GobHag
Explorer
...Or at least played in a Neotrad way?
I'm very, very interested in discussion in regards to this playstyle because I'm invested in it becoming more developed and mature despite it already being such a dominating force in TTRPGs
I'll copy the definition for Neotrad from the lbog wholesale(edit the original article in full; Six Cultures of Play):
What I think are examples of Neotrad games:
I'm very, very interested in discussion in regards to this playstyle because I'm invested in it becoming more developed and mature despite it already being such a dominating force in TTRPGs
I'll copy the definition for Neotrad from the lbog wholesale(edit the original article in full; Six Cultures of Play):
I have a few disagreements on this(Power fantasy/Tyranny of Fun isn't needed--tragedy and such are very much common as long as that's what the player is looking for) but it's where the term come from so eh.This[OC/Neo-trad] is the only one of the terms that isn't fully an autonym, tho' "OC" can be appended to a "looking for game" post online to recruit people from this culture consistently, so it's closer. I also call it "neo-trad", firstly because the OC RPG culture shares a lot of the same norms as trad, secondly because I think people who belong to this culture believe they are part of trad. You also see this style sometimes called "the modern style" when being contrasted to the OSR. Here's an example of someone who calls it "neo-trad" elaborating a very pure vision of the style (tho' I disagree with the list of games provided as examples of neo-trad at the end of the article). On Reddit, "OC" is often called "modern" as in "the modern way to play" or "modern games".
OC basically agrees with trad that the goal of the game is to tell a story, but it deprioritises the authority of the DM as the creator of that story and elevates the players' roles as contributors and creators. The DM becomes a curator and facilitator who primarily works with material derived from other sources - publishers and players, in practice. OC culture has a different sense of what a "story" is, one that focuses on player aspirations and interests and their realisation as the best way to produce "fun" for the players.
This focus on realising player aspirations is what allows both the Wizard 20 casting Meteor Swarm to annihilate a foe and the people who are using D&D 5e to play out running their own restaurant to be part of a shared culture of play. This culture is sometimes pejoratively called the "Tyranny of Fun" (a term coined in the OSR) because of its focus on relatively rapid gratification compared to other styles.
The term "OC" means "original character" and comes from online freeform fandom roleplaying that was popular on Livejournal and similar platforms back in the early 2000s. "OC" is when you bring an original character into a roleplaying game set in the Harry Potter universe, rather than playing as Harold the Cop himself. Despite being "freeform" (meaning no die rolls and no Dungeon Master) these games often had extensive rulesets around the kinds of statements one could introduce to play, with players appealing to the ruleset itself against one another to settle disputes. For the younger generations of roleplayers, these kinds of games were often their introduction to the hobby.
I think OC RPG emerges during the 3.x era (2000-2008), probably with the growth of Living Greyhawk Core Adventures and the apparatus of "organised play" and online play with strangers more generally. Organised play ended up diminishing the power of the DM to shift authority onto rules texts, publishers, administrators, and really, to players. Since DMs may change from adventure to adventure but player characters endure, they become more important, with standard rules texts providing compatibility between game. DM discretion and invention become things that interfere with this intercompatibility, and thus depreciated. This is where the emphases on "RAW" and using only official material (but also the idea that if it's published it must be available at the table) come from - it undermines DM power and places that power in the hands of the PCs.
These norms were reinforced and spread by "character optimization" forums that relied solely on text and rhetorically deprecated "DM fiat", and by official character builders in D&D and other games. Modules, which importantly limit the DM's discretion to provide a consistent set of conditions for players, are another important textual support for this style. OC styles are also particularly popular with online streaming games like Critical Role since when done well they produce games that are fairly easy to watch as television shows. The characters in the stream become aspirational figures that a fanbase develops parasocial relationships with and cheers on as they realise their "arcs".
What I think are examples of Neotrad games:
- DnD from 3e onwards basically sets the baseline for how most people think of 'Modern' TTRPG play, while NeoTrad crystalized during 5e let's not forget that CharOp is where it all started and the culture of discussing 'builds' and 'broken powers' puts a focus on putting the RAW over the DM's authority. I don't quite think they fit as NeoTrad games but many of them are certainly played in a very neotrad way
- Fabula Ultima is the most recent example I can think of a game that's very much designed with NeoTrad assumptions in mind, It's High Fantasy supplement exemplifies this the most with it's suggestion on how to design it's settings(especially since Fabula Ultima has collaborative world-building) to be reflective of the characters and the optional quirk system being mechanized 'story moments' that's in the players hands.
- Chuubo's Wonderful Wish-Making Engine is perhaps the most unique examples of a NeoTrad game system but I'd argue it's Arc system exemplifies the 'Player-led railroading' that NeoTrad is going for.
- Chronicles of Darkness and Exalted(and the new classic World of Darkness), these two are interesting because they show how mostly Trad systems develop into this new TradOC style. One could argue that the superhero with fangs playstyle is an example of NeoTrad play, something I very much agree with.4.