What is your preferred approach to genre emulation?

That the players know what the genre is before starting a game.

I generally like to run dramatist-simulation where the PCs get to feel like they are characters of that genre in that world and have that character's internal aspect. So eg in a Star Wars setting the PCs should feel competent and heroic but also the player as PC needs to feel that blaster bolts can kill, that Stormtroopers are dangerous etc. So even though in genre the protagonists don't die, I'll want there to be genuine threat - which made my Star Wars games tend to end up a lot more like Rogue One than Return of the Jedi.

It's quite a tricky balance since I don't want the situation to be hopeless or to feel hopeless, if the protagonists don't feel that way - I guess in a '1984' type setting that would be ok - but if there's a feeling of against-the-odds as in eg Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian & most other pulp fiction, then that needs to have some reflection in the reality of the game.  At the very least the PCs do need to be in some kind of actual danger, though there may be more or less subtle elements giving them an edge.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;1054119What is your preferred approach to genre emulation?

Not a snarky reply: I don't.

I take a lot of inspiration from genres, but I don't seek to emulate them. I think it doesn't play to the strengths of RPGs.

Define genre emulation?

Boot Hill style genre emulation?

Call of Cthulhu style genre emulation?

Big Eyes Small Mouth style genre emulation?

Gurps style genre emulation?

Quote from: Omega;1054149Define genre emulation?

Boot Hill style genre emulation?

Call of Cthulhu style genre emulation?

Big Eyes Small Mouth style genre emulation?

Gurps style genre emulation?

I am just interested in what approach people prefer, not in defining the term. I didn't have any one of these in mind in specifically. My interest is seeing which approach(es) to genre emulation, among all the approaches that are out there, folks like. So if you find one of the games you mentioned captures what you are looking for in genre emulation more than the others (or if a group offer a range that fits what you like), that is the kind of answer I was looking for.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;1054153I am just interested in what approach people prefer, not in defining the term. I didn't have any one of these in mind in specifically. My interest is seeing which approach(es) to genre emulation, among all the approaches that are out there, folks like. So if you find one of the games you mentioned captures what you are looking for in genre emulation more than the others (or if a group offer a range that fits what you like), that is the kind of answer I was looking for.

All of the above fit for me really. Boot hill does an excellent job of emulating a western. Call of Cthulhu does an excellent job of emulating the Lovecraftian stories and even works really well as a non-supernatural period piece. BESM is good at emulating various anime and even branched into Rescuers style small animal world territory. Gurps works much like a broader scope BESM for emulating general or specific genres. As does TSRs MSH RPG which can cover pretty much any genre due to its nature.

Another would be the original Albedo RPG which both does the comics its based on very well. And emulates the lethality of WWII/NATO level modern warfare in an overall hard fiction setting. Or Furry Outlaws which emulates a historical authentic setting using Disneys Robin Hood style animal people. Or TOONs ability to recreate a cartoon environment and so on.

Or the various pieces in Pokyhedron for d20 modern that covered various genres such as pulp heroes, cross country racing, cartoon mystery solving rock bands, planet romance, VR worlds, and even a WWII one. I rather liked the racing one and the trapped in VR one in particular. The others were interesting though some were less so than others.

Whereas oddly I felt the Buck Rogers RPG failed to capture the feel of the setting in its various iterations. But stood well as its own thing in a sort of broader scope Flash Gordon style.

Quote from: S'mon;1054123I generally like to run dramatist-simulation where the PCs get to feel like they are characters of that genre in that world and have that character's internal aspect. So eg in a Star Wars setting the PCs should feel competent and heroic but also the player as PC needs to feel that blaster bolts can kill, that Stormtroopers are dangerous etc. So even though in genre the protagonists don't die, I'll want there to be genuine threat - which made my Star Wars games tend to end up a lot more like Rogue One than Return of the Jedi.

It's quite a tricky balance since I don't want the situation to be hopeless or to feel hopeless, if the protagonists don't feel that way - I guess in a '1984' type setting that would be ok - but if there's a feeling of against-the-odds as in eg Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian & most other pulp fiction, then that needs to have some reflection in the reality of the game.  At the very least the PCs do need to be in some kind of actual danger, though there may be more or less subtle elements giving them an edge.

What do you mean more like R1 over RotJ?

I am curious what approaches people enjoy too, and why, because I really don't "get" where the satisfaction lies in it. A lot of new games seem really focused on it, for it's own sake, and people really enjoy it but I don't understand why. I understand not wanting anachronisms in a setting or game or even story, but when it gets into following tropes, "feeling" like this sort of media, etc. I just don't understand the appeal.

I discuss genre expectations as it relates to the campaign to make sure we're all on the same page.
Websites like TVtropes are very helpful too.

System rules are useful, but nothing is more important than the conversations with players who may not all be equally familiar with the genre.

For me it about presenting a setting for my players to explore  as their character. The starting point is to take what been written and imagining it as a place where people live out their lives. Then among the possibilities highlight those that are of potential interest and let the players choose where they want to start at. If they are ignorant of the setting or genre I will coach them until they are comfortable with their understanding.

Genre Emulation is what happens when I play one of these super-meta games, like Fate. Not a huge fan, but I can see the appeal.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;1054162What do you mean more like R1 over RotJ?

PCs die a lot!

I think it's extremely important to delve in with the players so they understand that for my campaigns, "genre" does not mean "roleplaying within some form of media construct" but "roleplaying in a world and setting of a certain media construct".  In other words, whether we are in Middle Earth, Hyboria, Westeros, Star Wars, Star Trek, or the Expanse, we are not roleplaying within a story and your PCs are not protagonists.  They have no script immunity.  We won't be both roleplaying them and talking about them from the 3rd person using OOC mechanics to reinforce genre or other narrative elements.  We're going to be roleplaying, not roleplaying plus storytelling.

As a roleplayer, I prefer to roleplay.  I like my genre-reinforcing mechanics to be as subtle as possible.  An example that to me is acceptable is personality mechanics.  For example, Call of Cthulhu Sanity, Warhammer Hatred, and Pendragon Virtues.  They are basically stats that chart the mental definition of your character within the setting and rolling against them, if presented properly, are no different than making a Strength check.  

When they have a broader impact, like possibly being modifiers to other actions, like Mythas Passions, they become a little annoying as now we step outside the character a bit to discuss whether 77% Love of Queen and Country is going to affect this situation.

More annoying is stuff like "Ales and Whores" rules, that govern automatically how characters make use of resources.  Not a big fan of structured and mechanically enforced Downtime minigames as they tend to be bland or just storytelling exercises.  Downtime rules with robust random events can be pretty entertaining.

Stuff like "Naked Barbarian/Chainmail Bikini Armor" and "Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy", or dividing NPCs into Minion/Toughened/Nemesis each having different rules, I absolutely despise.

Pick an RPG which emulates a specific genre or group of genres (since many genres are composed of multiple other genres). Every genre has its own conventions which may require specific rules. Much to my chagrin I have been unable to find an RPG that emulates the fairy tale genre (no, Changeling: The Lost does not count because it is a grimdark urban fantasy which only burrows the superficial iconography of fairy tales), unless you hack a mythology RPG like Mazes & Minotaurs to run fairy tales. (In my experience, the primary difference between myths and fairy tales is that fairy tales generally lack any kind of world building.)

I actually despise the D&D sub-genre. Although it takes cues from fairy tales, pulps and Tolkien, it has ultimately become its own thing with its own idiosyncrasies (which are carried over into most fantasy CRPGs). Most fiction in the D&D sub-genre is actually produced online as D&D fanfiction, but the largest output of published fiction (not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast) is Japanese novels which get adapted into comics and cartoons. Watching these cartoons only highlights how silly the D&D sub-genre actually is if you take its conventions seriously.