Scandinavian Roleplayers!

[bondetamp]

I'm trying to write some sort of paper on the rpg situation in Norway, and it would be useful to have some solid musings on the situation in the neighbour countries as well.

What I'm talking about is things like:

The number and popularity of rpgs in each country's native language. In Sweden I know about Kult, Dragar och Demonar (or however it is spelled), Wild West and a few others, but I have know idea how many people actually play these games. I know absolutely nothing about Denmark and Iceland.

(Finland, while interesting on a personal level, falls outside this definition of Scandinavia, as it is based uppon language and not geography.)

Are there any active groups promoting these games, and does it have any effect?

Is there any government support for roleplaying at all?

etc. I have probably forgotten some points.

What I would like is some general musing as well as, I hope, some solid facts and numbers.

 

[Snoweel]

What I would like is some general musing

This I can do.

as well as, I hope, some solid facts and numbers.

Umm...

It seems most of the gamers here are from Södermanland - Katrineholm or thereabouts, with sweet F.A. gamers in Stockholm.

Which is funny, because gaming products disappear from Sci-Fi Bokhandeln (Stockholm's most central gaming supplier) in a matter of hours.

There's no major organisations or clubs in support of roleplaying, but then, unlike in some parts of the US, there're no groups actively working against it either. What were you saying to me the other day about cause and effect?

Anyway, I haven't made much of an effort to get in contact with Swedish gamers as I play in English.

Sorry I couldn't have been of more help.

P.S. Det heter "Drakkar och Demoner". Jävla bönder.

 

[Henrix]

You can probably find answers to some of your questions at www.sverok.se, the swedish association of roleplaying and conflict games. Possibly at their forums.

I have no idea about how many gamers they organize these days, but in the early/mid-90's they were aiming for 20 000 members, I think.

It is also through them that most government support comes, mainly in the form of subsidies to gaming clubs.

The biggest swedish games are probably Eon (and possibly Neotech) (www.neogames.se) and Drakar & Demoner* (latest edition published by www.riotminds.com, as Target Games didn't survive).

And there's Western and Gondica (from Rävspel, www.rollspel.com).

I have no idea of how well any of them sell.

There are many others that are no longer available, like Kult, Dungeons & Dragons (translated, basic & expert set), Mutant, etc.

We have several conventions around the country. The biggest and oldest is GothCon (not named after black-clad visitors, but after the city Gothenburg, www.gothcon.se, generally a little over 1000 participants).
There is also LinCon (which is this very weekend), SydCon and Borås Spelkonvent (they don't like to be called BoreCon, strange as it may sound )


* Which is not a translation of D&D, but originally a translation of the fantasy part of Worlds of Wonder, a Basic RolePlaying game from Chaosium, similar to Runequest and Call of Cthulhu.


Hope that is some help, at least.

 

[BOZ]

i'm not one, but it does seem like a lot of scandanavian gamers are around here. some sweden, some norway, but a lot seem to be from espoo, finland.

 

[Henrix]

i'm not one, but it does seem like a lot of scandanavian gamers are around here. some sweden, some norway, but a lot seem to be from espoo, finland.

Yes, I think there are quite a lot of gamers in scandinavia.

And we were early too. The first known instance of roleplaying, AFAIK, in scandinavia was in Gothenburg, 1974.

 

[bondetamp]

Thanks!

In Norway, we have two rpgs written in Norwegian. One is a translation of OD&D and is probably out of print, though there are several copies at my FLGS, and the other is Fabula, a fantasy rpg with a simple rules system not unlike a stripped down d20. Both have rather few expansion books and I don't think they have very many players.

We had, I believe, a Norwegian translation of Drakkar och Demoner, but I haven't seen it in years.

The Sverok site rocks. I wish we had a good site like that in Norway too.

 

[Viking Bastard]

I'm trying to write some sort of paper on the rpg situation in Norway, and it would be useful to have some solid musings on the situation in the neighbour countries as well.

Allrighty.

What I'm talking about is things like:

The number and popularity of rpgs in each country's native language.

There are two I know of. Askur Yggdralsis and Fræknir Ferðalangar (erm... 'heroic travellers' or something like that).

They are both made by the same guys.

Askur Yggralsis takes place in the world of the Norse myths and despite very bad % based mechanics, captures the viking feel perfectly. I played this for a coupld of years after I left D&D. It became very popular after it's release (nearly every household has it) but I don't really think it got much actual play.

Fræknir Ferðalangar is set in a classic medieval world, had much better and simpler mechanics, but was meant for younger players. The thing with Askur was that while it was meant for adults, it was mainly kids that played it (and it was way too complex for beginners). It sold very badly and you can find it with 50% off in nearly every book store.

As for the games that get the most play: For years it was mostly GURPS and WoD, but D&D has been gaining on since 3e.

Are there any active groups promoting these games, and does it have any effect?

There used to be a very strong Askur followship, but it's nearly dead now.

Is there any government support for roleplaying at all?

Governments do that?!?

What I would like is some general musing as well as, I hope, some solid facts and numbers.

There's a surprising level of Geek activity in Iceland and always has been. I dunno why. People have been RPGing here since the 70s.

Since Pokemon, all kinds of gaming (wargaming, RPGing, CCGing and all that) have gained increased new recruits. The gaming shops are still full of annoying little brats even though nobody's playing Pokemon anymore.

That should shut those anti-pokemon people up!

 

[NiTessine]

i'm not one, but it does seem like a lot of scandanavian gamers are around here. some sweden, some norway, but a lot seem to be from espoo, finland.

*Waves hello.*

 

[William Ronald]

Well, I am not from Scandinavia, I know of three people I will e-mail about this thread. One is from Denmark, one is from Sweden, and one from Finland.

Consider it my public service to the IR today.

 

[Darkness]

Consider it my public service to the IR today.

Heh. Since this thread isn't about the IR, I assume that the people you mentioned are...