Post by dwayanu on Mar 8, 2009 4:44:12 GMT -6
Before D&D, it was pretty well established as a mark of the true war-gamer to have a "home-brewed" set of rules. It was a matter of some months between my getting hooked on the RPG concept via a session of D&D play and my getting my hands on D&D rule books. In the interim, I naturally made up games of my own. Then I found that D&D was pretty much a set of examples -- or at most a "tool kit" -- meant more to inspire one to make one's own game than to regulate tournaments.
So, from my induction into the hobby, I have always been kicking around (and sometimes "trying on the dog") different mechanical approaches. Probably par for the course, the greatest efflorescence was in what might be called the "baroque" school and era of RPGs. Think of Arduin, and of most of FGU's line, for example (or maybe go on back to TSR's Bio One).
No news hereabouts that a lot of nifty new games have been published lately -- but sort of hemmed in by the intent of imitating pretty closely what has been done. It's hard to hit as hard as Metamorphosis Alpha or Empire of the Petal Throne when the aim is really no higher than recapturing the "generic" spirit of the LBBs.
Please don't mistake this for a screed condemning apples for not being kumquats!
I find an intriguing challenge in the design of something that with little stress might satisfy different "schools" of play. I guess that reflects in part the fascination with intellectual puzzles that contributed to my delight not only in D&D but also in computer games such as Adventure.
Just as constrained resources were once the mother of invention in programming, an enforced brevity may be an asset here. MA weighs in at 32 pp., and has never struck me as notably lacking (which is not incompatible with always welcoming more).
I can't think of any truly generic (or perhaps even cross-generic) ground yet uncovered, so I can guarantee I'll throw in some peculiarities. Yes, that means some "setting" particulars for at least exemplary context. There's a difference between knowing what the kids mean by "fluff" and subscribing to a fanatical valuation of it.
Carcosa perhaps epitomizes where I think "old school" needs to go if it's not to become merely "old." Dave and Gary were hardly stick-in-the-mud senior citizens when they loosed their creation on the world!
So, from my induction into the hobby, I have always been kicking around (and sometimes "trying on the dog") different mechanical approaches. Probably par for the course, the greatest efflorescence was in what might be called the "baroque" school and era of RPGs. Think of Arduin, and of most of FGU's line, for example (or maybe go on back to TSR's Bio One).
No news hereabouts that a lot of nifty new games have been published lately -- but sort of hemmed in by the intent of imitating pretty closely what has been done. It's hard to hit as hard as Metamorphosis Alpha or Empire of the Petal Throne when the aim is really no higher than recapturing the "generic" spirit of the LBBs.
Please don't mistake this for a screed condemning apples for not being kumquats!
I find an intriguing challenge in the design of something that with little stress might satisfy different "schools" of play. I guess that reflects in part the fascination with intellectual puzzles that contributed to my delight not only in D&D but also in computer games such as Adventure.
Just as constrained resources were once the mother of invention in programming, an enforced brevity may be an asset here. MA weighs in at 32 pp., and has never struck me as notably lacking (which is not incompatible with always welcoming more).
I can't think of any truly generic (or perhaps even cross-generic) ground yet uncovered, so I can guarantee I'll throw in some peculiarities. Yes, that means some "setting" particulars for at least exemplary context. There's a difference between knowing what the kids mean by "fluff" and subscribing to a fanatical valuation of it.
Carcosa perhaps epitomizes where I think "old school" needs to go if it's not to become merely "old." Dave and Gary were hardly stick-in-the-mud senior citizens when they loosed their creation on the world!
