#RPGaDay 2018 Day 3: What Gives a Game Staying Power?

Day 3 of #RPGaDay brings a "What works for you?" question:  "What Gives a Game Staying Power"

I say it comes down to three factors: Consistency, Stability, and Comfort.

I must admit that I have succumbed to the gaming trends from the last few decades.  I shudder to think what my gaming library would look like today if I haven't gone through four or five purges over the years.  But certain games stand the test of time, not only on my shelf, but at the table.

Using the d20 revolution at the start of the century, what games have I either (a) held onto or (b) run enough times to justify "staying powers".

The only extensive game line I own that's survived the last 18 years without a significant session, is my Bard Games/Wizards of the Coast collection of 1st-3rd Edition Talislanta.  I love the setting, the 3rd edition rules are just enough, and if I can get satiate everyone else's desires for  the classic F20 fantasy tropes, I might one day run another game of this.  Then again, I did grab the Talislanta: The Savage Land pdf, and that's escalated the 30 year romance I have with the game.

But outside of that, what have I played/run over the "modern" past (and wish to run again) CONSISTENTLY (Campaigns and/or continuous one-shots/mini-campaigns)?

• Savage Worlds:  Pretty much the newest of the games on my persona; "Staying Power" list.  I'm sure one of the other posts will cover how I came to love the game, but it's the default system for the "Pulp Egypt" game I play with my kids.  Polyhedral, exploding dice-friendly, it's a good system to "wing" 
• Hackmaster, 4th Edition:  The greatest of the "Advanced" D&D offspring.  Tons of material to work through.  So much so, that you could run a full campaign, then start up a second one and use completely different sections of the book.  Some call is overwhelming, I call it comprehensive... and nostalgic out the whazoo.
• Call of Cthulhu, 6th Edition:  Prior to 7th Edition, you could only determine what edition was being played at the table to what skills were being used (Zoology was a thing?)  Mechanics are identical, the genre still interests me, and any Keeper worth their salt gives the Investigators a chance (or plenty of warnings), before they go down the cliched road of mind-bending sanity loss... or becoming an appetizer for a Great Old One. 
• Basic (Mentzer) D&D:  Although none of us played Red Box Basic right when we got it, this version of the game is a comfort, I've played enough that I can still recall most of the charts (pre-Companion Set at least).  As a GM I like the speed I can play this in the short online sessions I have available. 
• D&D 5e Online:  The start of #RPGaDay marks a year since I nicely bullied my way into a Fifth Edition campaign two of my college buddies were participating in.  Two hours on Monday evenings isn't my ideal situation, but it's a guaranteed game for a middle-aged guy with family obligations. The latest edition a friendly throwback to the editions of my youth (I was actually surprised when I finally found the section on 3e/4e mutli-classing and talents.)   With Roll20 supporting most of my characters information, I didn't purchase the PHB until April of this year.  I'm hoping this one lasts at least a decade. 

Really, running a new or different system (Risus aside, that's an odd duck in this conversation), it's just easier to go back to the old reliables, even if they don't fit every niche of your style of game.

That's why, when I had a chance to run a filler game for an open Monday night, I could have used a number of games for my 1990's Alberta, Canada based Convenience Store one-shot, I could have used FATE, I could of used RIsus, or a PbtA clone, but I took a little extra effort to whip it up for Call of Cthulhu.  

Something was 30.48 centimeters at Mac's, eh?