Friday 11 August 2017

#RPGaDAY 2017 - Day 11 - dead game necormancy!

Day 11 of #RPGaDay 2017. 

Which 'dead game' would you like to see reborn?

It seems like this question gets harder every day. I think I get an email or see a G+ post about some game coming back through kickstarter every time I sit in front of my PC. Most of my favourite games from back in the day have come back in some way. Paranoia is the most recent. Traveller still goes strong. Warhammer just had a 4th edition announced. I am very tempted to answer Cyberpunk 2013/2020. There was a more modern release of that though, V3 which received very negative reviews (I own a copy but haven't actually read it).

Instead of cyberpunk I'm going to go with an RPG system that I would love to see come back and that's the SAGA system that premiered in Dragonlance: Fifth Age Dramatic Adventure Game. I don't necessarily need a new Dragonlance game (though I actually wouldn't mind that) but I really want to see something new done with the card based SAGA system.  I really loved SAGA. As far as I know it was the first player facing RPG (something many people seem to wrongly credit to PBtA games or the Cyper system). What this means is that all of the action is driven by the players. The Orcs never attack the characters, instead the characters defend from the Orcs attacks.

I love the card based system introduced in SAGA. The fact that each character class had a suit that was trump was very cool. Hand management added a very interesting meta to the game, where experienced players would choose places for their characters to fail in an effort to build a better hand for when they really needed it. The use of the deck to determine narrative cues was also brilliant. Overall I think this is the perfect example of a game that was way before it's time.

Now I know that there was a Marvel Super Heroes version of SAGA released. That I have not had a chance to check out. For some reason copies of that game and the associated deck sell for more than the almost impossible to find Last Unicorn Dune game.  

For those wishing to play along at home, here are the topics for this years #RPGaDay. Feel free to use these cues in your tweets, facebook posts, g+ threads, blog posts and more.

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