What with all the angst, doom and gloom and dark clothing, is Stormbringer the original emo game?

Should Vampire move over?

Quote from: One Horse Town;364604What with all the angst, doom and gloom and dark clothing, is Stormbringer the original emo game?

Should Vampire move over?

Sooo definitely! Elric is the prototype Emo-goth

-clash

Long ago I pitched a revision of Stormbringer to the guys at Chaosium that was precisely that... a World of Darkness version of Stormbringer, bringing in all of the angst and self-importance and doom that the pen-and-paper games had pretty much missed.

This was prior to the d20 misstep. They liked the pitch, but were of the mind that the market just wasn't that interested in the IP that much any more.

LOL I can see how you can get there, yeah.

My Stormbringer games weren't particularly emo-goth. More like action-packed, deadly. Lots of immoral things going on in between, as well - I guess that could fit your description in that sense. LOL

Quote from: jdurall;364618Long ago I pitched a revision of Stormbringer to the guys at Chaosium that was precisely that... a World of Darkness version of Stormbringer, bringing in all of the angst and self-importance and doom that the pen-and-paper games had pretty much missed.

This was prior to the d20 misstep. They liked the pitch, but were of the mind that the market just wasn't that interested in the IP that much any more.

I think the market could do with a good doomy fantasy game. Making it playable without the pretentious wringing of hands and running of eyeliner is the challenge.

Please.  Stormbringer deals with themes of sincere angst and true gloom, not all of this pretentious wankery about the doomed condition of the undead with supor-1337-powerz.  It's totally different, and inherently superior.

Besides, this is why I introduced Dawnlight to my game -- a good sword that can bring anyone back to life and has 1 HP more than Stormbringer.

!i!

Quote from: Ian Absentia;364622Please.  Stormbringer deals with themes of sincere angst and true gloom, not all of this pretentious wankery about the doomed condition of the undead with supor-1337-powerz.  It's totally different, and inherently superior.

Besides, this is why I introduced Dawnlight to my game -- a good sword that can bring anyone back to life and has 1 HP more than Stormbringer.

!i!

Dear Ian, please piss off.

Stormbringer wasn't emo the way we played it -- very dark and very bloody, but all based on action, not self-reflection. The characters didn't have time for moping and diffidence, they were too busy rolling up new characters hoping that this might be the one to finally live for more than 1-2 sessions

But hand-wringing and eyeliner running is a selling point!

-clash

Well, Moorcock said from the beginning that he created Elric as an antithesis to the then dominant image of the male fantasy hero... the bare chested, testerone high Fafhrd.

So I guess the first guy to prove your point was the author.

Quote from: T. Foster;364626Stormbringer wasn't emo the way we played it -- very dark and very bloody, but all based on action, not self-reflection. The characters didn't have time for moping and diffidence, they were too busy rolling up new characters hoping that this might be the one to finally live for more than 1-2 sessions

LOL That sums up my games pretty well, too.

Quote from: Benoist;364635LOL That sums up my games pretty well, too.

Mine too actually. The power disparity between sorcerers and everyone else pretty much demanded a high body-count.

As Jason said, the RPG books don't really emulate the source material.

Quote from: flyingmice;364627But hand-wringing and eyeliner running is a selling point!

Well...why not?  I mean, on one hand you have Blue Rose for the romantically sensitive, then on the other you could have Stormbringer for the violently sensitive.

Such a game would follow the WoD model of handing players great power that comes at the mechanical cost of the erosion of a character's humanity.  I'd make a game of this sort like Bloodlust, where each player gets a superweapon, and like Wraith where another player at the table gets to play the weapon and take over to do terrible things. (Isn't that how Bloodlust worked anyway?)  On top of that, I'd mine Exalted by making each of the superweapons a "limb" of a single dead god, which in turn draws all of the characters together into a cohesive group (with the possibility of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers action).  And I would drench it in black, lacey, wrist-to-the-forehead moping that would really encourage players of the superweapons to screw each other over whenever possible.

It would be sweet.

!i!

One of my live groups (the Igbarians) has at least 4-5 players I met at Manray in Boston.
They were the type to be a little tongue in cheek as the got older, but there is certainly an emo-vibe that shows up in those games.  There are 'Doom-ridden' PCs and NPCS, as well as situations with only bad and worse options.

I've never played Vampire... do the rules actually somehow encourage the emotional vectors... or does it have more to do with the sorts of players attracted to the game?
It seems to me that Stormbringer could easily be played that way if it's what the players really wanted... less action, more thespianship.