RPG Blogger Carnival - Wrapping it all up!

Well, it's come a bit late, but I do declare the May 2011 RPG Blogger Carnival as closed! It has been a pretty good one, I was satisfied with the turnout of posts.  I have certainly seen months with considerably more, but given the fact that I was not really able to do as much as I wanted for the month, I am really happy with all the contributions.

So, let's talk about those contributions.

Berin Kinsman provided three great posts this month.  The first post provides a fantastic little intro to this month's carnival.  He actually does a better job of it than I could ever have with his post:  Mixing Genres.  He also has provided two great posts regarding Kitchen Sink Settings and the different ways to pull them off:  Samurai Jack Style and Encounter Critical Style.

My old friend, Dyson Logos, of A Character for Every Game, was nice enough to add in his contributions as well with: Genre Bending With Dream Park and Cybercelt - Where Slaine Hacks the Corporate Masters.  He is, as always, elegant in both his prose and his presentation.  Good stuff.

Da'Vane actually pointed out that their RPG D-Jumpers is an RPG that focuses very closely on mixing Genres.  You might want to check them out.  They are doing some cool stuff and could really use some feedback regarding their current RPG line in order to improve those games.  In addition to the RPG's which they already put out, they even put out a couple articles for this month:  The Gate Keeper Redux and Genre Blending.  These posts range in topics, but the first one, which I found really interesting, talks about running a Dimension Hopping campaign.  Good stuff.

This month, the Random GM put together a great little table for mixing Genres.  You should check it out: Genre Mashups Table.

We also had contributions by quite a few other people with topics ranging from Genre Bending in Munchkin to how to blend Sci-fi into Fantasy.  Check these out below:


The Pendulum Method - In Which the Warlock Swings on the Pendulum Once More


KORPG Games - Dinosaur Wranglers d6-lite! an actual 1-page RPG!!

Nuketown - Crisis on Infinite Munchkins


This is My Game by @ObsidianCrane - Acrana Punk: A World of Magic

Grumpy Old Gamers - Putting Your Own Twist on Genre Mashups

Surprise Round - Genre Bending

Dark Dungeons 2nd Edition - Mixing Sci-fi into Fantasy 

The RPG Guy - 4 Tips to Combine Genres for Your RPG

Wombat's Gaming Den of Iniquity - Crossing Genres

Seriously people, great stuff!! Thank you so much for your contributions.  I am really afraid that I might have missed somebody.  I should probably have turned trackbacks on for this, but I'm really behind the times when it comes to tech and internet stuff.  If I did happen to leave you out of the wrap-up, just post a link in the comments and I'll edit the post to include your contributions! Thanks again everybody for your help with making May a month of genre bending good times.

Why Mix RPG Genres?

This month’s theme for the RPG Blogger Carnival is Mixing Genres. This month’s carnival is being hosted by… oh wait… I’m hosting the Carnival this month… damn. I really should have gotten these posts done earlier. This month has been a bit rough for me, but I’m going to plug ahead and try to get at least a few of my thoughts on this subject out there.

One of the first things that I ask myself when I think about mixing genres for a game is: why? Why are you doing this? You’re just going to make things harder on yourself. You have enough to do as it is. Do you really think you can pull it off?? Ok. That’s not exactly what I think about, but the “why?” question is a good one. To be a bit more precise, what you should be asking yourself is: “What effect are you trying to accomplish by mixing two or more genres together?” Basically, I think the reasons for genre mixing are as follows:

Just for Kicks
I really like mixing genres simply for the sake of doing it and having fun. Sometimes mixing two totally different, and wildly opposing genres together can be a total blast and really make for some fun gaming. It might not last very long as a campaign, and the effect of the game might wear off more quickly, but sometimes combining something like the Wild Wild West with Survival Horror can be quite enjoyable and really make for an entertaining game night for the whole group. These quirky, fun games, when pulled off right, can excite your players and generate a barrel of laughs for everyone.

The Unique Factor
Sometimes mixing genres can be something of a quest to find that unique niche to fill for your game. Actually, there are a lot of games that fall into this category that have made it big and are now fairly well known as household names in the RPG world. For example, “Shadowrun”, would fall into this category. “Shadowrun” combines the Cyberpunk world that you get in movies like “Bladerunner” with the Fantasy World of traditional D&D. One runner might be hacking a computer, while another runner might be going feral and hacking robots to bits with an axe. You get the picture. “Shadowrun” found that unique niche and was able to make something awesome out of it.

Combating Boredom with the Gentle Transition
Though this motivation is very similar to the one explained above, the reason the GM, or game creator decides to play this kind of game is very different. Sometimes game groups can get very, very stale. I’ve been playing RPG’s for almost 10 years now and I have seen a lot of groups fall apart because a campaign gets stale and nobody takes the time and effort to fix the problem. When the group gets tired of playing vanilla fantasy, maybe things need to get shaken up a bit. By mixing the fantasy genre, that you’ve been playing in for a long time, with something a bit different, things can change just enough that a game group gets saved without sacrificing the current campaign. Let’s say for example, that group X has been playing D&D 4e for almost 2 years and is getting pretty burned out. Well, looking at some of the game books out there which are compatible with D&D 4e, you find that Amethyst gives you enough rules to work with that you can transition your current campaign from being strict fantasy into something a bit different. With a little deft handling by a skilled GM, the characters can stay the same, but the world, and the plot of the campaign, shifts towards something totally different.

That is my brief take on the reasons to mix RPG Genres. If you have any other reasons of your own, feel free to leave some ideas in the comments. Thanks for sticking around this month!  Also, just a note.  Though I'm keeping the Carnival open for about one more week, just to catch any stragglers (such as myself) the new Carnival will be starting up soonish.  Make sure to give it plenty of attention!!

RPG Blogger Carnival - Time is running out for mixing genres!

Well, there is not much left of the month of May, so I want to make sure that people who are interested in writing about mixing Genres for the Carnival this month get there stuff posted.  I have been working on a few posts myself, which will probably come out right at the end of the month; it's been a pretty busy month for me, so not much posting has been happening.  I'll probably do the wrap-up a week or so into June.  Hoping that people do some more awesome posts by then.  There have already been a bunch of great ones so far.  Check out the announcement post and the comments and you'll see a pretty good selection of them.