I’m in the fortunate and privileged position of having some very long term friends in my life. Unfortunately, we’re now spread across the country. We’d like to try and keep our social connection by playing a TTRPG over zoom or something.
I have never played a TTRPG before. I really got into Disco Elysium and that’s got me interested in TTRPGs. Other friends have been interested for years but no one’s bothered to try and organize something. So all of us have zero experience with running an actual game. And no one to guide us through it who has experience.
I’m looking for recommendations for a TTRPG for us get started on. Needs to work over Zoom. I’d say the most important aspect is that it’s fun and social. “Fun” sounds like an obvious one but the reality is I have one shot to make playing TTRPGs “stick” with this group. If my friends don’t have a great time with it we’ll probably not play after this.
Happy to answer any questions about myself or my group that would help you come up with a recommendation.
Monster of the Week is pretty simple to play and run in my experience. My group sometimes uses it for one-shots when one of us is out of town because you can whip up characters and stories real quickly.
A little oddball and not really a typical ttrpg, but Fiasco is a lot of fun for practicing those RP chops. No GM, just collaborative storytelling with a structure to ensure that whatever it is your character is trying to set up goes disastrously, for themselves or someone else.
DnD 5e is also a great beginner system, if you have one really experienced player willing to DM and bear the weight of the (lack of) rules upon their mighty shoulders like Atlas. Very very easy as a player, but needs a good DM to make a lot of rulings on things the game rules don’t actually cover.
Do you have an idea of what setting you want to play in, and is anyone willing to be GM and guide the story or would you prefer a setting where you all get to be players (those exist!)?
Yeah I should have mentioned, anything that’s “no GM” is actually preferred, I think for our group.
I’m kinda open on setting. I know that does help much but this group plays all sorts of board games so we’re comfortable in lots of different settings.
I’m also curious about what systems you recommend that are just players and no GM actually.
Fiasco is my favorite - you can adapt it to so many kinds of stories, as long as it’s a Coen-brothers-esque disaster. Lots of laughs all around.
Haven’t had a chance to play it myself, but I’ve also heard lots of good things about Goblin Quest
I skimmed your comment earlier and somehow missed Fiasco. It sounds amazing lol. Goblin Quest sounds fun too since I’m a DND player.