@jerodleupold GM-less-ly? (Which would be ideal, given the trip from Microscope and Quiet Year...)

The obvious place to start might be #Kingdom (https://www.lamemage.com/kingdom/). Certainly Diplomacy falls out extremely well on that one but Horror is shockingly doable. Escort and Heist, not so much.

However, since we're still doing Ben Robbins games, #Follow (https://www.lamemage.com/follow/) is _fantastic_ and too often flies under the radar. It's a great game and the core mechanics are available for free with several Quests, Get the whole thing; you'll love it. Here's your Heists and Escorts, straight-up.

There's not much I _won't_ recommend #Starforged (https://tomkinpress.com/products/ironsworn-starforged-deluxe-edition-rulebook) for. It does pretty much everything you could need but it definitely requires a certain fiction-first mindset that can challenge some. (Yes, you can do a straight up modern game with Starforged; if your setting is fantasy, there's #Ironsworn .)

If I'm going to pull one game out with a traditional GM/player dichotomy (though -- not quite), it'll have to be #Wushu (https://danielbayn.com/wushu/). Deeply unconstrained, rules light, and infinitely flexible. It's as grounded as you and your fellow players want.

@BrianBloodaxe Why not something further afield? There are tonnes of really good games that give an extremely different experience and might draw more folks in consistency.

#Starforged (https://tomkinpress.com/collections/all-products/products/ironsworn-starforged-digital-edition) ? Awesome sci-fi that's hugely customizable and can be run co-op, which'll be a big contrast with the D&D going on at the other tables.

#Kingdom (https://lamemage.com/kingdom/) ? GM-less but with a wholly different approach to both what the players do and what they're trying to accomplish at the table. One of my fave games and can go quite long-form.

#Twilight2k (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/shop/twilight-2000/core-set/) ? It's hardcore grounded grim-modern with a whole swath of different things you can pursue in there, including rebuilding your own community and establishing a modicum of peace and safety. Maybe.

#Lancer (https://massifpress.com/)? It's intimidatingly chunky, but it's absolutely excellent mecha action that goes very unexpected directions.

#Mothership is a good choice, though I'm not sure it really lends itself to long-term play. It's better episodic or short-arc.

Plenty of choices out there to inject a lot more variety than you might otherwise expect. Get some of those players in.

@The_Dyer_Consequences

I want something less broad-scale and more focused in, but still with great flexibility. Same author: #Kingdom .

https://lamemage.com/kingdom/

All of the players at the table are part of the same community. It might be a literal kingdom. It might be the inhabitants of a village in England being invaded by Ivar the Boneless. It might be a war band of Vikings.

They all have a defined relationship to one another, and there are other people in the community beyond themselves that are affected by their decisions and actions.

Threats to the situation come along and they have to decide how to deal with them or how things go awry in the process. Kingdom really requires that you have players who are willing to speak up about inherent conflicts and lean into them — not conflicts between players, but conflicts between intents and effects. It's an absolutely fantastic game, which doesn't get nearly as much discussion as it deserves.

(cont)