Fiction, RPGs and Personal Preference

I’ve started a few short fiction vignettes. They are not complete stories so they are not technically flash fiction. This is more about setting mood or illuminating characters. The two pieces I’ve done, each under 750 words, have been inspired by the Borderlands series of computer games. I’ve also been working in fits and starts on a tabletop RPG to emulate Borderlands.

So it comes to mind that I might use the fiction should I ever complete and offer this RPG. There’s a problem, though. I really dislike fiction in my RPGs.

To be fair, I don’t think I am the target market for RPGs. I don’t like settings. I don’t like big rulebooks. I don’t like supplements. I like systems – as pared down as possible. I really liked the True20 rulebook from Green Ronin because it was almost all system, with a few setting suggestions thrown in at the tail end. That worked for me. I also picked up their Game of Thrones RPG Pocket Edition because it excised almost all of the setting specific material.

That’s how I roll.

So just because I don’t like fiction in my RPGs, that shouldn’t influence my decision to include it. Fiction in RPGs seems pretty popular. It still feels really hypocritical.

Then again, I may not need to worry because this game might be going nowhere.

You can learn more about my Borderlands inspired RPG project here.