Playing a TTRPG on MelonLand? - ☺︎ ∙ General Interests

I think everyone on MelonLand is very cool, and I'd love to play a game with very cool people! Plus I want to improve my GMing technique and am eager to help anyone who's newer (like myself actually).

So this is an interest check: anyone want to band together and play a TTRPG via forum post, specifically one of the ones listed below? Maybe in a guild with posts set to guild-eyes-only. If there's enough interest, I'll throw down a poll to nail the chosen system.

I have a list of RPG systems in mind, some with a whole CATS pitch I wrote. I'll be studying the rule book so that I can hopefully teach interested players (no need to own a copy!) Here we

Legend in the Mist (Hearts of Ravensdale setting)
Spoiler
- Concept: You're an unlikely Fellowship of ragtag beings on a sliding scale of might; from humble rural denizen to a crafty witch, a traveler from afar, a mystical spirit, a monster of titanic proportions (yes, you can be a dragon), and even an actual god. Vampires, fairies, perhaps even the mere concept of hubris (I bet) are fair game. Most importantly, all have the capacity for heroic greatness; growth and change attend all who venture beyond the comforts of home.
  
  In Hearts of Ravensdale... Wend through the Dales and mind their dark secrets, then pass beyond. Perform archaeology where the old Kingdom once stood before the War of Three. Learn the true nature of folk magic and taxonomize the nebulous creatures of Twilight. Withstand the trials of budding into a once-in-a-lifetime Thaumaturge, miracle-bringer. Sever yourself in the Witchwood, and above all: grow, grow.
  
  (Roleplay-heavy, Mist Engine: tag-based dice resolution)
- Aim: Play to change for the better (no matter your past). Play to (ultimately) support one another in the Fellowship. Be curious about the land & its mysteries. The system is serious about each character possessing equal narrative weight, in spite of "power" disparity.
- Tone: Rustic fantasy, magic mixed with the mundane. Ordinary charming folk grapple with beings of destiny; chimerical monstrosities (your character) grapple with a spat over spilled milk. Fantasy ranges from whimsy, dark fairytale, a hint of cosmic power---but too-far weird is rare, the exception-not-rule.
  
  (A clarification, if you have knowledge of the rules: to maintain the rustic fantasy tone, characters will start with 2–3 Origin themes.)
- Safety: Blood/gore (never gratuitous), uncanny bodies (not quite body horror), mind control
[close]
Root: The RPG (+ Travelers & Outsiders supplement)
Spoiler
- Concept: You play anthropomorphic woodland creatures (smaller than a wolf but just as brave!). In particular, you play Vagabonds, adrift amidst a power struggle waged between various factions---the regal raptors of the endless Eyrie Dynasty, the tyrannical conqueror cats of the far-off Marquisate, the uniting forces of the Woodland Alliance---fighting tooth and claw over control of the Clearings, pockets of cleared-out land wrested from the tangled deep Woodland. And since I've got the Travelers & Outsiders supplement, two further factions are at large: the enterprising Riverfolk Company plying the river trade (will they unscrupulously play the war game for profit, or can they promote a mutually beneficial trade economy for the peaceful denizens?); and the Lizard Cult, whose worship of mysterious entities faces schisms and in-fighting with spillover that creates unexpected cross-faction allies or internal enemies.
  
  (Roleplay-focused PBTA with weapon moves, tag-based equipment)
  Playbooks (core): Adventurer, Arbiter, Harrier, Ranger, Ronin, Scoundrel, Thief, Tinker, Vagrant
  Playbooks (T&O): Champion, Chronicler, Exile, Envoy, Heretic, Pirate, Prince, Raconteur, Raider, Seeker
- Aim: Your character will shape the fate of the Woodland; they're invested in the people and plights of one faction or another. They can be morally gray but ultimately redeemable. As a well-equipped Vagabond, they can easily outwit, spar with, or otherwise intimidate even the best soldiers of the warring factions. Death is possible per the rules, but I'd prefer other more interesting outcomes.
- Tone: Relatively grounded, anthropomorphism notwithstanding. I'd like to focus more on the animal aspect; thinking about their ecological impact on each other, factions, and the ecosystem of the Woodland could be fun. I think the setting is meant to be without magic, but I'm open to low-magic where it fits...? Light-hearted to dark, but not grimdark. Action with high factional drama.
- Safety: Off the top of my head, subject matter / content warning includes war, animal death, light gore, religion, colonialism, oppression
[close]
Songbirds 3e (CW: stylized gore on cover)
Spoiler
- Concept: (Read the preview; it's good vibes.) You have risen from a life lived and a death earned, unduly returned as a Songbird. This is a doomed world; love has died, and death mourns her lifeless corpse. You, unwilling caretaker, rattle the cages of the subterranean sort. What else is there to do but make use of your dread Gift (sic your Jinx on the unwary, practice haruspex, swallow the star you snatched) and crackle with the nine learned magics. Feeling moreish? In the off hours, you may build your body up with mods or indulge any number of savory consumptions (date, gamble, amass Tiny Fetal Beings the hottest TCG).
  
  I will be supplementing with Luke Gearing's Monsters & and &&&&&&&&& Treasure. Face classic monsters, drawn up to their cosmic limits, stretched strange. I'd be loathe to undersell the 9 magics, unbounded by any singular system: from classic rituals spent with coin and copied from tomes; whole-body songs; draconic speech wheedled from a pitying dragon; Gore Art; hand signs swiped from the Demon King; costly summons; psychic abilities borne of injury; vampirism; pacts with a horror.
  
  (OSR/Storygame roots, where combat should have been avoided)
- Aim: Play to lose yourself and transform. Try not to die a second time. Play to meld and mold your character, stretch them beyond straining.
- Tone: Grimdark horror, sometimes light. Science/industrial fantasy. Weird-strange-liminal.
- Safety: The subject matter might run up to the limits of the rules here... Body horror, gore, life-changing wounds, mind control, trauma, oppression, industrialization? The setting is laced throughout, so I'll know more when I finish reading.
[close]
Perils & Princesses
Fabula Ultima
Spoiler
- Concept: You play a striking hero with a deep history inextricably bound to the world by fate; the world ripples from your actions, and villains spring forth to form a dark reflection of heroes. Though your hero is duty bound to fight villainy, conflicts abound even beyond combat: ideological, vengeful, systemic. Yet all mortals and gods, planets and stars are united in one aspect, fabric woven of one thread: "souls", a life force infused in everything. If you could but wield it...
  
  The system is strict about collectively establishing a shared (non-GM-centric) world, so I will only lightly sketch my worldbuilding contribution: biomes heavily inspired by real-life extraterrestial geology; technology (or "magitech") based on soft, malleable forms (gelatinous and plush; flexible aerogel, not rigid steel). The rest is up to you!
  
  (Mixed roleplay/combat)
- Aim: Uncover mysteries, make new discoveries, grow as a hero. Play to save the day. Death is a gut punch for the audience, worse so if your hero corrupts into a fresh villain.
- Tone: Science fantasy. JRPG, whatsoever that means for you. For me, this means plots of cosmic import, style over groundedness, "cerebral" (I'm thinking of visual novels that weave in explanations from academic fields), high interpersonal drama.
- Safety: Fantasy violence, oppression, war. This depends on the world we build.
[close]
Troika! (maybe Acid Death Fantasy?)
Camp Snallygaster
Coriolis: The Great Dark (2025)

I've also gathered tips to make play-by-post (PBP) workable. (PBP management is kinda fraught with insidious logistics, isn't it.) Guidelines and safety stuff ("PG-13", Open Door Policy, Script Change) to come.