What dead game would you resurrect?

[aramis erak]

Mutant Chronicles, Bushido, and Gamma World.

Bushidō 1e is available in PDF on Drive Thru.

Multiple editions of GW in pdf on Drive Thru as well.

Mutant Chronicles 3rd had been, as of 2018, but has been taken out of sale from Drive Thru since. (I can still redownload, but the sales page is gone.)

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Gamma World, Star Frontiers/Alternity/Star*Drive, Buck Rogers. And now "Adventures in Rokugan" seems as dead because there aren't new titles in the last years.

 

[Golden Bee]

Sea Dracula for remote play.

 

[Wicht]

Toon. I think in today's RPG market, where people are used to games other than power fantasies, it could really be a big hit, especially with more modern light mechanics.

That would be my first answer as well.

 

[Mannahnin]

Also, is that a thing that would be popular with people? Civil War wargames are popular because it is a pivot point in American history, but I can't say I know anyone (besides a few re-enactors) that would want to RPG the civil war.

Honestly, its hard to picture that much of the gaming populace even in the U.S. wanting to do that. The great truth is that RPGs without fantastic elements are a niche within a niche.

Yeah, I mostly see such historical scenarios being used for one-shots. Something like LARPA (formerly the Interactive Literature Foundation, FKA the Society for Interactive Literature (1981 founded at Harvard, first public events at Boskone in 1983) runs. As I recall InterCon has historically had both historical and fantastic scenarios. I remember reading about one done at a hotel convention back in the 90s which was set on Titanic. With the climactic final scene on the ship's deck played out in the indoor pool room.

Fight to Survive is a mundane martial arts game. It and Ross Rifles (Canadians in the trenches of world war 1) both sell quite well for us.
Shadows of the Past is a brand new historical game.
I am very fond of Centurion: Legionaries of Rome.

Lonely Timbers is about lumberjacks from a century or so ago. Killshot is an older game about being a hitman.
If your interested in more one-shot style games This City Must Burn (1-3 sessions) is about violent revolutionaries, Here We Used to Fly is kids/adults visiting a theme park.
Here's a filtered result set that might be of interest historical+modern+generic

Neat!

What was the one that was supposed to be an actual occult teaching device to allow you to progress spiritually about this time? Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

I don't remember anything exactly like that. I remember that the occultist and neopagan author Isaac Bonewits published an adaptation of his work on magical/psychic theory as an RPG supplement called Authentic Thaumaturgy. Chaosium first published it in 1978, and Steve Jackson Games republished updated versions in 1998 and 2005.

I don't think it was ever suggested that the RPG supplement would progress you spiritually, though. The closest to that I remember was that the Dragonraid RPG was designed explicitly to teach Christian values and Biblical concepts. IIRC it required players to memorize and recite Bible passages to invoke magical/miraculous effects in the game.

 

[Senior_WotC_Janitor]

Some incarnation of basic D&D

 

[Reynard]

Some incarnation of basic D&D

I mean, there's like 10 currently on the market.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Over the Edge 3e kickstarter deliverd just before the pandemic (if not during, I don't remember exactly)
So I guess I wonder about definitions of "dead" games...

Yeah. I got it, and it is a fine game, but not what I was looking for (seem to recall some others upthread saying the same).

Regardless, we already had that issue since thread start. People have been suggesting BX D&D, even though there is an existing current D&D (and boy howdy are there plenty of BX analogues out there in OSRland).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Some incarnation of basic D&D

The OSR movement would like to talk with you. They have a lot of options in the BD&D space for you.

 

[Autumnal]

I believe the RPG that treated sessions as actual ritual events is The Everlasting by Steve Brown, previously of White Wolf. There were four-ish main volumes and some number of supplements, published in the early ‘90s.