What does it take for an RPG to die?

[General_Tangent]

The great thing is this is easily testable.....name a game you think is dead; someone just needs to come along and say, "Yeah, we're still playing that." Games I think are dead:

Jorune


Etc.

I was in a group playing Skyrealms of Jorune a few years ago, I'd love to see it return to being in print.

 

[darjr]

I was in a group playing Skyrealms of Jorune a few years ago, I'd love to see it return to being in print.

I think there are copies still for sale. Maybe not technically in print. Someone with a large following just started a live play too.

 

[darjr]

@Doctor Futurity @General_Tangent

I’ll grant you that part of the reason he picked it was probably because it is a “dead” game.


And you can get copies here

Skyrealms of Jorune RPG Value Pack

Chessex has a trusted history of manufacturing high quality dice and gaming accessories at an affordable price.

www.chessex.com

 

[Dire Bare]

Interesting question. I take a different view of dead RPGs. Like the Mexican view of three deaths, that's how I conceive of dead games.

The first death of a game is when it goes out of print.

The second death of a game is when it's no longer played.

The third death of a game is when no one remembers playing it.

The third death . . . does that mean all of the players of the game are dead? Or, in the old-folks home . . .

I just had a chill go up my spine!

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Dragonquest (1st, 2nd or 3rd editions)
Powers & Perils
Lords of Creation

I've made the mistake of claiming all of those are dead at various points in the last five years. and got vigorously corrected with enough evidence that I'm willing to believe they still have their player bases. Heck, I'd play LoC myself now and then just for the sheer gonzo factor if I still had a copy.

Villains & Vigilantes (seems to be getting new content on the FGU site)

That's a bit of an illusion. You can see when various products were added to DTRPG, and the most recent thing (To Dream, To Conquer, To Rule - which is also part of the Giant #3 compilation on the "new" section of the FGU site and has been in preorder limbo for quite a while) went up back in 2021. Prior to that the most recent item is from 2018.

FGU has released quite a few things after the initial stop at the end of the 80s, but they've showed up in several clumps. IIRC there were a few (including some unseen stuff written in the 80s) in the Oughts, a bigger clump around 2012-2013 (when Bizar and Dee/Herman were court over the rights), and semi-steady output throughout 2016-2018.

Monkey House Games has the rights to the rules (but not the V&V trademark, that's used with Bizar's permission) and a few of the old adventures, but their own output has been pretty light - three new adventures, two free mini-adventures, Mighty Protectors/V&V 3.0, a miscellany of other play aids and older material from the FGU days, and most recently a big WW2 sourcebook in 2021.

Accurate to say V&V (in any edition) has had half a decade since any new releases from either publisher, and there's nothing in the works that I know of.

That said, yeah, it's definitely not dead in terms of fan base online, and the surviving members of my old school days still play it once or twice a year for nostalgia's sake.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

That's a great example, I was just looking at collecting Dark Conspiracy a few months ago as its one of my nostalgia buttons, so glad to hear Mongoose may be able to do a revival with it now.

And that's part of it - people can have all sorts of different nostalgia buttons. All it takes is the right wistful mood (and/or a bit of bourbon), and a trip to Noble Knight Games or eBay to indulge it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The great thing is this is easily testable.....name a game you think is dead; someone just needs to come along and say, "Yeah, we're still playing that." Games I think are dead:

Dragonquest (1st, 2nd or 3rd editions)

I can't say with certainty now, but I knew of people still playing this one as of a couple years ago.

 

[DragonLancer]

Ha. By that standard, D&D 5e is a dead game - as well as every single previous edition. Don't think many people will agree with that, somehow.

I would argue that 5E doesn't count. 5th edition is 2014 and 2024. A refresh and retidy isn't a new edition, at least not in my eyes.

I will cede that basically D&D isn't dead in any edition as there are still people playing 1st edition, 2nd...etc, even if nothing new gets released for it. Third party RPGs are probably different though as I guess there are many which never continue to get played.

 

[Umbran]

I think there's value in thinking about this because it helps us scope our own reactions when we see a beloved RPG fall off the radar or consider whether the game we love is on the decline and therefore "dying" when it's really not.

I think there's anti-value, in that it leads to someone declaring "X is dead" and then having to argue with stans of X over whether you are correct. Who needs that?

 

[MGibster]

The third death . . . does that mean all of the players of the game are dead? Or, in the old-folks home . . .

I just had a chill go up my spine!

If they can bring back Dire Wolves then we'll always have our Dire Bare.