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Traveller 2E (2016)

Contents
  1. Overview
  2. Active games and players
  3. Articles & Videos
  4. Reviews

Overview

Traveller 2E is a sci-fi tabletop roleplaying game system, that was published in 2016 and updated in 2022, by Mongoose Publishing. It involves the characters adventuring through star systems, engaging in (space) exploration and engaging in battles both on ground and in space. The system it directly evolved from is classic
Traveller (1977)
Description The characers in Traveller can be humans, robots, aliens or of a genetically engineered species. Each character is distinguished by their occupation - whether they are a civilian, military, a noble, a young cadet or a veteran. Each type comes with their own strengths and weaknesses. To further expand on the sci-fi aspect of the game, some characters are prone to extra-sensory abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and others. System Overview & Key Features
Lifepath Character Creation When creating their character, players roll to determine their character's background, education, and career history. Characters will acquire skills, allies, enemies and physical injuries.
No Classes or Levels Characters do not have traditional classes, and they do not gain experience points to level up. Progression is entirely material and narrative. Characters improve by acquiring better gear, installing cybernetics, buying larger starships, and finding lucrative trade routes.
The Trade and Commerce System A massive part of the game involves interstellar economics. The rules provide deep, robust systems for buying speculative cargo on one planet and selling it at a profit on another. Players must factor in fuel costs, jump drive maintenance, and life support while managing their massive starship mortgage.
Lethal Combat Gunfights are incredibly dangerous as the characters have very low health pools. These are directly tied to their physical attributes like Endurance, Dexterity, and Strength. A single shot from a laser rifle can instantly incapacitate or kill a character, making armor and cover absolute necessities.
Hex Crawling and Subsectors The game provides incredible tools for the Game Master to procedurally generate entire sectors of space. Using a blank hex map and the core rulebook, you can roll up planetary environments, government types, law levels, and starport qualities to create a completely unique sandbox galaxy.
Additional links mongoosepublishing.com https://mongoosepublishing.com - Official Mongoose Publishing website travellermap.com https://travellermap.com - The Traveller Map (An interactive map of the official Third Imperium setting)

Active games and players

Traveller2E
Traveller 2e
Online
Campaign
Traveller 2e ("Mongoose 2e") Exploration Campaign
Players
4/5
GM
1/1
Traveller 2e
en English

Traveller 2e ("Mongoose 2e") Exploration Campaign

Homebrew Homebrew
Roleplay focused Roleplay focused
Hey everybody, I'm looking for one person to be the fifth for our ongoing weekly Traveller 2e ("Mongoose 2e") game. We are just under 10 sessions into a long campaign. Relevant info below: About me (the GM) My name is Joshua. I have the GM bug bad, and I've been running games for 21 years, so unfortunately the habit is probably terminal. I'm a scientist by trade (chemist/biochemistry) that also writes books on the side (9 manuscripts so far) My DMing style aims to produce emotion, attachment, and spectacle through collaboration, intricate detail, and setup. It's my greatest hope that you become attached to the world and the people in it through dialogue, description, themework, and compelling, open-ended narratives. About the game The game takes place every Saturday at 10 AM EST via voice chat (in English) on Discord using The Forge. You will need to create an account on The Forge, but it is free.  The elevator pitch is: Star Trek with more intrigue and anomalous phenomena, centered around a newly mapped sector of the galaxy. Expect periods of exploration, discovery, and problem-solving in the field, followed by intrigue, negotiation, and possibly combat back at civilization as the crew grapples with what they've found and what others would do with the discoveries made. This is nominally a low-combat game, although there's nothing stopping you from reaching for violence as a tool. Just be prepared for the consequences! Here's a link to the lore and the player primer: Lore https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffKNtI5LpeX880lRiMQ1WvslhWS3ten3X0WyjXbIiaU/edit?usp=drivesdk Player primer https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XhdF9svDrgmycJbXKU7Yb-XmSKKSo9_1vzUdypUyhvQ/edit?usp=drivesdk If you read this part, include your favorite fantasy or sci fi character in your application for bonus points About the table This is an established group. Most people in it have played with me for numerous years. We take the game fairly seriously but we still laugh and joke. How to apply and what to expect An ideal addition to the game will be somebody who can bring their full attention and consistently engage authentically and collaboratively with the world and other players. Player excitement and engagement fuel my efforts, and I try to give back that passion. The truly greatest way to enjoy my games is to also come with some degree of literary analysis or appreciation, as I weave literary themes and motifs into the story. This isn't required, but if you've ever wondered if TTRPGs could have deeper meaning, this is a game for you. Applications are via the Google form linked below. All applications get reviewed by the entire current group. As ones we think are good fits come through, I will reach out on Discord to set up interviews. The interviews are currently slated to take place on Saturday, 13 Jun, in the morning hours EST. If there are any questions not covered elsewhere, please feel free to ask in the replies or my DMs. Thanks! Application form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoqAs5LALzi9kYkpCb7yowa0w13fKzWpjTDa8ohfALjdw-Mg/viewform?usp=dialog

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en English
DND5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5E
PATH2E
Pathfinder 2E
...
Online
Joseph
Mostly played a lot of 5e, decent amount of Shadowrun and Dark Heresy 2e. Outside that I've dabbled in a lot of things.
en English
DND5.5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E (2024)
DH
Daggerheart
...
Online
Azorinth
Hey Im a long time ttrpg player/dm looking to play more as currently Im all GM, I like player driven sandboxy type games and my hobby is learning all sorts of systems in my free time, hoping to try out more of them that I have only read. Lots of DnD experience and I have read through and dabbled at least in most of the games in my tags.
en English nl Dutch
VtM
Vampire: The Masquerade
TOR
The One Ring
...
Lier
Tom
Hey, my name is Tom and I've been playing ttrpgs on and off for the last 30 years. I have quite a few systems under my belt, but I gravitate mostly towards gritty low fantasy or space opera sci-fi. I have a number of systems I wouldn't mind GM'ing, but I am equally interested in playing some others, even ones I haven't had much experience with. I love playing a character with a fleshed out background story and -if possible- a dynamic character progression where my character learns, adapts, evolves and really forms a bond with the rest of the PC's and maybe some NPC's. For me, a good session is one where there was room for the players to play their characters. Not that the adventure is superfluous. It should just not be more important than the character's goals and motivations. So, if you don't mind sitting at a table with a 50-year old rpg veteran who likes talking in first person with a silly accent or acting out his PC's for a laugh, I hope we can find common ground to play the most beautiful game there is, regardless of which system or game world we choose. I also own a number of boardgames that fall in the category of "campaign games" and I wouldn't mind starting a new, motivated and dedicated gaming group who love sticking around for multiple sessions of the same game.
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Other entries

Ludonarrative Dissidents
Actual Play & Podcasts

Ludonarrative Dissidents

TTRPG
English
Game design
"Ludonarrative dissonance" is a term from game-design commentary, describing a moment when the game mechanics pull in one direction but the game story pulls in another, creating dissonance. The ‘Ludonarrative Dissidents’ are three game designers, reviewers and commentators, veterans in the field of ludic narrative, who have come together to discuss the art, science and craft of RPG design by vivisecting game systems and seeing what makes them run.  Your hosts are Ross Payton, Greg Stolze and James Wallis. Ethos Every episode of Ludonarrative Dissidents is built around four pillars: What does this game do? How does it do that? How do people play it? Why do they play it that way? (and how well does it succeed?) We examine games from all angles: mechanical, ludic, narrativist, historical, cultural, structural, whether or not it’s fun, and Greg complains about its use of the future-conditional tense. We look at its influences and pedigree, its narrative engine, its world-building, its book-design, and James reveals that he dated the designer’s sister, or something like that. In season 2 we have added episodes that look at specific aspects of RPGs, such as initiative systems, metacurrencies and diceless games. Origins The idea behind Ludonarrative Dissidents came from a Twitter discussion in early 2021. Someone was looking for RPG designers to work on a project, someone else suggested Greg and James, and after the two of them politely declined, a third person opined that a podcast with the two talking about games and game design would be quite a thing. Greg and James exchanged a virtual glance across the Atlantic, Greg mentioned the idea to Ross, the three of them filled a Google document with ideas, and the project was born. Links ludonarrativedissidents.com - Official website spotify.com - Spotify feed podcast.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed discord.gg - Discord server ko-fi.com - Ko-Fi page

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donjon
Tools & Platforms

donjon

English
Generators
Free
donjon is a legendary, minimalist suite of web-based procedural generators that has served as the "Swiss Army Knife" for Game Masters since its first dungeon generator went live in 1999. Created and maintained by a developer known as drow, the site eschews modern flashy graphics and subscriptions in favor of raw utility and speed. In late 2025 and 2026, the site saw a significant "5.5 Refactor," adding full support for the 2024 D&D Core Rules, including new treasure tables, encounter calculators, and Bastion event generators. Description donjon is the ultimate tool for the "Zero-Prep" GM. It is a collection of text and image-based algorithms that can generate everything from a single NPC to an entire star system in less than a second. While newer tools focus on 3D visuals, donjon remains a favorite because it is incredibly lightweight; it loads instantly on any device and provides high-density information without any clutter. It is the "source code" of many GMs' campaigns, providing the mechanical backbone for loot, encounters, and world-building data. System Overview & Key Features Random Dungeon Generator The crown jewel of the site. It creates fully mapped-out dungeons with "old-school" aesthetics. You can specify the level, layout, and "dungeon motif" (like Sunken Temple or Abyssal Rift), and it will populate the map with traps, secret doors, wandering monsters, and room descriptions automatically. D&D 5.5 / 2024 Core Support New for 2026, the site features a dedicated "5.5" section. This includes an updated Encounter Size Calculator that accounts for the 2024 power scaling, as well as a Magic Shop Generator that utilizes the new pricing and item rarity structures introduced in the latest D&D revision. Fractal World Generator This tool uses a recursive algorithm to generate entire world maps with realistic coastlines, islands, and tectonic-like features. GMs can adjust the "Ice Limit," "Water Percentage," and "Scale" to create a unique continent or a planet-wide archipelago in seconds. Sci-Fi and Weird Fiction Suites Beyond fantasy, donjon is the premier source for Star Wars (d6/d20) and Traveller star system generators. It also features a Weird Fiction section for Call of Cthulhu players, generating eldritch tomes, blasphemous rituals, and sanity-testing NPCs. The "Endless Oubliette" For GMs running "Megadungeons," this tool uses Dyson Logos-style geomorphs to generate an infinitely expanding dungeon. As players move through the map, the GM can keep generating new sections, ensuring the dungeon literally never ends. HTML and TSV Exports Almost every generator on the site allows you to export results as a raw text file or a portable HTML page. This is essential for GMs who want to copy-paste generated NPCs directly into Discord or import loot tables into Foundry VTT or Obsidian. Additional links donjon.bin.sh - Official donjon website and site index

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Forged in the Dark (2017)
Tabletop Roleplaying Games

Forged in the Dark (2017)

English
Evil Hat Productions
Rules-medium
Forged in the Dark is a tabletop roleplaying game framework and System Reference Document created by John Harper. Released in 2017, it is the underlying engine that powers Blades in the Dark and has since been used by independent designers to build countless other games, such as Scum and Villainy and Band of Blades. It excels at telling stories about capable but flawed groups of people pulling off daring missions against overwhelming odds. The system it directly evolved from is Blades in the Dark Description Instead of being a single game, Forged in the Dark is an open license toolkit. Players form a crew, whether they are space smugglers, military mercenaries, or rebel outcasts, and undertake dangerous missions known as Scores. The system is heavily narrative and focuses on failing forward, meaning a bad dice roll never stalls the story, but instead introduces a new complication. It completely eliminates tedious planning phases by throwing players directly into the action. System Overview & Key Features The d6 Dice Pool To resolve a risky action, a player rolls a pool of six sided dice based on their action rating. The highest single die determines the result. A six is a full success, a four or five is a partial success with a consequence, and a one to three is a bad outcome. Position and Effect Before the dice hit the table, the Game Master establishes the Position (Controlled, Risky, or Desperate) and the Effect (Limited, Standard, or Great). This ensures everyone understands exactly what is at stake and how much impact the action will have. Progress Clocks The game tracks complex threats and long term projects using circular clocks divided into segments. A stealth mission might have a clock for the guards going on high alert, filling up bit by bit as the players roll partial successes or failures. Stress and Resistance Characters have a Stress track that they can spend to push themselves for extra dice or to assist an ally. More importantly, players can spend Stress to resist any consequence the Game Master introduces, allowing characters to survive deadly situations by sheer willpower. Flashbacks Players do not need to spend hours planning a heist or mission. When they encounter an obstacle, they can simply spend Stress to declare a flashback, narrating how their character anticipated the problem and set up a solution in the past. Phases of Play The game flows through specific phases. Free Play is where characters gather information and choose a target. The Score is the actual mission. Finally, Downtime allows the crew to recover from injuries, reduce their heat, and work on personal projects before the cycle begins again. Additional links bladesinthedark.com - Official System Reference Document and rules database evilhat.com - Official Evil Hat Productions website

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