Its curious that we don't have more games on these two decades (especially the period between 1963-1974), or more people running campaigns in that time.

I have occasionally thought of doing a very different kind of Call of Cthulhu campaign, tied in with all the global instability and the vietnam war...

It just seems, this was the defining era of everything that came after it in our society.  

Plus, I would easily have a great soundtrack for it.

But what kind of stuff could one run in the 60s and 70s?

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It's not exactly "in" the 60s-70s, but there's a game on my want to run list that draws from that era quite a bit.  I'd love to do a Star Wars game with a Vietnam theme.  The characters are all Stormtroopers, draftees from all walks of life and assigned to garrison some jungle planet none of them have ever heard of or care about.  The natives are in league with the rebellion and constantly attack and harass Imperial targets.  See if the characters stick to the Empire, or turn sides and join the rebels, or go nuts in the jungles.

Much darker than your typical Star Wars fare, but I think it would be a good time.

It ain't me,
It ain't me,
I ain't no Senator's son...

"Kashyyyk, I can't believe I'm still on Kashyyyk"

Seriously, the reason why we don't have many games set in that era is that quite a lot of the players were actually aware of that time. So there's no mysticism attached to it, as opposed to the pulp era. Most "modern" games play in the always undefined "now" or even "near-now". Some themes (as the Vietnam conflict) are applied, but often transported into another time. Ray Winninger's Underground certainly took some inspiration from Nam veterans (As in "n-n-n-n-one of them received a hero's welcome")

Isn't there a exploitation movie sourcebook for True20?

There's Cold Space... Not the 60s and 70s we remember, but not all that different.

-clash

Damnation Decade is a d20 book that came out recently that dealt with the 70s. It presented an odd setting, since the writer fictionalized pretty much the entire world, giving all the countries different names. That part I didn't like. Solid! was another 70s-era d20 supplement that I think is still available at RPG.now. It dealt with the blaxploitation genre of the early 70s.  Starchildren: The Velvet Generation, while set in 2073, borrowed the whole early 70s glam rock motif, as aliens become enamored of rock music and culture circa 1972. So think T. Rex, Ziggy Stardust, early Alice Cooper, etc.

Anyway, in American culture of the time, at least, there was a lot of dystopic views of how things were and would be. You saw this mood reflected in movies speculating on the future like Logan's Run, the Planet of the Apes series, Silent Running, and Colossus: The Forbin Project. Technological progress was going to result in a horrifying future, according to American scifi cinema of the 70s.

UFOs and stuff like Bigfoot really hit the scene big in the 70s. There was talk of a coming ice age. The "big one" was gonna hit California any minute. Forces beyond our control were poised to destroy us. So the Cthulhu feel was there.

On the other hand, you had the more upbeat (and unexpected) cultural phenomenon of CB radios and truck driver culture.

There was a lot of grit in the cinema also - Serpico, the French Connection, the Taking of Pelham 123, Superfly - grim, gritty, streetwise crime stories where everyone was suspect in one way or the other.

Personally, if I was going to run a game in that era, I'd run it somewhere around 1973-74. I'd try to emulate the French Connection for mood and feel, but with Cthulhuesque underpinnings. Maybe that coming ice age needs to be staved off as it heralds the arrival of Ithaqua the Wind Walker to the world.

Quote from: SosthenesIsn't there a exploitation movie sourcebook for True20?

Damnation Decade has d20 and True 20 stats.

The seventies also had their share of disaster movies, a genre that hasn't been very popular since then. I've never seen that done in a role-playing game. The Wizard's Guild is crumbling! Can Charltonius escape?

The sci-fi of that era was also notably dystopian. The vietnam conflict, cold war and obviously inevitable over-population created the food for the Omega Man, Soylent Green, Logan's Run... Star Wars basically catapulted the whole genre back to the earlier era of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

The _real_ reason why we aren't playing with 60s/70s themes is the following: Charlton Heston won't play with us.

I think there's room for a Disaster! rpg.  With all the zombie games shambling about, we have templates for survival-based games.  What if, instead of the walking dead you were dealing with the temporary breakdown of society caused by a major earthquake or flood?

You'd still be tasked with finding food and protection, you'd still have to deal with looters and loonies.

I think there was a PS2 game on this theme some years ago, to boot.

There's also the problem that not everyone's 70's is the same.

In the US the 70's was a time of cocaine and incredibly expensive clothes worn in gaudily decorated night clubs.

In the UK the 70's was a time of massive social upheaval, industrial action and economic turmoil.

Quote from: MaddmanIt's not exactly "in" the 60s-70s, but there's a game on my want to run list that draws from that era quite a bit.  I'd love to do a Star Wars game with a Vietnam theme.  The characters are all Stormtroopers, draftees from all walks of life and assigned to garrison some jungle planet none of them have ever heard of or care about.  The natives are in league with the rebellion and constantly attack and harass Imperial targets.  See if the characters stick to the Empire, or turn sides and join the rebels, or go nuts in the jungles.

Much darker than your typical Star Wars fare, but I think it would be a good time.

It ain't me,
It ain't me,
I ain't no Senator's son...

I played close to that in a Star Wars game, except we started out in basic training, where we had to execute one of our fellow PC for insubordination. After that we then got stuck on a foreign planet to stave of an alien invasion.

It was more WH40K than 'Nam, but it was still definitely dark.

Quote from: Mr. AnalyticalIn the UK the 70's was a time of massive social upheaval, industrial action and economic turmoil.

A lot of that was going on here, as well. The US was going through a rough recession and saw inflation on the rise (I still remember the Whip Inflation Now! buttons). The social unrest of the late 60s had simmered down, but social disparity was being recognized more and more. The 70s also saw the steel and auto industries begin to feel their foundations erode away, with the gas crisis being one of the triggers, as well as "planned obsolescence."

The cocaine and disco stuff was a construct of the media.

Quote from: fonkaygarryI think there's room for a Disaster! rpg.  With all the zombie games shambling about, we have templates for survival-based games.  What if, instead of the walking dead you were dealing with the temporary breakdown of society caused by a major earthquake or flood?

You'd still be tasked with finding food and protection, you'd still have to deal with looters and loonies.

I think there was a PS2 game on this theme some years ago, to boot.

I would totally play that.

I was not around in either decade.  But, I have taken several courses on 60s history.  I say this to make you (yes, you) feel old.

However, there is a Spycraft book called The 60's & it's actually very good.  It is much grittier than regular Spycraft, and pretty germane for any espionage campaign  set in the 60s.

A few things I'd like to see for the 60s:

Call of Cthulhu in the 60s.
Superheros in the 60s.
Some kind of game based on social unrest or the hippy movement mixed with... what? Fantasy? Magic? an alternate history? aliens?

I don't know. I just think its one of the most interesting periods of the last century, and is currently underused.

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