What's up with roleplaying?

There have been some major changes in the RPG market over the years. Since my first introduction to roleplaying about 40 years ago, I have more or less always stayed on the path, and it has been a long one. For me it started with D&D, because there was nothing else (yes, waaay back before there even was thought of putting an A in front). Then came Runequest and Traveller. And then there came the natural transition to Swedish games or translations, like Drakar och Demoner, Chock and Mutant. From thereon we went and now the market is totally flooded with all kinds of RPGs.

Which, for me, is kind of the problem. Few games today get the supplements and expansions that they deserve. Instead the companies and authors shift their interest to something else, creating a new game. Often, even, with the same game engine, or slightly tweaked. There is a lot of width, but no depth. Eon, the Swedish game, used to be the exception, along with other notable games like Call of Cthulhu and AD&D of course. But Eon carried a massive line of products, enriching the world. And suddenly, in the middle of it all, an update, changing the entire system. Oh, the layout's much nicer, but the golden parts of the old system are suddenly gone. Perhaps so you can easily rewrite, repackage and resell the existing material, without creating that much? Instead of writing modules ot existing games, everyone suddenly has to create their own games with their own settings, differing only minimally from others on the market.

And what kind of games predominate? Well, RPGs used to be focused on realism, with expansions and new developments going towards an increasing amount of genuine feeling. Then, there was an epic change on the market. I think it came with the advent of Vampire the Masquerade and there came a greater focus on storytelling, less focus on rules. Rules became less important. Basically, players were not playing to be judged, to perform. Instead it became about living in an alternate reality, which was further examplified by the advent of LARPing.
Now, there has been another paradigm shift, wherein RPGs are moving more towards an integration with tabletop games. The prime mover in this market would be Fria Ligan, with games like the new Mutant År Noll, Coriolis, Alien and others.

My personal view? I really like working on my character. I enjoy getting equipment, planning appearances, drawing up residences, making plans and then playing them out. Raiding a house used to be a precise operation, planned to every layer, crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's. Now? Well, I intended to play a gumshoe game focused on such things (Night's Black Agents) but it all fell apart when it came to the skill "preparedness". Basically, you can roll to whip out whatever you think is reasonable that your character would have brought and presto, problem solved. Of course, I see the thinking - the characters are pros and the players are not expected to be. But to me, that's like having the computer play your character in a computer game. I want the player skill, I want the player involvement and excitement. Otherwise, what's the point? Players will become passive, I thought. And yes, my feeling is that players haver become increasingly passive. Not without exceptions, but as a trend. Which leads to an upcoming blogpost - how to be a Player... But more on that later.


What's up with the Cave of Games?

So, here's the status on the groups that I am currently involved in... (I use either player of GM, regardless of what the game calls the GM). Presently, I am just listing the games, but I am giving every game a little project name henceforth, to make it easier to follow. Statuses are Green for Go, Yellow for Risk, Red for Disbanded/Crashed.

Delta Green (player)
The X Conspiracy Cell is moving along nicely. Played last night even, and there's now plans to develop into playing Call of Cthulhu as well here, swapping the GM roles. Really nice to be a player sometimes, I must say, and great respect to the GM of the group who does a really good job in keeping the group rolling. And yes, if anyone's interested, there are recordings of the sessions available on the Net. I can post a link if you would like.

Delta Green (GM)
This group is presently suffering from late drop-off of a player, bringing it to two players, which we consider one below minimum. There is an ongoing investigation to determine if there's anyone else interested in filling the gap. If not, the group will be disbanded.

Call of Cthulhu (IRL - GM)
This group continues as planned. Upcoming game on Saturday, when they continue exploring threads in the classic module the Haunting. Upon conclusion, it is likely they will move to modern times and dive into the Call of Cthulhu campaign module Nocturnum. Or perhaps some Delta Green as a diversion. Things can possibly be put to a vote :)

Call of Cthulhu (Net - GM)
This group was intending on focus on the Lighthouse-adventure, especially adapted for Roll20, but seems to have fallen through entirely due to lack of gamer interest.

Kult (Net-GM)
Planned a first session tomorrow, as we will tackle Oakwood Heights, the fantastic module that served as an introduction to Kult for me. This time, there will be three players, tackling the roles of Aidan Kostroff, Felicia Jenner and Caitlyn Dehamre. I am greatly looking forward to this, having gathered a lot of player materials in preparation.
Alien (IRL-GM) + Western
A great group relying on players with less-than-optimal planning skills. The risk is that this will unfortunately fall through the safety net but I still have high hopes. Completing the introductionary adventure to Alien first, and then carrying on to a little horror-infused Western setting would be awesome!

Eon (Net-GM)
A big group, netting no less than six players, but with varying degrees of interest. The idea is to play the traditional campaign Svavelvinter but adapted for the world of Mundana. Presently, the players have been tasked with a mission to get back to me about how they want play to develop and what is good/what needs improving, but almost five weeks have passed without a peep, so there's risk of disbanding the group unfortunately.

Presently working on
Now I am preparing Oakwood Heights for tomorrow, and after that I will be looking at a tour of Arkham for the Haunting that will take place on Saturday. I would like to prepare an adventure for Western, but as odds are that this won't take place, I will keep looking at Call of Cthulhu-modules, hoping that Nocturnum will be a good option.

After that, who knows? There's ambitions like Trinity, Paranoia, Mutant City Blues and so on, but those will have to be future projects.