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Welcome to Grognard Gardens

So much of the RPG world is shaped by so many of us being middle-aged parents who can barely scrape a few hours together to play: mini-dungeons, low-prep campaigns, PbP, hangouts, etc. Plenty of games and supplements have been written to support this style of play.

How the game will be shaped in 20-30 years when we all start retiring and have nothing to do but play?

The Patron Saint of Mean Old Bastards, by me, 2007.

  • Nerd retirement homes where grognards hunch over card tables and well-worn battle-mats while our long-suffering partners enjoy the extensive non-nerd amenities. 
  • Games that encourage hundreds of levels to be earned through constant play. 
  • My gawd, the intricately detailed campaign worlds.
  • Game design that emphasizes simple record-keeping as our memories fade; reference sheets in increasingly large type.
  • BECMI-style quests-for-immortality return as part of our moribund fantasies.
  • Doctors trained to describe our failing bodies to our doddering minds as level drain and Constitution checks.
  • Grandchildren pleading with our GMs to include their names as NPCs so that there's a chance of us remembering them.
  • We'll still be arguing over alignments, abstraction of hit points, and race-as-class.

Sounds good to me. Let's have a KickStarter. Anybody know how much money you need to raise to build a retirement community?



Comments

  1. Venger SatanisOctober 27, 2014 at 3:30 PM

    Haha, an interesting idea. Hopefully, many of us will still be gaming decades from now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PulpatoonerOctober 27, 2014 at 4:21 PM

      We made it this long; I don't think we have much hope of stopping now.

      Delete

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