#RPGaDay2017 Day 9: What is a good RPG to play for about 10 sessions?

Hi! This wasn't written on the day in question; I'm backfilling here. Because I didn't start writing these until the 16th, but I decided to give it a whirl anyway. Expect these to be a bit more brief than usual. We good? Good. 

Let's blog, homies.

#RPGaDay2017 Day 9: What is a good RPG to play for about 10 sessions?

Appropriately-paced Story Games is probably my favorite answer. Get a copy of Robin Laws'¹ Hillfolk, pick a setting, and block out a big plot arc, like a season of a TV show. 

Really, a lot of games can work beautifully in this conceit; I often think of my RPGs in terms of episodes and seasons; tv, manga, however it makes sense to you is the best thing to use. 

I have a lot of love in my heart for stories that are allowed to have beginnings, middles, and ends. My love of comics and pro wrestling also attests that I have a deeply abiding affection for long-term storytelling, continuity, and enough room for characters to grow organically. 

These can be oppositional desires, at times. So it's good to have both. 

Other recommendations, since I can't leave well enough alone

• Fate in all its iterations is pretty suited to this format. Easy to pick up and get rolling with, and with an advancement system that's more about personal changes than a fun minigame.
• PbtA games are likewise well-suited, for all the same reasons as Fate, although its advancement is a fun minigame, albeit a short one. Playbooks make it super easy to hit the ground running.
• Feng Shui 2 is a very different sort of game, but it's fantastic for this type of game, and its playbooks are even lower-maintenance than Apocalypse World's!
• Savage Worlds is great if you want a bunch of pulpy, fun, combat scenes, and has a bunch of sweet settings ready to go.
• Pathfinder/D&D, despite what one might think, is actually pretty great for this IMO. 10 sessions is enough to encounter something too big for you, advance two levels, and have a climactic showdown. Making builds is where a lot of the fun of these games lives for me - but I find that actually playing those builds to be far less satisfying; 10 sessions is about the upper limit of the mechanics remaining fun for me, in most cases. So this kind of self-contained story is perfect; make a 4th level character, hit 6th, and express that build in a boss fight? Choice.

Everything in its right place

I love long, sprawling games. I love it when PCs have the ability to pursue what they're interested in without the pressure of a timer breathing down their necks. Heck, in my ongoing Sidereal Demesne game, my players have spent something like four (6-8 hour) sessions at their debutante ball and afterparty, and we're not done yet². Now, there was a serious assassination attempt, but there was also a lot of dancing, conversation, and plotting.

This wouldn't have happened in a 10-session game.

On the other hand, there's something really satisfying about a fast-paced story that manages to tell a cohesive narrative. Also, it allows for really big, dramatic moments to occur without players worrying too much about losing their primary engagement point with the game. 

I love season finales in any medium. Short games get you there faster, and often with just as much wallop. 

Three cheers for wallop.

~Killstring

* * *
1 - Possibly the worst-named RPG of all time. I love Robin Laws, I love Story Games, I loved Hamlet's Hit Points, and - once I found it hiding inside - I love Dramasystem. Hillfolk was basically targeted directly at me - and I absolutely gave it a hard pass, because who wants to play a game called Hilfolk? I thought it was gritty, iron-age OSR, which I have less than no interest in. 

And someone looking for gritty, iron-age OSR would be pretty surprised to find a scene-calling Story Game. Losses all around.

2 - Players, if you're reading this, I love you both immensely. Never change.