Rekindling and Reimagining Stalkers RPG
So recently there was some talk about possibly beginning Stalkers RPG once again, although Season 5 did conclude the main, original series and this would need to be done as a spinoff as opposed to a sequel to Season 5. But since the original timeline of Stalkers had the book closed on it, the game is in a unique position where it can be taken anywhere in a variety of directions if a new spinoff were to start.
It all depends on what this new spinoff could start as.
I decided before ANY worldbuilding happens, why not try putting a poll out there to see exactly what kind of setting and themes the community would want to see? Nothing has been created yet, but I wanted to take a moment to toss around new possibilities in worldbuilding, but keep the general game system relatively similar to what worked in Stalkers. I figured this could be a great opportunity to experiment if the community would like to see that, or if you all want to keep things relatively the same as they were before, that's totally an option as well.
Just some notes. The game system will remain relatively the same (although a lot of stuff that appeared in Season 5 will be revised to make it easier to manage), but the size of the campaign will mirror Season 1/Season 3 in terms of size (more on the short and sweet side). It’s how that campaign will look is where you get to choose and discuss!
Read the descriptions below and vote on what you’d like to see most! Note that you can choose multiple options, but also keep in mind that Stalkers will always be in a PMD-like setting where there are only Pokémon in Pokémon-run civilizations and it will still keep the same investigative, interrogative, and deduction game format that the previous editions used.
TRADITIONAL HORROR – Voting for this option will keep Stalkers RPG as it has always been: mainly horror in a more modern present-day world. Most of what you’ve seen in previous renditions of Stalkers will make a comeback, but there won’t be any linkage or storyline connection to what happened in the previous 5 seasons, even though the look and feel will make the experience similar.
SQUAWKERS (THE PARODY VERSION) – As a April Fools joke in 2018, The Squawkers RPG was a total parody of Stalkers which played in a very similar way, but all the themes were silly, cartoony nonsense. Voting for this means you want more Squawkers! And I’ll be totally happy to deliver on that (I wouldn’t be able to promise another April Fools release date, though).
DARK FANTASY – Voting for this option means you’d like to see Stalkers take a more unique direction and be set in line with a more darker, gothic fantasy Medieval times setting, similar to what you might see in video game franchises like Diablo, Dark Souls, Path of Exile, and the like. It would be slightly akin to what you might get in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign with dark magic and some horror themes in there as well.
NOIR – Voting for this option means you want to try to see what Stalkers RPG would be like in a more 1930s-1940s film noir setting that describes American thriller, crime, and detective films, or films such as the Godfather series or films like those created by Alfred Hitchcock. Note that there would still be dark, supernatural forces at work in an Alfred Hitchcock and Twilight Zone kind of way.
SCI-FI – Voting for this means you’d like to see Stalkers take on a more futuristic setting, but still with darker undertones, similar to what you might see in the Dead Space or Prey series. This would also slightly reflect the kind of setting that was seen in Stalkers Season 2 where technology is more advanced and futuristic.
ACTION/THRILLER – Voting for this option means there wouldn’t be as much in the supernatural side of things, but it would play out more like an action movie but with some thriller and mystery elements dashed in as you and your companions would be trying to weed out the terrorist sleeper cells hidden among civilians.
POST APOCALYPTIC – A vote for this means you’d like to see Stalkers more akin to what you’d seen in post-apocalyptic settings like Mad Max, Fallout, The Last of Us, and other situations where most of civilization has collapsed and those that live struggle to survive in the aftermath of ruins that used to be bustling cities. Season 4 and Season 5 of Stalkers adopted a share of these themes, and if you liked what you saw there, a vote for this would mean more of that.
OTHER – Have a theme or setting in mind that wasn’t touched base on here that you think would be great to pursue for Stalkers RPG? I’m open and would love to hear your ideas and suggestions, so feel free to select this and open up the discussion regarding what you think could be a great setting and theme to build a new edition of Stalkers on.
