I was writing the posts for RPGaDay this year in July, since inevitably I’m overtaken by events in August. It’s the start of the school year, so the day job kicks in, and the kiddo needs picked up and other school-related nonsense ensues. I’ll get a few poss in then not finish. No so this year; they’re all written and ready to drop.

One thing that struck me looking over it and a few of the RPGaDay posts from prior years is the remarkable consistency I’ve seen in certain related questions. My opinion of the “best game ever” or versions of that question always seems to go with the old James Bond:007 RPG or MWP’s Cortex. They’re different beasts: the former is a bit busy on the rules front, with levels of difficulty ranging across a wide spectrum, quality of roll ties into how well you do (which winds up being great for damage dealt), whereas Cortex is pretty lightweight, with just enough “crunch” for older-school gamers. Where both excel (Cortex moreso) was an attempt to use the uses to push roleplaying. For JB:007, it was the weaknesses system; for Cortex, the combination of abilities and weaknesses. As any first year English or film major should be able to tell you (if they graduated before about 2000), the weaknesses of a character is what makes them interesting. Supermen (and Marvelous women) are boring as dried shit. People who are flawed, weaker than their opponents but rise to the occasion, who fail but get back up — they’re the interesting ones.

I’ve noticed that I don’t mind complexity of rules when it’s necessary (JB:007), but despise it when it’s not (D&D and and to a certain extent Modiphius’ 2d20). I like simplicity, but sometimes games can get so minimalist that you lose something (Alien, by Free League and the three skills/attribute, which Broken Compass, a current favorite, also does. In the case of BC, however, TwoLittleMice seems to have realized this might have been a bit constrained and have gone to four skills per attributes. Madness!

I’m also hoping to find time to pump out reviews of Aegean, by Stoo Goff; Avatar Legends by Magpie Games, and Blacksad, based on the excellent noir anthropomorphic comics.