Invisible Sun Kickstarter Musings

So, everyone's got something to say about Monte Cook Games' latest Kickstarter: Invisible Sun. The most common "something to say" seems to be: "Holy shit that's expensive! What in Great Gygax's Beard is he thinking?"

From what I can gather Invisible Sun is a kind of singular stand alone RPG that uses props, hand outs, some element of real time, and direct contact with the game creators in an evolving metaplot. Based on the video, it claims to overcome real life problems that prevent game play - conflicting schedules, play style differences, and absent players. That's quite a bold claim - and it doesn't quite feel like it's possible. Real life is real life, and with a promise like that I feel like Cook is implicitly claiming to blur the line between real life and RPGs.

The rest of the video makes such vague statements as "If you like characters, you'll love Invisible Sun." As if we were going to say "No, Monte - I hate characters." The whole thing feels like MCG is taking their own stab at a Mage: The Ascension style game - but adding a whole lot of extras and props. I love props and high production value as much as the next gamer, but the Invisible Sun feels like it's making vague promises and trying way too hard to come off as a game that will revolutionize and forever change the hobby.

I have to admit, it's ambitious. I'd be lying if I didn't also think it was a little arrogant. With a minimum buy in of $200, Invisible Sun isn't for the casual gamer. It's that very price point that I believe will prevent the game from changing the hobby. It prevents mass involvement in something revolutionary and new. The last game which I recall that truly changed the face of the hobby was Vampire: The Masquerade. It did this by tapping into a new market - goths and punks. It took gaming out of the dungeon and didn't measure a session in combat rounds. This made it approachable to a new subculture and, in my mind, also gave the game more feminine appeal.

Do I think the price point is ridiculous? Actually, no. If you're a devotee of Cook and you've got faith in the guy then a $200 buy in isn't all that bad. To me it's no different than +Greg Gillespie's Kickstarter for Barrowmaze: The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia. Greg's asking about $75 USD for a hardcover megadungeon. Like Cook's crowd funding project, it's a bit pricey. But I happen to have every faith that Greg will create a product worth every penny, so I have no problem with his asking price. Cook should be treated no differently simply because I prefer OSR games.

However, claims that Invisible Sun will somehow change the very way roleplaying games are played smacks of hubris in my mind. But, if fans of Cook have got the faith (and the cash) to invest in Invisible Sun - and judging by the fact that the game's almost funded in less than eight hours, they do) - then by all means, let them enjoy their investment.

Old Stomping Grounds

As I come to a close on Class Compendium and White Star is almost complete, I continue to find myself drawn back to fantasy gaming. White Star has dominated the six months of my gaming psyche, and before it I was writing up Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox stuff. Before that everything I'd done had been almost exclusively Labyrinth Lord - and quite a bit of it. Damn near 90 products for the Goblinoid Games classic. 

With all the problems I've had with Class Compendium I kept telling myself "I hope I never see another Labyrinth Lord product again." But there's the funny thing - after a few months of focusing on other things I did look at Labyrinth Lord again. I had forgotten my affection for the game that was my introduction to the OSR community. It was like a homecoming for me, if you'll forgive an overly romantic old man.

I don't see too many Labyrinth Lord products being produced by third party publishers these days. My own sales on LL products started to dip. I wondered - is it a dying game or was there always this solid, if not increasing, player-base for the game? I have to admit, sluggish sales on my own products helped turn me on to Swords & Wizardry. 

But when I look at my book shelf I see that I have four physical copies of the Labyrinth Lord: Hardcover, softcover, Braun softcover, and a PDF that's been printed and sheet-protected in a binder. I've got two copies of the Advanced Edition Companion, along with a plethora of supplements. Dolmvay, Lesserton & Mor, Amherth, Realms of Crawling Chaos, Barrowmaze, Larm, , and many others. That's a lot of money to invest in a game that one claims to "hope I never see again."

I'm finding my scouting around RPGNow looking for Labyrinth Lord products I may have missed over the years and for the first time in a bit I'm really excited at the prospect of playing Labyrinth Lord. I guess I need to remember never say never.

Simple, Not Boring

Wow, has it been almost six months? Whew. That's quite a long time. Things have been busy 'round the house. My freelance work continues to grow, I've had a surprise hottest seller on RPGNow, and coolest of all, I have a seven-month old daughter now. (And yes, she's a badass).

One of the other really cool things that has changed is that I finally got a chance to do some real, physical gaming round a table with friends, dice, character sheets and junk food. It had been at least two years since I'd gotten a chance to participate in a physical game and it was absolutely fabulous.

When it came time to get the crew together, I wanted to initially run either Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Wizardry. All of my players were totally down for this - except one. I have one guy in my group who just doesn't do the whole OSR thing. He's not a fan of older editions.

He doesn't have on them and will play because he trusts me as a GM -  but he finds them to be boring. Characters have no flavor. First level PCs are one-hit wonders who die with a single bad roll. The adventures are meat grinders.

Neither I, nor any of the other gamers in the group, believe any of these things to be the case - but this guy is adamant. The last time we all gamed together, I was running the amazing Barrowmaze, using Labyrinth Lord. The party got rocked hard and very nearly avoided a TPK. Since then, everyone else has been itching to take on Barrowmaze again - except this guy. His exact response was "Nope, ef that place."

The thing that bothers me the most about this guy is the fact that he feels like he needs rules to make a unique character. A heavy armored knight and a light-footed swashbuckler can both be fighters. An arcane scholar from a magic college and a tribal witch doctor can both be wizards. The lack of rules can be a huge strength in making a unique character - but this guy just seems to see the classes as cookie cutter.

I'm kind of at a loss of how to deal with him. He'll play because he thinks I'm a good DM, but he always bitches about OSR games. I'm reaching the point where I've considered asking him to leave the group if he's genuinely not enjoying himself.

This kind of thing drives me berserk. If you don't enjoy a game, you aren't under an obligation to play it - but at the same time, don't sit there and talk shit about it while participating. Show some respect for something others love, because we're all gamers together.