What Non-D&D TSR RPGs Needs to be Revived?

[Micah Sweet]

Nothing is forgotten. The current team is keenly aware of what they have, but much of the stuff is problematic by today's standards. Dark Sun is probably the most difficult IP to handle.

Gathering dust then. Best to cut it loose, or at least put it up on the Guild.

 

[The Soloist]

Well, this thread is turning into the typical anti-WoTC rant. I'm out.

 

[Reynard]

Corpos can eat naughty word. They’re the reason why IP law is out of control

As a freelancer who has created things work for hire: I knew going in. Ownership of ideas is weird. Just write something slightly different. No one sued Invincible for OmniMan.

 

[Reynard]

Well, this thread is turning into the typical anti-WoTC rant. I'm out.

Is it?

 

[Thomas Shey]

As a freelancer who has created things work for hire: I knew going in. Ownership of ideas is weird. Just write something slightly different. No one sued Invincible for OmniMan.

That's always a hell of a risk, though. Especially something with a lot of resource involvement. In theory you can wave parody around at worst, but, well "the power to indict is the power to destroy" and a lot of people can't take that risk.

 

[VelvetViolet]

That's always a hell of a risk, though. Especially something with a lot of resource involvement. In theory you can wave parody around at worst, but, well "the power to indict is the power to destroy" and a lot of people can't take that risk.

This is exactly why I think the rpg landscape is turning into gray sludge. Once a corpo publishes an idea, and they can publish a lot of ideas, now they can arbitrarily suppress the free speech of other creatives for the next 95 years for every idea they published. There are many great rpgs that got canceled by corporate malfeasance and now nobody can write anything even loosely similar out of the fear of possible litigation. This is bullcrap.

This is pretty much a death knell for genres without much in the way of public domain resources, like scifi. All the cool stuff is copyrighted, and has usually been dragged through the mud by corpos too, but the best anyone can do now is yet another pastiche of Alien/Outland.

What frustrates me is that this isn’t a problem for genres like urban fantasy or cryptid conspiracy. Those have tons of public domain resources, but nobody wants to make them. Unlike vulcans and klingons, nobody owns the chupacabra, the Roswell greys, vampires, witchcraft, leprechauns, etc.

“Dark•Matter is problematic!” This is complete nonsense. How is it problematic for your game to have Rosicrucians, Templars, Freemasons, New World Order, Knights of Malta, etc. as conspiracies pursuing various agendas? If it really offends you that some of these share names with actual secret orders and mystery cults whose members don’t care about your hobby, then just make stuff up. Invent a fictional secret society claiming descent from Ancient Egypt, or a fictional government agency, or a fictional pharma company that cuts up magical creatures. Just do something that brings some color to this gray lifeless media landscape.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is exactly why I think the rpg landscape is turning into gray sludge. Once a corpo publishes an idea, and they can publish a lot of ideas, now they can arbitrarily suppress the free speech of other creatives for the next 95 years for every idea they published. There are many great rpgs that got canceled by corporate malfeasance and now nobody can write anything even loosely similar out of the fear of possible litigation. This is bullcrap.

This is pretty much a death knell for genres without much in the way of public domain resources, like scifi. All the cool stuff is copyrighted, and has usually been dragged through the mud by corpos too, but the best anyone can do now is yet another pastiche of Alien/Outland.

What frustrates me is that this isn’t a problem for genres like urban fantasy or cryptid conspiracy. Those have tons of public domain resources, but nobody wants to make them. Unlike vulcans and klingons, nobody owns the chupacabra, the Roswell greys, vampires, witchcraft, leprechauns, etc.

“Dark•Matter is problematic!” This is complete nonsense. How is it problematic for your game to have Rosicrucians, Templars, Freemasons, New World Order, Knights of Malta, etc. as conspiracies pursuing various agendas? If it really offends you that some of these share names with actual secret orders and mystery cults whose members don’t care about your hobby, then just make stuff up. Invent a fictional secret society claiming descent from Ancient Egypt, or a fictional government agency, or a fictional pharma company that cuts up magical creatures. Just do something that brings some color to this gray lifeless media landscape.

Are you familiar with Stars Without Number? That's a great sci-fi RPG with an intriguing setting.

 

[Staffan]

“Dark•Matter is problematic!” This is complete nonsense. How is it problematic for your game to have Rosicrucians, Templars, Freemasons, New World Order, Knights of Malta, etc. as conspiracies pursuing various agendas?

The problem, as I understand it, is that many real-world conspiracy theories (which Dark Matter are inspired by) share the trait that if you scratch the paint even a little bit, they boil down to "it's controlled by the Jews."

 

[Autumnal]

Just so. And too many real-life adherents of these theories have growing power over the well-being and survival of a bunch of others, including many of us right here. It went from “weird thing with no impact on my life in any way” to “stupid naughty word I have to keep track of because believers in it are trying cut off my access to life- and sanity-saving medication, access to the law, protection from violent assault, right to raise my kids, etc etc”. It’s survival homework rather than ineffectual weirdness now, for us and/or for people we love and care about.

 

[Staffan]

Just so. And too many real-life adherents of these theories have growing power over the well-being and survival of a bunch of others, including many of us right here. It went from “weird thing with no impact on my life in any way” to “stupid naughty word I have to keep track of because believers in it are trying cut off my access to life- and sanity-saving medication, access to the law, protection from violent assault, right to raise my kids, etc etc”. It’s survival homework rather than ineffectual weirdness now, for us and/or for people we love and care about.

Yeah, when weird conspiracy theories were just wacky stuff in Illuminati New World Order or Dark Matter, it was literally all fun and games. But when people believing them start acquiring real power, things get scary.