Aldarc
Legend
Much like @schneeland noted, the original sense of "Neo-Trad" came out of Free League publishing. In the original sense "Neo-Trad" basically amounted to a "traditional game" influenced by narrative games. In Free League's catalogue of games this was usually reflected in things like how XP is gained by the players leaning into narrative elements of their characters or doing particular things in the game: e.g., secret agendas, character vices, discovering a thing, protecting someone, earning money, etc.
However, the popular usage of "Neo-Trad" has invariably drifted from its original meaning, though the above is also still true. So in the wider spectrum of "neo-trad games" out there, Free League's games look pretty traditional. Whereas if you look at a game like Fabula Ultima, it cites many of the greatest hits of narrative games as its influences - Apocalypse World, Burning Wheel, Blades in the Dark, Sorcerer, Fate - plus D&D 4e and 13th Age, which are two games that @TwoSix mentions earlier as the closest that Fantasy d20 has ventured towards Neo-Trad.
However, the popular usage of "Neo-Trad" has invariably drifted from its original meaning, though the above is also still true. So in the wider spectrum of "neo-trad games" out there, Free League's games look pretty traditional. Whereas if you look at a game like Fabula Ultima, it cites many of the greatest hits of narrative games as its influences - Apocalypse World, Burning Wheel, Blades in the Dark, Sorcerer, Fate - plus D&D 4e and 13th Age, which are two games that @TwoSix mentions earlier as the closest that Fantasy d20 has ventured towards Neo-Trad.
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