The Business: Fatshark Shows Why Tabletop RPGs Need The #BROSR

Now we're going to start putting some big thinks together. First, this is Fatshark's preview of their campaign for Darktide.

What did you see here? A complete wargame campaign scenario.

The Inquisitor, in terms that you'll hear out of the #BROSR, is a Patron. The convicts and rejects you play are part of her Inquisitorial Retinue; you play her Henchmen and Hirelings. The hive city under threat is a Mega-Dungeon. This might as well be an expedition to reclaim Moria from the Darkness that haunts it.

If you want to know why videogames that ape tabletop RPGs routinely eat the lunch of typical tabletop RPGs, this video shows you in a crystal clear manner why.

Fatshark tells prospective players (a) what the game is about, (b) what you do, (c) how you do it, (d) what your gameplay loop is, and (e) what you do--and to what end--with what you earn from your efforts.

Compare this to the usual RPG, and you can see why D&D was such an easy sell for decades on end; D&D--under TSR and WOTC--did just this to varying degrees of competency and you can map the rise and fall of tabletop RPGs to the rise and fall of D&D's focus on its core gameplay loop.

That last part--to what end--is what is missing from a lot of typical RPG long-form play. It is also missing from a lot of videogames also, because that lofty objective of becoming one of the Inquisitor's trusted agents (and thus no longer considered disposable, expendable, and fungible) is an end point for players to strive towards that cannot be easily quantified with levels and hit points and DPS ratings.

What does this say about gamers? They respond to wargame framing better than the alternatives.

What does this reveal about their preferences? They prefer crystal-clear statements of premise, purpose, methods, obstacles, and objectives and play games so presented when available. This is confirmed by Fatshark's two previous games, the Vermintide games.

What does the #BROSR put down as a challenge to tabletop orthodoxy? That "RPGs" are WARGAMES.

What does the #BROSR show with copious recepits? That players respond far better to crystal-clear presentations of premise, purpose, method, obstacles, and objectives. In other words, wargame presentation.

What does the #BROSR show typical RPG people is not necessary or desirable? Fixed parties. Rigid scheduling. Frozen time away from the table (i.e. nothing happens except in play). GM makes all the content and runs everyone that isn't a PC; players just show up and say "Entertain me, faggot!" Save for the content, you'll find that Fatshark hits all the same beats.

TLDR? THE #BROSR HAS THE ONLY VIABLE WAY TO COMPETE WITH VIDEOGAMES THAT APE RPGS WITH THE CORE GAMER DEMOGRAPHIC!

Unlike videogames, you don't need a top-end PC or a new generation console to play in a game done the #BROSR way. You need some way to communicate online on a regular basis and that's it. Your basic bitch potatoe PC or hand-me down device will do; if you can email, text, use Discord, etc. you're good.

That's what you have over videogames using the #BROSR way: cheaper, easier, no job-like time commitments, SWEET FUCK-ALL TECH REQUIREMENTS, REAL ABILITY TO SHAPE EVENTS, no "obsolete tech LOL" issues, and a ruleset that isn't behold to Death Cultists.

If you want your precious RPG Industry to survive, then you have to come our way like it not because you're going to lose more and more people to videogame alternatives if you don't because they satisfy gamers better- and yes, OSR, that includes you.