#24: Historical Doggerel
Hello, everyone! I got to play a really fun game of Escape from Dino Island this week and that was really fun. Now I’m going to make sure I keep this momentum going with more games from my wishlist. What’s on your radar?
I. An Alternate History of RPGs
Many weeks ago, I wrote about how the history of RPGs isn't as interesting as the present.
Somewhere over the last week or so, I heard John Harness chat with Joe Simone in the Not Pretty but Wonderful series of designer conversations. Specifically, John Harness talked about a history of the RPG medium which is more about kids than Prussian generals.
That led me to writing this little piece of doggerel:
how were roleplaying games invented?
a shaman with bones to roll.
wandering singers carrying painted scrolls.
a fortune teller with cards and parakeet.
revelers at carnival and revelations discreet.
folktales and legends, mixed and inspired
at bedtime or in the light of a fire.
children playing with dolls or dirt,
children with friends, real or absurd.
war and violence, for that is the world.
gambling, racing, courtly and parlour conceits.
actors improvising on stage and in the streets.
directors pretending they have a script.
tristan tzara, yoko ono and misc. artists.
you, about five minutes after the perfect moment has passed.
sorry, I've quite forgotten what you asked.
II. Listen of the Week
… I don’t got nothing this edition.
III. Links of the Week
“A look at innovative tabletop RPGs with rules and settings that de-emphasize violence in favor of community-building, diplomacy, and solidarity.” Please sign me up for more lists and games like these. Read the full article here
A project for an “art-history-of-games-ish class” tries to come up with a systematic taxonomy of PbtA games. I’m still looking through it - it’s a bit hard to parse from just the images. I’m definitely hamstrung from my lack of experience. But there are some things that jump out - like the role that John Harper has played in ‘stress’ becoming part of the PbtA lexicon.
“To succeed at virtual convention organizing, teams must give as much or more thought to elevating the experience and connecting attendees (quickly! In functional and meaningful ways!) as they do to adapting their programming. Virtual spaces can (must!) be crafted with intention to work well.” from Why Virtual Tabletop Conventions Fail, and How Organizers Can Fix It
“What The Elusive Shift brings to the table, more than anything else, is context. Even as RPG design has slowly but surely gotten more broad, more sophisticated, and more inclusive, some of the biggest debates and schisms within the hobby are little more than old battlefields from the bygone 1970s.” A review of RPG historian, Jon Petersen’s latest book.
Alice is Missing was the best-selling independent product on the Roll20 marketplace - not sure what independent means but it’s nice to see an original game.
Polygon has a list of Most-funded Tabletop Kickstarters, 2020 and all the most funded RPG-related ones were terrain and furniture.
For anyone who likes having the numbers, here’s a painstakingly curated dataset of Zinequest 2 projects.
Another one for the data lovers - another act of generous sharing of numbers from an indie designer about their income from a year of designing games.
EnWorld published their list of The 10 Most Anticipated Tabletop RPGs of 2021 and like so many such lists in entertainment and media, they’re full of sequels and remakes. Tied for first place along with Dune is a new version of Twilight 2000. Then, the One Ring, Pendragon, and some 5e stuff.
The Tabletop Mentorship program is taking applications again.
IV. Small Ads
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Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. I’m half-man, half-beast, half-journalist, half-game designer.
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