RPG a Day 2017 Question 21

What is RPGaDay2017?

I’ll link here to the actual group. Basically, it’s a series of questions that you can answer. There are 31 questions that you can answer to help shine a light on the different reasons people play role-play games. This is my answer to the 21st question. For my full list of answers check here.

Question #21: Which RPG does the most with the least words?

I’m going with Fiasco on this one. The rules are blissfully simple and short. Most of the main book is filled with stories and examples of what type of game you’re playing. The actual mechanics are found over a handful of pages filled with examples. It’s a story telling game but it’s one that let’s itself get crunchy in the drama and depth of the characters. It’s allows for the players to tell deep serious stories with meaning or ridiculous action romps with Cthulhu. To expand the game you only need a new playset that is usually eight pages long, nine if you count the intro and examples of films and books that you can check out for examples.

I haven’t played Fiasco as much as I would like to; the game is wonderful. The character creation gives you the freedom to be as colorful as you want while still giving you tough choices to adhere too. The first time I ever played I expected it to follow the path of the different podcasts I listened to where people joked and got silly with their stories. My story, our story, went in a much different direction. It revolved around a photo in a locket. It didn’t matter who got that photo, it was going to go badly. The story started so well. There was the hope of romance for two people who had been alone for too long, redemption for a fallen man who’d walked away from horrible acts committed during the war, and the chance to heal for a man who had lost his son. Then it went to the left of center and I ended up dead in the desert. It was dark, and gritty, and serious. It was also beautiful, tense, and perfect.

I try to get more people to play Fiasco. I think the game has the potential to tell deep moving stories more than any other RPG on the market and it does it in roughly nine pages. 

Incidentally, do you think I should take a swing at writing my own playlist?