Nostalgia. We’ve been riding that wave for a while now.
While I have certainly been guilty of buying into it, there is an argument to be made that if we are always revisiting the well of the past, we aren’t really creating for the future. As much as I love new Star Trek or Star Wars projects, I’m just as happy to see wild, new ideas like K-Pop Demon Hunters. My point is this: if we continually look back, we fail to create new worlds or explore new mechanics, and we risk diminishing the very things we loved in the first place.
So, let’s talk about my own nostalgia for old tabletop role-playing games.
If you follow me on social media, you probably know that I always bring up three games: Torg, Fading Suns, and Space: 1889.
After years of waiting, the stars finally aligned. Ulisses Spiele acquired the rights to all three! They put out new editions, Torg Eternity and Fading Suns 4th edition, and licensed Space: 1889 After to Strange Owl Games.
Torg Eternity arrived with an updated, cleaned-up, and easier-to-understand version of the original rules. I ran the Free RPG Day adventure in 2017 and enjoyed it greatly. I backed the original crowdfunding campaign—and all subsequent campaigns—usually at the higher tiers. I have everything Ulisses Spiele has published for the line. I’ve read a lot of it.
But the game is not perfect. While simpler than the original, I find it a bit fiddlier than I currently enjoy, and the supplements have been of varying quality.
I realized that I don’t think I’d run Torg Eternity using the official rules. If I finally get to run the big Torg campaign I’ve been dreaming of, I’d probably use a different system. I already ran a classic Torg prequel using d20 Modern.
So, what system would I use today? Savage Worlds.
I am currently running my dream Fading Suns campaign, and while the new 4th Edition books by Ulisses are beautiful, the rule system feels needlessly complex for my table. So, I am running it using Savage Worlds.
Notice a pattern?
Space: 1889 had a Ubiquity version from Clockwork Publishing (and still available from Ulisses Spiele if you click the previous link), and the current Space: 1889 After has two versions: the Empyrean system and a D&D 5e version. I own the 5e version. But if I ever run Space: 1889, care to guess what system I’d use? (Pinnacle even put out a Savage Worlds version of Space: 1889: Red Sands some years ago, so the work is already done!)
What does this all mean?
First, it means I really like Savage Worlds! As our gaming group grows older and gaming time becomes increasingly precious, we stick with the systems we know and enjoy rather than crunching through new rulesets.
But second, it means that my nostalgia was never really for the mechanics—it was for the worlds. My love was for the setting, the experiences, and the creativity they fueled, not the specific game engine. I am glad I’ve gotten to play Fading Suns. I hope to play my planned Torg campaign at some point. Space: 1889 is not currently at the top of my list, but I’d play it.
However, I also want to play new games. I want to try new systems and have new experiences. I want to run a Powered by the Apocalypse game. I want to try Blades in the Dark (or one of the Forged in the Dark hacks). I want to run Mothership and something on the Year Zero Engine.
Ultimately, I love nostalgia. We got new versions of Ravenloft, Twilight: 2000, Savage Rifts, and Palladium Books even published a new TMNT edition. But I also want new games that explore what TTRPGs can do today.
By now, I think most of my nostalgia wants have been addressed. Well, with two exceptions.
I know we’ll likely never get this because of licensing issues, but I’d love to see a new version of the Buck Rogers XXVc TTRPG. (The closest we can get right now is the amazing Overlords of Dimension-25 by Christian Conkle).
And finally, I’d love to see a new edition of The Whispering Vault.
One last thought: seriously, when are we getting the K-Pop Demon Hunters TTRPG?
