RPGs of yesteryear, Ever look again at the RPGs you used to play ?? Options

[Synner667]

I've been enjoying RPGs as a Player and a Ref for 20+ years and I've been involved with many RPGs.

I've still got almost all the RPGs I've bought over the years [and bizarrely, my house has much less room than I remember it to have - connected ??]...
...And sometimes I'll flick one open and have a read.

And often find myself engrossed in RPG books from anything upto 20 years ago...
...Sometimes reading rules and thinking of new ways to apply those rules in a different way, and sometimes just remembering a time when those rules or sourcebook were used.

Anyone else re-visit old rules and/or sourcebooks and using them again ??
Do they seem archaic, or fresh and usable ??
Do you think differently about them, than you did in the past ??

Just thought I'd ask...

[Dumori]

I've found old RPGs make you shake your head at how stupid some parts are or you're amazed why that idea never caught on.

[Zhan Shi]

I'm a big nostalgia junkie. I love re-reading old Dragon magazines, not necessarily for game info, but just for the sheer pleasure of it. The old AD&D stuff has that certain something which a lot of newer RPGs seem to lack, at least from my point of view. But I suppose every generation feels that way, whether it be about RPGs, movies, music, etc. I was toying around with the idea of playing old AD&D modules using Basic rules. However, I am not at all familiar with Basic D&D, so I don't know how feasable this would be. I got the idea after speaking with a bunch of old gamers; they raved about how Basic had the terrific fantasy "feel" of Advanced, but without all the detritus (as they put it).

[shadowfire]

i have looked at some of the older rpg and said to myself, " why is this not around anymore"?

For instance, Space: 1889 by GDW. One of the better Steampunk games out there (even beating the Gurps steampunk source book) and it was created back in the early years of role playing. (late 70's early 80's).
Another game i always wanted to try was the one that got Raymond E fiest Started writing in the world of Midkemia; By midkemia press.

[the_dunner]

i have looked at some of the older rpg and said to myself, " why is this not around anymore"?

For instance, Space: 1889 by GDW. One of the better Steampunk games out there (even beating the Gurps steampunk source book) and it was created back in the early years of role playing. (late 70's early 80's).

Space: 1889 is still in print with Heliograph, Inc. I know a lot of there books are just recompilations of original GDW books, but I'm under the impression that they're also producing new material.

A few of my old favorites, that I miss are Torg (which is tied in with the whole WEG mess), Dark Conspiracy (which has been rumored to have a revised edition in progress for years), and Chill (also rumored to have a revision in the works for years).

To me, it's almost equally amazing which games have survived for 15+ years. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Synner667]

Yah...
...Chill and Dark Conspiracy are both due "sometime soon".

Torg has been repackaged as Torg v1.5...
...With Torg v2.0 late in its delivery.

Looking at them, I do find it interesting that they were ahead of their time, and suffered for it [same with Space:1889].

Tho, with GDW dying as a company, not much could have been done.

I imagine the licences are owned, with people waiting for the right time to try and re-publish material...
...And I guess they could use lulu.com for printing and distribution [I think RedBrick, the people with EarthDawn, do it this way].

[revaddict]

I've been enjoying RPGs as a Player and a Ref for 20+ years and I've been involved with many RPGs.

Hey, Synner,

It's good to see some other old-timers around here! (I've been a gamer and ref for about 27 years now.)

I know what you mean about digging through your old games. I've gotten rid of some of mine in recent years, but it's amazing how long I held on to them. And there are some I just can't part with.

My AD&D books just make me chuckle. I can't believe I once thought that was the greatest game ever known to mankind. A few years ago a friend of mine tried running a game using those old rules. I found that AD&D is, for me, kind of like tic-tac-toe--it's fun when you're young and it's brand new, but after moving on to more sophisticated games, why go back to it?

The biggest laugh I get out of the AD&D books is that there's a random table for EVERYTHING. It's interesting to see how rulebooks years ago used to hold the ref's hand constantly, whereas today there are fewer provisions for random events/items/monsters/treasure.

Still, I can't help but feel a streak of nostalgia as I dust off those old games. (I'm planning to run a game of Twilight: 2000 in the summer of 2010 for all of my old gaming buddies.)

Great topic, by the way!

Paul

[VagabondStar]

http://www.youtube.com/user/pugknowspro


This is kind of neat. most of the reviews are of newer games - but there are some reissued and rehashed games on there, too.

[Caine Hazen]

mmmm... I need to get a group to do Amber again. I miss the Amber days of college

[Adarael]

Skyrealms of Jorune. A wonderfully atmospheric, incredibly detailed, imaginative, lovely game with a ruleset that could politely be described as "horribly schizophrenic."

On the plus side, it's really easy to convert to the Earthdawn system!

[tete]

Games I started with (I had played RPGs before but the mid 90s was when it became a hobby)

AD&D 2nd Edition, Traveller: The New Era, Dark Conspiracy, Shadowrun 2e, and GURPS 2e

later in college I would pick up Dark Ages Vampire, SLA Industries, Deadlands and D&D 3.0

[ludomastro]

I still fondly remember the first RPG I ever played. It was a "choose-your-own-path" book based on Forgotten Realms. It had two bookmarks (character sheets), an interesting story (to a 14 years old anyway) and the corner of the pages had a picture of a d12. (You "rolled" the die by flipping through the pages.) It got me started in RPGs.

My favorite old game was probably AD&D since we played with a huge group in college.

And then my friends introduced me to the awesome that was SR2.

[paws2sky]

I was digging through my old gaming books last night (looking for a curiously MIA M&M sourcebook) and I came across Beyond The Supernatural by Palladium. BTS was a modern day occult horror RPG. Interestingly, its the same world that Rifts Earth would become. One of the first RPGs I ever bought too. I didn't get to GM it very often, but I had a ball making characters and brainstorming adventures. I even found some of my old characters tucked in the book. Terrible system. Fun setting.

-paws

[deek]

I'm trying to remember an old Palladium (I think) game I had. It was only one book, but the setting was King Arthur's Camelot. I remember reading through it and loving it, but misplaced it after a few weeks and could never find it or a copy to re-purchase...

It was a fairly thick book, too, 350+ pages, I think. Anybody know it?

[tete]

I'm trying to remember an old Palladium (I think) game I had. It was only one book, but the setting was King Arthur's Camelot. I remember reading through it and loving it, but misplaced it after a few weeks and could never find it or a copy to re-purchase...

It was a fairly thick book, too, 350+ pages, I think. Anybody know it?

Pendragon?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendragon_(role-playing_game)
Thats the only king Arthur setting I know of

[shadowfire]

palladium never did a camelot setting other than a england book (which has camelot in it) for rifts as far as i know.

[deek]

Yup, that's it, Pendragon. Thanks!

[Zolhex]

I have been told of a game that was called B Movie? at least that is what the person who told about it said the name of the game was.

In the game you are actors in a movie and you play out the sceens if at anytime you need time to change, fix, or think things out you call for a film break.

Anyone know of this game be by the name B Movie or another name?

[Ed_209a]

Terrible system. Fun setting.

Doesn't that summarize the entire Palladium line?

[tete]

I have been told of a game that was called B Movie? at least that is what the person who told about it said the name of the game was.

In the game you are actors in a movie and you play out the sceens if at anytime you need time to change, fix, or think things out you call for a film break.

Anyone know of this game be by the name B Movie or another name?

Your looking for this http://www.playbmovie.com/

I think...

[sunnyside]

Paranoia 2nd edition was made of pure win. I don't know about 1st edition or the new XP edition but they should good too.

The other edition has been declared an "unproduct" and should be avoided unless you can't find a different edition.

[Suppedo]

I remember a few:

Car Wars
Ardhuin
Top Secret
Every D&D version
Boot Hill
Gamma World
MechWarrior
Paranoia
Traveler
Star Frontiers
Champions
Every Shadowrun version
Twilight:2000
Cyberpunk
Dangerous Journeys
Warhammer
HarnMaster
L5R
Dark Sun

I played D&D the most, and enjoyed Shadowrun the best.

[paws2sky]

Doesn't that summarize the entire Palladium line?

Yeah, more or less. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

-paws

[BookWyrm]

Yes, Palladium's system can be daunting, but it's worth it.

I've played a couple games of Car Wars, using (of course) HotWheels or Matchbox cards. Very Cool.
I've played ONE game of Paranoia. REally didin't care for it.
Tried to get into Twilight:2000, it just didn't click.
I still have fond memories of playing a couple of Claydonia games. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
I had some old TORG books a while back, but I traded them when the line ended originally.

I'm with Suppedo. AD&D was fine staring out, but I get the most enjoyment out of Shadowrun.

[DMFubar]

I was never big on the Palladium system other than Ninjas & Superspies (a must have if you love martial arts). Thinking back on my favorite old games, I can see that I really leaned on modern/sci-fi games.

My favorites included Cyberpunk 2020, Millennium's End (by Charles Ryan, modern day with most realistic combat simulator I have ever seen), Battlelords of the 23rd Century (only sci-fi game I ever played that had NO space combat rules), the original Traveller (though I have been looking at Mongoose's version lately), Runequest (original version) and all versions of D&D since the Basic Red Box except 4E.

Funny side story on Millennium's End. Recently, my car was broken into and my laptop and the bag it was in was stolen. A few hours later, the local sherriff's department called to say that he had located my stuff. But he needed to talk to me about one of the items found within the bag. Inside were all of my shadowrun books, and a folder with a set of documents called BlackEagle/BlackEagle Employee Field Guide (or soemthing close to that) and it contained modern day military techniques and tactics, basically stuff that spec ops teaches now. The deputy, a former Ranger and current member of the local SWAT unit wanted to know why a civilian would have a need for such information.

I laughed as soon as he told me the title and knew where he was going with his questioning, so I explained it was from a rpg that had gone out of business in 2000, but the techniques worked with any modern style rpg. He was still not understanding (I think the RPG part had him confused), so I also explained that my gaming group is made up of members of my paintball team, and those tactics work really well for the scenario games we go to. He was happy with this explanation, and I got everything back except a digital camera. Poor guy was really worried as to why someone with no military background would want such information. Of course, made me wonder how many watch lists I was added to after all of that. Heh.