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Not every game gets the supplements or line it deserves. It is sadly not that rare for a great game to fall victim to the loss of a company, creatives falling out or simply bad luck. While there are plenty of games you would like more supplements for, and every corebook should let you play the game for years, some lines end feeling incomplete, or with important mysteries yet to be revealed. So, looking through some of my archives, this is list of some of my favourites that I wish had more development. Rather than suggest you stay away from them, I’d actually recommend taking a look at them, but in the same way I’d recommend watching Firefly and bracing yourself for the lack of a second series. There are undoubtedly many I’ve missed, add them in the comments!
Nobilis (Jenna Moran)
Technically, the Nobilis scorebook (in any of its 3 versions) delivers a complete world. But this game of gods and reality conflict is so rich it leaves me wanting more detail. How are the nobles organised? What sort of courts might they gather in and how are they organised? How do you meet other nobles? There was a live action supplement and a general supplement called ‘Unlikely Flowerings’ but this is always a game that feels there is much more yet to unveil. However, Moran did slip a secret supplement under the radar in the form of another game, Glitch.
Red Dwarf (Deep 7)
The corebook for Red Dwarf is pretty complete. But as with many comedy games what it really needed was more adventures to help you get to grips with the setting. It is a great example of how to do this type of setting and well worth checking out if you are a fan. Comedy settings are very hard to do as usually the book needs to be funny. While this one is fun to read it lets the setting do the work, helping your group create the same ludicrous situations from the series and to see where it goes. But while the general overview is great, more adventures to show the way would be really useful.
Immortal (Precedence Entertainment)
This game has appeared and disappeared a few times, but not got very far beyond it’s corebook each time. The idea of your character having existed since the beginning of everything, but forgotten their past lives to stay sane is a great concept. But more detail on what your characters can do and the various tribes would have been very welcome. More detail on using past lives and creating a character’s secret history would also be very helpful. However, a note on the current website from 2023 says more is coming soon, so maybe there is hope for this one again.
Deliria (Laughing Pan)
This game made a big noise when it arrived, with a large and glossy rulebook. But its narrative rules were a little arcane in points, as was what the player characters were meant to actually do. But the setting, built on faerie and folklore, was intriguing and enticing, and as such begged for more supplements and expansion. There were two (Goblin Markets and Everyday Heroes) which are well worth a look. But sadly it seems creative differences on the team ensured it came to a halt before its time.
First Contact: X-Corps (AKA Games)
This excellent alien invasion game fell prey to the problems of translating and connecting between different companies (the original Spanish and the French/English translators). This game wasn’t just about fighting aliens, as after an initial attack the alien invaders bed in and begin other nefarious plots. With the initial threat past, the Earth defence forces fall to internal bickering in a way that is sadly too believable. What made this game especially interesting was that you could play as civilians or soldiers, giving you two games in one. There were a couple of supplements, but only one made it into French and English from the Spanish. So the promised plot and timeline of what promised to be an intriguing campaign sadly ground to a halt. But, the core rulebook does explain what the aliens are up to, so at least the GM isn’t left in the dark.
Hercules and Xena (West End Games)
As a fan of the show I quickly picked up this initial boxed set, but that was all that appeared for the line. It was a great, simple and fun fantasy game, but really needed more to make it stand apart from other fantasy games. I’m not sure if its sales weren’t good, or West End games didn’t have the money to keep the licence, but it was a great shame this never saw any supplements.
Battlestar Galactica (Margaret Weis Productions)
One of the last of the Cortex system games from MWP, Battlestar had a great start with a corebook and a Quickstart dealing with the attack on the colonies. But we sadly never saw anymore, despite the wealth of potential material that could have followed it. I would have loved a Colony sourcebook, Cylon sourcebook and a campaign at least. MWP shifted to Cortex + and produced a new Firefly game later on, but never picked up the Battlestar game again.
Dragon Brigade (Margaret Weis Productions)
I’m not sure if this one counts as it never really had a corebook as much as a ‘big quickstart’. Dragon Brigade was based on a new trilogy of books from Margaret Weis and Bob Krames. It had a great mix of politics, steampunk, adventurers and spies, as well as dragons. But it never got a full release, which is a shame as there was plenty of potential in this strange game world in the sky.
Dresden Files (Evil Hat)
Here I’m just being greedy. Evil Hat created a rulebook, setting book and supplement for Jim Butcher’s addictive Dresden novel series. But with so many more books created since the game, and a world that peeled back layers like a vast onion, there is much more that could have been added. This is not to say the current books don’t already cover the setting very well, but there could have been more. It’s not a finished game until I can play Mouse!
Skyrealms of Jorune (Skyrealms Publishing/Chessex)
This game is almost a victim of its incredible artwork. It is one of the early ‘fantasy with a twist’ games in that the fantasy world is actually set in the far future where a human space colony has fallen apart and devolved. Humanity has evolved into three different species, one of which can still operate the old advanced human tech (if you can find it). The other species were a mix of native creatures and ‘uplifted’ genetic creations by human scientists. The world is very well realised, but the art was incredible, and really granted a window into the world we’d not seen before. Without the art of Miles Teves in further editions, it never quite felt the same. Still, it is a great fantasy world and what there is offers a masterclass in world building.
Eoris Essence (Visions of Essence)
Finally this beautiful but slightly controversial game deserved more. It had an odd release that made it hard to get hold of, causing a lot of bad feeling from people who couldn’t get an order sent but saw it sold at conventions. The art is excellent and the background to this anime style fantasy world highly evocative. But it never really detailed what life was like on the ground for player characters, being more concerned with its metaplot that never quite made sense. It never saw any supplements to its gorgeous two volume slipcase, which is a great shame as it really needed more detail on the various lands and cultures all these strange creatures with eldritch powers all live in.
YOUR TURN: So, there is my list. What other games only had ‘one season’ and still had great unrealised potential?
