A genre not covered enough by RPGs?

[artikid]

Which is a genre you think RPGs have done too little or not well enough?

[greyarea]

Romance. j/k

Let's take a look at the list based on my poor knowledge of the subject:
High Fantasy -- pretty well covered (smothered?) -- LL, D&D, etc
Sword and Sorcery -- well covered -- LL, DDC, D&D, etc
Post Apocalyptic SF -- covered -- Mutant Future, Gamma World, Numerena, etc
Horror -- well covered -- Call of Cthluhu, Cryptworld, Chill, etc
Time Travel -- sparsely covered -- Time Master (any others?)
Space Opera -- covered -- S&S, Star Frontiers, Traveller
Super Heroes -- Well Covered -- Heroes/Champions, Mutants and Masterminds, etc
Cyberpunk -- sparsely covered -- Cyberpunk 2020
Godlike -- sparsely covered -- Sandman, In Nomine
Humor -- covered -- Toon, Hackmaster, Paranoia, etc
General -- covered -- GURPS, GORE, Heroes, etc
Wild West -- sparsely covered -- Boot Hill, Deadlands
30's Adventure -- sparsely covered -- Indiana Jones RPG, GURPS Cliffhangers, Gangbusters (any others?)
Steampunk -- sparsely covered -- Space 1899
Spy -- covered -- Top Secret, Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes

My thought based on this (the accuracy of which can be demolished easily) is that SF variants, horror variants, and fantasy variants are well represented, but that adventure settings in the 19th century through mid 20h century are limited and ancient history (pre-medieval) are poorly covered, although most fantasy can be converted to cover ancient times if you want.

Personally, I think it would be neat to have a 20s-30s adventure RPG make it big. Think Indiana Jones/Untouchables/Casablanca/etc. The few I've played haven't quite done it for me.

I also love spy RPGs and haven't seen one I've enjoyed playing since Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, which I haven't played in ages.

Humor also feels like it can be good if done right, which is really hard to do. Until then, Munchkin can fill that need, I guess.

One genre I'm missing here is the Dying Earth-type, although I feel that most fantasy can be easily enough adapted to that genre. Since much Dying Earth literature reads like straight fantasy, it can be more of a fantasy setting rather than a full sub-genre and still be done well.

[gentleman john]

RPGs set in non-fantastic historical eras are badly covered in my opinion. There is a lot of history to be mined, but nobody seems to be doing it. Try and find a game set in Classical Greece, Dynastic Egypt or Classical Rome. How about Stuart or Tudor England? There are some notable exceptions (Maelstrom for Elizabethan Europe, Privateers and Gentlemen for 18th century naval RP), but in they are totally overwhelmed by the number of pseudo-medieval fantastic games.

[greyarea]

Wow, I hadn't even thought of pirates. That could be a fun genre!

[artikid]

I largely agree (as do other posters on other forums where I asked this) that historical gaming has not the large coverage of other genres.
Pirates has been covered a few times, Flashing Blades by FGU did that with an expansion called High Seas.
Very neat game and very simple for a FGU game.

[gentleman john]

I'm not sure why historical settings are so neglected. It might be that there designers assume that gamers can just go out and do their own research, or it might be that there is just not a demand for historical games. I can understand in some cases that designers might be afraid of raking the coals over and causing offence to some people (there has been considerable debate on so-called "black wargames" in other forums I inhabit), but there are also large swathes of history that are so long ago that nobody should be worried.

SJG was about the only publisher to provide consistent support for historical games - the GURPS 3e supplements were damn good. Other publishers would release the odd one-off (the afore-mentioned FGU being one of the few), but there was nowhere near the coverage I would have thought there should have been.

[sniderman]

Wow, I hadn't even thought of pirates. That could be a fun genre!

I highly recommend All For Me Grog. Very simple, very evocative, very fun pirate RPG that evokes the "movie pirate" genre of Treasure Island, Captain Blood and other classic films. Described as "a cinematic rpg of pirates and swashbuckling." I desperately want to play/run this.

[seneschal]

Pulp adventure has had quite a few entries. They just haven't always become big names. Justice, Inc. by Hero Games, and later Pulp Hero. Daredevils! by FGU. GURPS Cliffhangers. Thrilling Tales. Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes. Four Colors. Two-Fisted Tales. Danger Patrol. The Buck Rogers Adventure Game. Hollow Earth Expedition. Rocketship Empires. Rolemaster Pulp Adventure. Adventure! by White Wolf. Originally, Savage Worlds. Under the Moons of Zoon. Gangbusters. Spirit of the Century. Astounding Adventures.

In the spy genre, Mercenaries Spies & Private Eyes (naturally). Espionage/Danger International. James Bond RPG. Spycraft. Top Secret. Ninjas & Superspies. Can't think of others off the top of my head, but surely there are some.

Westerns -- Boot Hill. Deadlands. Western Hero (Hero Games)/Outlaws! (Rolemaster). Gunslingers -- Wild West Action!. Gunsligners & Gamblers. Aces High. Devil's Gulch. Aces & Eights. GURPS: Old West. vs. Outlaws. Dust Devils.

Ancient Greece/Rome -- Mythic Greece. Trojan War. Mazes & Minotaurs. GURPS: Greece. Warlords of Alexander. Agon. GURPS: Imperial Rome. Eternal Rome. BRP Rome. Cthulhu Invictus. Pax Romana.

Ancient China/Japan -- Bushido. Oriental Adventures. Legend of the Five Rings. The Celestial Empire. Dragon Lines. GURPS: China. GURPS: Japan.

The Vikings seem to have gotten some coverage: Mythic Iceland. Vikings of Legend. GURPS: Vikings. Vikings and Valkyries. Vikings (Rolemaster).

One historical genre almost totally ignored is the biblical era, represented only by Testament. I'll give the early Christian era a pass by assuming it is covered at least partially by the various Roman supplements. Old Testament, Maccabean and Hasmonean eras, hardly at all. Which is a shame, since the independent Jewish kingdom lasted 200 turbulent years. It was rife with political intrigue, both internal and external. Judas Maccabeus had won independence, but the Greek Seleucid Empire was still a hulking, hostile neighbor. Weak Jewish kings in the latter years ultimately appealed to a growing Roman Empire for help. Rome was only too happy to invade Syria, and swallow up Judea as well.

[petespahn]

1860s-1890s - I seriously considered publishing a Masque of the Red Death hack, but then remembered that only about 3 people I knew ever enjoyed the game. *sigh*

[greyarea]

Great retrospectives on many RPGs here:
http://ageofravens.blogspot.com/search/label/geeklist

Oddly, I went to grammar school with the author for a few years. I made the connection when he mentioned an old game store I used to frequent. Wild stuff.