I decided I wanted to join some of my fellow RPG bloggers and help Eric Tenkar with his Basic Fantasy Role Playing Blog Appreciation Day event. This is despite my lack of time to do much in the way of a thorough study and review...but when has that ever stopped me?! ;-)
I can't speak competently yet about the ins and outs of the system, not until I have time to read through it. Instead, I wanted to give some stream-of-consciousness impressions of the game from my perspective. I have composed a short ode. Ahem...
Oh Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game (BFRPG), thou art a hidden gem amidst the sea of OSR offerings! You are among the games that inflict me with bouts of the dreaded Gamer ADD. Thy many tomes and other wonders are available for free download!
Ahem, harrumph...ahem. Ok, enough of that. Here are the serious facts of my opinion (heh): I consider BFRPG to be the only true collaborative effort in the OSR movement. What do I mean? Look at the homepage of the game's site. Look under the header "How Can I Contribute?" That's right. Send them your BFRPG submissions and they will be added to the ever-increasing list of free materials. The game depends on the RPG community to help it grow, and to spread the word. That's the way it should be.
The person behind the game has started a blog, and I'm glad for that, since it's given some backstory for the game's development. I say "person" because, honestly, I can't easily discover the identity of the person posting (I believe it's Chris Gonnerman, who's name appears on the site as part of the copyright language). That, to me, speaks volumes. It says to me that the person or persons behind BFRPG are not doing what they're doing for recognition. They're doing it for love of the game.
Look, I'm not saying that the other OSR game offerings are peddled by glory hounds out to make a name for themselves in the hobby. What I'm saying is that there's something to be said for a quiet and humble approach. It's refreshing, and clearly a labor of love.
Do yourself a favor, and be sure to keep BFRPG in the loop when you're looking for your next old-school-flavored game. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Hey, thanks! I am indeed the original author of Basic Fantasy RPG, though as you can see from the credits (and the many signatures) in the Core Rules, I'm hardly alone in the creation of the game. For anyone who is wondering, I am also Solomoriah of Dragonsfoot.org as well as on the BasicFantasy.org forums. You might know me by my eyecon...
ReplyDeleteI'm really, really grateful for the recognition we have received from you and the other bloggers Erik brought together. Thank you!
Chris, thanks for stopping by, it was my pleasure! Thanks to you and your collaborators for a great game! The recognition BFRPG is receiving today is well-deserved, and we're glad to help spread the word. That's part of what being in an RPG community is all about.
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