KORPG™ Games 
So I’m looking for some insight from a player’s perspective. Here’s the (completely hypothetical) situation:
Let’s say you are invited to play a rpg. For the purpose of our discussion let’s presume that game is Top Secret.
Somewhere along the way you realize you’re no longer really playing TS:SI, but instead have been shifted into an actual game of Call of Cthulhu a la Delta Green or X-Files. The games listed don’t really matter; maybe the reverse is true, you start with a gritty CoC game only to find yourselves playing a light-hearted scenario of Those Meddling Kids.
Because each of these games brings with it a specific feel to the situations faced by the characters, when the change occurs and is finally realized, as a player, what would your response to a classic Bait and Switch be?
Assuming the following to be true:
- The reason for the switch is either in the hands of the GM for some plot purpose, or is the outgrowth of the player’s interaction with the scenario.
- The shift doesn’t negate any previous history either in the game world or for any specific character.
- The reason for the shift from one genre to another is completely at least somewhat plausible; perhaps a stretch, but not requiring a complete “A wizard did it.” explanation.
Let’s break it down a bit further with some additional questions:
- What if you knew the game was a “one-off” session? What if the game was the premise for a long standing campaign?
- What if the GM planned to shift the game from one rpg to another all along? What if the shift was a natural conclusion of how the player’s reacted to the setting?
- What if the game you initially thought you were playing wasn’t your cup of tea? What if the game you found yourself now playing wasn’t something you would have agreed to play had you known this was the GM’s plan from the start?
- What if the game feel was a significant shift? What if the shift was more subtle?
How might you, as a player, respond to such a tactic and why? And finally, if you’d be amenable to such a ploy, what advice would you give a GM on how to make the shift more palatable to players in general?
Ok, I’m a little brain dead at the moment from too many days of sleep deprivation, but I can’t seem to think of a single example where this would be a good thing. If I’m happy with the current game, then I’m going to be torqued at the hi-jacking of my persona. If the session blows, then part of the sucksville has to be attributed to the persona I’m playing and I’m done with it for the time being. Possibly for genres of similar background, i.e. champions to dc, but otherwise it seems to me that it would come off as railroading or just hokey. hehe Bring out the old GURPS book and go to it that way if that is the desired result. My 2 cents.
Fair points Randall.
OK, perhaps a change of genre is more what I was aiming for in my question. Not a complete change of system. And I know that’s not what I posted in the topic since I did give examples of system changes.
But let’s assume what I was aiming for in the examples was flavor of a game, not system and add that if you’re starting with a generic system (KORE, Gurps, d20, BRP, etc.) and as stated with the assumption that no history (and let’s add persona) changes occur, then can a change of genre be performed?
My question is more a discovery of the limits of the tactic. Can it be done at all? If so, then where does the tactic break from interesting session to hokey railroading?
Can it be done? Probably. Is it useful? I am not convinced. A complete system shift is impractical. The players have already spent the time generating the characters for one system. Making them convert, even if it is trivial, seems like busy work. A conversion may not be necessary if the shift is designed to be temporary. I’d lean against ever shifting systems or having it done to me. In the back of my mind would always be the lingering question of what the point was especially in a short-duration campaign.
Genre shifting is much more plausible. The one solid example I can think of his the Ravenloft series. While based on the core D&D system, it could be considered mostly horror but is still based in the fantasy realm. The key is the genre shift is seamless systematically. No action on the players is required other than continuing to role play with the same set of statistics already generated. Additionally, it is a sub-genre of the origin.
As a player, if I were aware of the intent behind the shift, I would be more open to it occurring. Considering we’ve already done genre shifting during the Portals experiment, it can work but the players were cognizant and bought into the idea. Genre shifting as a plot line is well established in books, movies and TV.
I’ll sit squarely on the fence on genres. System shifts would be much less palatable. Undertaking such a shift just as an experiment without player buy in would be likely end badly.