I'm in love with science fiction, and with 80's style of role-playing. Is that a crime? If so, I'm guilty. Does it make me an old relic? I don't think so. I talk to many and hear the same things (and there exists a whole host of projects to revive old game systems all over the web).
So here I am wanting to make a new role-playing game. I feel like the mechanics are mostly worked out - though there still remains a lot of things to still be worked out. I am leaning on inspiration from great games which have special places in my memories of my youth: TSR's Star Frontiers, GDW's Traveller, FASA's Star Trek, and more. But before I publish what we have, I want to consider what exactly I'm hoping to give the gaming community... then make sure I'm delivering it. I want to try to recapture some elements that give me all these great memories... to build a foundation of fun in a genre poorly represented in today's games.
I've spent a great deal of time thinking about it... what exactly makes a game have an 80's feel? So I started listing out what I remember about the games which seems lacking from today's offerings. I narrowed the list of things to three, though this is not meant to be exhaustive:
So here I am ready to make a new science fiction role-playing game. A lot of the mechanics have already been worked out, though they still evolve with each new playtesting. I sincerely hope I can capture some of this old 80's feel in a new genre, while packaging it as a modern game.
So I have a question for you... What are the elements of role-playing games you look back on from the 80's and miss most? Did I hit any marks in my 3-point summary, or am I way off? Let's hear from you?
-BL
Hi I was gaming in the 80s andeven then i couldnt afford the really good gems of games I was being distracted by the marketing of the main ones of TSR and the like.
I entirely missed out on Spelljammer. I'm now reading those rules up. Star Frontiers my players dismissed as too simplistic even tho I knew that this game had great potential to do great things with.
Today as then i have been looking for a game that has the strategic as well as down to the player intregated. So that you could offer to the wargamers a game that they wouldnt dismmiss as being too simplistic as well as a strategic side for the roleplayers tto understand why they cant have three federation dreadnaughts in their battle fleet.
Starfrontiers is probably a precursor to why i fell in love with the Babylon 5 series.
Giving something for the gearheads, the simultationists, the traveler traders, the space operaists has been my perenial search.
One thing i liked about the older games and probably why the retromovement of gaming is that alot fo the tools were provided to the gm but not so detailed or not so simplistic and that they could point you torwards where you wanted to make your campaign.
Oh, to be back in High Schoool, sitting in the band room, skipping lunch, playing D&D and Star Frontiers...