New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 12 of 12
  1. - Top - End - #1
    Banned
     
    Beholder

    Join Date
    May 2012

    Default Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Was just wondering about it...

    I mean we all bandy about Sword & Sorcery, Medieval Fantasy, Cyber Punk, Space Opera, Modern, Horror, etc....but is there a list of classification for these?

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Troll in the Playground
     
    BarbarianGuy

    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Well, if you go to Drive Thru RPG you can browse titles by genre - maybe not "definitive" since it only includes those games offered on the site - and they are fairly broad categories. But there are a lot of games, there.

    The problem with making such a definitive list is that some games can fit into multiple categories (even those that are not generic), and people will probably argue about what categories are appropriate for some of them.
    People don't all agree on what actually is included in some genres, or whether or not a category ought to be its own genre. Like swords & sorcery vs heroic fantasy vs medieval fantasy - we aren't all going to agree on terms, they have no hard and fast definition.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Titan in the Playground
     
    2D8HP's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    San Francisco Bay area
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    The 1991 Guide to RPG's Heroic Worlds book did.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Short answer no, and it's hard to make. People have seriously tried to make them, it's approximately the same as the definitive list of literature genres minus some developments (and even then there's people trying to change that).

    To begin, and genres aren't mutually exclusive:
    -Heroic Fantasy
    -High Fantasy
    -Low Fantasy
    -Dark Fantasy
    -Urban Fantasy
    -Science Fantasy
    -Space Opera
    --Classic Space Opera (Lensman, Foundation, Star Wars, Star Trek)
    --Modern Space Opera (Banks, Hamilton, Reynolds)
    -Cyberpunk
    -Transhumanist
    -Spy
    -Historical
    -Prehistoric
    -Military

    Add more as you need to, this list is nowhere near definitive.

    Specifically excluded:
    -Magical realism, while I don't like it being listed separate to fantasy anyway, any tabletop RPG in this genre becomes urban fantasy as soon as PCs get the ability to use magic and start abusing it foe all it's worth, even if it's limited.
    Last edited by Anonymouswizard; 2017-09-24 at 01:25 PM.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    London, UK

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Surely you meant to say that those genres *aren't* mutually exclusive - many of them can overlap.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Banned
     
    Beholder

    Join Date
    May 2012

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Quote Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard View Post
    -Space Opera
    --Classic Space Opera (Lensman, Foundation, Star Wars, Star Trek).
    I really, really don't want to debate this....but there is no way the above are in the same category. Guess we could make a Media thread thingy about it though....

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Troll in the Playground
    Join Date
    Mar 2015

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Well they are all fiction, so they share that category.

    If by genre we just mean the style of its setting and roughly how it plays out, then yes it would be the same as any other genre list for other mediums. Which leaves us with "no", because the idea of a genre is kind of flexible and exists in all these layers and subgroups. For instance, Anonymouswizards list includes 6 types of fantasy, but I also know people who have trouble telling the difference between science fiction and fantasy.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Quote Originally Posted by Zarrgon View Post
    I really, really don't want to debate this....but there is no way the above are in the same category. Guess we could make a Media thread thingy about it though....
    Well sure, we should probably split them, just like we should separate Banks, Hamilton, and Reynolds. At that point I was more trying to acknowledge that there is variation in the space opera genre that is often overlooked, as I've seen so many people reduce it to just Star Wars and Star Trek.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Nov 2010

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Except Star Trek is Sci-Fi while Star Wars is Science Fantasy.

    And let us not forget: Supers, Western, Pirate, Samurai...

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Ettin in the Playground
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    The answer is a solid NO. In fact, there isn't really a definitive genre listing of anything anywhere, because genres are largely arbitrary brackets that get invented, forgotten, reinvented etc. all the damn time.

    The closest you can get is take a deep dive into TV Tropes or Wikipedia, where people with obsessive compulsion to list everything amass.
    "It's the fate of all things under the sky,
    to grow old and wither and die."

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Jun 2016

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Quote Originally Posted by Frozen_Feet View Post
    The answer is a solid NO. In fact, there isn't really a definitive genre listing of anything anywhere, because genres are largely arbitrary brackets that get invented, forgotten, reinvented etc. all the damn time.

    The closest you can get is take a deep dive into TV Tropes or Wikipedia, where people with obsessive compulsion to list everything amass.
    Join usssss. There'sssss alwayssssss room for more down here. Jussssst pleasssse turn out the light on your way in. We dissssslike the light.
    Firm opponent of the one true path

  12. - Top - End - #12
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anonymouswizard's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    In my library

    Default Re: Is there a definitive RPG genre list anywhere?

    Quote Originally Posted by weckar View Post
    Except Star Trek is Sci-Fi while Star Wars is Science Fantasy.
    While I agree there, Star Wars is still Space Opera, which was what I was listing the genre as.

    And let us not forget: Supers, Western, Pirate, Samurai...
    Yes, I was tired and wasn't overly concerned with catching everything. I missed Wuxia (seven types of fantasy now) and Horror as well.
    As I said, that list is NOWHERE NEAR definitive.
    Snazzy avatar (now back! ) by Honest Tiefling.

    RIP Laser-Snail, may you live on in our hearts forever.

    Spoiler: playground quotes
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by Zelphas View Post
    So here I am, trapped in my laboratory, trying to create a Mechabeast that's powerful enough to take down the howling horde outside my door, but also won't join them once it realizes what I've done...twentieth time's the charm, right?
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Raziere View Post
    How about a Jovian Uplift stuck in a Case morph? it makes so little sense.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •