Finite RPGs

[tldenmark]

* Casual gamers who have always been interested in RPG's, but have been intimiated by the cumbersome rules and the "geek factor" of doing dramatic voices and that sort of stuff.

* Former RPG'ers who just don't have the time to devote to preparing and running a typical game (i.e. a D20 game), but still want to enjoy some of the social aspects and atomosphere in a RPG-lite.

* RPG'ers who want to introduce friends, family etc. to the hobby.

* RPG'ers who want an alternative system that woulkd be good for last minute games, pick-up games, etc.

I think this list perfectly sums up the gamers I was thinking of.

I too fall into some of these categories. I love RPG's, just don't have the time to play. Or when I do have time, my gaming group doesn't. We manage to get together only a few times a year now, and it seems to be less each year.

I think there's a large demographic of age 25+ gamers out there looking for a game like I'm describing. But I think with the cards it's also "hip" enough for a younger crowd.

[tldenmark]

Well, I don't want to come off as a fanboy, but don't sell yourself short. Dungeoneer is pretty darn ingenous, and if there's another game designer out there who is as talented with a paintbrush, I'd be surpised. I am a jack-of-all-trades (writer, artist, gamer) and master of none, so I'm envious (and frankly, it makes me hate you just a bit ;) )

I look forward to your future work.

Thanks!

Unfortunately I'd be a better artist if I didn't 'waste' so much time with this gaming nonsense. ;o)

Or, I could be a better game designer if I'd stop this art nonsense...

I think that it's true of anyone that divides their attention, the more focused and hard working you are at ONE thing the better you will be at it, and the quality goes down proportionally to the number of different things you spend your time and energy on.

[tldenmark]

the whole point of having these props is so that you can find a card and give it to the players and say "you see THIS".  And this means that from the metagame perspective, play must move from card to card to card in a systematic manner.  The "continuous real time" mode in conventional RPG is not necessary, just habit IMO.  A scene based system would accord more directly with the practical requirement to move from card to card.

I do expect a wave of RPG-like games that utilize cards at some point in the near future. I think Everway left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and stalled the potential for a while. But with print technology advancing, cards getting cheaper to make, and the loads of creative game-designers in the making out there, it's inevitable.

I'd hope to be on the forefront of the next wave in gaming. I don't think Dungeoneer is it, too many flaws in the game design because I didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with the positive reaction to the game. It's to be expected the designer would be the most critical of it. But next game: no dice, no tokens, just cards. That's my goal from now on. And I'm studying those brilliant German game designers like crazy!

[tldenmark]

It's funny to think that the last post to this thread was 20 Feb 2004 at 23:16, and now nearly ten months later all this discussion and speculation is a reality in the newly published Dungeoneer RPG.

Reading these old posts some of the ideas were spot on to what the product ended up being. But some of the ideas, such as point-based character creation did not become a reality. It's something far superior I think. There are no points to keep track of, just raw scores.

td