De Profundis (role-playing game): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Tabletop or correspondence role-playing game by Michał Oracz}} |
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[[File:De Profundis, role-playing game.jpg|thumb|upright|right]] |
[[File:De Profundis, role-playing game.jpg|thumb|upright|right]] |
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'''''De Profundis''''' is a [[role-playing game]] by |
'''''De Profundis: Letters from the Abyss''''' is a correspondence-based [[role-playing game]] created by {{ill|Michał Oracz|pl|Michał Oracz}} that was originally published by Polish game company Portal in 2001, then translated to English and published by [[Hogshead Publishing]] in 2002. Unusually, the game is not played via dialogue, but rather by the exchange of letters between players. |
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==Description== |
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''De Profundis'' is a two-player game in which players create the game's narrative by writing each other letters in the style of horror author [[H. P. Lovecraft]]. (Designer Michal Oracz wrote the sourcebook as a series of letters in Lovecraftian style which tell of the transcription of a game that the author of the letters saw in a dream.)<ref name=mahg /> The game has almost no [[Role-playing game#Game mechanics|role-playing game mechanics]]. There is no [[wargaming|wargame]] apparatus, no die rolls, no statistics, and no [[gamemaster]].<ref name=mahg /> Rather, it emphasizes character and atmosphere.<ref name=mahg /> There is also an option for solo play, and there are rules for accommodating more than two players.<ref name=mahg /> |
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| ⚫ | The sourcebook recommends that players communicate through physical correspondence in order to capture the mood of Lovecraft's stories, to encourage the players to take ample time in crafting each response, and to allow for the exchange of props or strange artifacts between players.<ref name=mahg /> Despite this recommendation, nothing in the rules precludes playing through other media, and games have been adapted for play by [[email]], [[blog]] posts, or any combination of methods. The blog ''De Profundis'' (Che 2002) is an instance of solo [[play-by-post gaming]] via a blog. |
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== Game system == |
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| ⚫ | The use of correspondence does not necessarily mean the game is [[play by mail]]. The [[Diana Jones Award]] committee noted that the game instead reinvents the role-playing form.<ref name="dianajones">{{cite press release | publisher=The Diana Jones Award committee | date= 2002-04-08 | title= Diana Jones Award 2001 Nominees Announced | url=http://www.guildcompanion.com/scrolls/2002/may/pressdianajones2001.html}}</ref> Hogshead marketed ''De Profundis'' with the tagline, "This game is intended for mentally stable adults". |
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The game has almost no game mechanics. There is no [[wargaming|wargame]] apparatus, no die rolls, no statistics, no [[gamemaster]]. The game is like [[freeform role-playing game|freeform role-playing games]] in that its rules are minimal, but differs from them in that players provide their own character details, there are no referees, and players interact via [[mail]] rather than face-to-face. If freeform RPGs are like improvisational theatre, ''De Profundis'' is like an improvisational [[epistolary novel]]. |
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| ⚫ | According to game historian [[Shannon Appelcline]], "It was a Lovecraftian-styled game but about as far from ''[[Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'' as you can get. It is best remembered for its correspondence rules, which allowed players to rather uniquely play the game through the exchange of in-character letters. Like most of the other New Style games, it did not include a [[gamemaster|Games Master]] and was oriented toward telling stories."<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|306}} |
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| ⚫ | The sourcebook recommends that players communicate through physical correspondence in order to capture the mood of Lovecraft's stories, to encourage the players to take ample time in crafting each response, and to allow for the exchange of props or strange artifacts between players. |
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| ⚫ | The use of correspondence does not necessarily mean the game is [[play by mail]]. The [[Diana Jones Award]] committee |
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| ⚫ | Polish game designer Michał Oracz created ''De Profundis'', which was published by Polish game company Portal in 2001.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | author=Kim, John H.| date=January 2, 2006| title=RPG Encyclopedia Entries: Polish | format=http | encyclopedia=An Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games | url=http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/encyclopedia/bylanguage/Polish.html | accessdate=January 10, 2006}}</ref> |
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Three years before, in 1998, British company Hogshead Publishing had released the pioneering narrative storytelling game ''[[The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'', which became the first in a series of "New Style" storytelling games that included ''[[Nobilis]]'' (1999) and ''[[Violence (role-playing game)|Violence]]'' (1999). The final game in Hogshead's New Style line was an English translation of ''De Profundis'' published in 2002.<ref name="designers">{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7}}</ref>{{rp|306}} |
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Designer Michal Oracz wrote the sourcebook as a series of letters in Lovecraftian style. |
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| ⚫ | However, later the same year, in November 2002, [[James Wallis (game designer)|James Wallis]], Director of Hogshead Publishing, announced that Hogshead was leaving the adventure gaming industry due to boredom, creative frustration, and increasing despondence about the future of the specialist gaming industry. Hogshead returned the rights of the New Style games to their creators.<ref name="sugarbaker">{{cite web | author=Sugarbaker, Allan| year=2002| title=Interviews: James Wallis | format=http | work=OgreCave.com | url=http://www.ogrecave.com/interviews/jameswallis2.shtml | accessdate=January 12, 2006}}</ref> |
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Hogshead marketed ''De Profundis: Letters From The Abyss'' with the tagline, "This game is intended for mentally stable adults". |
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| ⚫ | The English version of ''De Profundis'' went out of print, although the Polish version was still available from Portal.<ref>{{cite web|author=Portal |year=2005 |title=Portal +: De Profundis |format=http |work=Portal + |url=http://plus.wydawnictwoportal.pl/product_info.php?products_id=47 |accessdate=January 12, 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929005618/http://plus.wydawnictwoportal.pl/product_info.php?products_id=47 |archivedate=September 29, 2007 }}</ref> |
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''De Profundis'' was reprinted by [[Cubicle 7]] in 2010.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|307}} |
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| ⚫ | Polish game |
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==Reception== |
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In his 2023 book ''Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground'', RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "There is an intimacy in letter writing that the game seeks to embrace, encouraging play to involve ink and paper, rather than emails and blogs ... There is also a lack of surety. Who is reading what is sent? Who is writing what is received? Can any of this really be trusted?" Looking back more than twenty years after its publication, Horvath believed that this game "reinvents the RPG ... It is an entirely new form, with few rules or impediments. All that's needed to play is a pen, a piece of paper, a twisted imagination, and the price of postage." Horvath concluded, "''De Profundis'' revels something essential but previously hidden about how little structure a game needs to still be recognizable as something that can be played. Thankfully, though, that revelation lacks tentacles."<ref name=mahg>{{cite book| last = Horvath| first = Stu| title = Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground| publisher = MIT Press| date = 2023| location = Cambridge, Massachusetts| pages = 277–279| isbn =9780262048224 }}</ref> |
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==Awards == |
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The game was shortlisted for the 2001 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming.<ref name=dianajones /> |
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==Other reviews and commentary== |
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As of 2009, ''De Profundis'' second edition is being published in English by [[Cubicle 7]], as both book and PDF,<ref>{{cite web | author=Cubicle7 | year=2009| title=De Profundis 2nd Edition + PDF Bundle | format=http | url=http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB71401&ViewAction=ViewProduct}}</ref> although as of October 2014 the book is marked as "Temporarily OUT OF PRINT", but the PDF is still available.{{cn|date=October 2014}} |
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*''[[Pyramid (magazine)|Pyramid]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=2570|title = Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: De Profundis}}</ref> |
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*''[[:de:Envoyer|Envoyer]]'' #69<ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030525145652fw_/http://www.envoyer.de/ausgaben/2002/07/home.html | title=Envoyer: 07/2002 }}</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Latest revision as of 04:23, 19 October 2024
De Profundis: Letters from the Abyss is a correspondence-based role-playing game created by Michał Oracz that was originally published by Polish game company Portal in 2001, then translated to English and published by Hogshead Publishing in 2002. Unusually, the game is not played via dialogue, but rather by the exchange of letters between players.
Description
[edit]De Profundis is a two-player game in which players create the game's narrative by writing each other letters in the style of horror author H. P. Lovecraft. (Designer Michal Oracz wrote the sourcebook as a series of letters in Lovecraftian style which tell of the transcription of a game that the author of the letters saw in a dream.)[1] The game has almost no role-playing game mechanics. There is no wargame apparatus, no die rolls, no statistics, and no gamemaster.[1] Rather, it emphasizes character and atmosphere.[1] There is also an option for solo play, and there are rules for accommodating more than two players.[1]
The sourcebook recommends that players communicate through physical correspondence in order to capture the mood of Lovecraft's stories, to encourage the players to take ample time in crafting each response, and to allow for the exchange of props or strange artifacts between players.[1] Despite this recommendation, nothing in the rules precludes playing through other media, and games have been adapted for play by email, blog posts, or any combination of methods. The blog De Profundis (Che 2002) is an instance of solo play-by-post gaming via a blog.
The use of correspondence does not necessarily mean the game is play by mail. The Diana Jones Award committee noted that the game instead reinvents the role-playing form.[2] Hogshead marketed De Profundis with the tagline, "This game is intended for mentally stable adults".
According to game historian Shannon Appelcline, "It was a Lovecraftian-styled game but about as far from Call of Cthulhu as you can get. It is best remembered for its correspondence rules, which allowed players to rather uniquely play the game through the exchange of in-character letters. Like most of the other New Style games, it did not include a Games Master and was oriented toward telling stories."[3]: 306
Publication history
[edit]Polish game designer Michał Oracz created De Profundis, which was published by Polish game company Portal in 2001.[4]
Three years before, in 1998, British company Hogshead Publishing had released the pioneering narrative storytelling game The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which became the first in a series of "New Style" storytelling games that included Nobilis (1999) and Violence (1999). The final game in Hogshead's New Style line was an English translation of De Profundis published in 2002.[3]: 306
However, later the same year, in November 2002, James Wallis, Director of Hogshead Publishing, announced that Hogshead was leaving the adventure gaming industry due to boredom, creative frustration, and increasing despondence about the future of the specialist gaming industry. Hogshead returned the rights of the New Style games to their creators.[5]
The English version of De Profundis went out of print, although the Polish version was still available from Portal.[6]
De Profundis was reprinted by Cubicle 7 in 2010.[3]: 307
Reception
[edit]In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "There is an intimacy in letter writing that the game seeks to embrace, encouraging play to involve ink and paper, rather than emails and blogs ... There is also a lack of surety. Who is reading what is sent? Who is writing what is received? Can any of this really be trusted?" Looking back more than twenty years after its publication, Horvath believed that this game "reinvents the RPG ... It is an entirely new form, with few rules or impediments. All that's needed to play is a pen, a piece of paper, a twisted imagination, and the price of postage." Horvath concluded, "De Profundis revels something essential but previously hidden about how little structure a game needs to still be recognizable as something that can be played. Thankfully, though, that revelation lacks tentacles."[1]
Awards
[edit]The game was shortlisted for the 2001 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming.[2]
Other reviews and commentary
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Horvath, Stu (2023). Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 277–279. ISBN 9780262048224.
- ^ a b "Diana Jones Award 2001 Nominees Announced" (Press release). The Diana Jones Award committee. 2002-04-08.
- ^ a b c Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ Kim, John H. (January 2, 2006). "RPG Encyclopedia Entries: Polish" (http). An Encyclopedia of Role-Playing Games. Retrieved January 10, 2006.
- ^ Sugarbaker, Allan (2002). "Interviews: James Wallis" (http). OgreCave.com. Retrieved January 12, 2006.
- ^ Portal (2005). "Portal +: De Profundis". Portal +. Archived from the original (http) on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2006.
- ^ "Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: De Profundis".
- ^ "Envoyer: 07/2002".
Sources
[edit]- Baugh, Bruce (13 December 2001). "De Profundis Playtest Review" (http). RPGnet: The Inside Scoop on Gaming. Retrieved January 10, 2006.
- Che (2002). "De Profundis" (http). My Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2006.
- Kim, John H. (January 3, 2006). "RPG Company List Entries: P-Q" (http). Game Company Listings. Retrieved January 10, 2006.
- Wespenklatsche, Paul (May 24, 2015). "Bridges of Maastricht" (http). De Profundis by blog. Retrieved July 8, 2015.