I’m putting together a high-level overview of a few RPG systems for some players who may join my group. (Yay, new blood!) We’ll talk this over more when we get together in person, of course, but I thought this might help get them thinking about their options. (Their options, in this case, being games I think will be friendly to newcomers, that I either haven’t played recently or haven’t gotten enough of.)
Here’s the skeleton of my overview:
Game Title
When and Where Are We?
What’s the Genre?
What’s the Premise?
Who Am I?
What Will I Do?
And here are some examples:
Deadlands
When and Where Are We? An alternate Wild West
What’s the Genre? Dark historical fantasy
What’s the Premise? In 1863 history diverged from what we know, resulting in a “Weird West” featuring monsters, magic, steampunk…and horrors.
Who Am I? A gunfighter, mad scientist, shaman, sorcerer, brave, or other Western adventurer.
What Will I Do? Fight zombies and spirits. Use Ghost Rock to power weird technology. Cast hexes. Play cards.
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
When and Where Are We? All of time and space
What’s the Genre? Science fiction
What’s the Premise? A Doctor Who game spawned from the current TV series
Who Am I? The Doctor or one of his companions from the show
What Will I Do? Solve mysteries. Run from monsters. Spout scientific jargon. Explore the cosmos. Meet historical figures.
Edge of the Empire
When and Where Are We? The Star Wars galaxy, during the original trilogy.
What’s the Genre? Science fiction / space opera
What’s the Premise? A Star Wars game set during the original trilogy, but seen from the point of view of wretched hives of scum and villainy.
Who Am I? A human, alien, or droid on the fringes of galactic society, including bounty hunters, smugglers, and hired guns.
What Will I Do? Earn money on legally questionable jobs; explore the Outer Rim of the galaxy in your ship; evade crime bosses who loaned you money; get caught between the Rebels and the Empire.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
When and Where Are We? Modern-day Earth
What’s the Genre? Superheroes
What’s the Premise? Marvel superheroes doing their thing!
Who Am I? Your favorite Marvel hero: Daredevil! Scarlet Witch! Spider-Man! Captain America!
What Will I Do? Fight supervillains. Save the innocent. Protect your secret identity.
Pugmire
When and Where Are We? Far future (but medieval) Earth
What’s the Genre? Light fantasy
What’s the Premise? Long after Man has vanished from the world, intelligent animals have built a medieval civilization.
Who Am I? A good dog of any breed, specializing in fighting, using magic, or sneaking around.
What Will I Do? Protect the kingdom of Pugmire. Fight monsters and bandits and cats. Seek out relics left over from the Ages of Man.
The Strange
When and Where Are We? Modern-day Earth
What’s the Genre? Science fiction & fantasy
What’s the Premise? Some people on modern-day Earth can travel to strange alternate worlds, many of which are based on works of fiction.
Who Am I? Someone able to visit the other worlds and manifest different powers and abilities on each one.
What Will I Do? Explore alternate realities. Defend the Earth from invaders. Interact with aliens and fictional characters.
Did I leave anything out? Got any suggestions for changes? I considered a line about “What’s Unique About this Game?” but I was undecided about that.