What Razed Blogs May Be
I waffled for a while about this. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to blog much about Razed while it was still in development, because I didn’t want to promise things that might get dropped or altered during development, and because I didn’t want too much of your apocalypse getting into mine. (More about that later.)
What changed my mind? My in-house playtest campaign. In the past few weeks, the game has begun to take on an identity of its own — or at least this particular campaign has — and that makes me think it’s now ready to stand up to some scrutiny. Not too much, not yet. To write, I need batteries, and if I’m not careful I’ll drain those batteries here instead of in the actual manuscript. I don’t want to spoil the game for you, or for your players. Razed is, after all, a game with a built-in mystery, which I call the meta-mystery, and while it’d be difficult for me to spoil it outright, I remain wary. (More about that later.)
Anyway, the means by which I can avoid draining my batteries here is by not showing you things that are still “soft,” developmentally speaking. A lot of Razed fits the traditional GUMSHOE rules pretty tightly, because I so often believe in that famous principle: If It Ain’t Broke. Things like the Civility Meter, on the other hand, are still in active development. The mechanics for settlements and safe havens, too.
Instead, what I’ll be blogging about is the thought process that goes into my design — the inspirations, the fears and the caution, the hopes and the aims. I’ll write a bit about the Razed campaign I’m running, and the difference between individual instances of play and the game as a whole. For example, I think my campaign is going pretty well, with its social tensions and human drama starting to simmer as they are, but systematizing play can be tricky. Even lousy games can be run well, right? I’m after a good game that runs great, at the least.
While I’m still revving up Razed over here, have a look as Bill White blogs about New World, the RPG about colonization and clashing worlds that he’s also developing for Pelgrane Press. He’s cooking something fantastic over there, it looks like. Where he’s wrestling against the entrenched ludological notion of top-down play that comes when we think of the word civilization, I’m struggling with expectations of the apocalyptic sub-genre, which also relate to that word: civilization. Don’t get me wrong, Razed is about battling aliens and scrounging treasures from the ruins of the previous civilization, but it is also a game about the ways that humans work together (or die alone), the ways they organize and control themselves and each other, and the choices and sacrifices necessary to save or rebuild — wait for it — civilization.
But more about that later.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about my apocalypse getting into yours. Or, more specifically, how it’s not getting into yours. I’m guessing there’s a sneeze guard involved.
I’m almost ashamed to admit that I’ve never played an RPG, aside from a half-hearted foray into a Gorn-based Star Trek something-or-other with a disinterested friend in junior high. The play seems right up my alley, however. I like telling people what I’m doing.
This should probably go through your question portal, or over on Gameplaywright, but here it is: Is there a game/medium/whatever you’d recommend for a 30-something with no RPG experience who’s interested in the genre? Of course, I’d need to find other folks interested, too…
When it comes to finding players, D&D is probably the de rigueur choice — it’s player network is wide, it’s got name recognition, and it’s reasonably easy to learn. It’s not the most narrative game out there, though, so you might do better to start with an indie RPG that’s billed as some sort of storytelling game and get some folks to play it who might not otherwise play an RPG. I’m thinking of any of the GUMSHOE-system games, here, or even of something like Dogs In The Vineyard or Mouse Guard or The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Each of those presents a unique perspective on the hobby that might serve to get you in. They’re each a little weird, though, so maybe you should start with something that’s still accessible and meant to be played by a beginner, like Green Ronin’s by-all-accounts-excellent Dragon Age RPG. That might be the best of all worlds, as a starting place.
It is a true shame that the hobby doesn’t have a clear route in all the time. New D&D products are due this year, aimed at new players, but I’m not sure D&D’s tactical combat is quite what you’re after if you’re interested in a collaborative story game. What’s the itch you want to scratch?
I should make a good question out of this at Gameplaywright. And I will. You’ll get better, more informed answers over there, I bet.
Ryan, I’ve put this up for discussion at Gameplaywright. Let us know what you think over there if you get the chance.
Great. I’m there …
I’ve considered an introductory GUMSHOE game, based on the idea that people know what “murder mystery games” are. Sherlock Holmes seems a possible vector.