Choosing a tabletop roleplaying game can be an adventure of its own. Depending on what type of game you want, you might go with something more attuned to story or combat or exploration. Obviously, each person will get their own mileage out of different games.
And it might help to watch a couple Actual Plays before deciding on something. You never know when you might find a hidden gem amongst all the roleplaying games out there, big names and indies alike.
But if you’re looking for the best possible TTRPG that fits your group’s needs and style, it might help to know which ones have absolutely made the game master hate me personally.
Call of Cthulhu
One of the original horror tabletop RPGs, Call of Cthulhu loves killing player characters off. It’s not Dungeons & Dragons where your paladin will eventually become a super god. Instead, your paranormal investigator will immediately get locked into an insane asylum while babbling about the ancients or some such nonsense.
Because the game insists on every character being on the razor edge of life and death, it’s a little more fun when people panic and melt down. A player at your real life table screaming at you to make a different choice translates pretty well to the reality of the fictional world.
In other words, it’s pretty hard to make a game master hate you, even if you’re playing completely wrong. I wasn’t, but I was keeping a hastily scribbled journal in one of those leather-bound fantasy-looking diaries you buy at Comic-Con and then never touch again.
In another game, my constant, loud writing would’ve probably been extremely irritating. But in this game, I was playing a part and the aspect of me that’s obsessive and weird lined up perfectly with my mad, broken priest character.
Also, making this list, I realized I play a lot of religious figures. Like, kind of a lot. That’s probably something to work on. But, anyway, my game master actually really liked the job I did and thought the journal was a good idea, so I’m going to say that he might not have hated me at all. Plus my handwriting is so bad that it basically looked like it was made by a person losing their mind.
Fabula Ultima
I’ve just started a Fabula Ultima game with some friends. If you’re not familiar, Fabula Ultima is a tabletop game that’s supposed to recreate the feeling of traditional JRPGs like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and whatever obscure one you think you’re better than other people for enjoying.
It’s actually a pretty clever system, and the players actually play a big role in creating the world before the game even starts. It’s an open, encouraging game that rewards teamwork and over-the-top character choices.
The problem is that since we just started, and this is my first game with this system, it’s hard to know how much the game master hates me yet. He’s actually the husband of a friend of mine, so I’ve only met him a couple times. He seems nice. I could see some cracks of frustration when I clearly wasn’t paying attention and then asked him to explain what he needed from me on Foundry for a third time.
Will he enjoy my hyper cheerful orator/spiritist who is the last priest of a hyper cheerful religion? Probably not, but let’s see where it goes!
One reason Fabula Ultima doesn’t rank lower on the list is because I’m in a Zoom game and, honestly, I can’t even tell if the game master is getting annoyed with me or someone else.
Dungeons & Dragons
This game doesn’t need any introduction, so I won’t waste our mutual time. You know what it is.
Here’s where we start to get into tricky territory. As I’m sure is the case with many of you, Dungeons & Dragons is the tabletop game I’ve played the most with the most variety of game masters. So, I have to take more of a summary approach to whether or not they hated me. And I think the answer is… maybe?
First of all, I almost always play a cleric or bard. My clerics are solid, salt of the earth people, no notes. I’ve worshiped many gods and I’ve healed many comrades. Game masters always seem to appreciate someone whose main focus isn’t entirely “how much damage can I do on my next turn?”.
I’m someone who often plays TTRPGs for the story, so I’d rather be a part of a team with a personality behind it than just a group trying to Min/Max stats.
Now, bards on the other hand are a different story. Because I will bring musical instruments I don’t know how to use and I will sing. I once bought a cheap Casio keyboard for a D&D game and would just pound and pound and pound on the keys while using my abilities.
I also improvise songs that don’t rhyme. These characters tend to get killed much, much faster than other characters in my group, and who’s to say why?
Pathfinder
I like Pathfinder, and when my D&D game master at the time asked to switch over, I was pretty excited. Overall, I think the Pathfinder system is a solid alternative and enjoy some of the deeper mechanics. That’s something I came around to after a few sessions.
But the first few sessions? Oh, man, was I annoying. I talked about Pathfinder like it was my mom’s new strict husband and my real dad let me do whatever I wanted in his studio apartment. Even phrasing it that way shows how annoying I was about it. It’s not that I didn’t want to make the switch, it’s more that I’m naturally annoying and ask too many questions.
This is only in the middle of the list because I eventually figured out what I was doing and my game master stopped saying the phrase, “If you’d give me one second to explain, it wouldn’t be confusing, would it?” You could really hear it in his voice. Fortunately, I only played a cleric, so I was useful and didn’t play music.
Alien: The Roleplaying Game
You know what game masters really appreciate? When you get into the story and commit to acting out your character.
You know what game masters don’t appreciate at all? When you get into the story and scream at the top of your lungs because you think that’s what your character would do on the spaceship while being chased by a Xenomorph. Because, in Alien: The Roleplaying Game, your whole table can hear you scream and so can the neighbors, which results in a call from the game master’s landlord.
Shadowrun
“Hey, Jared?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I don’t understand what I’m doing here.”
“Just follow the book.”
“I’m trying but it’s so complicated!”
“It’s all good. Just follow the book and I’ll guide us along.”
“Got it.”
“Do you really?”
“No, I still don’t really understand what I’m doing here.”
“Do you want me to just do it for you?”
“No. I want to know what I’m doing.”
“Then just follow the goddamn book!”
“Yelling isn’t going to help me.”
“Not paying attention isn’t helping either!”
“Can I play a bard?”
“NO!”
Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade is a game that I’ve loved and played since high school. And we need to go all the way back to high school for the number one ranking on TTRPGs where the game master absolutely hated me. You’d think that goth kids would be cool with another goth kid in the goth RPG, right? So did I. So. Did. I.
Instead, I was kicked out of the group for being, and this is a real quote, “too depressing.” And, look, I get why. I know I said I play cheerful characters in most roleplaying games, but overall I’m kind of a downer. You wouldn’t like hanging out with me in real life and I’ve got the receipts from multiple people to prove it.
My problem here was that I really, really leaned into the goth aspect. I made a Toreador who was very into sad art which, on an annoying scale, is slightly worse than being a bard. I constantly whined about the monotony of existence and how being immortal was truly a curse because I only saw beauty fade. Think about how awful that sounds to be around, and then imagine it coming from the voice of the most awkward teen boy on the planet.
It wasn’t just the game master who hated me – it was everyone in the group. They all mutually agreed to kick me out. At the start of one of the sessions, they had an intervention. But rather than it being an intervention to help me fix myself, it was more them having to break it to me that I was bringing the vibe of the group down.
Again, this was a Vampire: The Masquerade game with mostly goth people. I was the most depressing element playing the most depressing character. Oh my God. Thinking back, that might be why I keep playing bards.
Honorable Mention: Quill
This is a great solo TTRPG and I hate myself, so there you go.
- Created by
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Latest Film
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
- First TV Show
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Dungeons and Dragons
- First Episode Air Date
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September 17, 1983