D&D Beyond

Demiplane

Discord

Foundry VTT

Text/Play by Post

“Roleplay Heavy” games place the focus on the story, the characters, and the world they live within, and tend to lean hard into the various roleplaying elements of the game. These games will frequently find the party talking with NPCs, exploring the personal elements of their backstories, or even having emotional moments around the camp fire. 

Roleplay Heavy

“Theater of the Mind” uses little to no visuals for scene settings and combat. Instead, the narrative imagery comes from the Game Master’s descriptions and character action and movement comes from Players’ descriptions. 

Theater of the Mind

“Rule of Cool” emphasizes creative story beats over sticking to a system’s rules as written. Players have the ability to push the limits of the rules or even break core rule mechanics at times if the Game Master thinks it is interesting, fun, or cool enough.

Rule of Cool (RoC)

Play By Post refers to a game in which players interact with the story through messages and text posts. These games are typically played asynchronously throughout the week, which gives players time to consider what they want to do next, and engage with the story at their own pace.

Play By Post

Organized Play uses a standardized ruleset for character creation, leveling, and rewards. Every character plays by the same rules. Its strength is flexibility: bring your character to any table and jump right in. With tight rule adherence, every game feels consistent, fair, and ready for adventure.

Organized Play

“Combat Lite” games typically focus less on combat encounters and more on roleplay, storytelling, and exploration. Combat tends to be shorter, less frequent, resolved in a more narrative style, or absent altogether, while keeping the story as the primary focus.

Combat Lite

“Hexcrawl / Exploration” games are all about the journey. Whether you're uncovering ancient ruins, navigating dangerous terrain, or charting new territory, the focus is on discovery and player-driven adventure. Hexcrawls add additional structure by using a map where each hex holds new surprises, challenges, or story hooks.

Hexcrawl / Exploration

“Puzzle / Mystery Focused” games are traditionally built around uncovering secrets, solving strange occurrences, and using clever thinking to move through the story. Players may investigate clues, crack riddles, or unravel a deeper story hidden beneath the surface.

Puzzle / Mystery Focused

“Realm Building” games focus on the development, expansion, and management of something bigger than a single party, where the characters may find themselves in charge of a kingdom, faction, settlement, or organization. Over the course of gameplay, players might manage resources, make decisions that shape nations, or even guide large-scale conflicts as part of the ongoing story.

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