The Alchemy of Original Thought

Can we create new ideas from whole cloth any more? We've had 50+ years of TTRPGs, and the market has mostly settled into recognizable genres and flavors, such as generic fantasy, heroic, alternate history, horror, modern, cozy, espionage, near-future (and now alternate present like Cyberpunk), gritty, interstellar, war, and far future. Is there room to fit a new genre in that spectrum? Sure. But it'll definitely show its roots. Same with systems. Are there still innovations to be made that aren't roll+modifiers beating a target, dice pools, or roll+spend? Sure. Are they really bringing new technology to the table? Possibly, but I'll need convincing.

By the same token, can we find a fresh game hidden in something archaic? Is unearthing a tired system that nobody plays anymore valuable? The OSR certainly thinks so, even though a large part of the movement focuses on making new games to fix whatever the designer doesn't like in the older game. Then again, would I play PsiWorld again, even though the system has holes and needs an edit? Absolutely.

"And the world, the world turns around.
And the world and the world, the world drags me down."
  - The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary"

Ideas don't just jump up and present themselves as entirely new things, leaping through the veil into our brains as complete creations, though I've come close a couple of times. Inspiration appears everywhere we look if we just let ourselves see it, but inspiration requires work to develop into something usable. The reason we recognize new things as fresh ideas relies on our past experience. "This solves an issue I've noticed", or "I've never looked at it this way but it totally works in that context", or "This is the perfect thing to add to a new setting I've been working on".

You can look forward, but you take everything you've already seen forward with you. And glorious things happen Right Now at the intersection of experience and novelty.

I've been kicking a few game-related ideas around for a while. I'm still going to work on that space hack of Daggerheart at some point, but wheels already turn to crank out an adventure for the Indie Adventure Jam. Plus, there are several system-agnostic titles in the Bolthaven Folios line I'm percolating. But this morning, The Dice Mechanic posts on Bluesky...

Fantasy RPG wanted
Medium to light crunch
Role differentiation/specialisation
Regular progression
Small steps not level jumps
Gear matters
Don't count every ounce
Downtime projects
Base building
Crafting
Damage doesn't heal overnight.
Damage doesn't take weeks to heal
Does it exist?

That post has several responses with games that come close, but nothing entirely fills the bill. One of my Bolthaven Folios ideas involves rules for building a settlement. I already have powerful items and don't sweat the gear weight in my games. I enjoy mid-level crunch systems and crafting things, and somewhat-realistic damage that mechanically means something but doesn't take weeks in traction to bounce back from appeals to me.

Hang on a blessed second here...

Is... is this a specification for a new TTRPG?

Let's add it to the list and find out together.

"And the sparkle in your eyes keeps me alive."
  -The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary"

Hey, there might be something to this blogging thing after all.
Twice in one week? INSANITY, I tell you!