30 Days of GameMastering--Day 30!

And this is it!  Our final entry in Lindevi's "30 Days of GameMastering" challenge!  One last charge unto the breach, my friends!

How do we grow the hobby?

Seriously?!  How is there not an RPG of this yet?!

We live in a golden age of geekery.  The Marvel cinematic universe has brought together some of the classic comic-book icons together in a cohesive internal mythology.  Comic book movies are now among the most anticipated films each year.  The Walking Dead has become an international sensation, breaking records with each new season.  A local Halloween attraction just south of Dayton now features a "Zombie Sniper Patrol" where you can live out your wildest zombie apocalypse fantasies, to say nothing of 10K runs that have turned into zombie-survival runs.  San Diego ComicCon has become the new Mecca for all things pop-culture.

It's easier nowadays to be published than anytime in history.  Anyone with an internet connection can start a blog or put together an e-book for publication online.  Digital correspondence allows artists, designers, writers, and publishers to collaborate and create product from anywhere in the globe.  For Cold Steel Wardens?  My mapmaker is from Germany.  My publisher is British.  My artists and editors come from all over the United States.

The frustrating thing on my end right now?  For as easy as it is to be published, for as high as the general public is on nerd-culture, the role-playing games market just doesn't seem to capitalize on what's popular.  While there is a new edition of Mutants and Masterminds corresponding directly to DC universe comics characters, there was no crossover with the recent Batman or Superman movies.  There's still no true Walking Dead RPG (which I'd love to write, if I got that license).  There are so many opportunities to capitalize on already-existing properties to usher in new players that it consistently astounds me that there aren't more RPG players and that those opportunities lie fallow.

For now?  The best thing we can do is keep pushing.  Keep spreading tendrils out there amongst the 'norms' and keep one mantra in mind:  "Oh, you like comics?  How would you like to play as a superhero?  Like zombies?  How about we run a zombie-apocalypse scenario?  I've got some dice you can borrow..."