D&D Beyond

Discord

Foundry VTT

Quest Portal

Roll20

“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

“Combat Heavy” games emphasize the combat mechanics within their systems over roleplay or puzzle solving. There are frequent and longer battles with enemies and a greater emphasis on tactical game play.

Combat Heavy

A “Dungeon Crawl” is a scenario where players navigate a dungeon or labyrinth-like environment for the entirety of the adventure. It emphasizes battling monsters, collecting loot, and avoiding traps to survive to the end!

Dungeon Crawl

“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)

West Marches games are typically ran as “drop-in / drop-out” campaigns,  where a pool of players hop into sessions as they are available or as sessions align with their schedules. These games focus on a player-led story and exploration, with each session acting as a self contained adventure, allowing for players to experience a variety of stories within an overarching campaign.

West Marches

“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

“Tactical / Crunchy” games are all about mastering the rules and making smart, mechanical choices. These games place a strong emphasis on strategy, planning, and system knowledge. Players who enjoy complex combat, optimized builds, or detailed mechanics will feel right at home here.

Tactical / Crunchy

“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.

Realm Building

Dungeons & Dragons 5e

Cypher System

Dungeons & Dragons 3/3.5e

Shadowrun

Chronicles of Darkness

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

The Dresden Files RPG

World of Darkness

Numenera

Godbound

Palladium

Mage the Ascension 20th Anniversary

Fallout: The Roleplaying Game

Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition

Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition

Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

Ironsworn: Starforged

G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Lone Wolf

Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition

The Aethyrblood Chronicles

Gothic Horror

Horror

Scifi

Post-Apocalyptic

Super Heroes

Cosmic Horror

Grimdark

Eldritch Horror

Dark Fantasy

Espionage

Urban Fantasy

Sci-fi

Superhero

Paladin

Craig B

Eiric E. Padráig

I am lead writer and project manager for Haphazard Projects. I have been a passionate GM for myriad ttrpgs for over 35 years. I have done work for numerous game companies and video game projects, and now I am available to run your games, your way!

Gene Foxwell

The DM Shane

Eiric E. Padráig

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