#RPGaDAY2023 Day 21: “Favourite LICENSED RPG”

My favourite licensed game world that I have played and would play again based on having a solid set of game rules to match that setting is GURPS Traveller. This game manages to evoke the correct “feel” of the setting while also remaining playable. Because it has a mountain of support material published, it’s also comprehensive.

There are dozens of RPGs that I’ve bought, some of which I have played, and a few of which proved enjoyable. By and large, however, the demands of the licensor have negatively impacted the way many licensed RPGs are written. The biggest drawback of licensed games is that they often involve learning a new rules system.

Over the years, the largest drawback of playing with licensed RPG game books is that the licensees change. When that happens, the books go out of print and the previous licensed line dies. This leads to a related effect around players generally gravitating to whichever version is in print rather than which is the most fun to play.

Example: Star Wars. I have played the West End Games D6 version, the two d20 versions from Wizards, and the more recent Fantasy Flight editions. The most enjoyable licensed version was West End Games’ because it was easy to learn and run. There were no hinky dice and it was pretty faithful to the original movies. But each change tempted me into buying expensive all new books with largely the same source material.

These days, I am inclined to use one rules system and adapt source material from other places. Thus all my old Star Wars books become source material for a Star Wars game and I don’t have to keep buying the same material over and over. I can adapt the setting to my tastes and take things in whatever direction without fear that the licensor will stop the line. In truth, I can just draw on the films and other sources if I choose.

GURPS Traveller is slightly different. Firstly, the Traveller universe was designed for game play. It’s not (directly) based on science-fiction properties that require their own creators to license them. Secondly, it was developed for my chosen generic and universal roleplaying rules set, so that makes it easy to use. Lastly, it’s been available since 1999 in the current edition.

When it comes to cool settings from TV, movies, novels, comic books, or wherever, I prefer to go down the Adaptations route: use the original source material, cook up my own version using my favourite game rules, and crack on. I don’t really need licensed products anymore.

Game on!