On the one hand, you’re a rare Cypher Man, and we need more of you. On the other hand everybody who makes a video on the Cypher System just seems to make videos on how to play it. As someone who runs this system I want to see more. Tips on how to remember the exceptions to the rules when they come up. Deep dives on how to make [insert character from pop culture here] in the Cypher System. Ranking the Foci for each setting. It’d be nice if content creators did more than just tell people the basics of how to play the game. So far I’ve only seen Mr. Tarasque do reviews of the individual setting books.

QotV part 1: The inhabiting of a character not myself and the attempt to create a believable other person is the most appealing part for me. I like trying to get into someone else's shoes. QotV part 2: I would add "With: using a game board and miniatures to represent the characters' actions and create a diorama or visualization of the events unfolding in the story." And yes, I may get belittled over this but it's important. It's part of the "table-top" experience. Otherwise you're just playing an RPG. You may as well be gathered around a car, tree, rug, or even washing machine. The table in "Table-top" is there as a gaming surface. It is part of our inheritance from the miniature and strategy games that spawned the hobby and is important in that respect. Table-top role-playing is a visual hobby. Role-playing itself is a mental hobby and I have no beef with people who eschew miniatures for the theatre of the mind's eye approach (even though I find it dull, and prone to arguments from misunderstandings pertaining to who is where during combat) but that's not table-top. Without the miniatures and map of sorts, it's just role-playing.

This series seems like it was made for me! I've been interested in playing a ttrpg for a while, and I've been buying various books because I hate having money, but I've never gotten close to playing one. With this I'll be able to get started like ab Elite!

I am absolutely "rules-lite" -- rules are for helping the Story. They are not a Bible.

QotV: Another easy one. The most appealing part of that definition is, "to create an unscripted story that has meaning and substance." I am all about the story in my rpgs. As a GM I always have one in mind (even if it isn't revealed explicitly right away), and as a player if the GM doesn't provide a story I will.

The TOS will not hold up in court so no real worries other than maybe having to go to court. You might have an issue if you use the random character creator but for the most part the character you create is based on your intellectual property not the other way around.

GOOD SIR! You would dare besmirch Taco Tuesday?! Any say with tacos is a special day.

Alien RPG is great. I own everything already, but I am glad to see it getting love.

I agree with not calling it "escapism", relaxing is a much healthier concept. It goes without saying our responsibilities towards family and work come first, nobody is running away, but you cannot grind 24/7 " sigma" or whatever people say these days, otherwise you end you grinding yourself to dust Biggest help from RPGs came in the form of learning how to take it easier, laugh at ourselves and just going more with the flow

Sorry to necro your video, but I just saw it and my first thought was: What's wrong with "LBB" Book 2 Starships page 42: "Experience"? Now, I'll agree that it's poor organization to put your character experience section in a book titled something other than "Characters" or even "Worlds and Adventures", but here we are.

Just hearing you do the alien hissing noises would be worth the price of admission Heheh Love it Thanks Servant always appreciate you!

I got the core book and then, I was gonna get the dice but found out getting the Starter Set (which came with the box) was a better value. Then, thanks to you I got Heart of Darkness and Destroyer of Worlds. BTW if you've never checked out Hostile by Zozer Games, Dude...do yourself a favor and check THAT out. It's amazing.

I want to play Alien RPG and see the new movie

Every day is taco day, in my heart.

Happy Alien RPG day.

Core Rulebook, Building Better Worlds, and Colonial Marines. In that order. Incidentally I'm 2 out of 3 on it.

Starter set, core book, and colonial marines. Heck, just watching this video makes me want to run some sort of loosey-goosey 1-shot for my game group. "You wake up from cryo-sleep and... " >:-]

All hail Alien Day! I would get Heart of Darkness, Destroyer of Worlds, and Colonial Marines. Great video, keep up the good work Servant 🙏

Not only is it Alien Day but I also have tacos. Living the dream. !

Mostly forgot about this game. Played a bit back in 1983ish I think it was. We were a tank crew +1 (because of the number of players) and had a tank and a humvee. We were trying to drive over to France, then try to get north to England.... but we only played around five times so we didn't make it very far.

Those maps are interesting. Had the first edition of the game, and one of my players had and played Squad Leader/Advanced Squad Leader, a tactical scale WWII wargame set in the European theater. The game used small mapboards that could butt up against each other exactly like the ones you showed, and we used them to play T2K. The scale was quite different (100 m/hex), but we made them work.

Nice intro. Never played it, but was aware of some early edition.

In the category of post-apocalyptic, I have the following that I list as movie/tv inspirations for my Gamma World game: 9 (2009), Appleseed: Alpha, The Blood of Heroes, City of Ember, Defiance, Fallout, Judge Dredd (both movies), Life After People (2008), Love and Monsters, Mad Max: Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome..., Priest (2011), Vesper, Waterworld. Other ways I get inspired is 1) researching what type of new technology might be more common for Gamma World, 2) seeing what other youtubers might have to say on world building, 3) taking my inspirations, which includes movies, tv, other games, music, and webcomics and thinking of scenarios that would allow me to integrate them into the game.

I played this when I was in high school and later on when in the Marine Corps with my buddies in 2nd Batt./5th Mar. Reg.(for those of us that were RPGers). Our Captain watched every once in a while. He was watching how we handled strategic scenarios or RPG combat situations....Semper Fi......I was in from 4-9-1984 to 5-20-1987( Disabled Marine)....

Free League make beautiful art 🎨

Played 1st Ed back in the day. We played survivors from a SAS insertion team plus RAF helicopter pilot. Fun times would buy again if my players were interested

I like 2nd ed. As it works with Dark Conspiracy, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and Merc 2000. Also TNE.

I’d appreciate a deep dive into T2K

Freeleague games are gold. This is probably the most complex of the year zero stuff, but great non the less, we done a campaign of this game and season two coming in October. The urban operations and hostile water expansion is really good to. Adds much more to an already complete game.

I learned it comes with hex maps. I work a hobby shop so we've ordered it in for people.

This was the game that introduced me to Free League. I played/ran the old 1st edition version of T2K way back when. I think this one really captures the essence of the original. Would love to see them update a lot of the original material. So many options with this game.

Oh yeah. I'd love to see more info on 4e. Would be also interested in seeing a comparison with 2.2 edition.... the big yellow book!

Man, I knew this day would come. I love it. Didn't get to play the old editions, but wanted to, love this game. Big nerd on Cold War military everything. Not everything is as granularly accurate as the old editions, but love the old school wargame feel with counters. Mechanics are chunky but once in your brain they aren't too bad, and in some ways the game's combat is more consistently obvious than something like DnD 5e. Got the expansion, can't wait for more.

Thanks for the review. I bought Twilight 2000 1E back when I was stationed in Germany around 89 to 91. It disappeared a few years later, and I didn't really miss it because I am not an alternative history fan, and it is a little dated, right? At least we hope so.

I have both First Edition as well as 4th Edition, One of the better changes is character creation, 1St Ed was like doing your taxes, 4th is much better :). As for Production Quality both are a product of their times for it's time 1st Ed has great Production value, you were looking at the number of pages in first edition, and 24 pages was all you really needed, When I played it everything was dangerous, Firefights were extremely deadly, in fact I think 1st edition was one of the deadliest rpgs around, yea paranoid would kill characters by the dozen, but that was ment in a silly way, when you spend two hours creating one character, you take extra care of them so they dont get killed. Both games really do a great job in selling the environment of the world your playing in.

I've never heard of this game, but it looks interesting. I like you get quite a bit in the box. I'm a huge fan of Starter Sets and systems where you get a lot of accessories, so this game looks right up my alley. Also, I love your energy!

Thanks for the review of TW2K. I have played since 1ed. Version 2 is still my favorite. 4th Edition has great production value.

Great video!! And great picks!! I still say finding people to play is an issue though -- so hard to pick the game and then try and find someone to play with. Also, if you have a good GM -- they can help teach you how to play almost ANY game. for example: I taught my 11-year old niece how to play Pathfinder 1e (using the Pathfinder 1e Beginner Box). And she loved this game! (so does not have to be one of the simpler games if you have a GM that will teach you). What I do -- and I mostly GM -- is I have a pool of around 14 games (2 horror genre (Cryptworld/Chill and Call of Cthulhu), 2 pulp genre (Pulp Cthulhu and Amazing Adventures, 1 supers genre (Mutants & Masterminds 3e), 1 sci-fi genre (Mongoose Traveller 2e), and the remaining 8 ea. fantasy genre) -- that any one of them I'd be willing to GM in a heartbeat and I put this selection pool out to the group and have them decide or agree as a group on what they want to play. I can easily teach anyone new to play any of these 12 games. But yeah -- IF I GM I insist they be one from this pool (all games of course that I am also super familiar with). Occasionally I'll try a new game -- so the pool of potential games has grown a little over the years. So many great TTRPGs out there!! 😂

Great video!! I wonder what the percentage is of women that play TTRPGs is compared to men that play TTRPGs. I've heard around 10% and also 20% but think those are just kind of made-up numbers -- wish someone did a good survey to get a decent idea. I do know a TON more women play board games. I agree we need to evangelize and be welcoming -- it's coming -- every year I see more and more female game designers, TTRPG content creators, women that play in live streams, and women GM-ing and playing TTRPGs. I think the more women see women in the industry and playing TTRPGs the more they will jump in.

Great video!! Yes -- Your Mercenary idea and tips are great!! We kind of did something similar when I played Traveller 1e back in the day. We also had a rule that you could only do this (go after a skill point) like once after the completion of a few adventures or after like 2 years (I forget the exact time frame), another thing we did is that characters would infrequently get advanced technical items -- which is a way of making the character more powerful.

Godless leets, represent!

I really enjoy when you add a verse of scripture or just share that part of you. Thanks for always staying true to who you are.

Late to the party, but yeah, good QotV. I struggle less with having a destination and more having too many bloody goals! Life's coming hard and fast these past five years and the 2020's are shaping up to be a *lot* to deal with. There's also a lot to say about Nietzsche and his philosophy that gets ignored and therefore makes it look stupid, but that's a conversation for the tribe!

11:25 "And if you're not like that, let's say somehow, by the blessing of God, you're not like that, trust me, it will be affecting you internally." That sounds like 2 Peter 2:8 -- "for that righteous man [Lot], living among them [Sodom and Gomorrah] day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard". If it's true that, physically, you are what you eat, then it's also true that, relationally, you are what you continually see and hear.

I primarily run games for young people from my church. My safety tools are the Bible, my years of experience running RPG's, my years of experience running games for young people, and the young people's parents (full transparency here). If, in spite of all these, someone is triggered or traumatized by stuff in the game, then that person has a mental image that is bothering them. They need to step away from the table and find a way to deal with it. Meanwhile, the game goes on. No one's feelings are a trump card over the story or the game.

Being a content creator this year I learned not to give up and keep pushing forward. God Bless

While I'm learnin' I'm listenin" 👍

I am not a content creator. I never played any tabletop RPG in my whole life. English is not even my language. I don't even know why YT recommended me your channel. Yet, for some reason I love watching your videos (when time permits). I feel like I learn an important life lesson every time. 🙂

Gaming has always been the light at the end of my tunnel, time with loved ones away from the junk, and coming back from that I am better able to process whats going on. Well said and this is a big part of what we should be bringing to light in our games.

I appreciate that you do your thing and not copy others. Being a Christian also I like that you are hot and cold on things. We were interviewing a new preacher and a point came that we disagreed with him. Some of us on the team thought this was a negative but I told them we are never going to find someone we agree with on everything. And you have to respect a preacher that stands his ground and doesn't placate the group during a job interview. I don't watch you just to hear my own thoughts confirmed. I want to be challenged to be better.