It came out a few years ago but I just learned about a tabletop RPG called Apollo 47 in which the players are astronauts and mission control conducting operations on the moon in an alternate, n 1987. Its based on radio/headset chatter, you could play it best on headsets over the internet or something.
There's a PDF and a print book. the PDF is only about 18 pages, mostly how to play, and the book is massive, 1200 pages but its mostly just reprinted Apollo and NASA technical manuals for flavor text. You dont have to memorize all the technical data, its a RPG.
Players take turns portraying a spotlight astronaut. The other players become voices on the radio: the Earthbound personnel supporting the astronaut, fellow mission members, or any other conceivable character that the spotlight astronaut could come into contact with. (Maybe the Make-A-Wish Foundation brought little Timmy to Mission Control so he can talk to a real, live astronaut on the moon.)
Each scene is a few-minute conversation between the astronaut and the voices. The astronaut describes what they see and what they’re doing. The voices introduce minor technical complications or conflicts for the astronaut to navigate. When the astronaut achieves a satisfactory resolution, the scene ends, and the spotlight shifts to another player and astronaut.
Apollo 47 has no mechanics—no die rolls, no arithmetic—just this general procedure guided by yes-and improv and based in communication. What drives play is introducing technical jargon and using it to escalate a scene’s conflict.
Sounds like a lamer version of that videogame where someone has a manual and needs to talk someone else through defusing a kablooey.
That, and this, combined with roll tables out the ass for equipment failures sounds like some autism I can get behind.
>SCE to AUX
>Sounds like a lamer version of that videogame where someone has a manual and needs to talk someone else through defusing a kablooey.
You can play that game solo if you want to.
>yes-and improv and based in communication. What drives play is introducing technical jargon and using it to escalate a scene’s conflic
this is the worst thing I've ever heard, and I was in junior high band
47 has no mechanics
Then it isn't an RPG, is not a traditional game, and thus does not belong on /tg/.
It says it is, indeed, an RPG. There happen to be a ton of RPGs with little to no mechanics. Quit being pedantic, if you can achieve such a small victory over yourself. I somehow doubt it
>It says it is, indeed, an RPG.
I can say I’m the king of Spain but that doesn’t make it true.
¡Su Majestad! ¿Cuál es tu real decreto?
>game where you play the role of someone else is not a roleplaying game because there’s no dice
Where is the game part? Pretending to be someone else is improv theater.
Isn't improv theater all about games and rules that the scenes revolve around?
Yep. Improv theater is where 'yes and' rules come from.
Improv theater is by design a game.
Is there like ~6 persons in the world who are into this?
>just impov technical garblasiatic to make it sound like difficult things are happening
This does not sound like a very enjoyable or interesting procedure. Story telling games require the ability to abstract past anything actual so the narrative beats and such happen. Making it built around a bunch of words none of the players know what they mean, or systems they don't understand, is going to be very repetitive, boring and very wrong. Again at odds with the technical/grounded vibe.
This stinks of one of those pretentious art games that are meant to sit on a shelf so the owner can feel smug for owning it rather than actually be played.
>/tg/ doesn't to larp as alt-history astronauts
Pearls before swine. Thank you for bringing it to my attention OP. NGL I'm 99% sure I'll never play this but I did something similar at a summer camp once and it was awesome.