DeReel:
I am thinking of SWM, in that it gives large authorial power (generally associated with the GM role).
Else, if the label is necessary, what about Contenders ?
Not sure what SWM is referring to.
As for Contenders, traditional sports, combat, and militaristic themes are not going to be a good fit with some of the players in this group.
That’s not to say there can’t be any violence or combat in the games, but if that is the primary focus it will be a turn off for a few players.
OK, then you should know that Contenders, Dog eat Dog and Swords Without Masters imply violence.
It’s a pretty difficult question, actually: the GM role is called “the Opposition”, and the game has some GMless techniques (e.g. the character players get to frame their own scenes much of the time).
However, I think having one all-powerful player who controls the rules and all the NPCs, and all the other players each having a character (who is a protagonist)… that’s pretty close to being a GMed game. Like, what else do you need?
More importantly, the Occupation’s role in the game is explicitly designed to be a commentary on the all-powerful GM (as you can read in the designer’s notes).
Nevertheless, a great game, and I would recommend it. I wouldn’t say that the game is focused on violence - there is oppression, which can imply violence, but doesn’t need to. The violent moments, if there are any, could easily happen off-screen (unlike Contenders).
Fiasco
My introduction to story games, like many, was through Fiasco. In my case, I joined in a game of Fiasco with a group who had played the game before. Advantages with it are the helpful videos that can give you an idea of gameplay and the plethera of free playsets for that system out there. Just google “Fiasco Playsets” and you’ll see what I mean. Finding a good playset can make or break the experience, in my opinion. I usually have fun with Fiasco because my group enjoys the improv of it, but I can say that our best times were when we all found a playset that we all thought was a cool one. A couple of concerns with Fiasco I have for a totally new group. When I first played, the session lasted more than 4 hours. I’m not sure this is typical, but it really depends on how long and involved the “scenes” become, which is something you may want to consider. Are you wanting something that is complete in a few hours or do you plan on longer? Another issue we’ve had with Fiasco is the tone, it can devolve into silly ridiculousness. So long as all the players are onboard with that, it’s fine…I’d say set a kinda expectation of how serious everyone wants to play prior to starting.
For the Queen - I’ve had good luck introducing story gaming to completely new players this way. I would say that being more comfortable with emotions, especially love, would be important for them to enjoy this game. Also, a safety tool is already built into the game, which is a helpful thing to learn about story games anyway. This game, for us, ended up being pretty short, I believe less an hour. There are some hacks of this game out there that are re-themes, in case the original theme isn’t to your liking.
Cozy Town - I’ve also had a good time introducing collaborative story games with Cozy Town. It’s a collaborative town-building kind of game, easy to pick up and play. It ran about 3.5 hours for us, though that depends on how much detail you all decide to go with. https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/cozy-town
Our (very story-focused) group really enjoyed HISTORY IS GONE BUT WE REMEMBER, which, once the set-up is done, lets you just improv a bunch of folks telling each other stories until you get tired.
The set-up is light (basically making lists of story prompts, chatting about who you are / where you are etc), and the game’s setting agnostic, so could be a good one to let your table find a space that works for all of them and just have a good time. We like it a lot to set up a feel for worlds we’re going to go on to play in with other systems, but I can see it being an excellent way to just spend an afternoon trying to out-do each other if you’re not fussed about carrying it forward
One more to add to the mix is Fall of Magic. Again, the physical map, cards, and game tokens appeal to board gamers. The story-prompts are evocative, succinct, and sufficiently open-ended that newcomers can really jump right in.
The ‘right’ Fiasco playset is important. I usually ask people to give me 2 films or TV programmes they’d want to be in and then look for a playset which reflects at least one from each person. The genre remains ‘Fargo’, but having trappings that everyone can relate to and visualise is, in my experience, important for new players.
I worry less about completing the full play cycle in the first session … I just want to get people used to ‘pretending’ in a grown up way.
The Quite Year is a good choice I think. It does have a removed/analytical/bird’s eye view aspect to it, that I also associate with some other games like Universalis. This is chiefly because you don’t directly represent single individuals, though as part of the emergent play you do start to identify with factions - the contempt token mechanic in The Quiet Year seems to encourage this (technically it’s about the player but it seems to harmonize to the factions players create and speak for in discussions in my experience).
I recorded a video showing off the new version of the game here: https://youtu.be/BYGAow7EJPs
For your first play of The Quiet Year, you may want to shorten the deck, discard a few cards of each suit (but keep the King of Summer and King of Winter.) I played online recently, and the game is certainly slower online.
If your group is a fan of Metal, then Umlaut: The Game of Metal, may be of interest. It’s got a pretty laid back style and has each player control a band, the game session ends in a “battle of the bands.”
For things that are a little more direct and “personal”:
Folks missing sharing music with friends on roadtrips could really enjoy Ribbon Drive. This does require each player to create a “playlist” of songs before the game. This one is maybe a little harder to grapple for a first game.
Posthuman Pathways is good for three players. You rotate roles in each scene, and explore some technological change that has altered what it means to be human. Functionally you are playing out a series of questions with scenes between two participants. It reminds me a little of A Penny for Your Thoughts.
Posthuman Pathways is 5 one-page pamphlets, 3 of which you pass around as you change roles.
Palanquin is about a Princess escaping from bloody usurpers. The game is really about the journey to safety, and the type of challenges faced are based on which companions are selected. (Don’t want “fighting” to be part of the narrative, then don’t pick the Veteran as a companion.) The player who plays the princess, is the facilitator who should know the rules best.
Interestingly, Palanquin suggest For The Queen as a follow-up game set decades in the future.
Late to the party but have to recommend Dialect and Icarus.
I think Dialect is better but Icarus has won over several members of my group. They’re so similar that I don’t think anyone would wish they’d chosen the other. Icarus has a novel dice stacking dexterity element that is awesome, but hard to replicate over zoom, etc.
I thought of another one that could work well. Although technically, a game with a GM, Inspectres could easily be run with the GM role shared. Instead of having the GM describe what happens on a 3 or less, the player could just point to a different player. The game is simple enough that this would not increase the complexity at all.
I can wholeheartedly vouch for The Quiet Year. It has worked wonderfully for me every single time I presented it to a table of indie-n00bs… be they not/new rpg players or (much more problematic) veterans of more traditional rpgs.
I also heard great things about the new “carded” version of FIASCO, although I find the original game good but not exactly “sturdy” … it shakes and bobs a lot depending on the players at hand.
Otherwise I would suggest The Name of God, especially its Deeper Edition. It’s a dark urban fantasy in the vein of many Neil Gaiman stories, and its minimalist but tight system should be easy to follow for any kind of player, if well intentioned.
While the World Ends is a pretty interesting game, great structure for GMless play, but strictly for four players (technically playable with three, but that seems like a waste).
A Taste for Murder is a cute British murder mystery. You all play a “guest” at the party of whatever, then someone (somewhat randomly) gets killed, and that player gets to come in as the detective trying to solve their own murder.
(Hi! The author of While the World Ends here.)
WTWE on 3 plays pretty much like a GM’ed game. One player taking both characters on one side and the others play one each on the other side.
Also, if you get the black version of the game through DriveThruRPG you get two setting variants, an Arabian Nights inspired one, and one about time travellers. Both of those do very well at three players, but trade the team mechanic for individual success.
If your players are into slasher movies in the style of Halloween perhaps give Final Girl a try: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/182628/The-Final-Girl
I think it’s fairly easy to facilitate. The mechanics are straightforward, the genre should be well known and you can put it in all kinds of settings. It’s a bit odd in the sense, that you don’t play a single character, but everyone creates 3-5 characters for all pool from which everyone can pick. And of course don’t be to attached to the PCs as they die over the course of the game.
If you like drama, but don’t want to see anyone dying. Perhaps try the Final Girl Hack “Game of Love” in Codex Love 2. It transforms the Game basically into Bachelorette. And it’s a ton of fun!