Cooperative Tabletop Game with Persistence?
March 28, 2018 9:08 AM Subscribe
My friends and I are looking for a certain type of game for our gaming night. We'd like a game we can play in which our gameplay affects future sessions, like carrying characters or game states over from session to session. We want to ALL play together, so having a game master is right out. What can we play?
The obvious answer would be a role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, but like I said we all want to actually play. Also, any genre of play would do!
The obvious answer would be a role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, but like I said we all want to actually play. Also, any genre of play would do!
I would say that the game master of a role-playing game DOES actually play, but doing so requires more preparation than needed by the others.
posted by exogenous at 9:17 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by exogenous at 9:17 AM on March 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Legacy games like Pandemic Legacy and Seafall seem to fit this description.
There are also several DM-less story games. Not all are necessarily made for continuing play, but most don't explicitly prevent it either.
This reddit post provides advice on playing DM-less games.
I haven't tried them, but there are also tools to allow you to turn D&D into a DM-less game.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:19 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
There are also several DM-less story games. Not all are necessarily made for continuing play, but most don't explicitly prevent it either.
This reddit post provides advice on playing DM-less games.
I haven't tried them, but there are also tools to allow you to turn D&D into a DM-less game.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:19 AM on March 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
Every time I played D&D the DM absolutely played a character as well. For the person DMing there are trade-offs that make it a little less fun (e.g. knowing what's coming), but also things that make it a little more fun (e.g coming up with ridiculous scenarios and seeing what people do with it). I can't speak from experience, but the DMs I know seem to think it balances out and enjoy themselves plenty.
But DMing is also a lot of work, so if you want to spread that out, you could also do a round-robin DM where there's a different DM each week. I know people do this because I was almost part of one before life got too hectic to do it, but it can definitely work!
posted by brook horse at 9:26 AM on March 28, 2018
But DMing is also a lot of work, so if you want to spread that out, you could also do a round-robin DM where there's a different DM each week. I know people do this because I was almost part of one before life got too hectic to do it, but it can definitely work!
posted by brook horse at 9:26 AM on March 28, 2018
Response by poster: Sorry, I think I misspoke. When I said "actually play" I should have said "actually play together", as in all working together toward the same goal in-game.
posted by FakeFreyja at 9:29 AM on March 28, 2018
posted by FakeFreyja at 9:29 AM on March 28, 2018
I’ve played a bit of Archipelago with friends— I think it suits your needs, although it’s pretty essential to play with a practiced group of storytellers.
If you don’t mind persistent setting but not persistent characters, Fiasco can do that without hacks; just keep in mind the last game when you’re building the next. If you wanted to preserve your characters, you could just cut out the relationship cards after the first character creation and use the lighter consequence table so that no one actually dies...
posted by peppercorn at 9:30 AM on March 28, 2018
If you don’t mind persistent setting but not persistent characters, Fiasco can do that without hacks; just keep in mind the last game when you’re building the next. If you wanted to preserve your characters, you could just cut out the relationship cards after the first character creation and use the lighter consequence table so that no one actually dies...
posted by peppercorn at 9:30 AM on March 28, 2018
Seconding Pandemic Legacy. It ticks all your boxes and is a lot of fun to play. There are two "seasons" out now; I've played the first but not the second (yet!). In general, I think you're looking for a "legacy" type game -- IIRC Risk Legacy was the first, but there are a few others out there too.
posted by Janta at 9:31 AM on March 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Janta at 9:31 AM on March 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
In case your clarification is in response to the suggestion that DMs can also play--yes, this is what I'm talking about! My DMs have always also been player characters working towards a goal with us. They may know more than the others, but they still have to play within the rules of the game and work together with other people to make it happen. The only thing a DM has to sacrifice is surprise (and only in regards to plot, there's plenty of roleplay and action by the other characters to be surprised by!). I think I've also seen this worked around by essentially having a bunch of different plot points/options on cards that are shuffled at random and the DM picks one and uses that until they get to the next shuffle point. But also I can't remember specific details of this so maybe I dreamed it.
Anyway I also understand if you want everyone to have the same role and responsibilities. But being a DM definitely doesn't mean you can't play as part of the team.
posted by brook horse at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2018
Anyway I also understand if you want everyone to have the same role and responsibilities. But being a DM definitely doesn't mean you can't play as part of the team.
posted by brook horse at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2018
Yes, Pandemic Legacy -- do both seasons, in order! We're finishing up season two right now and it's been a lot of fun.
posted by little cow make small moo at 9:44 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by little cow make small moo at 9:44 AM on March 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Mice and Mystics or Stuffed Fables from Plaid Hat games are story-based games that are intended for you to continue the story each time you play. They're cooperative, so you're playing toward the same goal as a team. You can play one or more "chapters" of the story each time, and then continue on the next time you play. I really like both of them.
posted by thejanna at 9:48 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thejanna at 9:48 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I just can't recommend gloomhaven enough. It might seem pricey but there's easily 1000 hours of gameplay in the campaign. It really sounds perfect for you. The combat is super unique in that there is no dice rolling - the enemies have very clever AI-decks. The latest printing has excellent mechanics, and the plot and reveals inside the game are truly wonderful.
posted by bbqturtle at 9:51 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bbqturtle at 9:51 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Legacy boardgames" are a thing now, where there's a campaign you play through, a timeline of events, and your decisions change the game (stickers cover up or reveal stuff on the map, new rules or new characters appear, etc). They're boardgames rather than RPGs.
Pandemic Legacy (do the seasons in order, the second relies somewhat on the first) is a co-operative legacy board game where you play scientists trying to save the world from pandemic diseases. The benefit of this one is it's much cheaper and easier to get started with than Gloomhaven.
Gloomhaven is the D&D themed adventure dungeoncrawl co-op legacy boardgame, which sounds like exactly what you're after, but it's expensive and whoa fiddly to get started with. Big rulebook, a million pieces, etc. If someone in your group is into that kind of fiddly bookkeeping and/or your group has a good tolerance for learning curve, this would be the one to get. But if you're looking to test the waters of legacy boardgames with something a little cheaper/faster/easier to get started with, consider Pandemic Legacy.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:00 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Pandemic Legacy (do the seasons in order, the second relies somewhat on the first) is a co-operative legacy board game where you play scientists trying to save the world from pandemic diseases. The benefit of this one is it's much cheaper and easier to get started with than Gloomhaven.
Gloomhaven is the D&D themed adventure dungeoncrawl co-op legacy boardgame, which sounds like exactly what you're after, but it's expensive and whoa fiddly to get started with. Big rulebook, a million pieces, etc. If someone in your group is into that kind of fiddly bookkeeping and/or your group has a good tolerance for learning curve, this would be the one to get. But if you're looking to test the waters of legacy boardgames with something a little cheaper/faster/easier to get started with, consider Pandemic Legacy.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:00 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Gloomhaven, Pandemic Legacy.
By the time you're done with those, there should be more.
posted by booooooze at 10:12 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
By the time you're done with those, there should be more.
posted by booooooze at 10:12 AM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
How many people are you? Pandemic Legacy maxes at 4, which was very fun and difficult. It would be easier with two or three. I wouldn't play Gloomhaven with more than 3-even at three, it can be a slog for us when there are lots of monsters to fight-lots of accounting.
Seafall and Risk Legacy work with 5, but aren't cooperative.
If you have more than 4, I think an RPG would work best. With 4 or fewer, Pandemic Legacy is more accessible, faster, and just generally a better time than Gloomhaven. Gloomhaven is excellent, but Pandemic Legacy is superlative.
posted by Kwine at 11:04 AM on March 28, 2018
Seafall and Risk Legacy work with 5, but aren't cooperative.
If you have more than 4, I think an RPG would work best. With 4 or fewer, Pandemic Legacy is more accessible, faster, and just generally a better time than Gloomhaven. Gloomhaven is excellent, but Pandemic Legacy is superlative.
posted by Kwine at 11:04 AM on March 28, 2018
Betrayal Legacy is coming out later this year. (Betrayal at House on the Hill is semi-cooperative, in that all players start out working together until one randomly selected character becomes the traitor, and the others must cooperate to stop their evil scheme.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:14 AM on March 28, 2018
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:14 AM on March 28, 2018
The suggestions above are definitely great.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault from Fantasy Flight Games just recently released their app (Legends of the Alliance) which does the role of the GM in it's own campaign.
posted by di11ihd at 11:44 AM on March 28, 2018
Star Wars: Imperial Assault from Fantasy Flight Games just recently released their app (Legends of the Alliance) which does the role of the GM in it's own campaign.
posted by di11ihd at 11:44 AM on March 28, 2018
Mefi's own, IIRC, Attack the Darkness is basically a DM-less DnD plus Dominion-style deck building. And you can level characters over time.
posted by craven_morhead at 12:08 PM on March 28, 2018
posted by craven_morhead at 12:08 PM on March 28, 2018
I don't have any specific suggestions to add, but your question and my recent one may have a useful amount of overlap.
posted by cmoj at 12:29 PM on March 28, 2018
posted by cmoj at 12:29 PM on March 28, 2018
if you're looking for something fantasy themed, Warhammer Quest Silver Tower fits the bill. You play "against the game" and your character level up from quest to quest. It's 4-player max though.
posted by Prunesquallor at 12:38 PM on March 28, 2018
posted by Prunesquallor at 12:38 PM on March 28, 2018
The Pathfinder card game does not require a GM. The base game handles 1-4 players and there's an add-on that expands it to 6. I know from experience--my husband and I are in a long-term game with a couple we know in another city--that it's also easy to have 4 regular players and occasionally add a 5th or 6th if others are present.
posted by telophase at 12:40 PM on March 28, 2018
posted by telophase at 12:40 PM on March 28, 2018
This war of mine (based on the computer game, based on the Balkan war) is an amazing example of games-as-art and gas a safe game mechanism where you pack it all back down for the next session.
posted by Iteki at 3:22 PM on March 28, 2018
posted by Iteki at 3:22 PM on March 28, 2018
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posted by Think_Long at 9:15 AM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]