My homework for you today: try out a new game

Ok, you don’t have to do it today, but if you try out a new roleplaying game in the next six month at least, I would be very pleased. As most of you probably already know I am the total opposite of a monogameist. I have played and run dozens of different game systems from the venerable Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition to more recent games like Deathwatch. I dabbled into old-school gaming, looked at indie games like the various incarnations of FATE and gave several editions of D&D a chance. And while there have been quite a few games I didn’t like I wouldn’t miss the experience.

During my gaming career I always met people who stuck to one game system no matter what. This always made me sad. There are so many great roleplaying games out there and to constrain oneself to only one system is almost unthinkable to me. Of course you might be content with playing D&D or Das Scharze Auge (aka the Dark Eye, the major German RPG) only, your gaming experience might be that greater if you let inspire you by other games out there.

Reading the several indie games available gave me ideas on how to improve the quality of the games I’ve been running. Incorporating concepts from one game into another might turn your weekly game to eleven. Perhaps you’ll find a game out there that finally solves some problem that has been irking you forever.

Heck, if you ask me, trying out new games just for the sake of trying out new things is worth it. Again, I don’t want to encourage you to drop the system you have used for ages, but if you have the opportunity to try out something new from time to time, grasp it. The worst that can happen is that you learn about a game you don’t want to play again. In the best case you may actually learn something exciting and new you didn’t know about.

By the way, after doing some research on the ‘net I found a whole website dedicated to that idea. It’s called “Play A New RPG” and contains great suggestions for games you should try out at least once in your life. You should check this site out, it’s definitely worth your time.