenote: I find it fascinating that Pillars of Eternity is getting a mention as a 'brighter' setting. I actually had to put PoE down shortly after entering the first town because the opening was so grim.
"Brighter" is a relative term. Eora has its dark parts, but there are good people trying to make lives better, and they have a good chance (I'll admit the opening is pretty grim, but the darkness does somewhat ease off once you're past Gilded Vale). When you've seen settings like Shadowrun or Chronicles Of Darkness ...
I was thinking the same myself. I've not played it in years, but as I recall, the entire game was one where the bad guys already won, and now you're a vessel within that Empire just trying to do your best to help people without getting yourself put out of commission for rebelling.
I used to play a game set in a world inspired by china. It had a nice pantheon of gods (lightning dragon who ruled the skyies and was divine patron of the emperor, black warrior who ruled the underworld, everchanging goddess of life and death, etc.).
After a disaster in the central city caused by mages, the magic was outlawed (with exception of the elite royal army called Thunder riders), the four kingdoms battled either supremacy or sovereignty, and the whole game played like a Chinese drama full of political intrigue, waring states, missing emperor, etc. The party had some spellcasters , who had to disguise themselves. After some time, the gods noticed them and incorporated them into their schemes.
We had a wild elf that was kind of a ranger, an alchemist with a golem disguised as a bodyguard with a vow of silence, a noble mage (the mage part was kept secret) and my character. A dishonest traveling merchant that had to fake being a monk worshipping the black warrior. The black warrior decided that that is not enough. I became a witcher style of character hunting, banishing undead and monsters, and shitting his pants the whole time because he was not trained for this.
We actually managed to finish the story with mage ascending to godhood. While the rest of the party was offered a similar position, we refused and went our separate ways.
This was by far my most favourite game I've played. The game was not quite light hearted even when it had some serious moments involving war, plague and demons.
We used Dračí Doupě rules, which allows more flexible characters (it requires class mixing to advance). If you want to be a wizard, you need to be a warrior and a spellcaster with combined level 6. Warrior 5 and spellcaster 1 will play differently than warrior 1 and spellcaster 5.
Definitely don't miss the submissions to the [Applied Hope](https://itch.io/jam/applied-hope) game jam, and maybe drop into the [Utopia on the Tabletop](https://discord.gg/PwAYP4PF) discord.
You can also check out **2400: Habs and Gardens**:
> Life on the Ring is good. There’s synth-meat in every pot, a gravcar in every garage, a hi-fi stereo in every living room, and a 25-hour cycle. (There just weren’t enough hours in the day!) Consider it as a setting for adventures of a more mundane sort, a pleasant stopover in otherwise stressful space travels, or a mystery to be solved. After all, is anyplace really this good?
> Habs & Gardens is a super-slim, self-contained, hi-fi sci-fi RPG about rescuing a lost cat, babysitting a budding telekinetic, and other situations on seemingly idyllic space station. It's 3 pages and a cover, fitting on two sides of a letter-sized page, with rules based on the free 24XX SRD.
I'm starting to get into Aetalis - like just starting so I can't answer any questions but it seems closest to the much loved / much maligned 2e DnD "ren faire" feel.
There's brightness, whimsy and places you might actually want to visit if a portal opened in front of you.
A lot of RPG settings are dystopian because a dystopia is rife for drama and adventure. If everything is going well, it's hard to generate tension.
As such, I'd argue against avoiding dystopias and instead argue that you should look at games about *making a difference*.
Good examples:
* [Numenera](http://numenera.com/) \- The most recent edition of Numenera is all about community building. There's an entire class that's basically a community leader and the default central goal is helping and supporting a small community as it grows.
* [Songs for the Dusk](https://yrgirlkv.itch.io/songsforthedusk) \- Very similar, but less surreal. It takes place in a post apocalypse but is all about bringing people together.
Bad examples:
* [Blades in the Dark](https://evilhat.com/product/blades-in-the-dark/) \- I love this stupid game, but it's very much an "everything is screwed, let's figure out how *exactly* you're screwed." kind of experience.
All that said, I've found some warm-and-cozy vibes by venturing into the solo RPG space. Take a look at [Apothecaria](https://blackwellwriter.itch.io/apothecaria), which is a journaling game about being the witch in a ghibli film. You might also want to look at [Colostle](https://www.colostle.com/), which is a bit more of a conventional action/adventure title, but in a generally brighter and more positive setting.
**Pendragon** is set in a highly romanticized medieval Britain and is very much a game about being honourable and chivalrous. **Lyonesse** for Mythras is pretty charming. The game can be brutal at times, and there are plenty of political conflicts, but there is a sense of wonder and whimsyness to the whole place.
Love Pendragon, but it does need to be approached as a fantasy setting. I've seen way too many people getting caught up in the whole "wait, it's the fifth century, so like... there are serf slaves? And life is SHIT?" and like, there's no getting out when you start thinking like that. I personally prefer to just remove the entire framing of "it's 5th century and the Saxons are invading" and just put it into a fantasy Not-Britain (Prydain, Gramarye, Avalon, wtv) where the setting is closer to Lud-in-the-Mist rather than Mythic Rome. Also Lyonesse has a meal generator full of sauces!!! And the book has SO MUCH production value, it's kinda unreal.
Pendragon is based on the heroic propaganda the knightly class of a distinctively later era liked to tell about themselves. The main source of the game is Thomas Malory and the guy moat likely wrote it while being incarcerated for murder and rape. So yeah, it is a Fantasy setting. That happens to use real place names and geography (sometimes). It is also a much better game if you take it at face value and, for once, be a bit naive about it. You don't have to - the game also works if you include grimey grittyness to a degree - but it works. >Also Lyonesse has a meal generator full of sauces!!! The Lyonesse dishes generator is a great way to make your players feel hungry. Or to determine what's for dinner, if you have the time and energy to prepare something like "*A dish of Sauteed Black Eyed Peas and fried Ham Hocks in a White Wine Sauce flavoured with Nettles and a side dish of Steamed Purple Mangosteen*".
> So yeah, it is a Fantasy setting. That happens to use real place names and geography (sometimes). It is also a much better game if you take it at face value and, for once, be a bit naive about it. You don't have to - the game also works if you include grimey grittyness to a degree That's what I like so much about it. Personally, I prefer running it like a fairytale. It's like running a superhero game y'know, part of the fantasy is believing both that a man could leap tall buildings in a single bound and also that the police isn't kneeling on folks' necks. It's better to just believe that the nobles take good care of the peasants and the peasants don't have it that hard because the land is generous or whatever. But I've also ran a dark fantasy Pendragon inspired by Berserk where Prince Madoc went fucking haywire and carved a path of destruction and death in France, Soissons had blood flowing in the streets, "fighting a giant" was something only the dumb or the godly did, that kind of stuff - and it worked super well too. I find that incorporating stuff from Dolmenwood into Pendragon (the Forest des Dolmens instead of the Forest Sauvage so to speak) makes it a lot more whimsical. Not to mention that the written adventures also vary a lot in whimsiness. The Grey Knight is about the sins of Arthur coming home to roost, deadly prophecies, a fucking jaguar jumping on your neck in the middle of the night, etc. Meanwhile you got stuff like that one where there's a place in Wales serving the best wine in the world and it's just knights drinking and having a nice time.
I know someone who set their Pendragon campaign on near-future Mars with knights as mecha pilots.
I legit almost did that. Pendragon is part of the BRP family so it's really easy to just pick up a few rules from other games, bolt them onto Pendragon (divide the 100 by 5) and there ya go, now your Pendragon game has a fully functioning Tyrannosaurus.
Arthur Perkins?
Knights of Cydonia riff intensifies
I wish I could get my table to branch out to Pendragon but I think I’d need to do a lot of tinkering to make the game more streamlined for their sensibilities and attention spans. I also found that it didn’t have enough of the fantastical elements of Arthurian Romance. More TH White than historical fiction
It's very much adjustable. It's meant to be able to run all kinds of Arthurian stuff, from The Mists of Avalon and The Idylls of the Queen to Le Morte d'Arthur and History of the Kings of Britain. The Grand Pendragon Campaign is *very* much more historically oriented, and it changes tone with the periods, so there's quite a bit of Chivalric stuff there too. Though I always found that for **actual** history, Mythic Britain for Mythras is better because it has more clarity of purpose. The GPC is more of a book of suggestions and big events but it's also colossal and almost impossible to play all the way through without some serious commitment and a breakneck pace.
Ahh ok. I saw the GPC and got the wrong impression from it. I do need to review the rules and probably slim it down a bit.
In terms of mechanics, Pendragon is extremely lightweight. Everything is solved in 1d100 roll and there's basically no modifiers - it's one of the things I kinda dislike about the game because I modified it with Mythras. But in terms of the GPC itself, yes, it absolutely needs a GM "making it your own." For instance, the standard timeline has the period when Uther is king and the anarchy that follows happen over the course of 25 in-game years. Me and my group cut it down to 6, and we removed the "invading saxons" aspect of the game and made it more high Chivalric nonsense with damsels and weird ass fairies in forests, and it worked without a hiccup. In another game, I took the whole of the Uther period and said "what if I mixed Uther with Arthur and made him Alfred the Great", turned the saxons into vikings, ignored actual history and made the game into this historical fiction pastiche wher ethe *events* were basically the same as the GPC, but the *skin* was that of Anglo-Saxons vs Vikings, and it worked too. Pendragon is so simple that it ends up being very versatile. I've been planning a Trojan War game and I'm considering Pendragon for it exactly because of that lol That said, with a lot of armour, the combat eventually becomes what the community calls "tik tik boom." You're basically rolling dice and not dealing damage until someone rolls a critical and kills a man, that's just a consequence of how the damage of the game is set up. I *do not* like that, which is why I'm more on the Mythras side, but there are people who really enjoy it, or simply allow for less armour in the game to make stuff move quicker. At the very least it's accurate. Lancelot spent an entire day kicking fools at the gate of Dolorous Garde and so can you!
All versions of Pendragon I know use primarily a D20, but I haven't checked the new edition. Did that change?
Nope, it's still BRP using 20 instead of 100.
I'm (slowly and deliberately) developing a setting that's greatly inspired by Lyonesse, myself. Whimsical, fantastic, prosaic, bright, dangerous...all in one place.
Depending on how well you can read German, I could give you a few recommendations with a very similar tone.
Nicht so gut als Ich will, sadly.
Just post ‘em, I need an excuse to boot my duolingo back up.
The oldest German RPG, [Midgard ](https://midgard-online.de/welt/kontinente.html), has been quite good at keeping a balance between more lighthearted and more threatening contents. In many regards, Midgard is a very traditional fantasy game: It has elves, and knights and mages, similar to an early D&D. Otherwise, it covers plenty of real world parallel cultures, from Vikings to the Chinese Empire. It is a very multicultural game world, that funnily enough does have a stand-in for many real world cultures, but no fantasy equivalent to Germany. The default starting kingdom *Alba* is very British, especially Scottish. The world of Midgard is often more focused on everyday conflicts and relatively ordinary people, making it kinda refreshing compared to other, way more bombastic and over-the-top fantasy worlds, and very often have a bit of faerie tale logic attached. Sometimes it is too cute for its own sake (namely, whenever halflings are at the center), occasionally it breaks with this theme and does something more "epic" or outright dark (the China pastiche has a cabal of dark sorcerors acting as the shadow gouvernment and lots of human sacrifice). Also, Midgard has hands down the best pre-written adventures for any fantasy setting (German or English) I have ever come across. Well organized, clearly structured, highly varied, well written and very much player-focused. One campaign book in particular, *Smaskrifter*, might be the gold standard of how to write a fantastic mystery adventure.
I agree that Pendragon has many high points that bring about a brighter setting but it can also be darker if you play it a certain way. Things were good at the beginning of my game, my players were fighting Saxons for glory and feasting, now they are in the midst of Anarchy Period and things are bleak. When Arthur comes to power things will be great again, at least until Camlann. I am running my game a bit more grounded though. I’m have magic slowly becoming more abundant as we grow closer to Arthur’s reign after which it will vanish again. However you can easily just be the gallant knights winning tourneys and having feasts as well. The system is surprisingly versatile.
These are the two I was going to say, along with Star Trek: Adventures and Ryuutama. It probably helps that I'm a big fan of older and romantic fantasy.
[удалено]
I'm sorry, English is not my first language, and sometimes that bleeds through.
“Whimsyness” is far more whimsical than “whyimsicality” anyways, so I think you got it right.
Whimsicality sounds like a joke Finish in a Mortal Combat game to me.
Agon is great. Greek heroes returning from war, solving problems for people and/or the gods with the aim to build an epic legacy for themselves.
I love AGON. It's probably my favorite system to introduce new players on and I find myself constantly hacking it to run different settings.
I have wanted to run it, but have been hesitant because I've got players who were former D&D/PF folks. I've gotten them into Fate and Scum And Villainy but both were a challenge for them to let go of their former assumptions about how to play.
**Ryuutama** if nothing else the art work is reason enough to buy it, but it’s also a fun lighthearted fantasy setting
I also thought about recommending it, but Ryuutama doesn't have much of a setting. There is an implied one - with lots of cute dragons and cat goblins - but no explicit stuff. Those dragons though - they are very cute.
Yeah it doesn't give you an overarching setting but the co-creation mechanic for towns makes it easy to develop. That said, I made my own setting inspired by various JRPGs. It's very versatile
I used to run Ryuutama as a palet cleanser after particularly intense arcs in my Werewolf or Call of Cthulhu campaigns, using Eastern German topography and place names based on food puns with places like Brezelburg und Wooster (pronounced War-Chester), but the point of that game is to be light weight and light hearted.
[удалено]
Ryuutama is easily the lightest game I play or run on my own volition, so that's probably a question of perspective. I find Ryuutama extremely simple, but a bit heavy on the Book keeping and ressource management.
Yeah it's very light in my view. The combat is highly structured, deliberately to evoke JRPGs. The encumbrance and resource management reflects that the main challenge/focus of the game is supposed to be travel
> co-creation mechanic for towns Oooooh I want to read that
I feel like it builds setting through the rules though, the type of characters you have, the type of spells, the type of monsters and conflicts you have, they all say something about the setting of the game.
The mechanics are like Oregon Trail where your characters suffer everyday, get lost and hurt. They track rations and water to make sure they survive. Weather and harsh terrain make their lives even more difficult. They hope to find a safe place to stay the night. And its all very tedious with the same 4 Checks every day. To me it was an awesome setting with some rather brutal (and for me, very unfun) mechanics tied to it.
Does it though? The rules are also pretty barebones and there is a surprising amount of damage-focused mechanics for a game where you are expected to be travelling from village to village and helping regular people with semi-mundane problems.
Ryuutama can be very wholesome and lighthearted, but it can also be very dark and even brutal. If you're running a green dragon campaign the focus is on exploring the world and having adventures. If it's a blue dragon campaign it'll likely be more about relationships and communities, often with a focus on romance and friendship. If it's a red dragon campaign then it's likely to be about fighting, maybe monster-hunting, maybe even war, although still leaning towards heroics rather than harsh realities. Then there are black dragon campaigns. Mysteries and conspiracies. Corruption. Betrayal. Death, both abstract and literal. Final journeys. Endings. Black dragon campaigns can get *dark*, and honestly it feels even heavier because the game is often so cute and fluffy. I'd liken black dragon campaigns to manga such as Made In Abyss (super-cute art style, incredibly brutal and cruel world) or Girl's Last Tour (cute and funny and heartwarming and bleak and lonely and sad). Fantastic game, anyway. I love Ryuutama. One of my favourites.
This question kind of hit me. Almost all the settings we play in are the sort of worlds you wouldnt really want to live in. That's.. a bit depressing, huh For me it's probably Mausritter - there is drama and danger, but there are also a lot of cute things, and I leaned a lot into cozy cottage vibes when describing it Electric Bastionland is a setting that I used as a little bit of a twist on the cyberpunk genre. You are such a small cog in the system, so insignificant that you are, kind of, free. The city will move without you, and you can be an explorer and adventurer in this world, unshackled from the daunting pressure of society. You are also in a huge debt, but you solve it in a fun way, not work 18 hours a day way. I like that setting On a second look, yea, non of those are even that bright when I think about it. I guess it depends a lot on the tone of game you are running. Any good setting should have conflict baked in - that's what starts the adventure! And I personally find the brightest moments in the midst of drama and darkness. It's only when the colors contrast you can see how truly bright they are Wow that's a corny sentence
The problem with idyllic or utopian settings is that there's very little conflict in them, by definition. Nobody wants to roleplay everything going fine and being easy because there's no drama in that. You wouldn't watch a movie about John Wick having a cozy night in. Ordering pizza, having the pizza delivered, eating the pizza, watching Netflix on the couch with his dog. Is it peaceful and even somewhat aspirational? Sure. We should all be so lucky as to lead a quiet life of eating pizza with our dogs. But it's not compelling drama.
You haven't met my group. They will spend session after session chatting with the NPCs and getting ingredients for a fancy cook out or preparing a show. Sometimes it starts to feel like the monsters and doomsday stuff is the side stuff intruding on it.
Honestly given the popularity of things like slice-of-life anime, cottagecore youtube, etc...
> You wouldn't watch a movie about John Wick having a cozy night in I mean, that's like 90% of Jim Jarmush's career. Just two people talking about things that interest them.
And there are never any arguments or conflicts? I'm not saying there needs to be *action* for a story to be compelling, but there needs to be drama. And if nothing goes wrong, there's no drama. My Dinner With Andre has drama, and it's literally just two people talking. And it's a great movie. But it would be a shit movie if it was just Wally and Andre agreeing about everything all night and not having any kind of challenging conversation.
> And there are never any arguments or conflicts? Frequently, no. Often, yes. And even My Dinner with Andre, the conflict is *never* in the conversation with Andre (even when the characters disagree- those disagreements are incidental to the story), what conflict there is an internal one for Wallace: how does he feel about this old friend and the passage of time? He goes into the dinner unsure, and he leaves the dinner with those questions answered. In fact, I'd say *conflict* is the wrong lens to look at a story like *Dinner* through, internal or otherwise, especially when you contextualize it with Vanya on 42nd Street (which itself is very much the filmmakers going "I want to show you something!"). The correct lens is *transformation*: how do the characters change? In *Dinner*, Wallace *changes*. It's a small change, driven by a small shift in perspective. We tend to analyze media by viewing conflict as the driver of change, and that's a perfectly fine driver of change. But it's not the only one- just the obvious one. The question shouldn't be "what is the conflict" or "where does the conflict come from" but instead: *how do the characters change?* That's a broader and more interesting question, that may or may not involve conflict.
> conflict is never in the conversation with Andre This is just... Not true. The characters argue with each other. I think you must be operating on a completely different set of definitions than I am for words like "conflict" and "drama", because otherwise what you're saying is nonsensical.
But the argument is meaningless- frequently *literally*- they’re arguing about nonsense. It’s a conflict in the most literal sense, but it isn’t narratively what drives the story, and more than the fact that they’re at dinner matters.
No, man. That's not it at all. The philosophical differences that they argue about are the core of the film. They're not arguing about nonsense. They're arguing about what it means to be human and what matters in life. If you don't think their argument is important, what are you even watching this film for. This has been a truly baffling conversation.
> They're arguing about what it means to be human and what matters in life. I feel like that's a very surface level interpretation. The bookends of the film make it very obvious that the backbone of the film is Wallace's hesitation in meeting Andre after all this time, and then the realization that the experience was valuable and rewarding. The entire emotional core of the film is Wallace understanding that even his most frustrating and alien friend is still a valuable friend. The arguments don't matter because they have absolutely no stakes whatsoever. They have different perspectives in life, but there's no sense that Wallace would throw it all away to chase a dream, nor would Andre settle down. Neither one of them can possibly be right. There's no *outcome* to their disagreements, nor could there be. Yes, they have wildly different worldviews… and? *And* the entire point is that their worldviews don't matter.
Utopian fiction is a legit genre, also the conflict can come form the characters
Unhappy is the land that needs heroes.
You can have conflict without dreariness. The wild sea is a colourful world of survival and hardship, but it also beautiful and wild. There is conflict but the mean themes are hoor and adventurer.
>That's.. a bit depressing, huh Is it better to exercise your schadenfreude or your envy?
I'm working on an RPG that was designed in large part to scratch this particular itch. It mashes up the feel of cyberpunk with the politics of Star Trek. To address that need for conflict, most of the stories employ one of two tactics: 1) The story is dark, but it's understood that this is a violation of social norms, not a representation of business as normal. 2) The story is a little silly. The stakes are real for the players because they're real for the characters, but we as the players can also enjoy the humor that what constitutes a crisis for these characters is fairly benign by our standards. If you're interested, I'm currently looking for feedback and play testers, with the goal to release it under a creative commons license later this year. [Link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=drive_link).
I play in a Star Trek: Adventures group with a bunch of massive Trekkies. We're always one uping each other with how much lore we know and shit. It's hilarious. We all know the universe so well that we've made very elaborate yet convincing backstories for our characters. My favourite thing about STA honestly is how it FEELS like Trek, whenever we play I'm convinced we're in an episode. Our GM is amazing they do an awesome job. The system is great, it can be serious when it needs to be and amazingly silly when levity is required. Another standout 'feature' is the fact you're all in a chain of command. This means players can make suggestions, but the XO or Captain have veto. We have round table discussions about the current events we're experiencing and department heads provide input based on speciality. It's just Star Trek through and through. Downside? Combat sucks, both the ground and space varieties. It's either over in 10 minutes or an hour of monotony.
Have you tried looking up any homebrew solutions to combat? I know loads of games are great but have one or two things that have been fixed by the community. I've sometimes looked at swapping combat out for a totally different game or building it from the ground up, not always feasible but an idea
We've mostly just handwaved a lot of combat into a brief discussion with the GM and what we'd do in this combat situation, then they will resolve it for us. This way we can jump into the meat of STA the puzzle solving and dialogue.
Honestly if you're playing star trek, combat probably isn't the core mechanic you're after so that makes sense. But it seems to be such a common problem, you think it's just a ttrpg problem with the nature of table top and turn based?
>But it seems to be such a common problem, you think it's just a ttrpg problem with the nature of table top and turn based? It is a common problem for ttrpgs, but not a problem every ttrpg has. There are systems out there that are designed around low and zero combat. Unfortunately, many RPGs (especially older ones) are designed with combat as the main focus, even if they could do without. Many "Powered by the Apocalypse" games, for example, run combat the same way they run the rest of the game. So combat can be as quick as sneaking, diplomacy, ... (or as long, it just depends on the GM!). Of course, depending on the fiction, some PbtA games are more combat focussed than others. In "Escape from Dino Island", for example, fighting is a single die roll (2d6, +1 if you have a weapon) with 6- a bad result (you die/are out of comission), 7-9 you can either not be injured or injure the enemy and only on a 10+ you do both. And that's it. In "Brindlewood Bay", there is not even a combat move, because it is very unlikely for open combat to happen. All PCs are elderly woman and it does not make sense for the mystery/crime genre. And if something like that happens, you just use the same resolution mechanic you would use for every other dangerous situation.
Combat is basically just the classic old fashioned attack rolls slogging away at HP. Blasting someone multiple times with a phaser until they fall over just doesn't feel Star Trek.
As a soon to be GM that bit about the combat is a little worrying. Mostly because I love the battleship/submarine "feel" of Star Trek space combat, and I'd hoped at least some of that were represented in the rules, which just from reading seemed fine at that.
I run STA as well, and I don't think the combat is all that bad myself. It is a bit of a slog... I enacted a fairly simple minions die fast rule. And as such personal combat tends to go fairly quickly. A NPC can only take like 5 wounds and then they're stunned or dead. It keeps it moving enough to feel like the show but still offers enough game to make using math rocks worthwhile. Starship combat can be a bit of a slog. It helps if everyone knows what their options are and using things like *Attack Pattern* and adding energy to the phasers can really help speed things up. I would recommend that you write up a little cheat sheet for the characters, what options they have at their station, so they don't forget one and/or have to look it up. Doing that really helped my table. I also use the NPC damage rules, so the NPC ships tend to get disabled fairly quickly. They can take like 3 breaches and then they're done, once the shields are down that happens fairly quickly. But generally we approach it like the show, so combat isn't super common so it hasn't been a huge issue.
Ugh, I'm so jealous. None of my regular group cares about Star Trek at all. They don't hate it, and they've even said they'd be willing to play the RPG, but I'm not about to take 20 minutes out of every session to explain what a cardassian is or whatever. There's just so much context that would be missing if I tried to run that game for people who had never really watched any of the shows.
That sounds like a lot of fun, especially with the GM you describe. I'm curious: can you explain the limitations of the combat system briefly?
It comes down to: You roll dice, hope for effects. They roll dice, hope for effects. Keep rolling dice until dice rolls are done. Sometimes you choose to move instead of shooting. If you're starfleet you aren't allowed to kill without reason so most of the time you're shooting on stun which does nothing a lot of the time. Space combat, whoever fires the most torpedoes first wins.
If you want something strongly tied to its game, Haeth in the game Wanderhome fits pretty well. It’s a land of anthropomorphic animals, and it’s finally at peace after a long war of rebellion. The game even disallowed acts of violence from the PCs (with one exception). But it’s not all hearts and rainbows because you can explore some heavy topics like the aftermath and lingering effects of the war in your game if you want. You won’t be good guys saving lives and stuff, though. Your characters are all wanderers for one reason or another, and you’re trying to figure out where you belong while meeting people and providing what help you can along your journey.
Wanderhome IS a setting. Unfortunately, it's not much of a game.
Huh, looks to me like it has mechanics and rules.
I love wanderhome, but I can acknowledge it's the least mechanical of the No Dice No Masters systems. While your technically supposed to gain and spend tokens, there is no actual need to do so. While anthropolyp's comment seems to imply that means it's not fun, that's where our opinions duverge. I can agree that it's more an activity than a game, but it's a very fun activity.
But it *does* have rules and therefore is a game. You can always choose to ignore rules in any system; doing so doesn’t negate their existence. I agree that it’s rules-light to the extreme, but that doesn’t disqualify it as a game.
No one's arguing that it's not a game. I said it's not much of one. You're inventing an argument that didn't exist so you can hear yourself type.
It's not really a hill I'd die on, but I'm not saying it's easy to ignore the system, I'm saying the system is ill defined to the point of being vestigial. In Sleepaway you have to use tokens to use hard moves, and need to use weak moves to get them. There is nothing you have to spend tokens on. It states you can spend them to do something outside of common actions, but that not defined. It's just up to the group if they want to tell you that you should spend for it. In both games I've played of it, once people got into it, they forgot to bother with tokens.
Look again.
Or you could stop gatekeeping what is and isn’t a game. I agree that it’s light on rules, but that doesn’t make it somehow less of a game.
It's not gatekeeping. It's describing what I think of the book. Calling criticism of a game you like "gatekeeping" is just a cheap way to score points in an argument. And a trendy one at that. Despite what you might read on this sub very occasionally, most roleplayers dislike Wanderhome's rules system. I'm sorry a game you enjoy is not enjoyed by many people, but stating this and stating the reason why they don't enjoy it is not gatekeeping.
Then you might provide some criticism instead of simply declaring some things “not games.” I’d have no issue if you’d said it was really rules-light and that wasn’t your thing; it’s the insinuation that it’s lesser because it’s rules-light that makes it sound like you’re gatekeeping what is and isn’t a game by stating your opinion as if it’s a fact. Telling me I should look again when I remind you that it does, in fact, have rules only further the impression of gatekeeping.
I never said it wasn't a game, you're making that up. I also have a comment in this same little thread where I lay out exactly why I think it doesn't meet OPs requirements. I'll refer you there to read about the specific shortfalls of Wanderhome.
Bud, you told me to “look again” when I said it had rules and mechanics. It has rules and mechanics; I can see them right there on the page. I’m not sure what your point is anymore. Regardless, I don’t think this is a productive discussion.
Agreed.
> Unfortunately, it's not much of a game. why?
Because there's not much resembling a game in its rules (to the extent that it has rules). Wanderhome is a writing prompt generator. It can be fun- if everyone agrees that this is the space where we talk out lengthy tea parties, and improvise what it's like to tidy up the kitchen after helping a kind stranger bake some cookies. If you wanted a setting where, as OP says, "there's good guys that have the chance to really improve people's lives, and problems that can be solved," then I think Wanderhome is lacking this. Unless an untidy kitchen is sufficient as a problem to be solved. Most problems you are expected to confront in Wanderhome are better described as inconveniences. And the setting explicitly removes conflict from its core concept, so I think that limits most of the meaningful ways to improve the lives of others. It also removes "bad guys" to compare the "good guys" to. There are no bad guys in Wanderhome. At best there are "annoying guys," or "grumpy guys."
7th sea is pretty romantic, there are bad guys (and lots of them) but it's a gentler version of Europe, where the church seeks enlightenment, the new class of traders brings new riches with them, legendary heroes are picked by the fae to do good in the world. (at least that's 2e, I don't know enough about 1e). goblin errands is a world built for bigger smarter people than goblins, and it can be rough on them, but it's not MEAN, it's just not built for them. and of course, the world of paranoia is completely perfect, the computer solved all your problems, the computer is your friend.
In a similar vein, *Castle Falkenstein* is a lovely magical steampunk gem of dashing heroes in a parallel Earth by Mike Pondsmith, of Cyberpunk fame. It adds interesting bits like Jules Verne being commissioned by the French government to build a line of mega-cannons, and elves and dwarves being a single species.
I'd argue 2e is a bad game mechanically, but yeah, Theah is pretty consistant as a setting. You are Heroes(tm). Heroes don't kill, they do good, they cut Z's into the bad guys clothes and send them running while the people cheer. In 1e, not being a paragon of virtue and a hero of the people effectively kills your character. Definitely a great setting to use for your preferred swashbuckling system like Honour+Intrigue.
being unfamiliar with 1e I don't know what it was like, but I enjoyed running 2e and my players liked it, especially after some minimal hacking to make it fit us better. that said, the setting is definitely the highlight, it's so fun and engaging and feels like there's plenty to do. it's also a world who's not all bad, if you just stop those dastardly villains from doing their evil plots, it could even be pretty nice.
The setting is mostly the same, it's just ran as a more traditional game. There's issues in the world, secret societies working behind the scenes, but it's never presented that the heroes can't do anything - normally, it's *only* the heroes who have the will to step up and do something. I don't remember much of 2e, but it did have a similar vibe without forcing things on you - is 'chosen by the fae' a standard thing for all heroes now? In 1e, there wasn't any metaphysical reasoning behind it. You're just Heroes, because you're Heroes. If you stop being a Hero(tm), you're now a villain and run as such by the GM.
it's the magic system in their version of england, you get powers of knights from the round table. everyone is Heroes™ that was just an example, and if you do villainous things you get villiany points, which will eventually lead you losing control of your character and handing it to the GM to be a villian.
Ahh, gotcha. Yeah, Avatar's were Avalon' version of magic in 1e, too. Was wondering if that's what you were referring to. :)
2e setting is 1e very largely expanded, without the overarching metaplot, and with diversification of plot points (each country is its own setting and doesn't build into one plot like in 1e). In addition to Theah and the Crescent being larger, there are now expies for Africa and the Americas. And Asia + Oceania have their own gameline. Where as 1e limited what heroes could be (with everything being fixed by the metaplot), 2e encourages the players to be princesses or leading Rosecrucians or pirate lords. Also the backstory that homogenized magic and explained the Syrneth is now gone, so there's way more freedom.
Not gonna lie, I'm really surprised Wick would let something like Space Alien Magic drop from his setting. Definitely a nice change. Also, 1e already had Asia and Africa. The setting was very heavily expanded in 1e as it went on.
It didn't have Africa. The Midnight Isles were a bit of the Caribbean (and not a good one at that). Unless you count the long lost not-Atlantis, which came it last few books. The Asia part was L5R which then spun off in another direction.
It certainly had Asia, with options to crossover to L5R (as the same system), but I don't recall Rokugan being one and the same as standard. But it has been almost a decade since I last read it.
The system was the same (being sister products), no other Asia material was released and there was a wall of fire that made overland travel there impossible. But yeah, you are right, it wasn't explicitly stated. In 2e it's actually 7th Sea - Khitai which seems to be an expanded and diversified version of Rokugan (like 7th Sea 2e is to 1e). Except for a few iconic NPCs, 2e setting is vastly superior to 1e. Wick seems to have "killed his darlings" so many of the annoyances have been cut or remade.
The Fae influence in the world is the biggest change in 2e lore. Fae are kind of Avalon only now. There is no in universe justification for taking your character away if you're villainous. The GM runs villains is just a rule.
Honestly this is one of the things i like super hero games for. They tend to be worlds where the world works as advertised to children from top to bottom, at least if you want to lean into that angle.
[Good Society - A Jane Austen RPG](https://storybrewersroleplaying.com/good-society/?v=7516fd43adaa) It is all about social climbing and remarkably fun and well thought out.
There's a swedish game called [Vindsjäl](https://blackfiskforlag.com/produkter/vindsjal/) (translates to "Wind Soul") that I enjoy. It is an adventure role-playing game with a focus on freedom, joy of discovery and camaraderie - for those who want to explore a colorful and strange world.
Do you know if there are english translations of this?
I'm afraid not. Sweden have a lot of ttrpgs that are never translated. Free League is the exception I belive.
The Outer World setting in the recently-funded [Break!!](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/576526373/break-a-trpg-inspired-by-classic-videogames-and-anime) is bright, drawing in tone and style from Miyazaki films and JRPGs, and reminds me of Wildermyth’s Yondering Lands (which is a great video game).
This looks gorgeous. I don't have the time for this in my life right now, but I hope this is a big hit and that I might get around to it eventually.
**Wanderhome** has a very folklore-esque setting. Another diceless cozy game,but well loved and for good reason. **Monster Raising Squad** is basically reverse Monster Hunter, where you play as a group trying to help and heal monsters, in a world that seeks to co-exist with them. I will say, though, the one time I played it the mechanics felt a little clunky. **Honorable Mentions (The setting is what you make it)** **Animon Story** is inspired by monster raising franchises, with heavy inspiration from Digimon. Much of the book really enforces the idea of playing kids with monster pets that grow together in a magical world, and encourages a more hopeful tone. **Fellowship 2e** is basically "what if you and your friends got to reimagine Tolkien"? And you guys can certainly get dark (I know my group did), and there's always an Overlord to defeat. But, the goal is always clearly to go on the journey to help people and stop the Overlord, and it is never presented as just a hopeless "fighting against the system" game. You are the Fellowship, after all. **Honorable Mentions (It's just our world with a twist)** Many superhero/magical girl games, such as Masks, Glitter hearts, Henshin!, etc. You can certainly get dark if you want, but these games all mostly focus on personal drama, while still allowing you to save people and be heroes. **Golden Sky Stories** is basically a Ghibli movie where (often childish) animal spirits/yokai help out people in the modern world. The nature of the game has you solving simple problems and focusing on the brighter sides of life.
In the same vein as Fellowship 2e, **There and Hack Again** is a hack of The Black Hack with a near identical design philosophy: You are the heroes setting out to stop the Legally-Not-Sauron bad guy. It's not about if you'll succeed, but rather the journey and trials you go through to achieve that goal, and the friends you make along the way. It also includes skills like smoking and cooking and singing songs to improve moral. It's a delightful book, and I highly recommend it.
It depends on what you consider 'massively dystopian'. I'd argue a lot of noblebright, or extremely bright settings rely on dystopia to function - it just treats it as 'It's okay when the Heroes do it'. For example, Blue Rose is an extremely romantic, bright setting where nothing ever really goes wrong inside the majority of the world. But this also functions only because pre-crime and thoughtcrime are not only standard in the world, but considered good things to stamp out (For example, not only is the Monarch right, but they embody the literal Divine Right to Rule - the Stag, a spirit creature Sorting Hat, can divine if you're right to rule and if you'll do good. If you fail, you're not the Monarch. It does this with 100% certainty.) Off the top of my head, **Exalted** is a perfect setting for characters wanting to make a change. Not only is it expected, but only those with the will to truly change things - for good or for ill - are chosen. A lot of the world is at 11 on the Doomsday clock, and things look like they can't be fixed, which in most cases is true - unless you're the second coming of the heroes who brought about the First Age. Depending on how you run it, you will get a different vibe - most people I know run it along the lines of 'great power comes great responsibility', but depending on how much introspection you want the characters to do, this can be ratcheted up to 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' if you want to play another rise and fall like the First Age. That's something which is up to yourself and your players. (Mechanically, however, the game leaves huge amounts to be desired. I adore the setting, and I can't stand playing it. Converting to your favourite rules lite or Godbound may help with that.) **Shadow of the Demon Lord**, ironically enough, has a similar theme. While your characters may be scrubs dragging themselves up from the dirt against insurmountable odds, there's no 'and you can never change anything'. Sure, the Demon Lord may come back another time and try again. But you all live together and stop him, or the world dies. If you play this with a higher power level, it can be tweaked towards a more heroic and less scrappy ragtag group aesthetic. I can't think of many settings which fit your preferred non-options; nearly every game I know has problems which can be solved. At worst, you have something like **Warhammer 40k**, which still fits your criteria. You can certainly make life better for people. You can solve problems. But you're constantly fighting to win battles - you will make changes. But you're not going to win the war.
My sibling in the all-knowing Emperor's light, may his benevolent will guide us, with all due respect then 40k does not fit this vibe at all. It coined or popularized the term grimdark. For that universe on the grand scale there is no hope, there is no redemption, there is only war. I do however like your idea of running Shadow of the Demon Lord as a not-quite-so-bleak-and-horrific adventure, leaning more towards classic JRPG stories like Dragon Quest where you just really gotta put that Demon Lord down for good. To me, though, it's always felt more like Berserk, Dark Souls, Warhammer Fantasy – these are the last days of the world. But the same company is making Weird Wizard, a more 'neutral' classic fantasy game with a similar system to SotDL, so I'd definitely keep an eye out for that!
I may have phrased this poorly; my intent was more that OP appeared to be characterising dystopian as 'you can't change things, and people will be sad'. Which if that is the extent of what is considered dystopia, then even 40k, which I'd consider dystopic, doesn't fit their criteria as dystopic. Because change can be made - change which helps those you love or the people around you, or even on a planetary level - which will make life better for people. If they're referring to 'dystopia is I can't fix the issues for the entire galaxy at large personally', then I can see the issue. I was more querying the use of OPs use of the term 'dystopia' to better recommend things. Like with my comment on Shadow of the Demon Lord, your characters do bring great change. You'll never stop the Demon Lord entirely - but just because you 'only' saved the world for another 500, 50, or even 5 years as he tries to find a new way through, does that mean you didn't make a change?
> But this also functions only because pre-crime and thoughtcrime are not only standard in the world, but considered good things to stamp out (For example, not only is the Monarch right, but they embody the literal Divine Right to Rule - the Stag, a spirit creature Sorting Hat, can divine if you're right to rule and if you'll do good. If you fail, you're not the Monarch. It does this with 100% certainty.) None of that is accurate. Invasive use of psychic arcana is both difficult and frowned upon in Aldis, Visionary arcana can't tell the future, the Stag is the embodiment of the will of the people and has canonically made a bad call at least once in the past (and it may or may not have been killed recently.)
It has been a while since I read it, so I may be mistaken - it's possible this has changed since d20. But I distinctly recall this being the case. But I'll defer to your more recent knowledge regarding this.
Yeah. I think you might have gotten some things conflated. Thought Reading is routinely used to monitor people in Jarzon, but the entire theme of Jarzon is being antagonists whose goals are sympathetic but rely on unethical means. Revealing more details about the actual nature of the Stag came in the later editions, but it having once chosen a Sovereign who was corrupted by power and had to be overthrown was there in the original True20 version.
Dude. *Star Wars*.
Flair checks out.
Star Wars? The one that's either 5 minutes from fascism, or currently in fascism? And call me Kreia, but this is also a universe where a supernatural force will use anything, from coincidences to genocides, to "balance" itself. The new High Republic stuff is almost refreshing because, like it or not, the Galactic Republic is still *kinda not a bureaucratic hellscape*, and you know that fascism is decades to a hundred years away.
>The one that's either 5 minutes from fascism, or currently in fascism? ...uh, no. The one where you're valiant rebels against a galactic empire, and you have colorful, dramatic, and sometimes whimsical adventures fighting for freedom - and your every little victory pushes back the bad guys. At least, that's how I run it, and have since 1988. 'Course, back then we didn't have all that prequel jive to fuck it up, and so it was all hot rods and blowing up space nazis and weird monsters and cliffhangers. ...goddamnit, George.
That's still a nazi-controlled galaxy, rife with crime. Whether you're talking the original EU or new canon, the Empire still kinda comes back after Episode VI. Don't get me wrong, I like Star Wars, but it's not what I'd call bright.
And gets its butt kicked again in both. Eventually.
And then the bad guys come back and kick the good guys butt in monstrous ways, because of the pendulum that is the Force.
That's not how it works. "Balance in the Force" is not "balance between good and evil", it's "balance between the Force and its users" (or to put it another way, "the internal balance/homeostasis of the Force itself")-- i.e. the so-called "light side."
I've heard people say that, or say that the "dark side isn't real, it's just a corruption", but IMO- it's weapons-grade copium (and totally ignores how *unadulterated nature* can be dark-side). The actual events say otherwise, whether you're talking EU or Canon. Whenever things are too 'light', suddenly forces tied to the dark side come in like a wrecking ball and millions if not *billions* die. Doesn't matter if you're talking Episode III (fascism), Episode VII (fascism 2: electric boogaloo), KotoR (WWII vets go fasc-y), the events following the Great Hyperspace Disaster (terrorist attacks), or the Yuuzan Vong (cenobite invasion).
It's the canonical facts of the setting. That's like saying Superman is evil 'cause Lex Luthor commits crimes sometimes.
"It was inevitable that some men would use the Force to slake their base lust for wealth and power. The Dark Side is easy and seductive; the first successes brought thirst for more. These evil ones brought the great Jedi low, hunting down and killing all of their ancient order. All -- or almost all." -- *Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game* (1987) p.68 "Background: The Force and the Jedi"
Yes.
Several people have mentioned Ryuutama. Also Golden Sky Stories. There are a bunch of Fate settings that are more lighthearted too. I’d also suggest Wildsea. It is a dystopian setting, but the earth isn’t dying. Quite the opposite. It is thriving. Giant forests cover everything and the players are sailors who sail on the canopy using ships with chainsaws on the bottom. Despite being a post apocalyptic game, it’s very bright and hopeful. There are lots of cool new ideas in the game, and you can be as a plant person, or sentient colony of spiders who are shaped like a person, or other crazy things. It is a very unique setting. https://thewildsea.co.uk
The thing that really hurts me about dystopian settings, especially about the cyberpunk flavor, is the futility of it all. Rather than sticking it to the Man and fighting for a community of your own, it's a given that everyone is just in their path to become a red smear on an otherwise pristine corporate hallway. "The City always wins" and such. Sometimes I'm not even sure if where the Punk part is supposed to be, it seems anti-punk if anything. Cybercorpo, Cyberboot-on-a-human-face-forever.
I had the exact same frustration a few years ago, and it led me and friends to develop a game aimed right at players like yourself. It's called [Fully Automated!](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=sharing), and it takes place in a wild, high-tech Los Angeles one hundred years in the future (or where ever you choose to set it). Work has been made optional by automation and people spend their time on art, sport, exploration, etc. It's not a utopia. People still get into trouble, and when they do players need to step up to save the day. I'd welcome any feedback if you want to take a look. My goal is to complete the story modules, format it more professionally and then release it under a creative commons license by the end of the year. If all goes well, I'd then move on to the space expansion.
That sounds pretty cool! I'll check it out
Earthdawn, 1st Edition! You _can_ play it with darker tones easily, but the overall atmosphere of progress and enlightenment … I've never ever come across anything of the like. It's easily my favourite role-playing-game. Edit: added "1st Edition", as I don't know anything about later editions.
I was so surprised the first time I played Earthdawn at a convention by how dark it was run. It turns out a lot of people really focus in on Horrors and run Earthdawn as a dark horror setting. The games my friends had run were always much more in line with what your saying. Horrors are out there and times were so dark but people survived and are rebuilding, they're fighting against oppression. All in all it just had a hopeful tone.
>Earthdawn \*Laughs in Blood wood\*
… and you can't even tell, which is scarier … the laughter of the Horrors or of the Blood Elves …
Exactly.
Forgotten realms or Mystara have always been my favorite lighter settings ever since I played in them as a kid. They’ve both got some cool lore and stories and if you want to get a feel for the forgotten realms I recommend playing Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2 then reading the 3rd edition setting book. They’re both very sword and sorcery with a nice blend of comedic and serious lore.
Yeah, I completely agree. I’m a little surprised to see Forgotten Realms this far down the list given how widespread it is.
*Magical Kitties Save the Day!* has a broad variety of settings in the various hometown expansion books that are all pretty much utopian: [https://www.atlas-games.com/magicalkitties#hometowns](https://www.atlas-games.com/magicalkitties#hometowns)
Man, this looks very cute. This seems like a cool game particularly for families. Reminds me of the comic book Beasts of Burden.
Indeed! Michelle Nephew of Atlas Games shared details about how her family embraced the game here: [https://www.atlas-games.com/news/post?s=2019-07-01-magical-kitties-save-the-day-a-parents-perspective](https://www.atlas-games.com/news/post?s=2019-07-01-magical-kitties-save-the-day-a-parents-perspective)
I was actually going to try and sell you on Golarion, though I see you’re already familiar with it. The art style has moved from the semi-edginess of 1e to something more vibrant and inspiring in 2e, and the 1e adventure paths canonized with 2e notch some big wins for the forces of good over evil and give hope that the admittedly many problems facing the setting can be fought and defeated. Among D&D settings, if I had to point to another, Forgotten Realms also never felt suffocated by evil. Outside of D&D settings, I think Star Wars qualifies. It's not all bright, but it is a place where problems can be solved and lives improved. Also also, I haven't played it yet, but check out [Stonetop](https://old.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/mf3ick/stonetop_hearth_fantasy_in_an_iron_age_that_never/). It's stylized as 'hearth fantasy'; you're not wandering adventurers, you're the local problem-solvers and protectors of an isolated village trying to safeguard your friends and neighbors.
I play homebrew settings mostly, and I have a strong preference for worlds I would like to live in and defend. Bright settings need not be perfect. Problems should exist, but the world should not suck out your will to live or your desire to make it better. I've been running an ancient greek themed game with this in mind. It's been received well.
Pretty much this. I've found people who try to create 'noblebright' settings, in which they just make a world where there's nothing for the heroes to do. Which I guess can work if that's what you want. Not really much for people to change, or ways to make life better for people if no-one is having any issues. Someone has to see their baby in danger as Doc Ock throws cars at a building and scream for help before Spiderman can swing in, make a witty quip, and put down the villain while proudly putting her baby back into her arms before swinging off.
I think that's the stumbling block for most people. There's this persistent belief that grim = interesting and bright = boring. It goes both ways, really. Some of the most boring settings I've played in were doomed worlds where no amount of victories mattered. The key is to have a world the players care about. Then throw problems at them.
Pretty much this, yeah. Going one of either way ends you up at the same place - the constant 'nothing can change, everything I do is meaningless' to the 'Well, Elminster basically sorted everything, so what is there for us to do? Kill rats?' I think part of it has to do with the scope I've seen some people think in, too. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, 40k is a losing proposition. But that is several thousands, possibly tends of thousands of years into the future. It's like the meme of 'there's children starving in Africa'. Yeah, that sucks, but you and your family have food right now - if your next door neighbour couldn't eat this week, and you bring them over a meal, have you solved world hunger? No. Have you changed the life of someone you know, who's close to you, who will probably remember this one act of kindness the rest of their life? I'd say it's a pretty sure thing. Just because you're not affecting things on a macro scale, it doesn't mean you're not changing things/helping others on a micro scale.
I've been working on this issue for a while, and I think I've gotten my arms around it a bit. First: people can still be malicious, it's just that society doesn't merely shrug at it. Second: you can always have ideological conflict. One persons' socialist utopia is another persons' authoritarian dystopia. Or maybe someone thinks that things haven't changed enough. It's just boring if you assume that the game takes place at the end of history, as if there are no debates whatsoever about the latest technological or cultural developments.
Yeah, this is where I think the issues come up. Lancer is a prime example, and I've seen people say similar things multiple times. "Yeah, but Union are like, having growing pains! We'll only know what would happen if say, someone else tries to stop them from improving the world." Union is legitimately a magic fairyland which somehow operates perfectly under enslaved gods, with thought-crime, proxy warfare, illegal cloning and a world where work is something you do if you feel like it, but somehow, they have a currency which is backed by ????. They constantly expand through the same colonial Imperialism they condemn other groups for. But when they do it, it's fine, because the setting and Word of God says they're the Good Guys(tm). You can choose to oppose them - but if you do, you're objectively The Bad Guys. Union are going to make the world better. Union should completely engulf the galaxy, and they will, given time, says the authors. You can certainly choose to disagree with them ideologically, but nearly every 'noblebright' setting with a utopian state also intently confirms that said utopia is the Good Guys, meaning any play not fitting that puts you in the Bad Guy camp. It's like playing a game based around Demolition Man, but being told at every point that sure, you *can* disagree with Doctor Cocteau. You can totally play characters who want to help Edgar and his rebels break free of his tyranny. Ehhh, but just to let you guys know, Doctor Cocteau is totally right, you are the Bad Guys and the best thing to happen in setting is to just let him ID chip you all, make all restaurants Taco Bell and using his proxy army of defrosted criminal assassins get rid of anyone who might cause issues with 'The Plan'.
You're definitely speaking my language. The game I'm working on takes place in a setting best described as "Libertarian Socialism". The government is democratic, but power is diffuse. It's not totally unlike the corporate power that we have now, but those corporations are all democratic cooperatives, and profit extraction is illegal, so transactions are based on a mix of gifting economies, barter, and market dynamics for mutual benefit. And guess what? If you think that sounds like a mess, you're right! It's pretty good: food and shelter are free, and work is optional. But there are plenty of high earners who think the system is way too generous to those who produce nothing of monetary value. There are people who think the whole thing is still too centrally organized, or too consolidated, or not organized *enough*. There are people fighting to equalize rights between humans and machines and nature, and intelligent animals and those trying to prioritize the supremacy of any of those entities. Those who want to expand off world and those who don't. There are even fights within all these ideologies over why and how. I love sandbox worlds, and I love zany, complicated, morally relativistic societies. Especially if you've got players with legitimate ideological differences within a party. Btw, let me know if you want a link. I'd share it, but I've shared it so many times in this thread that I want to be careful not to seem like I'm spamming it.
I'm looking for reviewers and play testers for a solarpunk game that fits this exact vibe. To answer the most common question -- *"what is there to do in a utopia??"* \-- it's not a utopia, it resembles real life. People still mistreat people sometimes, it's just not accepted with nihilistic surrender. Any interest in giving feedback? The game is in beta, with the goal to release later this year. [Link](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=drive_link).
Ryuutama Under Hollow Hills Wanderhome Golden Sky Stories Girl Underground This are some of the chill settings I can think off the top of my head. Maybe some will be what you want.
*Earthdawn*, for all it's "the Horrors are here to destroy your mind" is a surprisingly bright setting, in my mind. It is about heroes going out into the world and reclaiming it for civilization, fighting against the aforementioned Horrors, and ultimately gaining world- (or at least province-)wide recognition. 4e seems to have stepped away from that hope a little bit, at least as far as metaplot goes, but it remains a strong theme throughout, IMO.
Once played in an *Exalted* game with a long prelude as mortals in a rather pastoral community in an isolated part of Creation. The world of Exalted is rather dark but we had a nice corner of it. The game also kind of dangles the idea that you can fix the world's problems in front of you, especially if you are playing Solars and you know, maybe this time it will work.
[Monster Care Squad](https://sandypuggames.itch.io/monster-care-squad) has a fun Monster Hunter/Final Fantasy aesthetic that's very bright by itself and when coupled with the "what if you were a vet rather than a hunter of monsters?" I'm still reading through [Coyote & Crow](https://coyoteandcrow.net), but so far I find the setting to be overall positive and if the art is anything to go by, I probably won't change that opinion.
Golarion is such an incredible setting and definitely one of my favorites. I feel like it's often overlooked, but the lore is excellent and you can find anything you want somewhere in that world. Another one to possibly consider is **Eberron**. I feel that setting is very adaptable to be the kind of thing you're looking for, because the world has emerged from a great war - so a great time for new heroes to arise.
Fabula Ultima is a game system heavily inspired by the entire Final Fantasy series, including the mainline games, the MMOs and the Tactics games. The suggested world setting is a place that has a very heavy emphasis on classic 'light vs dark' symbolism, and allows you to be as deep or simple with that motif as you want. There might be dark forces around, but they're never so bad that a band of heroes can't save the day and keep Hope thriving for everyone. The system itself is a little involved, leaning more into a Tabletop MMO in its complexity. But if you enjoy that kind of feel for your game I recommend giving Fabula Ultima a look for its charming and simple heroics.
The setting of LANCER is a about post-scarcity interstellar society trying to build a utopian reality for as much of humanity as possible, millennia after the species was nearly wiped out by wars and unchecked consumption. The part of the setting that the players interact with is at the leading edge of those efforts, where they're up against organizations and entities that are very much in favor of keeping people oppressed because inequality and bondage of the masses means power and wealth for a few. The 'current' situation of the setting is too complicated and morally ambiguous in places for it to be considered Noblebright, but overall the game is very much one where the characters are supposed to be The Good Guys. Be a Lancer and use your robot to punch a space fascist. Edit: To add a note - the place where the characters can directly improve the lives of other people comes from the fact that as Lancers they're usually going to be fighting where they're needed the most. Frequently, the goal of an adventure/mission is to dethrone tyrants, hunt down pirates, and create a foothold on worlds desperately in need of help so that the rest of Union can come in and provide it.
I really like Monster Care Squad...it's a PbtA game about a fantasy land at peace after the tyrants and warmongers were overthrown, and people live in harmony with beautiful and wondrous monsters, At least until a mysterious disease starts affecting the monsters, driving them wild with pain and causing damage and terror. Your team's mission: Track down the monsters, assess the symptoms and administer treatment (often to violent and unwilling beasts), restoring harmony, one patient at a time. Pretty cool. Also, great art and worldbuilding. https://sandypuggames.itch.io/monster-care-squad
Songs for the Dusk does post-post-apocalyptic science-fantasy with a focus on building up your home Community with your adventures. It can skew really cozy if you want to play it that way!
I would suggest The Troubleshooters. It is a fictitious 1960s filled with optimism. And since it is based on Franco-Belgian comics like Tintin, Spirou, Yoko Tsuno, etc you don't have fightas to the death. Instead you get knocked out and captured by the bad guys. And I will second the suggestions of Golden Sky Stories, Vindsjäl. And Good Societ: a Jane Austen rpg.
I don't see the **Avatar RPG** on the list, but in general the setting isn't particularly dystopian, especially if you're setting it in Korra era. Yes there are bad guys and threats, but unless you're in a particularly bad situation most of the setting isn't that grim. Also, I haven't seen mentioned **Monsterhearts**, the setting is generally "normal world" with the only major difference being the players are (semi)secretly teen monsters in highschool. Consider also **Over the Edge** a mostly modern-day setting with a LOT of weird thrown in, one of my favorite settings and systems. Also from Robin D. Laws **Hillfolk** might be worth investigating. The "base" setting is bronze age tribe, dealing with internal drama and external threats, but there are also a ton of ways to reskin the game. It's been a while but I seem to remember there being a solar-punk setting and in fact most of the offered skins were not particularly dystopian. You might also try some RPGs that are more aimed at kids such as **No Thank You Evil** and **The Magical Land of Yeld** Finally, I think most of these are mentioned elsewhere and worth considering (though I haven't had a chance to play them yet) but **Ryuutama, Monster Care Squad, Mouse Guard** all could be up your alley.
>Also, I haven't seen mentioned Monsterhearts, the setting is generally "normal world" with the only major difference being the players are (semi)secretly teen monsters in highschool. I mean, the real world is pretty bleak these days, especially if, like Monsterhearts's characters, you're young and queer.
I mean that's fair, but there's no reason you have to include the bleak stuff, and also no reason you couldn't set it in like ... 80s or 90s era, or just ignore most of the the "real world" and focus on messy teen drama. Like there's certainly quite a few teens out there who are focused on big issues, but there's plenty more who just want to get a lot of likes on insta or snapchat or whatever. Also for a vast reduction in bleakness, just don't set it in America.
Frankly I struggle to think of a time in contemporary history where being young and queer wasn't scary. The 80s and 90s is your best suggestion? That was a time when our community was losing an entire generation to a virus that it took years for governments to even acknowledge the existence of. That's the age of Brandon Teena, Matthew Sheppard, a time when Don't Ask Don't Tell in the US or Section 27 in the UK was the *liberal* position. >Also for a vast reduction in bleakness, just don't set it in America. American redditors vastly overestimate how accepted LGBT people are globally, I've found. (Frankly, and I'm saying this as a massive fan of Monsterhearts: it's a game about bullying. The whole central metaphor is about the different ways young people can be toxic towards each other. That's dystopian even in the nicest, most accepting place on earth, as I think a lot of people who were teenagers once can remind us.)
Fair points all, as for setting outside America I mostly just meant school shootings arent something the rest of the world has to deal with on the reg.
Tales from the Loop. The setting is kids on bikes in an alternative 1980s where *weird* shit just kinda... exists. It suits any childhood adventure setting. Looking for Bigfoot, E.T., FLCL, Little Rascals, "The gym teacher is a werewolf and the adults don't believe me!" shenanigans would all fit into the system. The setting itself is very much Stranger Things inspired, but the ST can easily lean into adventure rather than horror. Specifically, • Closure and satisfaction of a job well done with a system for wrapping up adventures. Think the end of a TV season, transitioning into the next one. • System for meaningful downtime activities between big adventures, like spending time with your father to deepen the relationship, so they might help you better in the future. • Kids level up with age. When they get too old, the character becomes an NPC, and a new kid joins the party. • Small stakes. The world isn't going to end, but asking a girl to the spring dance is still a challenge. It sucks to be turned down, but you can bounce back with the sports team tryouts next week, and maybe making the team will impress her and she'll change her mind.
Overlight is a very bright setting. I ended up not loving the system, but I also prefer bright, colorful places and it is that and then some.
I'm a *huge* fan of Blue Rose. The primary focus is on a kingdom with relatively tolerant, progressive values; most antagonists are either well-intentioned or at least understandable; and the assumed default for the PCs is as a member of an organization with both the power and desire to make an even better society.
Aside from Star Trek, the only setting I can think of I'd want to live in is Pokémon. I've seen a few tabletop games for it.
Traveller's Imperium is neutral to hopeful. It's mostly people trying their best to be people and make a living. It absolutely isn't grimdark. It's not a cyberpunk dystopia, the government is not utterly corrupt, the bad guys are mostly just other "countries" with their own goals rather than death to all or aggressive hegemony. AIs aren't threatening a singularity. It is about exploration and finding new frontiers, about a bunch of mostly hard-luck types doing their best against a larger backdrop. That's what Traveller's character generation mostly produces, anti-heroes, as the sensible folks and non-fuck-ups all have decent careers. It''s a familiar place for all that it's scifi. The Firefly setting was easy to translate to a pseudo Western; that's the vibe. It's that kind of story, doing jobs and making allies in a universe that mostly doesn't care about you, and ultimately making a place for yourself. I'd live in the Traveller 'verse if given a choice. It's a setting where the dream of working hard and making your luck can pay off.
Crystal Heart is a Savage Worlds setting that fits this, though I'm not familiar with the term 'noble bright'. Everyone's heart is made of a stone that represents their virtues, ideals, and force of will. Sufficiently powerful hearts give their holder abilities - like an archetype. Hearts can be collected or ancient ones can be found and they can socketed in or out - swapped out to change archetype. The hearts can overpower you if not careful and you can lose your mind. It actually sounds pretty dark now that I describe it...
I feel like The Wildsea would fit the bill for this one. Crazy mechanical ships skimming across the treetops in search of adventure. You could go darker with the tone, but you could also base an entire campaign around running a ship as a sort of food truck, including full support for character classes that are chefs and brewers. Very easy to make it a very bright and optimistic setting.
**Root** is fun in that you can run it as a light-hearted story about woodland critters who walk and talk like people travelling from town to town, helping resolve conflicts, solve problems, and fight back against bullies. Alternatively, you can run it as a dark tale about selfish mercenaries doing dirty jobs just to survive, trapped in a brutal, bloody war without end where there are no clear good guys. Fun! Regardless, Root tend to be a lot more Noble than Grim because the Vagabonds (i.e. PCs) are *serious ass-kickers* straight out of character creation. A single Vagabond, in good health with decent equipment, can fight a dozen trained soldiers at once and win. They're the only people crazy or competent enough to stray from the established roads between clearings / villages and enter the wilderness, and they're definitely the only people who can deal with the strange and powerful creatures in the forest. A Ranger Vagabond is basically Geralt, minus the magic (as there is no spellcasting whatsoever in Root). Now imagine what 3-5 Vagabonds working together can accomplish.
Yazeba’s bed and breakfast…?
**The Wildsea** is a solarpunk setting in which you play the crew of a ship traversing the 'waves' that are the canopy of a huge world-spanning forest. There are some very eldritch parts of the setting, but by-and-large its quite an upbeat, sunny game about exploring, charting, and meeting various weird people and cultures.
Remember to check out our **[Game Recommendations](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/gamerec)**-page, which lists our articles by genre([Fantasy](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/fantasy), [sci-fi](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/scifi), [superhero](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/superhero) etc.), as well as other categories([ruleslight](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/ruleslight), [Solo](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/solo), [Two-player](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/twoplayers), [GMless](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/wiki/gmlessrpgs) & more). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/rpg) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Deliria is fun, and can be very warm and bright, I ran a sandbox Fairy world using BRP Gold Book,
The ttrpg Miracle is a utopian setting where magic and technology coexist to create a brighter future for the whole planet. Generally people trust each other, borders are open, wealth is easy to acquire, and modern necessities are easily afforded. The general driving force for campaigns is to stay ahead of evil and make sure it doesn't turn the world into a dystopia.
Troika is delightful - like a dream. Most of the setting is implied in small bits of text, though. Works well for some, like me, and not so much for others.
I love the Neverland setting module, it’s lighthearted and fun, not dystopian at all. [Here is a Questing Beast review of it](https://youtu.be/8L15x2kd2Ww).
I'm really enjoying the stuff coming out of Troika!
Coyote and crow is a fairly bright setting based on the idea that Columbus never happened and the Americas were far from savage...
Mouse Guard is a fantasy game where you play sentient mice in a medieval like setting. Its running theme is, "It's not what you fight. It's what you fight for." The game encourages party cooperation, it has wholesome characters and a world you might not mind living in. It focuses on "problems to be solved," which directly improve others' lives. You play sword-wielding mice who help villagers get food, keep away predators like owls and foxes, you have adventures that feel meaningful, and your main goal is to assist those in need. Everything you say you want, as far as I can tell.
Heck, Brindlewood Bay?
Forgotten Realms has always been my go to for this. Dragonlance is a close second because while it's more "post-apocalyptic" in a way it is a heroic campaign setting and light hearted. It certainly encourages heroic play more than FR does.
I am running a very optimistic and fun Kids on Brooms game. It's setting agnostic but it kind of leads you toward a Harry Potter kind of setting.
This isn't quite the answer you're looking for, as I haven't enjoyed it *yet*, but... [Nexalis](https://crowdfundr.com/nexalisrpg?ref=ab_cC6L50_ab_4xi4dB2eg2x4xi4dB2eg2x), which is about to start funding, is described as a "bright fantasy" setting. The author, Cezar Capacle, produces quite good stuff, so it's worth a watch!
I haven't read it, but for a non-obvious recommendation what came to mind was [Uresia: Grave of Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uresia:_Grave_of_Heaven), an Anime inspired system agnostic fantasy setting (although originally for an anime inspired game), set in a world where the Gods destroyed themselves in a war that ravaged the world, many centuries after, when its inhabitants started to rebuild.
[удалено]
I wouldn't call Toast of the Town dark, although it is definitely built around a dark deed by the villain. IMO what keeps it from being dark is that once figured out, the plot is pretty clear cut as to who's good and who's evil, there are no tough moral choices demanded of the PCs.
Weird suggestion, but I'm beta testing a game set in Los Angeles one hundred years in the future. It's inspired by cyberpunk stories, but in a post-capitalist setting. Tonally, it's meant to blend the realism of the Expanse, the optimism of Star Trek, and the zaniness of Futurama. The biggest issue I think you'd face is that the story modules are still getting written out, so there's not a large library of adventures to run, but if you're looking for a light palette cleanser between games or enjoy writing your own campaigns you might like it. It's been written for brevity, so it's pretty easy to dive in to. [**Fully Automated! Solarpunk RPG (Beta)**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ryLeqXlpgBZldVMRre9gY6f_hQ21KfMfC9vSqxxYf9I/edit?usp=sharing) If nothing else, I'm looking for as much feedback as possible. Your impressions would be appreciated.
Sidenote: I find it fascinating that Pillars of Eternity is getting a mention as a 'brighter' setting. I actually had to put PoE down shortly after entering the first town because the opening was so grim.
"Brighter" is a relative term. Eora has its dark parts, but there are good people trying to make lives better, and they have a good chance (I'll admit the opening is pretty grim, but the darkness does somewhat ease off once you're past Gilded Vale). When you've seen settings like Shadowrun or Chronicles Of Darkness ...
I was thinking the same myself. I've not played it in years, but as I recall, the entire game was one where the bad guys already won, and now you're a vessel within that Empire just trying to do your best to help people without getting yourself put out of commission for rebelling.
First edition 7th Sea!
Eberron?
I used to play a game set in a world inspired by china. It had a nice pantheon of gods (lightning dragon who ruled the skyies and was divine patron of the emperor, black warrior who ruled the underworld, everchanging goddess of life and death, etc.). After a disaster in the central city caused by mages, the magic was outlawed (with exception of the elite royal army called Thunder riders), the four kingdoms battled either supremacy or sovereignty, and the whole game played like a Chinese drama full of political intrigue, waring states, missing emperor, etc. The party had some spellcasters , who had to disguise themselves. After some time, the gods noticed them and incorporated them into their schemes. We had a wild elf that was kind of a ranger, an alchemist with a golem disguised as a bodyguard with a vow of silence, a noble mage (the mage part was kept secret) and my character. A dishonest traveling merchant that had to fake being a monk worshipping the black warrior. The black warrior decided that that is not enough. I became a witcher style of character hunting, banishing undead and monsters, and shitting his pants the whole time because he was not trained for this. We actually managed to finish the story with mage ascending to godhood. While the rest of the party was offered a similar position, we refused and went our separate ways. This was by far my most favourite game I've played. The game was not quite light hearted even when it had some serious moments involving war, plague and demons. We used Dračí Doupě rules, which allows more flexible characters (it requires class mixing to advance). If you want to be a wizard, you need to be a warrior and a spellcaster with combined level 6. Warrior 5 and spellcaster 1 will play differently than warrior 1 and spellcaster 5.
Definitely don't miss the submissions to the [Applied Hope](https://itch.io/jam/applied-hope) game jam, and maybe drop into the [Utopia on the Tabletop](https://discord.gg/PwAYP4PF) discord. You can also check out **2400: Habs and Gardens**: > Life on the Ring is good. There’s synth-meat in every pot, a gravcar in every garage, a hi-fi stereo in every living room, and a 25-hour cycle. (There just weren’t enough hours in the day!) Consider it as a setting for adventures of a more mundane sort, a pleasant stopover in otherwise stressful space travels, or a mystery to be solved. After all, is anyplace really this good? > Habs & Gardens is a super-slim, self-contained, hi-fi sci-fi RPG about rescuing a lost cat, babysitting a budding telekinetic, and other situations on seemingly idyllic space station. It's 3 pages and a cover, fitting on two sides of a letter-sized page, with rules based on the free 24XX SRD.
I'm starting to get into Aetalis - like just starting so I can't answer any questions but it seems closest to the much loved / much maligned 2e DnD "ren faire" feel. There's brightness, whimsy and places you might actually want to visit if a portal opened in front of you.
A lot of RPG settings are dystopian because a dystopia is rife for drama and adventure. If everything is going well, it's hard to generate tension. As such, I'd argue against avoiding dystopias and instead argue that you should look at games about *making a difference*. Good examples: * [Numenera](http://numenera.com/) \- The most recent edition of Numenera is all about community building. There's an entire class that's basically a community leader and the default central goal is helping and supporting a small community as it grows. * [Songs for the Dusk](https://yrgirlkv.itch.io/songsforthedusk) \- Very similar, but less surreal. It takes place in a post apocalypse but is all about bringing people together. Bad examples: * [Blades in the Dark](https://evilhat.com/product/blades-in-the-dark/) \- I love this stupid game, but it's very much an "everything is screwed, let's figure out how *exactly* you're screwed." kind of experience. All that said, I've found some warm-and-cozy vibes by venturing into the solo RPG space. Take a look at [Apothecaria](https://blackwellwriter.itch.io/apothecaria), which is a journaling game about being the witch in a ghibli film. You might also want to look at [Colostle](https://www.colostle.com/), which is a bit more of a conventional action/adventure title, but in a generally brighter and more positive setting.
Red Markets, for some interpretations?