Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sumodawg 06-12-07, 11:21 PM	For some reason, I keep running into gamers' aversion to multi-genre campaigns. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone else like combining orcs weilding swords, with laser pistols while mech hunting??
LoneStranger 06-13-07, 02:26 AM	Part of it depends on how it's done, there are some games that handle two or more genres well but everything else just feels like a clunky fit. Part of it can come from the GM making an awkward fit of what could be a decent idea but the other part is most genres aren't always built to mesh together too well. PM me for a couple of systems that pull it off well and that people like a lot.
Ranger REG 06-13-07, 02:56 AM	For some reason, I keep running into gamers' aversion to multi-genre campaigns. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone else like combining orcs weilding swords, with laser pistols while mech hunting?? Sometimes, like in Dragonstar (from Fantasy Flight Games). But there are some things I don't think is appropriate for a genre, like psionics in a fantasy setting. Magic belongs in a fantasy setting.
Sumodawg 06-13-07, 01:13 PM	This maybe true, Ranger, but mixing things up gets rid of the boredom of typical run-off the mill adventure themes you find in specific genres.
i_am_some_guy 06-13-07, 07:04 PM	For some reason, I keep running into gamers' aversion to multi-genre campaigns. Does anyone else have this problem? Not really -- if done right. Too many of the genre mixing stuff is done for effect or to be different and is just annoying. Part of it depends on how it's done, there are some games that handle two or more genres well but everything else just feels like a clunky fit. Part of it can come from the GM making an awkward fit of what could be a decent idea but the other part is most genres aren't always built to mesh together too well. Yes and no -- I think *almost* any genre combination can mesh together and not be stupid (the hallmark of failure... "this is stupid"). There have been a number of game systems that I've had a lot of enjoyment running; space travel / fantasy for one (spell jammer, etc.) But there are some things I don't think is appropriate for a genre, like psionics in a fantasy setting. Magic belongs in a fantasy setting. I agree; I don't like psionics in fantasy games. Now, having a psi-only fantasy game is interesting (no arcane, no divine).
i_am_some_guy 06-13-07, 07:05 PM	SteamPunk is a cross-genre setting and one that is quite popular now. Fantasy/sci-fi is cross-genre western/horror (deadlands) police-drama/fantasy the list can go on....
spyone 06-14-07, 07:56 AM	Burn out. Rifts, Shadowrun, and a handful of other such games (including the recent batch of steampunk games) have led to a feeling of "been there, done that". Either they look at the campaign idea and go "It's a Shadowrun rip-off", or they look at it and go "Oh, god, not Rifts again." :) (Note that those opinions might be reversed. Whatever, they see what your idea is similar to, and then doubt it will be as good - or believe it will be as bad - as whatever they see it as similar to.) Hopefully, a little time will cure this.
LoneStranger 06-17-07, 09:59 PM	i_am_some_guy I have no problem with Spelljammer at all, partially because it was put together with some thought for making it all work out well. And I do also agree that someone calling it stupid can ruin a game that combines different concepts. However I've been in some cases where things were combined very badly. Example 1: I was in a Star Wars game where the guy didn't tell us he was going to throw us into the Battletech universe, the group was not happy at all when we found out and the game overall never really recovered. Example 2: Another guy was running another Star Wars game that was a mess of other things. He had Babylon 5, Starblazers, and whatever else he felt like tossing in. That game burned out very quickly. So yeah it is possible that things don't fit together well at all, but in those cases it was caused by the GM.
Optimized_Commoner 06-18-07, 06:19 AM	My current pet project is a science fiction universe where magic suddenly starts working (yeah, similar to shadowrun I know). So I've got to say, I love multi-genre ideas. Nothing is cooler than a hobgoblin with an enchanted P-90 or a tank being hauled across a post-apocalyptic wasteland by a chained dragon. Most of my friends hold similar opinions. However I've met plenty of other gamers who hate multi-genre fusion games. There's a reason I game with my friends and not those potential other gamers.
i_am_some_guy 06-18-07, 12:21 PM	...Another guy was running another Star Wars game that was a mess of other things. He had Babylon 5, Starblazers, and whatever else he felt like tossing in. That game burned out very quickly. Hmm... I guess an issue with inexperienced GMs is the "toss stuff in" becuase they like it. When they set the campaign world they need to establish the rules of the world. I once ran a D&D game where the players "discovered" that they were actually sitting on top of a devestated society. I recall at one point a player yelled "Hey! this is Gamma World!". Since that was my plan it had been worked into everything. And as the reality sunk in with my players they realized that everything I had done had been telling them the clues to it all along. They embraced it and liked the idea. But, I had run one campaign, a house-rules traveller game using the Phoenix Command combat rules that has been running for a year and a half (at leat 1 gaming session per week, often 3). The campaign took place all in one solar system. One of the players had been doing research and was on the brink of discovering jump technology when I had an FTL ship show up to meet him. All the players hated it, it killed the campaign. They went from all the work they had done to become major players in the solar system to small fish again and it ticked them off. My 2nd example wasn't cross genre, but what I did was violate the rules of the environment I had set up. While I had this planned all along, and they were in a "red zoned" system keeping them protected, they had no clue. Once they discovered that a giant intersteller empire existing all around them they were shell-shocked and didn't want to game anymore; I had violated the game enviornment agreement that we all had spent the past 18 months establishing. For multi-genre to work you have to be consistent, and have established the "rules" with the players ahead of time. Not everyone will like having the rules of reality dramatically shifted on them.
ZaratheMad 06-25-07, 11:21 PM	It depends on the game. And the players. I'd take a pole first. "If we do a cross over campin what aer the top things you never want to see?" For me it was potocutuer, I was handling a star trek/star wars/alline/predator/Highlander the Seriouse cross over just find with out it. On the on the hand My dm telling me that the robots he brought in to dnd from the above game should be seen as just some strange Golam was a bit more then I could buy. As was his assertion that I could player a borge drone as a PC. On the other hand the first game ran for years and the Dm did an exultant job of keeping me on my toes no mater how powerful I got. But could not handle cerant game elements he handled, and in the end stoped playing with him all togeter. I guise in the end it comes down to three things. Can the elements be blended well? And can you maintain suspended dissbelife- as the writers say. Sight.. I wish I knew what happened to that DM.. I owe him an apology- So If your out there Phillip- I still don't like the way you acted- but that doesn't mean I should have acted the way I did. Wow.. after sevenish years it feels good to get that out.
Skrittiblak 06-28-07, 04:29 PM	Once they discovered that a giant intersteller empire existing all around them they were shell-shocked and didn't want to game anymore; I had violated the game enviornment agreement that we all had spent the past 18 months establishing. This is the clincher right here. Nothing wrong with mixing genres if the players are aware you're mixing genres. I only run campaign settings where the players and GM are on the same page. Sure its cool to surprise people with a secret about the setting, but changing the fundamental relationship that players have with their universe is unpleasant for the players. It often ruins their 'character story arc' too.
Aussiegamer 06-28-07, 06:04 PM	lol...man some players are easily annoyied...players learn more about the world (s) around them as they explore, a natural part of life...if they suddenly abandon ship because suddenly they learn that the world is not flat then thats their problem... but saying that..GM should try to match what their players want...but with some surprises thrown in. Hay Skitt what the link to your stuff on line?