Casting Shadows

There is a lot of latitude for interpretation of today’s question for #RPGaDay2022 which is a nice semi-coincidence as we find ourselves across the halfway mark of the event. The question asks us to consider what our perfect game might be, and we might take that as a product to buy, a group to arrange, a session of play, or – but not limited to – the way to run a campaign.

I make no secret of my idea of the great game. You can find references to it and see versions of it all over the YouTube channel and to a lesser extent on this blog. It’s not a particular product or a particular set of people living or dead (though that is tempting, isn’t it?) but rather a framework for running long-form games (campaigns).

The great game for me is one where everyone involved has something to accomplish as a player and as the player who is the GM. It’s one where our experience and investment allows for enough depth and breadth of setting and characterization that each participant can seek their goals by running characters and by taking turns as the GM. It’s one where the whole setting is open to us: past, present, and future. It’s an environment where we have compatible approaches to play and the inevitable compromises required to enable a group to be a group over a long period are easy concessions that enhance the experience.

For me specifically, it would be beyond great and would shade toward perfect if we could do this with a cosmic horror experience such as provided by Call of Cthulhu, Leagues of Cthulhu, Quantum Black, Delta Green, or Raiders of R’lyeh. An example of how it might take shape is that each GM could take on a different era, or for something necessarily modern like Quantum Black and Delta Green, a different region or sector of society. Each person would have a troupe of characters for each of these provinces of play and the campaign would be set up to run with regular and predictable shifts in roles for everyone but have no set length or end point.

Does this sound like utter fantasy?

It’s not.

We have done this time and again.

We did it as kids with our varied versions of D&D. We did it with Palladium Fantasy. We did it with Star Wars then (D6) and Star Wars now (FFG). We did it with wild abandon in the old World of Darkness. We have been doing it for years with All for One: Regime Diabolique, and we will do so in the future with any of a hundred different games.

I have tasted greatness and I can see perfection from here.

And perfection, as we all know, is attainable – always~

TOMORROW – When are your favorite games set: past, present, or future?