12 for 12 #2

Which genre tropes that come up in an RPG genre of your choice do you love, and never get tired of? Why do you love them?

All of them. Because that's how I am.

In his classic Champions sourcebook, "Strike Force," Aaron Allston gave us a list of  player archetypes, a handy way of classifying the various players at the table in order to help tailor the game experience to their particular needs and desires. Among them were the Combat Monster, the Builder, the Copier, the Plumber, the Romantic, and the Genre Fiend. That last one is 100% me.

The Genre Fiend is that guy at the table who loves the genre for its trappings. So, in a supers game, I expect bad guys to have time to soliloquize, and for the villain to get away or break out of prison or whatever. In cyberpunk, I want mohawks and punk music and cellphones that weigh two pounds and cyberdecks you have to plug into your skull. In Star Trek, I want something recognizably Star Trek from the underlying philosophy of the game (which is why heavily militarized Trek games give me a rash).

That said, I have my limits. I'm not going to enforce genre-appropriate sexism or racism in a pulp or western. I'm not going to make a superhero game comply with the Comics Code Authority. But if you tell me your superhero campaign exists in a four-color universe, don't be surprised if I'm cranky upon learning those four colors are Blood Red, Gunmetal Blue, Tactical Black, and Shades of Gray.