D&D 5E Alphastream - Why No RPG Company Truly Competes with Wizards of the Coast

[darjr]

Uhm, are you sure you aren't confusing BRP with Steve's old Perrin Conventions? They have some familiar relationship, but they aren't the same, and the first BRP game was absolutely RQ. I was a friend of Steve Perrin's for many decades until his heartbreakingly untimely death earlier this year, so I think I know of what I speak.

The BRP pamphlet I meant came after RQ.

But maybe.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Well that's the million dollar question, isn't it? But it's not because they fail to be (a) generic or (b) easy to learn.

The answer I'd give is, at least in part, once a system has expanded in visibility to the degree D&D had by--I'd want to say, early 80's--any other other system is going to get starved for sunlight. The majority of people they're going to see are people who already in the hobby and looking for something else. That makes spread a hard row to hoe (as you know doubt know given WOIN).

 

[Thomas Shey]

The BRP pamphlet I meant came after RQ.

But maybe.

Are you talking about the one that appeared in the Worlds of Wonder set? That was, indeed, systemless per se, but it well post dates RQ and would have been very unlikely to exist without it.

 

[Helldritch]

FATE, nor FUDGE, nor GURPS, nor BRP have base settings.

All of these games have had shelf space in several retail stores, GURPS has even been in the big book stores like Barnes and Noble.

I dunno why you haven’t heard of them. I’d think you’d know better than any of us.

Wow....
1) I do own GURPS. But never saw or heard of the other mentionned games outside of the forums.

2) Have I ever claimed to know better than anyone else here? That kind of sarcasm isn’t beffiting you if not downright insulting for me.

 

[darjr]

Wow....
1) I do own GURPS. But never saw or heard of the other mentionned games outside of the forums.

2) Have I ever claimed to know better than anyone else here? That kind of sarcasm isn’t beffiting you if not downright insulting for me.

Apologies. Not trying to dig at anyone. I’m just a bit baffled.

But that might be my issue.

 

[Helldritch]

Apologies. Not trying to dig at anyone. I’m just a bit baffled.

But that might be my issue.

No offense taken then. We all have these days don't we?

 

[darjr]

So BRP, I did have it backwards. It was built to support the setting first and after retooled as a generic system. But it is one of the oldest. And I think, reading the history, what they were really going for, imho, was a sort of generic system anyway.

Press - Steve Perrin: Creating RuneQuest, A Personal Account

For the RuneQuest Classic Kickstarter in 2016 Steve Perrin generously provided a personal account of his role in the genesis of the RuneQuest roleplaying game. Although at the time of the Kickstarter we publicly featured an excerpt of Steve's recollections, the full account was only ever...

www.enworld.org

 

[Staffan]

Every time someone says that CR is the reason 5e is a hit it shows how little people grasp the size of 5e. Critical Role is lightning in a bottle. They have almost 2 million fans. There will probably never be another show with that level of success in the TTRPG genre. Still, that's not even 10% of the people currently playing 5e.

Counterpoint: one person watching and becoming enamored by Critical Role and setting up behind the DM screen with five of their friends means you turn one CR watcher into six players.

Also, Critical Role started in 2015, and became a phenomenon really fast. In 2015, D&D wasn't anywhere near as big as it is now (and neither was Critical Role). But it's pretty clear that Critical Role played a big part in the first stage of the rocket that D&D turned into. Should they shut it down now I don't think it would matter much, but CR definitely helped D&D go big.

Then why are they so fringed that I barely heard of them.

In the words of Ryan Dancey (who used to be one of the bosses of D&D in the early 00s): network externalities. Basically, D&D is big to the point where for many people it's synonymous with RPGs, so if you're looking for players you're likely to find some. That turns into a big positive feedback loop. If you're looking for GURPS players, you're going to have to look far and wide – in my experience, it's uncommon for a group to start off with a non-D&D game. It's more likely that an established group will go "Eh, this RPG thing is fun but I'm getting a bit tired of D&D. What else is out there?". And of course, it's quite likely that those groups will wander off in different directions. Some will try Call of Cthulhu for a real change of pace. Some want a game that's sort of the same but crunchier and go for Pathfinder. Others like the sci-fi/space thing and try out Star Wars or Starfinder. So basically, the small portion of the gaming market that isn't D&D gets split up dozens or hundreds of different ways.

 

[Oofta]

Counterpoint: one person watching and becoming enamored by Critical Role and setting up behind the DM screen with five of their friends means you turn one CR watcher into six players.

Also, Critical Role started in 2015, and became a phenomenon really fast. In 2015, D&D wasn't anywhere near as big as it is now (and neither was Critical Role). But it's pretty clear that Critical Role played a big part in the first stage of the rocket that D&D turned into. Should they shut it down now I don't think it would matter much, but CR definitely helped D&D go big.

I'm not certain it's "really clear". A contributing factor? Sure. How much of a contributing factor as compared to all the other aspect of it's popularity including things like people wanting a social activity that was more personal? Who knows.

 

[darjr]

The first stage of the phenomenon was at the release of 5e. 2014 when the PHB was released.

In fact the supply they gave Amazon, an amount meant to last months or a year, sold out in days.

They stopped the printer from printing the next book to rush out more PHBs.

They were so stunned at WotC they thought surely something was wrong.