German Roleplaying

As the Gaming Outpost asked me to write an article about German roleplaying, I thought it would be an easy task. Just find out what is unique to the german market and wrap it in nice words. A long time has passed since then, and I couldn't figure out what this unique thing about us here in Germany could be. So I will tell you about the situation, and you should decide for yourself.

First off, I should introduce this little country that is called Germany to you. No. Germany is not only Bavaria and Oktoberfest. But that is what most tourists want to see of it. So let me tell you that I am not sitting in front of my PC with short leather pants, a silly green hat and a big glass of beer. Apart from the tourist attractions, Germany is a fairly ordinary country in Europe. 80 or 90 million inhabitants, most of them normal, civilized people. And some of these inhabitants have found a nice hobby that is called Rollenspielen, or roleplaying.

There are a few German RPGs and some of them are selling very well. But most German RPG companies are merely translating English products. There is Feder & Schwert, translating all the White Wolf products. FanPro owns the rights to Germany's most successful roleplaying game, but also is translating and distributing FASA's games like Shadowrun and Battletech. Amigo Spiele translates AD&D, Verlag Schwarzes Einhorn works on Hogshead's game line, Hive Press on Tribe 8, Truant has rights for Ars Magica as well as Fading Suns, In Nomine and Castle Falkenstein, and Pegasus Press works with Steve Jackson Games and Chaosium.

Of the above companies only a few produce their own roleplaying games. FanPro got "The Dark Eye", the game most German players are introduced with into the gaming hobby. Pegasus Press produces "Magira", the oldest German RPG. "Space Gothic" is a German SF RPG produced by the Fantastische Spiele Verlag.

The success of "Das Schwarze Auge" ("The Dark Eye") is mainly its setting. The game world "Aventurien" is not only described in detail by several supplements, but it has also a living history. Each adventure is a new step in the story of Aventurien, and a monthly newsletter describes the recent events on this continent. Many players help in this process of shaping their own gaming universe. I think that this is what most German gamers demand of their roleplaying game. A detailed setting with which they can interact and lots of interesting adventures.

"Das Schwarze Auge" also had a marketing advantage. Originally published by Schmidt Spiele, a company that produced and stil produces boardgames, it could not only be found in the small gaming stores in the big cities, but also in the normal toy stores even in smaller towns.

But enough of this German success story (that began with refusing a D&D license due to the exorbitant fees that TSR demanded). The internet also has brought some newcomers to the market. Most of them are free RPGs with an interesting setting, well tested rules and decent layout. "Endland" from BSI Productions and "YARG" and "Yargonium" from the YARG Production Team are very sophisticated games. Blacknet Publishing offers several games and "Liquid", a universal gaming engine. Endland is a graphically superior post-apocalyptic RPG with interesting character creation rules. YARG is a well done fantasy RPG that has been around since 1995, with Yargonium being its science fiction counterpart. These games can easily compete with the professional productions.

This was only a short overview of what is happening here in Germany. If you have any questions, just write a mail to contact@purpledragon.de.