What Does the RPG Hobby Need Now?

[J.M]

Here is what I want to see:

• A really good D&D starter set. I have high hopes for the new set coming out this fall. It looks great.
• I would LOVE to see the design team at WotC take a lot more risks and really embrace D&D Beyond as a place where they can experiment with smaller, more focused products. Unleash the team now that the rules update is in the rearview mirror.
• Adventures designed from the experience of running things on a VTT. Design, iterate, and playtest using online tools. Never run them in-person. What changes? How does the design shift?
• More Mork Borg/Pirate Borg/etc-sized games, but with different esthetic, tone, etc. I love the feel of a new game that I can wrap my head around in an hour and jump into running after an evening spent reading and prepping.
• More of what I think of "adventure forward" designs. Back in the day, I was sold on Mothership because the adventures are creepy and awesome. I'd love to see more games that start with adventure concepts and then build a system to support them.

EDIT: I forgot to add one thing I really want to buy - a superhero game with * Borg level rules and graphic design. Small, compact book with easy character creation, simple rules, but oozing with flavor evoked by art and graphic design.

To push on @mearls 's idea of "adventure-forward design", I'd like to see adventures that have all the rules required to run them inside the adventure. We've grown to accept this idea that in order to run an adventure, you also need to learn and reference a complicated rule book, one which for many games runs in the hundreds of pages. How about lowering the rules barrier by having all the rules you need to run the adventure, and only the ones you need, inside the adventure. I can only think of a couple of examples that do this (e.g. Lady Blackbird). We've always thought of RPGs as rule systems first, then adventures to support it. What design space can we open up if we flip the paradigm?

 

[darjr]

To push on @mearls 's idea of "adventure-forward design", I'd like to see adventures that have all the rules required to run them inside the adventure. We've grown to accept this idea that in order to run an adventure, you also need to learn and reference a complicated rule book, one which for many games runs in the hundreds of pages. How about lowering the rules barrier by having all the rules you need to run the adventure, and only the ones you need, inside the adventure. I can only think of a couple of examples that do this (e.g. Lady Blackbird). We've always thought of RPGs as rule systems first, then adventures to support it. What design space can we open up if we flip the paradigm?

This does that. At first I kinda ignored them. I ran a few at a Free RPG Day and now I’m hooked.

 

[Reynard]

"Your game designers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." - Dr. Ian Malcolm, Game Designer.

What would a zero prep game look like?

In my imagination (and this is a long gestating project for me that I will soon finally have time to truly develop) it works kind of like a board game.

You rip open the cellophane and a half dozen playbooks fall out. These don't just describe the characters and give options for advancement, but also explain the (relatively straightforward) player facing rules. While the players are examining those, the GM gets 3 sheets in succession: an overview, including basic rules; an adventure mind-map that shows what is happening where and how; and a "rules glossary" to be referred to with each discrete segment in the adventure.

I want to stress: a product like this is intended to serve the needs of the subject of the thread: how to onboard people. It is meant to get people (including the GM) playing immediately and falling in love with the medium. It is not some edict about how all RPGs should be designed.

I do think you can design RPGs that do not require any prep at all, for whole campaigns, because I have done that. But it is trickier and not an introductory product.

 

[Deset Gled]

In my imagination (and this is a long gestation project for me that I will soon finally have time to truly develop) it works kind of like a board game.

You rip open the cellophane and a half dozen playboys fall out. These don't just describe the characters and. Give options for advancement, but also explain the (relatively straightforward) player facing rules. While the players are examining and distinguish up those, the GM gets 3 sheets in succession: an overview, including basic rules; an adventure mind-map that shows what is happening where and how; and a "rules glossary" to be referred to with each discrete segment in the adventure.

I gotta say that there are an awful lot of times that my experience is that opening and learning a brand new board games takes, net, equal or more time than prepping for a D&D session.

And in many cases, one person (i.e. the DM surrogate) is expected to know the game and teach it to the other players at the table. Not to mention the many times that the first play through of the board game is basically educational, and you don't get a true play through until the second round.

 

[Dire Bare]

Has it? These GI Joe ones are a little big but the price point is good.

https://www.amazon.com/Jada-Toys-18-Pack-Die-cast-32913/dp/B09CHJDLVV/ref=asc_df_B09CHJDLVV?mcid=3b39313c966436d3aeaa6305ddc9c605&hvocijid=15141487493074426276-B09CHJDLVV-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15141487493074426276&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033478&hvtargid=pla-2281435177898&psc=1

The Jada line (they have D&D figs too) are cast metal and the paint jobs are similar to the quality you'll see on WizKids pre-painted plastic . . . not very good. They are also significantly larger scale than standard 25-30 mm figs. The products lines are also limited to just a few entries per franchise, at least currently.

Some of the D&D sets include monsters that negate the scale difference, here's a set with a beholder. There is another one with a red dragon.

But . . . yeah, that's a good price for 18 figs! Yo Joe!

Everytime I look for figures on Amazon, there is more available, both unpainted and pre-painted. The unpainted boxed sets are the best bargains, understandably. But it does look like at least a few companies are offering pre-painted plastic around $3-4 per figure.

Wizkids pre-painted minis (from blind-boxes, at MSRP) go for around $4-5 per figure now, but have an incredibly expansive range of figures.

 

[Dire Bare]

I gotta say that there are an awful lot of times that my experience is that opening and learning a brand new board games takes, net, equal or more time than prepping for a D&D session.

And in many cases, one person (i.e. the DM surrogate) is expected to know the game and teach it to the other players at the table. Not to mention the many times that the first play through of the board game is basically educational, and you don't get a true play through until the second round.

This is me with Return to Dark Tower. My play group loves this as a break from our D&D sessions, but . . . I had to buy the game, and I am the "game expert". They just show up to play. Which would be okay, if one of them went and purchased some other expensive game they could be the owner-expert on . . .

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

You rip open the cellophane and a half dozen playboys fall out.

 

[Reynard]

I gotta say that there are an awful lot of times that my experience is that opening and learning a brand new board games takes, net, equal or more time than prepping for a D&D session.

And in many cases, one person (i.e. the DM surrogate) is expected to know the game and teach it to the other players at the table. Not to mention the many times that the first play through of the board game is basically educational, and you don't get a true play through until the second round.

I am just so tired of the "it can't be done" attitude. No wonder RPGs have barely evolved over 45 years (the first 5 showed big change).

 

[Reynard]

This is me with Return to Dark Tower. My play group loves this as a break from our D&D sessions, but . . . I had to buy the game, and I am the "game expert". They just show up to play. Which would be okay, if one of them went and purchased some other expensive game they could be the owner-expert on . . .

This is a failure of the game design, not the concept.

 

[Laurefindel]

What do we think the RPG hobby needs now?

Honestly, there are so many things out there that I easily get dizzy and fall back to known games by default. It’s like going to the restaurant and be handed a 50-page menu spread over five different tables, a blackboard the entrance, another by the kitchen, on the back of the napkin dispenser, and some items only available by asking the chef. Chances are I’m just gonna ask for a burger with fries…

So what’s missing IMO isn’t so much content as some way of navigating and browsing what’s available with some kind of guidance that can help me search through it all.

And what can small publishers like myself do to help?

I wish I knew. I’d really like to have a designer coming to visit me and my group and micro-design custom things specifically tailored to our tastes, but there’s no way we could offer anything that would come even close to cover your worth (or anyone’s, really)