The RPGs That Made Us

Last week, I made a passing comment about the Netflix documentary series The Toys That Made Us, that I would most definitely watch a similar series about tabletop role-playing games. Whether or not you liked TTTMU - those that didn't were put off by the humor, or else thought important beats were missing - it did something for toys that have long been done for movies, TV and music: It told a secret history and put the toymakers at heart of this history. We've long had interviews with film makers, actors, etc., thanks to DVD extras and talk shows. Comics have in no way been explored as much as they should, but comics-centric movies have produced comics-centric featurettes too. Toys were a largely unexplored niche despite having touched a lot of people. While role-playing games are nowhere near as omnipresent as toys, they do represent a similar niche, one I'm sure would prove fertile terrain for crazy stories, sudden innovations, and personal drama.

So what would *I* imagine as a season of The RPGs That Made Us? Lets try our hand at one...

Dungeons & Dragons. Well, obviously. This is the start of the thing we call role-playing. It's a long rich history that includes Gary Gygax wanting to do a little more with war games, Basic, Advanced, and a number of editions, a cartoon series, TSR handing the reigns over to Wizards of the Coast, the development of d20, and more. Because it is so wrapped into the origins of the hobby, I think this should even be 2 EPISODES. Dare to go where the Made Us series has never delved before.

Traveller. What D&D was to fantasy, Traveller was to space opera. And it too has gone through various editions and permutations (MegaTraveller, 2300 A.D., GURPS, T20...). Things to look at include planetary and ship creation, and of course, the profession track chargen system. A lot of the game's original innovation have inspired mechanics in other games, and as one of the grandpappies of role-playing, deserves its spotlight.

GURPS. You can't do this series without tackling Steve Jackson Games' very successful attempt at a universal system. The Generic Universal Role-Playing System has spawned 4 editions and dozens upon dozens of sourcebooks for every genre. At the very least, you'd get to hear the story of how the FBI descended on their offices because they thought GURPS Cyberpunk was going to be a manual for hackers. You can't make that stuff up.

Vampire: The Masquerade. Well, the whole World of Darkness, really. An important game with crossover appear across all genders, with lots of innovative mechanics to make playing tragic monsters - whether vampires, werewolves, mages, wraiths, etc. - really work. The mechanics of psychosis, you might say, a very interesting step away from the simplistic alignment wheel of many games, even when Masquerade came out. And this one's gonna feature a lot of dress-up, am I right?

DC Heroes / Marvel Super-Heroes. Yes, both in the same episode, as there's a bit of industrial espionage/corporate shenanigans involving the two. It would be a good episode to learn the ins and outs of licensing material for a role-playing games, with different styles, I'm sure, for Mayfair and TSR. Plus, plenty of mechanical conundrums associated with superhero play. And recognizability would help sell this little niche series of ours.

Call of Cthulhu. Chaosium's game of existential dread is another long-lived game, this one with its roots in Lovecraftian lore (again, recognizability), and the earliest attempts at horror mechanics with the Sanity Roll. CoC has gone through several editions, been adapted for various settings, and has somehow survived even though none of my gaming groups have ever managed its tone for more than a few moments. I need the inside scoop on the people who really play this!

And that's seven (with my double episode). What would fill Slot #8? I leave that up to you. Is Palladium's journey as a game company worth including? Are games like Shadowrun sufficiently large in gamers' imaginations to snag the last slot? Or should be have a less nostalgic episode that tracks the rise of New School games (and if so, which? Fate?). Do you think it should be Paranoia? Tunnels & Trolls? Top Secret? Chivalry & Sorcery? Star Wars? Hero/Champions? I'm sure everybody has an opinion...