What gives an RPG its ‘replay’ value?
I’m taking another alternate to today’s default question – I have no clue about the best source for out-of-print RPGs.
Instead I have a couple of thoughts about replay value. I’m assuming here that any such RPG in question has sound mechanics and is reasonably well-balanced.
Then I wonder whether I’m:
- Starting a new game: quick to pick up and play, interactive world building, interesting character generation, offers something different to try.
- Continuing a campaign: character development, feels like there are options for the character and group, setting immersion.
In both cases, I’m also increasingly interested that the game setup supports a sense of resolution. So whether I’m playing a single-session or an extended campaign, it feels like there’s progress being made, and the game system helps drive the group towards a satisfying conclusion.
What a satisfying conclusion is though, well, that depends on what happens on the way to getting there. I feel like the system is less important for that than the fiction that the group build together – a good game just makes it easier to show and tell that narrative. And I’ll happily replay with that.
