Storygames

I’ve recently discovered another community online that reminds me of Cityside a bit. It’s populated by people who take a mature approach to life and discussion, are mostly nice to each other and listen to each other, and are part of a tiny, fringe movement of what is already a small minority. Other members of the minority tend to call them “hippies”, which they joke about. This community is Story-Games.com.
 

Storygames (I prefer the spelling without the hyphen) are a relatively new creative form. They bear the same relationship to roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons as the New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s did to its pulp predecessor in the 30s and 40s.
 

In case that comparison doesn’t convey anything to you, here is a comparison by premise:
 

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1978): You are stock characters from pulp fantasy. You wander about until you encounter something dangerous, whereupon you kill it and loot the body. You spend the loot on becoming more capable of killing the next thing.
 

(To be fair, there can be more to it than that. But that’s the basic premise.)
 

Now, some prominent current storygames:
 

Trollbabe (2002): You are Trollbabes, large female beings with horns which are neither trolls nor humans but something that is neither and in between. Trolls and humans have, at best, an uneasy truce; you inevitably get drawn into their conflicts, which you may or may not be able to resolve. By building relationships, you can get help, but you also endanger your friends. The author, in response to a question, specifically affirms that he was setting out to present “hot warrior women who are powerful protagonists” in a way which overturns genre/gender stereotypes (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?t=10420).

My Life with Master (2004): You are Igor-like minions of an evil master. By making connections of love with the townsfolk, who are oppressed by Master, you can overcome your weariness and self-loathing enough to kill Master on their behalf.

Primetime Adventures (2004): You are the cast and writers of a TV show, one with an ensemble cast that focuses on the characters’ stories and their development as people. You plan and then play out a series of shows.

Breaking the Ice (2005): You are two would-be lovers. You play out the ups and downs of the couple's first three dates. 
 

Cat: A Little Game About Little Heroes (2005): You are cats. (Surprisingly enough.) There are a great many invisible monsters called Boggins which "feed on children's fears and rejoice in men's shortcomings", and which would overcome humans if not for the protection which cats give. Cats cannot communicate with humans except by travelling into the

Kingdom
of
Dreams

. You must protect humankind, who don’t get it.

Dogs in the Vineyard (2005): You are “God’s Watchdogs”, in a setting loosely based on pre-statehood Mormon Utah, and you must protect the towns of the Faithful from the consequences of sin and heresy. It is up to you how far you go – but using violence will have consequences.

The Shab al-Hiri Roach (2006): You are academics at a
New England
campus in 1919. A soul-eating ancient Sumerian telepathic cockroach bent on destroying human civilization offers you what every academic craves – power. By swallowing the roach, you can dominate the college.

Now, the thing about these is, they are all independently published by people who do other things for a living. The current storygames market is tiny, a few thousand people, but current creative conditions are such that, using short-run and print-on-demand and selling over the Internet, some of these games have actually made a reasonable profit.

It’s niche, at the moment – it’s about as niche as it can get. But my betting is on growth. Think about how the computer games market has expanded outside the geek segment and become bigger (in terms of annual income) than the movie industry. Importantly, a lot of this growth has come from women. I see quite a few women posting on Story-Games.com – nowhere near half yet, but I have a prediction. The point at which a storygame sells 10,000 copies and the point at which half the storygames being produced are produced by women will come no more than 18 months apart.

I’m thinking seriously about buying Trollbabe (which requires only two people) and playing it with Erin, who would totally get into playing a 6’6” kickass badass outsider, for all kinds of reasons. I’d play some of the others, too, if I could find a group to join me.

That’s a hint, people. Be in on the ground floor.