This week has seen me running two different games powered by the Basic Role-Playing System (BRP). One session saw the start of my Tiny Roleplay fantasy game powered by RuneQuest III while the other saw the beginning of a Call of Cthulhu investigation using the 7th Edition. It has been a fascinating experience.

Digging out 1984’s boxed set of RuneQuest from Avalon Hill has been a revelation of joy for me. Certainly RQII in 1980 was the moment when I truly discovered a passion for roleplaying games and the imaginary jolt that the earlier boxed game gave me was significant. I didn’t expect a second such moment when I got my hands on RQIII this week.

Of particular significance to me was the inspirational boost that I experienced as I returned to those old rules and guidelines. Playing one-on-one with my good friend Frank and creating his character for our forthcoming Tiny Roleplay experiment was not mere nostalgia. There was a genuine sense of finding the kind of fantasy I want to play.

Then this weekend, as I unwrapped the hardcover Cthulhu by Gaslight and brought a pre-written scenario to the face-to-face group’s table, I was struck by the creative potential that the most recent incarnation of that game offers. I’ve played a little of the horror game in the past but only now am I feeling that I grok it in the way I would have expected.

My fumbling first true attempt to run Call of Cthulhu wasn’t in itself as much of a horror as I might have anticipated. Yes, I feel I need to call for fewer dice rolls and learn to adjudicate a little more fluidly. On the other hand, the chaps seem to have enjoyed creating their characters and become quite enamoured with the strange goings on around Hammersmith.

Overall, I’ve experienced a renaissance with the game system alongside a great creative upsurge and that has been a positive experience because I simply didn’t expect it. There’s something rising from the relatively stripped-down but robust BRP system combined with suggestions which prod at the psyche to imagine impossible yet tangible possibilities.

I’m curious to see where each game takes us but I am most of all pleased that we took the first steps back to basically roleplaying all over again.

Game on!