Games You'd Like to See Make a Comeback

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Would really like to see a new version of SLA industries

I'd also like to see a rerelease of Gemini

And an updated Midnight 5th edition would be fantastic.
 
The Whispering Vault... not that it was ever popular to begin with... but I'd be there, cash in hand, if someone who loved the game started putting out new material for it. Hopefully without 'updating' the rules too much.
It always felt like there was a big chunk of the setting that was never revealed... and the rulebook drops hints of campaign play that weren't explored in further supplements.
 
Yeah, Whispering Vault was excellent. I always thought it and Tribe 8 would make good bedfellows; the underlying cosmology is very similar
 
Tribe 8 was a great setting!
I never played it as-is but I stole ideas from it with wild abandon. Mashed it together with elements from Earthdawn and Jorune... and yeah, poured Whispering Vault sauce all over it as well.
 
Brand55 said:
I'm pretty sure he meant a D&D 5e version of Midnight. Sadly, if Midnight ever does get another edition it'll likely be ported to FFG's home system with the silly dice.
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Yeah, that is pretty obvious now you mention it.
 
Brand55 said:
I'm pretty sure he meant a D&D 5e version of Midnight. Sadly, if Midnight ever does get another edition it'll likely be ported to FFG's home system with the silly dice.
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I loves me my silly dice! :grin:
 
Brand55 said:
I'm pretty sure he meant a D&D 5e version of Midnight. Sadly, if Midnight ever does get another edition it'll likely be ported to FFG's home system with the silly dice.
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I'll keep my fingers crossed — if C7 can have TOR and AiME...
 
Spartan said:
I loves me my silly dice! :grin:
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A lot of people do. I can handle them, but I've got one or two players who are adamantly against them so FFG games are pretty much a no-go for my group for the foreseeable future.

I'd be all over a 5e version of Midnight; I've got the core book and elf campaign box set for the revised edition, and the game ranks highly among the stuff I've never gotten to play but really, really want to some day. I was as surprised as anyone to see C7 do two versions of Middle-earth, so maybe a miracle will happen.
 
They should make Rolemaster weapon and critical hit dice on d100s in .1 point print.

Actually, you could do dice with the RMSS symbols for stun, no parry, bleeding, and activity penalty. You'd roll two of those and one hit location die. I'd do d12s so you could have knees and feet and necks in there. Each hit location would enhance one damage type, head for stun, neck for bleeding, arms for activity penalty.
 
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Brand55 said:
A lot of people do. I can handle them, but I've got one or two players who are adamantly against them so FFG games are pretty much a no-go for my group for the foreseeable future.

I'd be all over a 5e version of Midnight; I've got the core book and elf campaign box set for the revised edition, and the game ranks highly among the stuff I've never gotten to play but really, really want to some day. I was as surprised as anyone to see C7 do two versions of Middle-earth, so maybe a miracle will happen.
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That's too bad. They were a revelation for our group, so much so that I went and got all the WHFRP 3E stuff I could, which I'm now running. And I'm really excited about Genesys.

But not every system works for everyone.
 
Bunch said:
I always like the idea if Justifiers rpg.
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This was the one I was going to mention, but mostly because no one has ever done a proper "first in scout/colonist" game. I want random tables to generate the biomes, the flora and the fauna (don't tell me that's impossible, FASA's Doctor Who RPG did it). I want a mechanical resource management subgame for building that damn transmatt gate. I want rules for figuring out survival on an alien planet where none of the rules apply. I want a list of all the things that can go wrong. I want The Martian with funny animals and laser pistols.

Oh, and seconded on Marvel SAGA. The big problem there is that you need a custom deck for every genre you want to run (or else a generic deck with artwork that's incongruous much of the time). Given the vast variety of tarot decks available, if you could hack the system to use a tarot deck you'd solve that problem. I suppose an alternative would be Kickstarting an Adobe Illustrator template with the card layout and numbers precreated and a layer where people could insert their own art and then upload to Artscow.
 
Sosthenes said:
There are a few small press games that I really would like to see revived:
- Darkurthe Legends
- Waste World
- Artesia
- Zir'An

And in all cases that means with the system, or an updated version thereof, not just taking the setting and doing a PF/Fate conversion.

By the way, if you like the Swordbearer magic system, there's a rather underappreciated game called Blade & Crown that uses the whole gathering essentia method of powering spells.
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Of all the games listed in this thread, there are three that I personally would like to see make a comeback...and two are on your list. Darkurthe Legends and Artesia. I've spoken with Colin Murcray a few times, and there have been a few attempts to bring back Darkurthe Legends, but he's been busy and I haven't heard anything in awhile. The system was going to be rather radically revamped, but I'm not sure of the final direction he was going to take.
 
The main games I'd like to see make a comeback would be:

Darkurthe Legends - mechanics need some work, but I like a lot of the flavor the original mechanics provided

Artesia: Adventures in the Known World - really, I'm not sure what a "comeback" would mean since the game is really pretty complete in the one book. Maybe some adventures or campaign materials.

Skyrealms of Jorune - needs a workable set of rules

Ysgarth - Dave Nalle has long ago moved to other things, but he was ahead of the curve on point-buy mechanics and I found his setting intriguing.

CORPS - Greg Porter has moved on to EABA, but I prefer the CORPS mechanics personally.

Rolemaster...well, a new version is coming out, so we'll see. I prefer Classic...but am willing to see where they're going with the Unified version.
 
I quite like having a set of generic rules that I can use to create my own stories and settings. Some people view generic rules as bland tool kits, but I just love that feeling of reading a book or watching a film, then thinking "How would I do this in an rpg?"
So I really like having books like Fate Core, Cypher System, Savage Worlds, True20, HeroQuest, even GURPS in my bookcase.

However BRP has been the most consistent rules I have used during my years of roleplaying, so I would like to see a new version of the BGB produced one day. Complete with better internal art, so it doesn't feel too 'dry'. I would also probably incorperate some of the options of the CoC 7E build of BRP for consistency, as I think those rules have the most promise if making a generic BRP ruleset (Actually if these rules were not in there then it would be almost pointless having another edition. Stuff like the Bonus/Penalty Dice, Success levels, Shield rules, etc).
Yep I would really love to see another BRP generic rules like the BGB, I would crowd-fund that straight away if need be.

Another game I would also (perhaps more whimsically) like to see reissued is Ghostbusters. Even a reprint in a nice hardcover book instead of booklets in a box. The mechanics were quite simple, they were a version of the system which ultimately became WEG Star Wars and OpenD6. It seemed very handwavey and gamey. I love how the character sheets could fit on ID badges, it had alot of flavour. You could bring it back, complete with its lampoon trappings and fictionalised 1980s setting. I remember it being a fun read, with the actual Ghostbusters speaking to the reader at times. By the late 1980s simple rpgs seemed a bit juvenile, although these days it is a feature again, allowing for more narrative to fill the gaps. I think you could have alot of nostalgic goof-ball fun with Ghostbusters. It would probably run it's course, but I still would like to see it published again.
 
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Tom B said:
Rolemaster...well, a new version is coming out, so we'll see. I prefer Classic...but am willing to see where they're going with the Unified version.
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Personally I preferred the system that ICE presented in HARP Fantasy, it was much more slimline, yet was easily recognisable as a descendant of Rolemaster.

Rolemaster had a great high fantasy setting with Shadow World, it seemed to have more appeal than HARP's Cyradon setting. Cyradon felt like 'High Fantasy mixed with Vanilla Sorcery' which kinda mirrored Ebberon, which D&D 3E was running at that time. It's a bit weird, as I think both systems were probably better with straight High Fantasy (D&D with Forgotten Realms and Rolemaster with Shadow World). I think if HARP had been set in Shadow World it may have been more popular, as some of the Rolemaster troupes may have ported their games over to the new system.

Despite prefering the HARP mechanics, I feel that the art direction in ICE's earlier products (such as MERP and Rolemaster) has been much better than anything they have done in the last 20yrs. HARP has been a bit 'dry' by comparison.

I'ld check out a new version of Rolemaster if its closer to HARP Fantasy in terms of cutting down on rules/tables bloat. However I might not be the right GM for any ICE system these days, as I find there's too many working parts in their rule sets, and I'm not one for the large calculations you need to make on the fly.

I may not make a good ICE GM, but some of my favourite rpg memories has been as a player in their games. I am probably curious enough to at least peruse the next edition of Rolemaster that Guild Companion is working on.
 
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Mankcam said:
I'ld check out a new version of Rolemaster if its closer to HARP Fantasy in terms of cutting down on rules/tables bloat.
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It ain't. It's very much in the RMSS vein from the playtest files. It's very good for what it is, but a light system it is not.

I thought RMX was a positive step, but due to legal issues it has been canned.

Even though RM2/C is my favourite version, 1e is laudable for its minimalism. The core rulebook is the size of a magazine. The skill list is quite small in contrast to later editions. When I run RM again, I'll likely give 1e a shot.
 
Mankcam said:
Another game I would also (perhaps more whimsically) like to see reissued is Ghostbusters. Even a reprint in a nice hardcover book instead of booklets in a box. The mechanics were quite simple, they were a version of the system which ultimately became WEG Star Wars and OpenD6. It seemed very handwavey and gamey. I love how the character sheets could fit on ID badges, it had alot of flavour. You could bring it back, complete with its lampoon trappings and fictionalised 1980s setting. I remember it being a fun read, with the actual Ghostbusters speaking to the reader at times. By the late 1980s simple rpgs seemed a bit juvenile, although these days it is a feature again, allowing for more narrative to fill the gaps. I think you could have alot of nostalgic goof-ball fun with Ghostbusters. It would probably run it's course, but I still would like to see it published again.
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That is a favorite of mine. I was still in the mindset of feeling that I needed a rule for everything when it came out, and this game was instrumental in teaching me how to loosen up as a GM.

I got it as an unexpected Christmas present from my parents. I probably never would have picked it up on my own. I didn't have anything against it, but my teenaged RPG budget was limited, and I had gotten reluctant to spend money on what I figured were probably novelty games.

After reading it, I had it set aside to run as a one-off the next time we were missing a player for the regular WFRP game that was going on at the time. The first session was such a big success that it actually became an ongoing game. The combination of fast-moving play and the premise of setting a game in your hometown worked fantastically.

The GMs book was absolutely loaded with pick up and play adventure seeds too. Unfortunately, the modules for the game were not as useful. Ghostbusters was a system that allowed funny stuff to happen spontaneously, and the modules were too overloaded with pre-packaged comedy. Any time I tried running a module, the game felt stilted and forced.

I was disappointed when the second edition failed completely at getting what made the game so special. Of course, a few years later Over the Edge came along as a spiritual successor to Ghostbusters. At least that is in the process of enjoying a rebirth with both a new edition and historical LotFP incarnation in the works.
 
Rolemaster is a game I came to too late. If I had hit it around 1985, it probably would have been perfectly in line with what I wanted. Instead, I never got around to picking it up until the mid-90s. I liked what I saw, but I just never really got around to running it at that point, and I don't think I ever will. It is definitely something I would play if the chance ever came my way though.
 
Baulderstone said:
Rolemaster is a game I came to too late. If I had hit it around 1985, it probably would have been perfectly in line with what I wanted. Instead, I never got around to picking it up until the mid-90s. I liked what I saw, but I just never really got around to running it at that point, and I don't think I ever will. It is definitely something I would play if the chance ever came my way though.
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Yah, by the time I got to RM2, it was damn hard to find anyone who even wanted to play RPGs anymore (the "fad' pahse of D&D was already past), so I never got to do as much with it as I would have liked.
 
Tom B said:
Artesia: Adventures in the Known World - really, I'm not sure what a "comeback" would mean since the game is really pretty complete in the one book. Maybe some adventures or campaign materials.
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I'd love to see a Runequest/Mythras version of this. I seem to recall Mark Smylie quoting Runequest as an influence and I think it's a travesty that the RPG version we got is powered by FUDGE (or was it FATE)?

Tom B said:
CORPS - Greg Porter has moved on to EABA, but I prefer the CORPS mechanics personally.
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I know nothing about these two! Care to elaborate? :smile:

Mankcam said:
I quite like having a set of generic rules that I can use to create my own stories and settings.
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A generic system collector? Fascinating. I'm in love with the idea of generic systems, but systems married to a setting (even an idiosyncratic implied one like D&D or Traveller) hold a certain appeal to me. Though the mental exercise of framing a movie scene into a game system is probably something we've all done!

Baulderstone said:
Rolemaster is a game I came to too late.
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Same here, though I suppose it's less about the year and more about my own age; I only got to play RM a few years back and by God creating a character felt like doing my taxes in a foreign country. Maybe if I'd come across it as a teen I'd have the time and inclination to really dig into it, as my more enthusiastic friends have; nowadays, if I want gritty fantasy with grisly criticals I'll go with Mythras. Or maybe Zweihänder.
 
The Butcher said:
I'd love to see a Runequest/Mythras version of this. I seem to recall Mark Smylie quoting Runequest as an influence and I think it's a travesty that the RPG version we got is powered by FUDGE (or was it FATE)?
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Artesia used the Fuzion system. Not a system that appealed to me either.
 
The Butcher said:
I'd love to see a Runequest/Mythras version of this. I seem to recall Mark Smylie quoting Runequest as an influence and I think it's a travesty that the RPG version we got is powered by FUDGE (or was it FATE)?
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With several people here who are interested in Artesia: The Mythras Version, why not start hacking something together? It doesn’t have to be mechanically identical, and it seems like it would be easy enough to port over. Not even any funny dice or odd probability mechanics.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1260JlKqav9qmwfTAeUeskbryUFOnF7KFRtKCTvyZeS4 Write some notes :smile: probably could pull some of Legend’s feat-things to cover Gifts, or use some of the Gifts in Mythras already.
 
The Butcher said:
Same here, though I suppose it's less about the year and more about my own age; I only got to play RM a few years back and by God creating a character felt like doing my taxes in a foreign country. Maybe if I'd come across it as a teen I'd have the time and inclination to really dig into it, as my more enthusiastic friends have; nowadays, if I want gritty fantasy with grisly criticals I'll go with Mythras. Or maybe Zweihänder.
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It's definitely about age and not the specific year in my case as well. During my mid-teens, my insecurity as a GM caused me to look for crunchier rule sets that presented me with less ambiguity and more "realism". RM would have scratched that itch, and I might have internalized if enough that I would be comfortable running it now when I am less patient with crunch.

As it happened, the systems I ended running the most in my late teen years ended up being BRP, WFRP and GURPS, two of which lead right into your choices of Mythras and Zweihander. Mythras is crunchier than most games I run, but I know BRP so well that it doesn't feel as heavy as it might otherwise.
 
K_Peterson said:
Artesia used the Fuzion system. Not a system that appealed to me either.
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Egads, even worse. (Does Fuzion have a single fan to defend it?)

Raleel said:
With several people here who are interested in Artesia: The Mythras Version, why not start hacking something together? It doesn’t have to be mechanically identical, and it seems like it would be easy enough to port over. Not even any funny dice or odd probability mechanics.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1260JlKqav9qmwfTAeUeskbryUFOnF7KFRtKCTvyZeS4 Write some notes :smile: probably could pull some of Legend’s feat-things to cover Gifts, or use some of the Gifts in Mythras already.
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Not sure I have either the Mythras chops or the Artesia chops for it. I'll be watching with interest, though!

Baulderstone said:
As it happened, the systems I ended running the most in my late teen years ended up being BRP, WFRP and GURPS, two of which lead right into your choices of Mythras and Zweihander. Mythras is crunchier than most games I run, but I know BRP so well that it doesn't feel as heavy as it might otherwise.
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The only version of BRP I have plenty of experience with is CoC. Mythras is a step up in complexity but I'm confident I can make it sing.
 
The Butcher said:
Egads, even worse. (Does Fuzion have a single fan to defend it?)
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I'm not really defending it per say. But I don't get the hate for Fusion. It's a simplified interlock, with so other bits. It's not anything revolutionary. But it's a serviceable system. It's not a personal go to. But I would have no problems playing it.
 
Ronin said:
I'm not really defending it per say. But I don't get the hate for Fusion. It's a simplified interlock, with so other bits. It's not anything revolutionary. But it's a serviceable system. It's not a personal go to. But I would have no problems playing it.
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Isn't it an ill-advised Interlock/Hero hybrid?
 
Baulderstone said:
I sat out 2nd Edition completely. I'd burned out on D&D, and there were so many other games to try in the late '80s. Buying D&D all over again on my teenage income wasn't appealing to me.

I've recently been looking at the retro-clone, For Gold and Glory, and assuming it is close to the original, it looks like 2nd Edition was a pretty good game. I've heard the PDF re-releases for sale are of a revised version of 2E that seems less loved than the original though. Although I guess used copies of the books themselves are probably reasonable online. They can't be as expensive as the Rules Cyclopedia (a book I shelved many times working in an FLGS and never picked up when I had the chance to get it with my employee discount).
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I missed the 2E years as well. How is FG&G? Is there another 2E retroclone out there?
 
I was playing 1e when 2e came out and switched instantly as pretty much every change was an improvement in my opinion. Know that isn't the common wisdom these days but I think a lot of the talk is by those who are 1e hardcores or never actually played 2e.

I will second the wish of a reissue of GB, too bad the reboot was mediocre and failed at the box office, if it had done better maybe a special edition of the original, similar to the upcoming WEG SW would have been at least theoretically possible.

Toon seems like a natural for a successful KS reissue/reboot as well.
 
Aglondir said:
I missed the 2E years as well. How is FG&G? Is there another 2E retroclone out there?
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I need to give FG&G a more thorough read before I weigh in on it. I'd also be curious to get an opinion from a 2E fan as to its accuracy.

Voros said:
I will second the wish of a reissue of GB, too bad the reboot was mediocre and failed at the box office, if it had done better maybe a special edition of the original, similar to the upcoming WEG SW would have been at least theoretically possible.
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I'm going to be optimistic. The recent movie doing poorly devalues the license and makes it easier for an RPG publisher to get ahold of it. If it had been a huge hit, we might be less likely to see a rebirth of the RPG.
 
The Butcher said:
Egads, even worse. (Does Fuzion have a single fan to defend it?)
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I've been summoned.

I like Fuzion and I particularly like what Smylie did with it in Artesia. I'd have preferred the 3d6 Fuzion variant, but that's an easy enough fix, and the combat maneuvers and weapons/armor mechanics are pretty neat. It does get a bit complex at times (the number of attributes, experience types and wound effects for example), but I think that adds to the Artesia-specific flavor (and isn't Fuzion's fault anyway).
I'd want a new version to streamline this a bit, but wouldn't need a complete revision.
(I'd definitely like it more than a BRP port -- even Mythras -- although I guess now that that's legally an option for Smylie, it's a possibility. The comic itself shows a huge RQ/Glorantha influence.)
 
Okay, so I worked on the Rolemaster Unified Committee for a year and as a token RMSS fan, let me tell you, making it appeal to RMSS fans was never really on the agenda. They wouldn't have had Lord Miller head the team if it were. He always hated RMSS. Anyhow he and his party got about a six month lead on the project and had a virtually finished game by they time we were brought on. A few small changes were made where we could get a point to stick but not to worry it's mutated beyond recognition since they moved to open beta.
 
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