[UA] Swedish games

[Martin Olsson]

Hello everyone,

I'm another Swede lurking on the list. I think Ronnie and Mattias 
covered the Swedish RPG scene pretty well, but I'd like to add some info 
about Mutant since it has a rather interesting history. Mutant was one 
of the first games in sweden, just a few years later than Drakar & 
Demoner. The game was published by the same company (Äventyrsspel) which 
later became Target Games. Target used the Mutant brand for Mutant 
Chronicles, but dropped the original (and cute) setting. Recently a 
group of hobbyists (who are also friends of mine) just like ourselves 
have re-released or rather re-created the original Mutant universe. They 
have put out several very pretty full-color hardback sourcebooks and 
adventures. Text, illustrations and layout is top notch - at least as 
good as UA 2:nd ed. They do this out of love, while getting by doing 
whatever it is 30-somethings do to survive. The industry may be down, 
but there is a lot of talent and a lot of dedicated enthusiasts out 
there that can help a game survive even when the figures say no. So even 
if UA should at some point be dropped by the publishers (which I 
certainly hope it is not), I'm sure we can keep UA alive and kicking 
indefinitely if we put our mind to it.

Regards,

Martin, Stockholm, Sweden





Mattias Östklint wrote:

>
>Hej Ronnie! Kul att se att det finns i alla fall en (1) till som spelar UA!
>
>Swedish RPG:s? Well, Ronnie already gave a good account of it, I just have
>a few comments. There were two swedish RPG:s translated, Kult (if you don't
>know it, you should, for a game published in the eighties it is frightingly
>modern) and Mutant Chronicles (Warhammer 40K-ish, as an RPG, there even was
>a spin-off tabletop battle system called Warzone, wich sold just as well as
>every other none-Games Workshop whatever, ie, not very). I have only played
>Mutant Chronicles for comedy value, it is way over-the-top. Kult is nice.
>Some games were translated, MERP, Chill, Star Wars, an early version of
>Dungeons and Dragons (sold really bad), probably one or two I forget.
>Then we have the swedish-language games.
>"Drakar och Demoner", well, Ronnie already talked about it. It was the
>first, and of course it is a blatant rip-off. Only, it is not a rip-off of
>Dungeons and Dragons, but rather of Basic Roleplaying.
>
>Now, think a bit about that. Imagine that you, everybody you know who game
>and everybody you meet who has gamed at one point or the other DIDN'T play
>Dungeons and Dragons as their first game. Drakar och Demoner has no levels.
>Practically no swedish (or european, for that matter) rpg:s are
>level-based. I'm not sure HOW this has affected the swedish/european gaming
>scene, but I'm sure it has.
>
>"Mutant" is the game that will not die. Published in the early eighties it
>transformed into some kind of cyberpunk for a while but is now back to the
>roots. The setting is Postapocalyptic say, 2-3 hundred years after,
>technology is early steam-level, Mutated animals, mutated and "pure"
>humans, psykers, robots (with the asimov rule) and lots of humor.
>Recommended.
>"Viking" is dead, the rules were sub par but it is the only historically
>correct portrayal of vikings in an RPG I have ever seen, and it does it
>without being boring.
>Neotech is rules-heavy cyberpunk, Eon is rules-heavy fantasy. Gemini,
>Västmark, Kelathaar and Gondica are, or were, fantasy of differing
>sub-genres. Wastelands was a rather uninspiring postapocalyptica.
>Western is another survivor, a pretty straight, historically correct Wild
>West game that features silouettes with a transparent target you put over
>the spot you aim, roll a bit and see where you hit, pretty nifty, but a bit
>complicated. (come to think of it, I can't think of a English-language
>historically correct Wild West rpg, odd that, are you guys not interested
>in your history?)
>
>Then we have a couple (four I think) rpg:s used by the church for
>educational purposes (the confirmation, I think it is called in english?).
>They are not really christian in nature, but more designed to  provide food
>for reflection. (one fantasy, two historical (viking, palestine) and one
>hard SF).
>
>But in general the market for games in swedish suffers because everyone
>above fifteen know english.
>
>And no levels. Ever.
>
>Mattias
>
> a short comment turned into a ramble...
>
>
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