Game WISH 27: SF RPGs
Turn of a Friendly Die: WISH 27: Science Fiction RPGs
The RPG market is dominated by fantasy (with horror coming in second). Why have most attempts at creating a science fiction RPG failed (commercially or artistically), and what would a hypothetical SFRPG need to catch on the way fantasy has?
It depends a bit on your definition of "failed". While Traveller has never had the runaway success of Dungeons and Dragons, it's still around (in two different versions).
I think the main reason is that 'Generic Fantasy' has a widely-known set of tropes that DnD has managed to capitalise on, while science-fiction is a much more varied genre, and lacks such a standard set of conventions. Every literary or cinematic SF universe works a different way; Trek is different from Star Wars which is different from the SF universes of Robert Heinlein which is different from those of Iain Banks, and so on. A setting-free system that encompasses all of those would end up looking much like a totally generic one - perhaps a lot of SF gamers with original settings use GURPS?
Of course, many published SF games have been licenced games, and they've suffered from the whims of the media companies with licences - both of the 'household name' SF settings have bounced from company to company, in the case of Star Trek more than once.
To sum up, I think it's all down to the fact that there's no such thing as 'generic SF' in the same way that there's a 'generic fantasy'. Perhaps there could have been. If someone had come up with a game resembling Star Trek but with the serial numbers filed off in the primeval days of gaming, might it have done better than Traveller? On the other hand, was Traveller really that much of a failure? And on the third tentacle, what about RIFTS? This was apparently the third-biggest game on the market (after DnD and Storyteller) for many years.
Posted by TimHall at December 28, 2002 05:09 PM | TrackBackIn my opinion, the main problem of sf-rpgs is their complexity. In contrast to sf, fantasy scenes are easy to describe: You see a room, 40' by 60' and there's a dragon inside. Anyone can make something of these terse words.
SF adventures on the other hand must take account of the sensory technology the characters have. IR, thermograph, radar, each gives a different view of the surroundings. And don't forget the killer sensor, the TL-15 Densitometer!
In addition, sf usually can't explain things away by way of magic. Technology sometimes works as a substitute but depending on the game there are limits to this.
And lastly, sf games need a lot more preparation than fantasy games do. I don't know about you, but I can't just create half a dozen planets or starships on the fly. At least not for Traveller. ;)