No RPG Revolution Yet
– – – Here’s a brief little outburst on an unrelated subject to break up the monotony of all my history lessons – – –
We are still awaiting the RPG revolution. At least, I am. Here’s my argument:
I think of all the original RPGs, including all pre-3.0 D&D, as spiritual equivalents of the old-time Avalon- Hill board games: big, wieldy, hard to manage, or learn, much less play in a realistic time span; often more work than fun unless you were a certain brand of snob. The hallmark of this kinship is a proliferation of arbitrary and unconnected rule systems for all the various different aspects of play. Compare AD&D and Advanced Civilization and you’ll see what I mean. But all these original RPGs fit the bill. Sure, there was variety in theme and particular bits and pieces, but with 20–year hindsight, they’re all pretty well the same thing.
Next, 3.0/d20 started a move in a new direction, one that has been much more fully realized in 4ED. And that is, a spiritual equivalence to Magic: the Gathering. On the plus side: a sweeping connectness and inclusivity in the rules systems, a choir of flowchart boxes singing a sweet, seductive, symphony in unison. On the minus side: endless expansionism; a capitulation of handing everything over to “the rules” and reserving little to the imagination; a requirement of fanboy commitment to stay abreast of the latest product; a visible bias toward style and flash over substance.
So there’s an obvious spiritual equivalent that we haven’t seen yet, and that is: RPG as per Euro Board Game. To me, this means multiple things… A reductionist bent to strip out complexity that doesn’t pull its weight… A striving for mechanics that are elegant and intuitive rather than comprehensive… a better “session” mentality that allows a GM to create and referee satisfying and entertaining tactical encounters in the context of a larger, rules-light campaign narrative. Probably a nice set of game components to use, too, and possibly build up a set of across expansions of various themes.
When Settlers of Catan came out circa 1995, on one hand it felt like something totally new and amazing, while on the other hand it had its definite set of precursor games that you could point to. A quiver full of well-intended arrows had fallen haphazardly close to the mark, then Settlers nailed it, and in so doing it basically opened up a whole new world.
Nowadays, when I look around the RPG landscape, I’m not seeing the same telltale arrow falls that point to a coming RPG revolution. Perhaps I simply don’t know what to look for – again. Or maybe the arrows aren’t falling at all – has the spirit of innovation waned so?
A few weeks ago I fumbled in an attempt to explain to my gamer friends what I thought the Euro Board Game styled RPG would be and play like. I’m not sure I could even create it myself, but I’m pretty sure I would know it if I saw it.
Here’s one perspective…
The group gathers to play – each “game” of this RPG basically equals one tactical encounter, which plays out in 30–60 minutes, after which “points” are doled out and maybe spent. The game can be easily “packed/unpacked” between any encounter as a stopping point – it has to have a minimum of material to setup, and not much data to track from session to session. You could play for an hour or four.
The GM manages a narrative campaign that is largely rules-free; alternately there is some sort of “stock” campaign game mechanism that can be employed to produce a generic but fun progression of encounters. In fact the “stock” campaign mechanism is likely the default, but it’s devised in such a way that the GM with a particular story to tell can easily tinker with its ebb and flow.
Tactical encounters are set up to be meaningful to the story and not dungeon grinds. There’s a setup that carries in from the narrative that informs the players of possible choices and tactics. The GM stages these encounters with a minimal amount of pre-game setup, in order to be responsive to the unfolding story. The mechanism of the system contain a magical genius that produces varied and challenging encounters, once again with good handles for an active GM to grab and tinker around with.
Anyone have a sighting on such a beast?