(Following from yesterday's post.)
"Yeah, that works for (A)D&D, but not-"
Yes, it does.
Insert Space Adventure Game Here
Bob is all about the Sword & Planet. He runs adventures bound to, at most, one solar system; his shelf is full of Barsoom, Venus, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Herbert and so on. Dick is a massive Ancient Aliens fan, so naturally he leans hard into Stargate. Harry's into fleet actions, dogfights, and derring-do so he reads Smith in addition to cribbing from Bob's library and loves himself some Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Macross, Space Battleship Yamato and so on when he isn't salvaging stuff from Uncle George's Space Fantasy or FightStick 39K.
Maybe they use Traveller. Maybe it's Star Ace. Maybe they actually use AD&D1e with Gamma World and some Metamorphisis Alpha. Whatever it is, it works; I hear next weekend Stargate Command's Mars Base will host a treaty ceremony with Helium and an aged Cathoris will be there to sign it, hopefully before the Comet Empire shows up.
And It Would Have Worked If Not For Those Damned Kids
John's a walking archive of zombie fiction and its derivatives. Jack is so into slashers that he works on Dead By Daylight as a day job. Sue is an aging Goth that still thinks Interview With A Vampire is peak vampire fiction, and she bickers with Becky who says it's Dracula when they watch the Twilight series for the umpteeth time (and embarass their kids). Jerry's all about ghosts and demons like Dick he's into the woo, but not in the stupid way; he never misses Mass. Neither does the Lovecraft lover, Rennie.
They all run the wildest Call of Cthulhu campaign, such that even the Space Boys and the D&D club come by now and again, especially for when John and Jerry collaborate on some woo-inspired survival horror scenario like the one based on The Giant of Kandahar. Those experiences filter back into the other campaigns, breathing new life into monster encounters therein, as the wandering megadungeon has made appearances.
The Erzatz Capeshit Campaign
Billy loves old Fawcett heroes. Max has the longest-running street-level crimefighting setting, which Bill and Bob ripped off for their own use. Simon and his best friend came up with their own take on Billy's favorite guy. Chris is a bit of a mopey weirdo, but everyone loves his weird characters and region- who thought Canada would be viable cape territory? Ken's here as an exchange student from Tokyo, so he brought in Japan's take on capes, and everyone loves it.
They run Champions, and with a little help from some of the math-and-spreadsheet savvy they too enjoy visits from the other campaigns from time to time- and return the favor.
Sure, the mass battles can be a bit of a mess depending on the ruleset, but who doesn't enjoy seeing a 9th level Cleric blast apart Umbrella's latest Tyrant with Turn Undead?
"But-"
*locker stuffing noises*
There are, in addition to HERO (which is a bit of a cheat), several games that make this point explcitly. I will name just three.
This was once commonly reported in gaming circles. It will be again.
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