- Rogues & Ogres does sound pretty good, plus it appears that I'm the only person (other than George Meredith) to use the phrase;
- I still like Expedition Zero (or perhaps Liber Zero) better;
- Despite the two votes for Underworld Odyssey(s), it's just not grabbing me as much as those two;
- Actually using the word "clone" in the title doesn't seem right, but I do like "The Original Fantasy Adventure Clone" as a subtitle.
Incidentally, I almost decided to base the name on an earlier attempt at a solitaire dungeon crawl RPG: The Depths (or possibly Ruins) of Kanthe. "Kanthe" is my name for a dungeon-riddled wasteland, a sort of blank slate setting; the name is an anagram for "Nethack", minus the "c". But again, that seemed way too specific for what I'm trying to do, plus I'm leaving that open as a future project.
Liber Zero has a nice ring to it.
ReplyDeleteJust as a point of info, my Dragons at Dawn is subtitled "the First Fantasy Game System" as a nod to "Fantasy Game system not included" on the cover of Arnesons First Fantasy Campaign. "The Original Fantasy Adventure Clone" is a little similar, but I would encourage you to use a subtiltle like this (I would add game after adventure) because subtitles, more than titles, really tell what the thing aims to be.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate the theme of Liber Zero, Rogues & Ogres; The Original Fantasy Adventure Clone get's my vote.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I only played B/X and 1e D&D, so I never was exposed to LBB until I started reading OSR blogs in the last year. So, the cleverness of LBB acronyms doesn't invoke anything for me, and, though I now understand what "clone" means, probably it wouldn't carry the same meaning for your target audience. So why cling to them?
ReplyDeleteBut, honestly the '&' trope is wearisome. I assumed until very recently that Tunnels & Trolls, e.g., was an OSR clone because I'd never heard of it before and I figured it was just some OSR product wallowing in it's own aesthetics of crappiness, in this sense a crappy knock-off title: alliterative setting-noun "&" monster-noun. Turns out that trope is time-transgressive. E.g. we have "Mazes and Monsters" with the Level 0 NPC "Tom Hanks the ACTOR".
For this reason I prefer something non-rhymey, non-alliterative, non-gimmicky ... that is to say: "I would love to see this presented in a way that effectively promotes the product to those that know nothing about it, but does not have to constantly refer to, defer to, apologize or explain for, defend for or against anything a priori that the [cloned or emulated system] does or intends to do."
So, my wish would be for a title , don't pay an homage, don't call it something obscure (like Microlite74, which sounds like an energy drink). Produce a short (2-3) word title that says what you do, and go forward.
Maybe instead of "Liber Zero: The Original Fantasy Adventure Clone"
ReplyDeleteIt should be:
"Liber Zero: A Clone of the Original Fantasy Game"
Doesn't roll off the tongue as well, but prevents the impression that you claim its the original clone.
Liber Zero is growing on me- I can see that it emphasizes the fundamental nature of the rules rather then the fantasy tropes.