Mercurius
Legend
If I were a game designer I'd seriously consider putting together a fantasy RPG that just might carve a chunk out of D&D's market share. Given the questionable popularity of 4E--at least relative to the initial popularity of 3E--and considering that it seems geared more towards a younger/new crowd, I would think that a very well-done traditional fantasy game might be able to actually survive on its own indefinitely.
OK, we have Rolemaster, Runequest, Harn, Talislanta, Warhammer, etc. But all of those have gone in and out print and have never really been able to snowball a large enough following to stay in print and expand in the way that D&D has. You could argue for Exalted, but that isn't what I mean by "traditional": secondary world fantasy with the basic archetypes of Tolkienian fantasy and European mythology; some degree of sword and sorcery...etc. You get the deal (and hasn't Exalted waned in popularity?).
Now I think it is possible if highly unlikely that someone could pull this off. But wouldn't this be a great time to do it? There are still millions of RPGers and 4E has sparked a lot of controversy largely because it seems to be the most specific in tone of the D&D iterations, the furthest from traditionalist roots. Not to mention that while its obvious computer RPG influence might attract CRPGers, it tends to turn off more hardcore table top gamers. (Not to mention that if WotC is really trying to convert CRPGers, it might be a lost cause considering that a table top game could never replace a CRPG< and vice versa--they are two different species). So I would think that a very well-done--and well-produced--game could potentially slip in and make a place for itself. Again, if done right (and no skimping on the production value, folks!).
What comes initially to mind is that it would have to be rather traditionalist at its core, but with infinite possible variation. So you might have a core book with little implied setting and some basic classes, races, archetypes, what-have-you. But then you would have endless sourcebooks detailing different possible fantasy variants (in some ways similar to GURPS), with some receiving minor support, some major.
Now it seems that the non-D&D fantasy RPGs that have survived the test of time are those that are not general but are more specific in flavor. Talislanta, Earthdawn, and Warhammer come to mind, all of which have had varying degrees of success, but have all at least had multiple editions across many years. So it seems that to acquire a "cult following" usually requires a specific tone and texture. Most of the more generic fantasy RPGs tend to fall by the wayside, with a few receiving "cult status" (Runequest-sans-Glorantha, Rolemaster). So I'm thinking that for a fantasy RPG to succeed in the way I'm thinking--a solid 2nd place to D&D--it would have to be general enough to accomodate a wide variety of game styles, but flavored enough to attract people, which is why I advocate a (relatively) generic core with many setting/theme sourcebooks. To make the core not-too generic (which would bore people right off the bat) there would still be an implied setting, a template or "example setting" if you will, which all sourcebooks would use as a default to explore a specific theme (e.g. a Hyborian-esque wilderness that is the template for a Sword & Sorcery sourcebook).
So again, I think it would have to somehow combine the best of both the specific flavoring of cult favorites, but with a general enough overall system and setting that allows for customization.
So what do you think? Is it possible? And if so, what would it require to actually work and attain a degree of popularity that would allow it to exist indefinitely without going out of print and going through similar "edition-expansion-new edition-expansion" cycles as D&D?
p.s. Could this be Pathfinder?
OK, we have Rolemaster, Runequest, Harn, Talislanta, Warhammer, etc. But all of those have gone in and out print and have never really been able to snowball a large enough following to stay in print and expand in the way that D&D has. You could argue for Exalted, but that isn't what I mean by "traditional": secondary world fantasy with the basic archetypes of Tolkienian fantasy and European mythology; some degree of sword and sorcery...etc. You get the deal (and hasn't Exalted waned in popularity?).
Now I think it is possible if highly unlikely that someone could pull this off. But wouldn't this be a great time to do it? There are still millions of RPGers and 4E has sparked a lot of controversy largely because it seems to be the most specific in tone of the D&D iterations, the furthest from traditionalist roots. Not to mention that while its obvious computer RPG influence might attract CRPGers, it tends to turn off more hardcore table top gamers. (Not to mention that if WotC is really trying to convert CRPGers, it might be a lost cause considering that a table top game could never replace a CRPG< and vice versa--they are two different species). So I would think that a very well-done--and well-produced--game could potentially slip in and make a place for itself. Again, if done right (and no skimping on the production value, folks!).
What comes initially to mind is that it would have to be rather traditionalist at its core, but with infinite possible variation. So you might have a core book with little implied setting and some basic classes, races, archetypes, what-have-you. But then you would have endless sourcebooks detailing different possible fantasy variants (in some ways similar to GURPS), with some receiving minor support, some major.
Now it seems that the non-D&D fantasy RPGs that have survived the test of time are those that are not general but are more specific in flavor. Talislanta, Earthdawn, and Warhammer come to mind, all of which have had varying degrees of success, but have all at least had multiple editions across many years. So it seems that to acquire a "cult following" usually requires a specific tone and texture. Most of the more generic fantasy RPGs tend to fall by the wayside, with a few receiving "cult status" (Runequest-sans-Glorantha, Rolemaster). So I'm thinking that for a fantasy RPG to succeed in the way I'm thinking--a solid 2nd place to D&D--it would have to be general enough to accomodate a wide variety of game styles, but flavored enough to attract people, which is why I advocate a (relatively) generic core with many setting/theme sourcebooks. To make the core not-too generic (which would bore people right off the bat) there would still be an implied setting, a template or "example setting" if you will, which all sourcebooks would use as a default to explore a specific theme (e.g. a Hyborian-esque wilderness that is the template for a Sword & Sorcery sourcebook).
So again, I think it would have to somehow combine the best of both the specific flavoring of cult favorites, but with a general enough overall system and setting that allows for customization.
So what do you think? Is it possible? And if so, what would it require to actually work and attain a degree of popularity that would allow it to exist indefinitely without going out of print and going through similar "edition-expansion-new edition-expansion" cycles as D&D?
p.s. Could this be Pathfinder?
). Talislanta, Earthdawn, and other more "avant garde" games are the more exotic flavors: pina colada, peanut butter chip, mocha almond fudge. Now if you love mocha almond fudge, you're happy eating it most of the time. Even if it isn't your favorite you might try it once or twice, but not much beyond that. So in this analogy, the key would be to have strong elements of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, but also accomodate other flavors. In some ways D&D already does this, although it could be argued it still tows a party line, a core mythos (that's for you, mhacdebhandia), that was expanded somewhat with 2E (Planescape, Dark Sun, Birthright, etc), but drawn back in a bit with 3E, at least until Eberron came out.
