Normality-Gaming At The Edge Of Sanity

"Normality is not so much a game as a communicable mental disease."

Those words, from http://youarenowunderthecareofthegoatplan.synthasite.com/normality.php, only begin to scratch the surface of this work, a harbinger of things to come in a world populated by corporate game makers and fans who don't realize they are witnessing the end of the empire.

The fragmented world that congealed in the early 90's of role-playing game companies took gaming out of the gutter, so to speak, and offered the players a new, shiny and expensive method of roleplaying. The hobby that couldn't buy itself a cup of coffee was suddenly being offered in proper book stores and outlets that only a few years before would not have even considered stocking 'devil worship material'.

But recently the tide has turned. Many are returning to the old school of gaming, wherein you deciphered cryptic handbooks and welded together pieces of different systems to create a unique experience. I myself ran games along with 2 other DMs in the 80's and we called it AD&D but each had a completely different view and play method involving homebrew and third party material. A purist would have found almost no true AD&D under the hood of our game machines, but we all looked to AD&D as a root to grow any gaming experience we desired.

Now, we see a new wave of gaming that at its heart is inspired by the old school, but with a post-modern cynicism that is only now becoming evident. Instead of rules there are suggestions and guides. Diceless systems, systems without skills, attributes or traits. No subject is taboo, no line so thick you can't cross it.

And then there is Normality.

In Normality we see a complete break from the old world and a truly new vision in gaming. Words fail to do justice to this game. Starting from its nearly incomprehensible presentation to its complete disregard for anything that came before it, it is the tac nuke of gaming, aimed squarely at the heart of the corporate gaming and everything it stands for.

And its creators are serious about it. This isn't a joke, they are not trying to pull a fast one on you. First, they offer the pdf version for free and after conversations with one of the creators it is very evident they mean it. Every single splattered page of it.

There are other games pushing the boundaries of gaming and many good ones at that, but if you want to experience a work of ergodic genius that blows the boundaries away and sails straight out to the furthest regions of gaming then get this game now (currently housed at 1km1kt, along with a brief Game Master guide-see link below).

The barbarians are at the gate. Open them and look toward a possible future. A future of unbounded creativity and mind expanding altered reality.

The world that is Normality.

(For more information and the pdf downloads-http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/normality)

Welcome To The Thin Line

I have been a gamer since I was a child and have over the years wrote various systems that always seemed to succumb to the usual bogging down in the ways of old rules while trying to bring something fresh to P&P RPG gaming.

Then a few accidental discoveries and conceptual breakthroughs drew my focus to a new approach to gaming.

The result is Blur.

Agree or disagree with these new styles of rpgs, but gaming seems to be heading in a new direction, after becoming the domain of big publishers who re-issue their books every few years with minor revisions and ever higher prices, to a more grass roots movement out to explore the edges of the gaming universe and bring the energy and excitement of the beginnings of tabletop gaming back to the forefront.

Enjoy your visit here. I look forward to the exchange of new ideas.