Mode Genres, Setting genres, and how we make "Games"

[Reynard]

A few definitions:

"Mode Genres" are those that talk about what sort of story it is: a heist, a comedy, a romance, etc...

"Setting Genres" are literally about what the setting is: high fantasy, cyberpunk, Victorian London, etc...

"Games" means both actual full rule sets, but also our games at our tables: both individual campaigns and play culture in general.

Often in RPGs we talk about "genre" like it is a singular, definable thing. We all know there are lots of different games in different genres, but usually we slap a label on them anyway and call it good.

A totally non-gaming related podcast got me thinking about genres today, and more specifically about the genre axis and the games we create when we combine them. They aren't really axes, of course, because it isn't like Heist and Survival Horror, or Tolkienesque Fantasy and Dystopian Sci-Fi represent extreme ends of a clear continuum. (Or, if you think they do, fine, but I bet you can still find a bunch of stuff that doesn't fit neatly on that continuum. I don't want this thread to be that argument.)

But when we create our games, we often choose a Mode element and a Setting element and the game can be pretty well defined by that combination. It is Dark Fantasy Heists. Or it is Victorian London Romance. Or it is Dystopian Future Black Comedy. And each of those could be an actual game sitting on a shelf for purchase, or a more colloquial "game" as in the next campaign you are going to run.

So in your way of choosing games to buy and/or run, how do you think about those different genre elements? Do you gravitate more toward a particular Mode aka you will happily play a Comedy or Heist or Action Adventure as long as it is "fantasy"? Do you have tight preferences on both "axes"? One? Neither? And how do you think the interaction of genre axes has changed over time in the RPG space?

As usual, the purpose of this thread is to just tak. No one is wrong, they might just have preferences you don't enjoy. I want everyone to feel comfortable sharing, so let's be polite.

 

[payn]

20 years ago, id go for that generic system that allows sandboxing modes. Meaning, heist one week, political intrigue the next, survival horror after that.. Though in the last decade or two, i've come around to the mode bespoke RPG that is well suited for doing something specific. For a long time I avoided specific IP based RPGs like Star Wars, Dune, Super heroes, etc.. For some reason the generic system just didnt do the iconic roles as I imagined them. I began to realize what I wanted was more the Star Wars experience, and not the Star Wars world. Modern designed RPGs are actually allowing me to step more and more into those experiences.

What I later learned was that the play loop of a specific mode gets old for me. I start to long for that sandbox mode, but with a generic party and a character I made out of whole cloth. So, for long term campaigns, I go back to my old trusty RPGs, Pathfinder Classic for fantasy, and Traveller 'goose 2E for Sci-Fi. Though, I always welcome a one shot or short campaign of a bespoke system and experience. For me its the right tool for the right task, at the right length. YMMV.

 

[MGibster]

Often in RPGs we talk about "genre" like it is a singular, definable thing. We all know there are lots of different games in different genres, but usually we slap a label on them anyway and call it good.

That's how fiction publishers work. That's why The Running Man is found in the Horror section of Barnes & Noble close to Carrie even though it's clearly Science Fiction. Genre in publishing is mainly a way to categorize books for the purpose of selling them.

So in your way of choosing games to buy and/or run, how do you think about those different genre elements? Do you gravitate more toward a particular Mode aka you will happily play a Comedy or Heist or Action Adventure as long as it is "fantasy"? Do you have tight preferences on both "axes"? One? Neither? And how do you think the interaction of genre axes has changed over time in the RPG space?

I really don't think too much about genre when picking a game. I might think about it a little, for example I'm unlikely to pick up a comedy game regardless of whether it's science fiction, fantasy, or gothic horror, but it's not at the forefront of my mind. Usually I just see something or hear about it, check it out, and if it looks good and I think I'll play it then I might buy it.

 

[Autumnal]

I often quote Roger Ebert’s line “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it’s about it.” Moses and settings I’m interested can both get my attention, but what makes or breaks a sale for me is what the game does with them - what do we get to do in play, and what don’t we.

As an example: A cyberpunk game with no cyberspace could be an attempt to be the Gibsonian Sprawl from non-cowboy viewpoints. But it could also be a milieu like George Alec Effinger’s When Gravity Fails, with implants providing both data and personalities with skills. Or it could be in the style of Bruce Sterling’s Shaper/Mechanist setting and focus on radical personal changes over decades and centuries. (Now that I think about it, this could be sort of a Pendragon hack, except it’s the same characters rather than new generations.)

I’m the whole I’m a bit more likely to focus on mode over setting, but both can grab me. But it’s what the game does with them that gets me excited.

 

[overgeeked]

Yeah. I think about that quite a bit. Mostly because my preferences are a bit underserved in the hobby. I’ve always thought of that kind of categorization as tone (comedy, horror, noir, grimdark, hopepunk, etc), plot (mystery, heist, action-adventure, etc), setting (old west, space, medieval fantasy, etc), and characters (heroes vs villains; black, white, grey morality; job or role: merchants, do-gooders, mercs, etc; proactive vs reactive; etc).

I do this mostly to avoid the confusion between setting-based genres and plot-based genres. For example, a sci-fi Western could be Firefly, Cowboys vs Aliens, BraveStarr, SilverHawks, Galaxy Rangers, or elements of Star Wars.

I’ll take any tone except grimdark, though I prefer comedy or at least light hearted. The real world is dark enough, thanks. I’ll take any plot as long as there is one, i.e. no slice of life. I find that kind of thing excruciatingly boring. I’ll take just about any setting, though I prefer fantasy or sci-fi. Though I have been fascinated with Westerns recently for some reason. I’ll take most characters except unrepentant villains, but prefer proactive heroes.

 

[dbm]

This concept resonates with me. I like to play a variety of games across genre and theme. I would categorise things like sci-fi versus fantasy as genre, while heist versus hex crawl would fit into the theme. I also think in terms of the style of game - action adventure versus gritty for example.

I really dislike the term ‘generic’ for systems like Savage Worlds or GURPS. They are genre-flexible but they have a distinct style. They can be more or less suited to different themes depending on what kind of activity they support.

By having a handful of genre-flexible games I like to run (my holy trinity are Savage Worlds, GURPS and Fate) I can run just about any game I can think of.

 

[Reynard]

I really dislike the term ‘generic’ for systems like Savage Worlds or GURPS. They are genre-flexible but they have a distinct style. They can be more or less suited to different themes depending on what kind of activity they support.

By having a handful of genre-flexible games I like to run (my holy trinity are Savage Worlds, GURPS and Fate) I can run just about any game I can think of.

That is a good point. SWADE does many things well, for example, but I still don't know how folks squeeze horror (beyond aesthetics and tropes) out of Savage Worlds.

 

[Theory of Games]

That is a good point. SWADE does many things well, for example, but I still don't know how folks squeeze horror (beyond aesthetics and tropes) out of Savage Worlds.

With SW's Horror Companion?

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

I run action-adventure. Period. I like recreating the wild action of films like Star Wars and LotR and comic books. Good old pulpy "punch evil in the face" action. Everything else is boring boring boring.

 

[Reynard]

With SW's Horror Companion?

SWADE is just too pulpy at its core for it to be convincingly scary IMO. Yes, you can have the tropes and play an extra bloody version of Buffy or whatever, but "horror" is more than than that IMO.

 

[MGibster]

That is a good point. SWADE does many things well, for example, but I still don't know how folks squeeze horror (beyond aesthetics and tropes) out of Savage Worlds.

I'm with you on that one. When I run Savage Worlds, whatever the genre, it's going to be an action oriented game. There's East Texas University which gives a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe. If I'm going to play something a bit more horror oriented I'll go with Delta Green, Call of Cthulhu, or....something else.