OBSCURE GAMES
Dave Nalle
In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>, "Mitch A. Williams"
<mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
I've got Victorian Adventures, Hostage: Pawn of Terrorism and Rus around
here somewhere.
Dave
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Mitch A. Williams
Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
Mitch
Kevin Mowery
Mitch A. Williams (mit...@eatel.net) wrote:
: Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
: based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
: any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
"Witch Hunt", set in Salem, Mass. in 1692. I almost bought the
Well of Souls RPG, though.
: Mitch
--
Kevin "Professor Bobo" Mowery________...@freenet.columbus.oh.us
"I can't go away with you on a rock climbing weekend / What if something's
on TV and it's never shown again?" --The Lemonheads, "Outdoor Type"
Dave Nalle
In article <mschwartz-121...@ip97.ann-arbor2.mi.pub-ip.psi.net>,
msch...@mindspring.com (Michael Schwartz) wrote:
> How about "Adventures in Fantasy" or "Alma Mater" or "Fantasy Wargaming"
> or "Land(s) of Adventure" or "Starfleet Voyages" or "The Arduin Adventure"
> (*not* the "Arduin Grimoire" series, but the original Arduin rules) or
> "Time Lord"?
These are hardly obscure games. They all had print-runs of thousands of
copies and made it into a lot of stores. Plus, Arduin Adventure was a
redone 'basic' version of Arduin, not the original rules.
Dave Nalle
In article <xrqnzbab-121...@ts007d11.sea-wa.concentric.net>,
xrqn...@pbapragevp.arg (Kedamono) wrote:
> In article <66qdf6$6...@login.freenet.columbus.oh.us>,
> kemo...@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Kevin Mowery) wrote:
>
> > Mitch A. Williams (mit...@eatel.net) wrote:
> > : Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> > : based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> > : any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
> >
> > "Witch Hunt", set in Salem, Mass. in 1692. I almost bought the
> > Well of Souls RPG, though.
> >
>
> _Fantasy Wargaming_ by Bruce Galloway. The first half is a treatise on
> what "it was really like" in the midevial times. (Pretty good stuff here,
> though the author's prejudice pokes through every so often) The second
> half is the most dreadful RPG rules I had ever seen.
>
> You had to know what sign your character was born under, and had stats
> such as Bravery and Lust. Not very easy to play, you had modifiers for
> everything.
But not obscure. It had a relatively huge print run and was on the
remainder shelves in main-stream bookstores in large numbers at one time.
Dave Nalle
In article <19971212163...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
docc...@aol.com (DocCross) wrote:
> >> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....
>
> I have....Barony (fantasy RPG) and Era Ten (SF rpg) by Better Games....
Aren't they the guys who did the pro-wrestling RPG that came in a can?
Dave Nalle
I just thought of another obscure game that was actually sort of good -
StarQuest from Tyr games. Designed by the same team who brought us
Bushido, but unlike Bushido it never gained cult status, never got picked
up by a larger publisher, and vanished into obscurity. As I recall it had
rather humorous space monsters, including legless vacuum-dwelling
brontosauri.
Tim Dedeaux
Mitch A. Williams <mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
> Mitch
Attack of the Humans? Night Life? TWERPS? Legacy: War of Ages?
(If you haven't heard of the last one, try it's other name:
"Highlander: we didn't get the liscense" :)
--
There are only two types of people in the world,
those who can remember things and, uh . . . uh . . . never mind :)
- Tim
Matthew R Blackwell
In <66qdf6$6...@login.freenet.columbus.oh.us>
kemo...@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Kevin Mowery) writes:
>Mitch A. Williams (mit...@eatel.net) wrote:
>: Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>: based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls".
Can
>: any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
>Well of Souls RPG, though.
>
I've got an almost complete copy of Kung Fu CB Mamas on Wheels vs. the
Motorcycle Aztec Wrestling Nuns. I'm also pretty sure that I've got a
copy of Advanced Cassiopean Empires around here too.
Kevin Mowery
Tim Dedeaux (tded...@csc.mc.edu) wrote:
: Mitch A. Williams <mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
: > Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
: > based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
: > any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
: > Mitch
: Attack of the Humans? Night Life? TWERPS? Legacy: War of Ages?
I think AotH is the only one of those that's relatively obscure.
I bought it on account of the undead electrified tree weasels.
: (If you haven't heard of the last one, try it's other name:
: "Highlander: we didn't get the liscense" :)
: --
: There are only two types of people in the world,
: those who can remember things and, uh . . . uh . . . never mind :)
: - Tim
Sea Wasp
Mitch A. Williams wrote:
>
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
Game called "Infinity". Red construction-paper like cover, stapled
sheet construction. Never saw another copy anywhere.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Tim Dedeaux
Kevin Mowery <kemo...@freenet.columbus.oh.us> wrote:
> Tim Dedeaux (tded...@csc.mc.edu) wrote:
> : Mitch A. Williams <mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
> : Attack of the Humans? Night Life? TWERPS? Legacy: War of Ages?
> I think AotH is the only one of those that's relatively obscure.
> I bought it on account of the undead electrified tree weasels.
Yeah! The undead electrified tree weasels RULE! :) I was thinking about
adding them to a Shadowrun game, along with a Rakshasa that kept
disguising itself as a PC's body armor (boy was *it* dumb :)
Michael Schwartz
How about "Adventures in Fantasy" or "Alma Mater" or "Fantasy Wargaming"
or "Land(s) of Adventure" or "Starfleet Voyages" or "The Arduin Adventure"
(*not* the "Arduin Grimoire" series, but the original Arduin rules) or
"Time Lord"?
--
Michael Schwartz msch...@mindspring.com Ann Arbor, MI
==================================================================
"What if life actually *was* fair, and we somehow deserved all the
truly awful things that happened to us?" -- Marcus Cole, Babylon 5
Kedamono
In article <66qdf6$6...@login.freenet.columbus.oh.us>,
kemo...@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Kevin Mowery) wrote:
> Mitch A. Williams (mit...@eatel.net) wrote:
> : Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> : based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> : any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
> "Witch Hunt", set in Salem, Mass. in 1692. I almost bought the
> Well of Souls RPG, though.
>
_Fantasy Wargaming_ by Bruce Galloway. The first half is a treatise on
what "it was really like" in the midevial times. (Pretty good stuff here,
though the author's prejudice pokes through every so often) The second
half is the most dreadful RPG rules I had ever seen.
You had to know what sign your character was born under, and had stats
such as Bravery and Lust. Not very easy to play, you had modifiers for
everything.
Just plain bad.
--
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Serc Edit
>> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
Hmm... I have most of the games mentioned here (I know, it's sad. At least I
don't play most of them.) But I've never heard of the Midnight at the well of
souls one. Does it have any redeeming features?
Obscure... How about Man, Myth, and Magic, Og: The Roleplaying Game, or
Gangbusters?
Serendipity's Circle
'Exploring the Catacombs of Weird Fantasy and Horror Gaming'
Juergen Hubert
Mitch A. Williams wrote:
>
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
The German "Pluesch, Power & Plunder", a RPG about playing stuffed toy
animals and their hidden society.
--
Juergen Hubert
HUB...@gawein.physik.uni-erlangen.de
"Sometimes I do stupid stuff, and I don't even know why...
...as if my body were controlled by some demented, sadistic
puppet-master..."
-- Bernard Bernoulli
"Well, we all feel that way sometimes."
-- Weird Ed Edison
in: "Day of the Tentacle"
Jason Stokes
I think I still have "Maelstrom" lying around, a paperback RPG about
medieval roleplaying from years back. And "Dungeoneer", another
paperback RPG. I quite liked the paperback format for rpgs -- whatever
happened to it?
--
Jason Stokes: j.stokes (at) bohm.anu.edu.au
I use a spam block. Replace (at) with @ to discover my email address.
David G. Bell
In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>
mit...@eatel.net "Mitch A. Williams" writes:
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
I am not digging it out to check the title, but it's either "Starships &
Spacemen" or "Spacemen & Starships", and it is a game set in a Star Trek
sort of universe, with rules using the D&D paradigm of character classes
and levels...
Although I suspect "Victorian Adventure" might be even more obscure. As
I heard the story, the young man who self-published the game then caught
a severe dose of religion, quit roleplaying games, and dumped all his
rpg stuff on a bonfire.
--
David G. Bell -- Farmer, SF Fan, Filker, Furry, and Punslinger..
David G. Bell
In article <66r8v1$hj8$4...@clarion.carno.net.au>
j.st...@bogus-address.anu.edu.au "Jason Stokes" writes:
> I think I still have "Maelstrom" lying around, a paperback RPG about
> medieval roleplaying from years back. And "Dungeoneer", another
> paperback RPG. I quite liked the paperback format for rpgs -- whatever
> happened to it?
They had a problem using 1.5 inch margins?
I remember that "Tunnels & Trolls" was once put out in a paperback
edition by Corgi, maybe as part of an effort to break into the solo
gamebook market. But I wonder how the economics works out. Paperback
books get distributed by a whole different system.
Kedamono
In article <881931...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk>, db...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk
wrote:
> I am not digging it out to check the title, but it's either "Starships &
> Spacemen" or "Spacemen & Starships", and it is a game set in a Star Trek
> sort of universe, with rules using the D&D paradigm of character classes
> and levels...
Starships and Spacemen, I remember that game, I have a copy too. It's main
claim to fame is that it was the *2nd* SF rpg ever released. Guess which
one was first, it travels well.
Another obscure RPG is _Superhero 2044_ an amazing system for playing
superheroes, and had excellent rules for everything except for one area:
Superpowers! That's right, no rules for superpowers, just a blurb for you
and the GM to get together and make sure that you come up with playable
powers for your character.
Allan Goodall
On Fri, 12 Dec 1997 00:38:18 -0800, in message
>_Fantasy Wargaming_ by Bruce Galloway.
Actually, it's not that obscure. I remember (vaguely) seeing it in a book
store, but it was available for a while through the Sci-Fi book club. I
suspect that's where a lot of people got their copies. There was a thread
about a year ago dealing with this game; I was surprised how many people
had actually READ it, let alone played it.
Allan Goodall agoo...@sympatico.ca
"Unlike serial killer profiling, writing is a lonely
and depressing profession." - Jose Chung, Millenium
DocCross
>> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....
I have....Barony (fantasy RPG) and Era Ten (SF rpg) by Better Games....The
French edition of TOON....and I USED to have Creeks and Crawdads, but it
disappeared.
Doc Cross
Toonster, Cut Up, Dirty Old Man
Insert witty or profound saying here
Joy Harwood
On Thu, 11 Dec 1997, Mitch A. Williams wrote:
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
> Mitch
Bullwinkle and Rocky...does that count as obscure? It has to count as
something. It was from TSR and has little plastic hand puppets in the
box. <chortle>
Joy "Gratuitous Pseudonym" Harwood
jhar...@warren-wilson.edu
"The man who made sense of the cosmos kept forgetting his key."
--Dr. Rick Fowler, on Einstein
red
Jason Stokes wrote:
>
> I think I still have "Maelstrom" lying around, a paperback RPG about
> medieval roleplaying from years back. And "Dungeoneer", another
> paperback RPG. I quite liked the paperback format for rpgs -- whatever
> happened to it?
Man, I've been trying to get hold of another copy of Maelstrom for
years. Gave mine away, and now I regret it. I agree about the
paperbook format - that weird series of books about types of magic by
Weiss and Hickman came out with a paperback RPG too - cannot remember
what it was called, had a finger system to simulate dice. But I like
the paperback format for RPG's, I think it makes them more accessible.
--
I saw which was the winning side...
And still I joined the other -
'Cos I'm in love with every strange unfolding day
As the storm begins to break cover!
-- Whirlwind, New Model Army
NUELOW
Here are a few more...
"Periphery" a sci-fi game.
"Morpheus" a "Dream Park" clone.
Heck, "Dream Park"... the roleplaying where you roleplay players in a
roleplaying game.
Steve Miller
Michael D. Muray PA
red wrote:
>
> Man, I've been trying to get hold of another copy of Maelstrom for
> years. Gave mine away, and now I regret it. I agree about the
> paperbook format - that weird series of books about types of magic by
> Weiss and Hickman came out with a paperback RPG too - cannot remember
> what it was called, had a finger system to simulate dice. But I like
> the paperback format for RPG's, I think it makes them more accessible.
It's Darksword Adventures, a book/rpg they put out after the Darksword
series... It was interesting. Pretty cool. I ran it once for a while
way back when, but the main problem with it was that beginning level
characters were awful at what they did. :)
ed
>In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>
> mit...@eatel.net "Mitch A. Williams" writes:
>
>> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
>I am not digging it out to check the title, but it's either "Starships &
>Spacemen" or "Spacemen & Starships", and it is a game set in a Star Trek
>sort of universe, with rules using the D&D paradigm of character classes
>and levels...
Starships and Spacemen by FGU from the late Seventies.
ed
Tim Dedeaux
red <red_arm...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Jason Stokes wrote:
>>
> Man, I've been trying to get hold of another copy of Maelstrom for
> years. Gave mine away, and now I regret it. I agree about the
> paperbook format - that weird series of books about types of magic by
> Weiss and Hickman came out with a paperback RPG too - cannot remember
> what it was called, had a finger system to simulate dice. But I like
> the paperback format for RPG's, I think it makes them more accessible.
Oh yeah! The DARKSWORD Trilogy. I *LOVED* That series and game when I
was younger! One of my longer campaigns was in "Darksword Adventures,"
and I loved the idea of a pocket sized RPG. I'll have to dig through my
bookshelf and see if I can find them! By the way, does anyone know if
there was any source/RPG material for the "Rose of the Prophet" series?
That one was good too.
Kevin Mowery
Serc Edit (serc...@aol.com) wrote:
: >> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
: >> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
: >> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
: Hmm... I have most of the games mentioned here (I know, it's sad. At least I
: don't play most of them.) But I've never heard of the Midnight at the well of
: souls one. Does it have any redeeming features?
: Obscure... How about Man, Myth, and Magic, Og: The Roleplaying Game, or
: Gangbusters?
I have a copy of MM&M (featuring the most bizarre system of
character reincarnation I've ever seen--after every adventure your
character becomes a different character, and yet this isn't supported by
the game world, which is Roman Empire stuff), played in a game of
Gangbusters, and my ex-girlfriend was so enamored of Og: RPG that she
bought a copy for herself.
: Serendipity's Circle
: 'Exploring the Catacombs of Weird Fantasy and Horror Gaming'
Kevin Mowery
NUELOW (nue...@aol.com) wrote:
: Here are a few more...
: "Periphery" a sci-fi game.
I don't own Periphery or Morpheus, but I used to own a copy of
Dream Park. Rather liked it, but then I loaned it to someone and *poof*
it disappeared. (By loaning things, I've lost Dream Park, HoL, my copy of
the Book of the SubGenius, and a CD-ROM game. No more.)
: Steve Miller
The Gremlin
red (red_arm...@hotmail.com) wrote:
: Man, I've been trying to get hold of another copy of Maelstrom for
: years. Gave mine away, and now I regret it. I agree about the
: paperbook format - that weird series of books about types of magic by
: Weiss and Hickman came out with a paperback RPG too - cannot remember
: the paperback format for RPG's, I think it makes them more accessible.
I'll come out of hiding for this one... Weiss and hickmans paperback RPG
was Darksword Adventures. And to contribute to the most obscure game I
own would have to be MEGA, the only RPG I have published in Norway. Not
exactly old, but definatly obscure.
JRRTalking
>Although I suspect "Victorian Adventure" might be even more obscure. As
>I heard the story, the young man who self-published the game then caught
>a severe dose of religion, quit roleplaying games, and dumped all his
>rpg stuff on a bonfire.
I have the number 3 (signed) copy of the game buried somewhere in my attic. I
think it had a print-run of only 300. It wasn't a bad game and was a good
reference source for other games in the era
JRRD
Mike Mearls
Speaking of obscure games, has anyone out there ever actually played Spawn of
Fashan or World Action and Adventure? I've heard of both of these games but have
never met anyone who has played them or read the rules.
Are they both just rumors or what?
Another obscure (and unreleased game): TSR's Proton Fire. I will go to my grave
insisting that TSR had articles in Dragon about this RPG that they never
released. From what I recall, players were supposed to be cyborgs invented by
some dying race to explore the galaxy and find a new homeland, or something like
that.
What about Yaquinto's Man, Myth, and Magic? I remember ads in DC comics for it
back in the early 80's, but I never actually saw a copy of it. I think the game
had something to do with mythic Earth; you could play an Egyptian wizard, Roman
gladiator, or Celtic leprechaun.
- Mearls
Doug Berry
Mitch A. Williams (mit...@eatel.net) wrote:
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>
"Reich Star" Nazis in spaaaccceeee..........
--
+---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x--+
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| http://www.hooked.net/~dberry/index.html x
| (remove "nospam" to reply by mail) |
+-x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x+
x Traveller Evangelist, Writer, and |
| enthusastic flame war participant. x
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Doug Berry
On Fri, 12 Dec 1997 00:38:18 -0800, xrqn...@pbapragevp.arg (Kedamono)
wrote:
>_Fantasy Wargaming_ by Bruce Galloway. The first half is a treatise on
>what "it was really like" in the midevial times. (Pretty good stuff here,
>though the author's prejudice pokes through every so often) The second
>half is the most dreadful RPG rules I had ever seen.
>
>You had to know what sign your character was born under, and had stats
>such as Bravery and Lust. Not very easy to play, you had modifiers for
>everything.
>
>Just plain bad.
Still have that on my shelf.. you're right great reference, horrid
rules. The listing of Heavenly and infernal powers alone was worth
the price of the book.
Michael D. Muray PA
The Gremlin wrote:
>
> I'll come out of hiding for this one... Weiss and hickmans paperback RPG
> was Darksword Adventures. And to contribute to the most obscure game I
> own would have to be MEGA, the only RPG I have published in Norway. Not
> exactly old, but definatly obscure.
Seen it. :) One of my friends has it... So many tables, so little
time...
Henry Vogel
>Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
>Mitch
>
I don't know how obscure this game is but I know I haven't seen any
discussion about it since about the time it was released. It may not
be as obscure as other games mentioned here but I'd say it's probably
got the highest production values of the bunch. The game is called
Metascape. Anybody remember it? Anybody ever play it?
Henry Vogel
Sea Wasp
David G. Bell wrote:
>
> In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>
> mit...@eatel.net "Mitch A. Williams" writes:
>
> > based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> > any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
> Spacemen" or "Spacemen & Starships", and it is a game set in a Star Trek
> sort of universe, with rules using the D&D paradigm of character classes
> and levels...
Starships & Spacemen. Hardly obscure; one of the first SF RPGs
produced, by the ancient titan of gaming, FGU. I bought a copy recently
just to fill my collection back in. I have lots of fond memories of that
one.
Still haven't heard of ANYONE else who's even HEARD of "Infinity", the
red-covered thing I have here...
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
John Rudd
In <3490A779...@eatel.net> "Mitch A. Williams" wrote:
> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
Hm. Letsee, somewhere I have the "Delta Force" RPG.. and I used to have a
copy of "Behind Enemy Lines". What about Recondo? It was, if I recall
correctly, originally put out by some mercenaries who wanted to do a RPG, and
then bought by Palladium games and converted to their system. It's basically
a Vietnam RPG that can be adapted to mercenary games anywhen.
And then there's old RPG's that aren't quite so Obscure if you were around at
the time..
Tunnels and Trolls
Metamorphis Alpha
Indiana Jones (the only RPG I regretted purchasing)
Future World and Super World (part of the Basic Roleplaying game series)
Bard Games Atlantis setting (3 books: The Atlas, The Arcanum, and The
Bestiary)
--
John "kzin" Rudd jr...@cygnus.com http://www.cygnus.com/~jrudd
=========Intel: Putting the backward in backward compatible.============
Thought for the day: According to the supreme court, proof of innocence
isn't enough to avoid execution if you've exhausted your appeals.
Lizard
On Thu, 11 Dec 1997 20:54:49 -0600, "Mitch A. Williams"
>Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
"Simian Combat":A blatant ripoff of "Planet Of The Apes", in a tiny
booklet.
"Machineguns and Magic":Typewritten rules for transporting 20th
century army characters into a fantasy world. No PC mages -- the PCs
are all army men. Never even tried playing.
*----------------------------------------------------*
Evolution doesn't take prisoners:Lizard
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice;
Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue:AuH20
http://www.mrlizard.com
Lizard
On 12 Dec 1997 05:23:52 GMT, mbla...@ix.netcom.com(Matthew R
Blackwell) wrote:
>I've got an almost complete copy of Kung Fu CB Mamas on Wheels vs. the
>Motorcycle Aztec Wrestling Nuns. I'm also pretty sure that I've got a
>copy of Advanced Cassiopean Empires around here too.
I've got the errata sheet for KFCBMOWvsMAWN somewhere...
I'd pay good money (such as it is) for ACE...
Lizard
"Hunter Planet":The Australian RPG where you play an alien out for a
safari on the mostly-harmless planet "Dirt".
Lizard
On 12 Dec 1997 07:25:55 GMT, msch...@mindspring.com (Michael
Schwartz) wrote:
>How about "Adventures in Fantasy" or "Alma Mater" or "Fantasy Wargaming"
>or "Land(s) of Adventure" or "Starfleet Voyages" or "The Arduin Adventure"
>(*not* the "Arduin Grimoire" series, but the original Arduin rules) or
>"Time Lord"?
A correction -- "Arduin Adventure" was an attempt to turn the Grimoire
trilogy *into* a set of rules --- it came well after the Grimoire.
David G. Bell
In article <xrqnzbab-121...@ts004d41.sea-wa.concentric.net>
xrqn...@pbapragevp.arg "Kedamono" writes:
> In article <881931...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk>, db...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk
> wrote:
>
> > I am not digging it out to check the title, but it's either "Starships &
> > Spacemen" or "Spacemen & Starships", and it is a game set in a Star Trek
> > sort of universe, with rules using the D&D paradigm of character classes
> > and levels...
>
> Starships and Spacemen, I remember that game, I have a copy too. It's main
> claim to fame is that it was the *2nd* SF rpg ever released. Guess which
> one was first, it travels well.
Metamorphosis Alpha
It was certainly around in early 1977, here in the UK, and well before
Traveller.
James Wallis
In article <66r8v1$hj8$4...@clarion.carno.net.au>, Jason Stokes
<j.st...@bogus-address.anu.edu.au> wrote:
>I think I still have "Maelstrom" lying around, a paperback RPG about
>medieval roleplaying from years back.
Maelstrom sold over 50,000 copies worldwide, in at least three
languages. Hardly obscure.
>And "Dungeoneer", another
>paperback RPG.
Again, its sales in the respectable five-figure range.
--
James Wallis, Director of Hogshead Publishing Ltd (ja...@hogshead.demon.co.uk)
Publishers of WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAY (wf...@hogshead.demon.co.uk)
Warhammer is a registered trademark of Games Workshop PLC, used with permission
Company motto: "Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo"
Zachery J. Bir
On 12 Dec 1997 17:47:25 GMT, NUELOW <nue...@aol.com> wrote:
>Here are a few more...
>
>"Periphery" a sci-fi game.
>
>"Morpheus" a "Dream Park" clone.
>
>Heck, "Dream Park"... the roleplaying where you roleplay players in a
>roleplaying game.
Actually, though, Morpheus (the RPG) came out several (?) years before
Dream Park (the RPG)...
How about:
* Darkus Thel
* A really, really fabulous one that involved Time Travel. Made by
Avalon Hill (I think...)
* I've seen TWERPS mentioned here. God I loved that game. *sniff*
Man, I need to talk to my old gaming group. One of the guys has
bookshelves on top of bookshelves filled with games. Gads, he collected
everything. He's prolly got most of the games I've seen listed here in
this thread...
Ciao,
Zac
Bruce Baugh
Anyone else remember the first American game called WARLOCK, the Caltech
house rules for D&D? Percentile combat, a spell point system, and a mix
of good, bad, and ugly ideas.
Bruce Baugh <*>
bruce...@sff.net <*>
http://www.sff.net/people/bruce-baugh - New sf by
S.M. Stirling, rolegaming essays, sundry stuff
Joy Harwood
On Sat, 13 Dec 1997, PJS wrote:
> On 12/12/97 05:05, in message <881931...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk>, "David G.
> Bell" <db...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> "Thieves Guild" - how obscure is that? What about "ElfQuest"? Did that last
> very long?
Dunno. We still play it from time to time. Ever heard of a game called
WEBS? Got it free at a con in North Carolina. Still haven't played it.
I can't figure out quite what the hook is supposed to be. It looks a
little like Rifts.
Uncle Bear
Mitch A. Williams wrote in message <3490A779...@eatel.net>...
>Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
Let's see, I had a copy of the British Dr. Who game (it was a paperback
book), which I never saw in a game store but got at a used book store...also
had the FASA Dr. Who rpg, less obscure but didn't last long.
BAD ATTITUDES, the roleplaying game of action movie cliches.
Beer-and-pretzels rpg. I wrote this one in about 45 minutes. Had a print run
of about a dozen copies. Circulated as a text file on BBS's for a long time.
Now it sits on one of my websites, getting no hits whatsoever.
If you're interested,
http://members.aol.com/geekmedia/attitude/
Uncle Bear
Rich Allen
In article <34919C...@cyberwar.com>, md...@cyberwar.com wrote:
>The Gremlin wrote:
>>
>> own would have to be MEGA, the only RPG I have published in Norway. Not
>> exactly old, but definatly obscure.
>
>Seen it. :) One of my friends has it... So many tables, so little
>time...
I have a copy. Never ran the game, but I used lots of elemetns from
it in a campaign several years ago. In fact, that's the reason I buy these
wierd/obscure games. I bought Mutazoids for some stuff to incorporate into a
Rifts adventure. Hey, ya never know _where_ the cool ideas'll come from!
-------------------------------------------------
|Rich Allen <=-=> rico at mindspring.com |
|Fake address in the header is to discourge spam|
-------------------------------------------------
Brandi Weed
>Still have that on my shelf.. you're right great reference, horrid
>rules. The listing of Heavenly and infernal powers alone was worth
>the price of the book.
And don't forget the venomous sheep... (I'm almost sorry I sold the
book when I was cleaning out my room; I'd've liked to convert the
sheep stats to other systems. Anybody who's got FW who sends them to
me will be graciously thanked)
--
Brandi Weed
bra...@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~brandi/
Paul MacDonald
Dave Nalle wrote:
>
> In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>, "Mitch A. Williams"
> <mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
>
> > Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> > based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> > any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
> here somewhere.
>
> Dave
I've got Alma Mater. Juvenile Delinquent Role-Playing at its finest ;)
Bunnies and Burrows is probably worth a few points.
Paul
Aaron Pound
> In article <mschwartz-121...@ip97.ann-arbor2.mi.pub-ip.psi.net>,
> msch...@mindspring.com (Michael Schwartz) wrote:
>
> > How about "Adventures in Fantasy" or "Alma Mater" or "Fantasy Wargaming"
> > or "Land(s) of Adventure" or "Starfleet Voyages" or "The Arduin Adventure"
> > (*not* the "Arduin Grimoire" series, but the original Arduin rules) or
> > "Time Lord"?
>
I'd have to say that "Fantasy Wargaming" was one of the worst pieces of
drivel that ever attempted to pass itself off as a role playing game.
Predetermined personalities mixed with a poor combat system, an
indecipherable magic system, and a primer on midaevil Catholic theology
just didn't work very well.
Of course, there are probably worse. I've never seen the actual game
but I gather than "Senn'zar" was really bad.
Aaron J. Pound, esq.
Lance
David G. Bell wrote:
> > Starships and Spacemen, I remember that game, I have a copy too. It's main
> > claim to fame is that it was the *2nd* SF rpg ever released. Guess which
> > one was first, it travels well.
>
> Metamorphosis Alpha
>
> It was certainly around in early 1977, here in the UK, and well before
> Traveller.
>
> --
> David G. Bell -- Farmer, SF Fan, Filker, Furry, and Punslinger..
Dang, I was going to say MA. Gamma world precursor published by TSR, in which
your characters were unaware that they were living on an enourmous generation
starship gone awry...They foolishly thought they were primatives living on a
world! Sort of like D&D characters, really. I loved the idea, even based a
GURPs game on it years later.
--
Lance Berg
http://empyre.net
David Crowe
I've only seen articles in Challenge about it, but how about It Came From
the Late Late Show, the RPG of B-movies? Had a similar premise to Hong
Kong Action Theatre (playing actors making a movie), IIRC
Two games sharing a system: Fireland and Imperial Earth. Only saw those
advertised in Stardate, and I remember reading they met an untimely end.
While Renegade Legion is well known, few people mention the RPG set in its
universe, Legionnaire.
Also, Woof Meow, the game of cats & dogs.
Crimefighters, pulp game printed in an early issue of Dragon (c. the 30s,
IIRC).
--
David "No Nickname" Crowe http://www.primenet.com/~jetman
You only read the manual when there's something you can't figure out. -Skuld
Kedamono
In article
<Pine.LNX.3.96.971212...@owl.warren-wilson.edu>, Joy
Harwood <jhar...@warren-wilson.edu> wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Dec 1997, Mitch A. Williams wrote:
>
> > Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> > based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> > any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
> >
> > Mitch
>
> Bullwinkle and Rocky...does that count as obscure? It has to count as
> something. It was from TSR and has little plastic hand puppets in the
> box. <chortle>
>
A game that I drug around to many a gathering, and got lots of lookers,
but no biters. Of course everyone wanted to play Bullwinkle, so we'd
quickly do our "Hey Rocky!" impressions. I'd always win, as I was able to
get that special timbre into my voice.
Now a really obscure RPG is _Mugger Hunt_. Everything is decided by
rolling D6's off a table. The purpose of the game is to hunt muggers in
central park and kill them. Maker shall remain nameless, though it's
sometimes affectionately called "burning buzzard games" by some. It is
quite possible to play an entire session with nothing happening as all the
rolls off of the tables lead nowhere. It is run with a GM and with
players, but could be run solitare too.
Another was by Kevin St Andre, _Monsters! Monsters!_, published by
Metagaming. It's based on the T&T rpg system, and you play the monsters
out to kill people. Clever idea.
--
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Dave Nalle
In article <N.121297.184005.07@winwaed>, P...@winwaed.demon.co.uk (PJS) wrote:
> "Thieves Guild" - how obscure is that?
It was pretty well-known at the time it came out. It died mostly for
administrative/management reasons, rather than lack of support.
From that same period, how about Melanda, Land of Mystery?
>What about "ElfQuest"? Did that last
> very long?
I categorically reject any game from a major publisher or based on a major
license as obscure.
> What was the name of that game which was quite light on the roleplaying,
(from
> what I could make out you just rolled dice to determine the outcome of the
> whole of your character's life) about life in the future - prefaced by a note
> from the author that he didn't the world was going to come to an end in a
> nuclear war? I think it may have been set in the late 21st century or
> something... I didn't buy it, just flicked through it.
Sounds like Traveller.
Dave
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I write both as an individual and as a company representative
Scriptorium Fonts & Art: http://ragnarokpress.com/scriptorium
Ysgarth RPG Site: http://www.ragnarokpress.com/ragnarok/ysgarth
Dave Nalle
In article <66s346$ejp$2...@cronkite.cygnus.com>, jr...@cygnus.com wrote:
> In <3490A779...@eatel.net> "Mitch A. Williams" wrote:
> > Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
> > based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
> > any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
> >
>
>
> Hm. Letsee, somewhere I have the "Delta Force" RPG.. and I used to have a
> copy of "Behind Enemy Lines". What about Recondo? It was, if I recall
> correctly, originally put out by some mercenaries who wanted to do a RPG, and
> then bought by Palladium games and converted to their system. It's basically
> a Vietnam RPG that can be adapted to mercenary games anywhen.
I think you're talking about Recon and it was actually published by some
very nice veterans here in Texas and had a pretty strong following for a
while. The combat was very realistic, and the xenophobia of the examples
featuring 'Luke the Gook' was legendary.
> And then there's old RPG's that aren't quite so Obscure if you were around at
> the time..
>
> Tunnels and Trolls
> Metamorphis Alpha
> Indiana Jones (the only RPG I regretted purchasing)
> Future World and Super World (part of the Basic Roleplaying game series)
> Bard Games Atlantis setting (3 books: The Atlas, The Arcanum, and The
> Bestiary)
Hey, we spell that Talislanta - it's not an anagram for Atlantis,
really...not quite. Oh, and last I heard WotC was publishing it before
they exploded with Magic.
PJS
On 12/12/97 05:05, in message <881931...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk>, "David G.
Bell" <db...@zhochaka.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <66r8v1$hj8$4...@clarion.carno.net.au>
> j.st...@bogus-address.anu.edu.au "Jason Stokes" writes:
>
> > I think I still have "Maelstrom" lying around, a paperback RPG about
> > medieval roleplaying from years back. And "Dungeoneer", another
> > paperback RPG. I quite liked the paperback format for rpgs -- whatever
> > happened to it?
>
> They had a problem using 1.5 inch margins?
>
> I remember that "Tunnels & Trolls" was once put out in a paperback
> edition by Corgi, maybe as part of an effort to break into the solo
> gamebook market. But I wonder how the economics works out. Paperback
> books get distributed by a whole different system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dragon Warriors" was another game which took the same route, and I think was
also published by Corgi. I don't think it was ever exported; it seemed to
incorporate alot of gamebook-derived rules for combat.
"Thieves Guild" - how obscure is that? What about "ElfQuest"? Did that last
very long?
What was the name of that game which was quite light on the roleplaying, (from
Marcus L. Rowland
>Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
>
The most obscure I own is probably Super Squadron - a superhero game
from a company called Adventure Simulations. I also have:
Golden Heroes - not the Games Worksnot edition, but the original
fanzine-style version.
Star Riders - an SF game based on the Teenagers from Outer Space game.
Ianus games, never seen any supplements etc. for it.
Nightlife (Stellar Games) - A "you are the monster" horror game that
sank into deep obscurity.
Laserburn (Tabletop games) - technically a miniatures game but often
used as a simple SFRPG, had several supplements. Written by Bryan
Ansell.
The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright: The RPG - Published and sank without
trace.
Time Lord (Virgin) - this is the British Dr. Who game someone mentioned.
Sold poorly, was never distributed to games shops (not even Virgins!)
Ralph Bakshi's Wizards (Whit Publications) - I think this one also sank
without trace.
Or did you meen obscure in the sense of the rules being incomprehensible
and/or nonsensical? In that case Nephilim is my first nomination...
--
Marcus L. Rowland
http://www.ffutures.demon.co.uk/
"We are all victims of this slime. They... ...fill our mailboxes with gibberish
that would get them indicted if people had time to press charges"
[Hunter S. Thompson predicts junk e-mail, 1985 (from Generation of Swine)]
athol-brose
I apologize for following-up to a much later article. My news server
recently underwent, um, restructuring.
>> > Mitch A. Williams (mit...@eatel.net) wrote:
>> > : Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>> > : based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>> > : any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
I have a copy of this accessible to me (i.e., in the house but not mine).
Very obscure little game typeset on a typewriter, bad line art,
incomprehensible mechanics -- not that I spent all that much time reading
it.
I think I've read "Midnight at the Well of Souls", but I've forgotten it.
If I can dig up a copy, I might, and then I might take a look at this game
again.
--
r. n. dominick -- cinn...@one.net
who am i, that i should be vying for your touch?
athol-brose
In article <66s346$ejp$2...@cronkite.cygnus.com>,
...this wasn't so bad. It was pretty easy to throw together some rules for
making your own characters (ours were pretty loosely defined; if you could
justify a stat you could have it; I guess I was gaming with a pretty
mature group) and then it was pretty fun when it got rolling, in a goofy
sort of way.
We translated the campaign to GURPS later on. That ended up happening to a
lot of our games. :)
DocCross
>> I have....Barony (fantasy RPG) and Era Ten (SF rpg) by Better Games....
>
>Aren't they the guys who did the pro-wrestling RPG that came in a can?
>
>Dave
No, I don't think so, but I know the wrestling game you mean. Can't recal who
published it.
Doc Cross
Toonster, Cut Up, Dirty Old Man
Insert witty or profound saying here
Lizard
On 12 Dec 1997 13:16:21 -0500, mea...@galois.WPI.EDU (Mike Mearls)
wrote:
>
>Speaking of obscure games, has anyone out there ever actually played Spawn of
>Fashan or World Action and Adventure? I've heard of both of these games but have
>never met anyone who has played them or read the rules.
>
World Action and Adventure IS real -- I saw the rules, all three huge
hardcover volumes of them. Must have been quite expensive to print.
I'd love to have a copy now.
>Another obscure (and unreleased game): TSR's Proton Fire. I will go to my grave
>insisting that TSR had articles in Dragon about this RPG that they never
>released. From what I recall, players were supposed to be cyborgs invented by
>some dying race to explore the galaxy and find a new homeland, or something like
>that.
>
Never shipped. There was preview in Dragon #100, I think. A bit later,
it was announced the game was permenantly shelved. Noise was made
about releasing it as an expansion for Star Frontiers, but it never
happened.
>What about Yaquinto's Man, Myth, and Magic? I remember ads in DC comics for it
>back in the early 80's, but I never actually saw a copy of it. I think the game
>had something to do with mythic Earth; you could play an Egyptian wizard, Roman
>gladiator, or Celtic leprechaun.
>
Really existed.
Bruce Baugh
In article <BEThMRAb...@ffutures.demon.co.uk>, "Marcus L. Rowland" <mrow...@ffutures.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright: The RPG - Published and sank without
>trace.
Did they have any suggestions about what one might -do- in the setting?
Kat
I read Maelstrom and liked the concept. I especially liked the
magic system. At low ends it's what Mage's Coincidental magick SHOULD
have been. The reason the format disapeared, is that you could _not_
charge 30$+ for them. One of my favourites for system, is Darksword
Adventures, based on the Trilogy of the same name.
=================
Jason Stokes wrote in message <66r8v1$hj8$4...@clarion.carno.net.au>...
I think I still have "Maelstrom" lying around, a paperback RPG about
medieval roleplaying from years back. And "Dungeoneer", another
paperback RPG. I quite liked the paperback format for rpgs --
whatever
happened to it?
-------------------------------------------------
Kataman
Kat...@inorbit.com
ICQ World Wide Page: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/3337155
http://www.dsuper.net/~katt
Rob
Me? I'd say the all time winner for most obscure game was
DeepSleep. You played yourself, on a tour of a secret (!) reseach base
that for some reason wah having a field-trip, when WW3 erupts, you are
thrown into a convenient cryogenic capsule with the others on the tour,
and awaken in the sort of distant future-- any one of some seven or eight
distant furtures, in fact. Surprisingly playable, passably written, and
never distributed as far as I could tell... the only way to get it was to
meet the author at a con and buy it from him. (:
--
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\-----------------------------------------------------------------------/
Chris Camfield
How's this for obscure (though I don't own it): Witch Hunt. (reviewed in
Fantasy Gamer #5.)
Chris
Guild of Blades
Here is one that is probably fairly obscure thus far. Heck, Im the
publisher, so know exactly how many copies its sold thus far.
W.H.A.T.?, Customizable Role Playing Game
Ryan S Johnson
--
---------------------------------------------------
Guild of Blades Publishing Group
(Member of the GPA)
Contacts:
Ryan O. Johnson - President (sales & product inquires)
John L. Ross - Vice President (Web master)
Marisa K. Boese - Chief Editor
Web: http://www.guildofblades.com
e-mail: guildo...@guildofblades.com
Office: Guild of Blades
2002 E. Kalamazoo
Lansing, MI 48912
Phone: (517)267-1409
DJorgen104
>Hmm... I have most of the games mentioned here (I know, it's sad. At least
>I
>don't play most of them.) But I've never heard of the Midnight at the well
>of
>souls one. Does it have any redeeming features?
Only that it was based on a series of books that a lot of folks find are worth
reading. Basically the game was an unfathomable mess constructed from parts
butchered out of other game systems.
Ken Walton
In article <3491D6...@bellatlantic.net>, Aaron Pound
<ajp...@bellatlantic.net> writes
>I'd have to say that "Fantasy Wargaming" was one of the worst pieces of
>drivel that ever attempted to pass itself off as a role playing game.
>Predetermined personalities mixed with a poor combat system, an
>indecipherable magic system, and a primer on midaevil Catholic theology
>just didn't work very well.
well, as a game it was pretty bad, but I found the stuff about medieval
society and getting ideas from mythology rather useful. The stuff about
role-playing in Celtic mythology were a great comfort when we suddenly
found ourselves writing GURPS Celtic Myth <g>.
And it's the only RPG I know of which has stats for God, the Virgin
Mary, most of the major figures from the New Testament and a host of
well-known saints. I love the special note on God; "Three persons. Can
operate independently."
Fantasy Earth was pretty bad. I had the misfortune to review it for IF.
Afterwards I took it into the local 2nd hand game shop and tried to
trade it in, but they wouldn't take it. So I stood in the middle of the
shop and asked if anyone wanted it for free - there were no takers.
--
Ken Walton
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to
anger." - Tolkien
"Complex projects are made simple with wizards." - Microsoft
Ken Walton
>Or did you meen obscure in the sense of the rules being incomprehensible
>and/or nonsensical? In that case Nephilim is my first nomination...
supplements, one day I'll finally see the light, and figure out how to
run it. Perhaps it's a game which can only be understood by those who
have been Illuminated...
Bruce Baugh
>run it. Perhaps it's a game which can only be understood by those who
>have been Illuminated...
The secret to Nephilim is the insight that there -are- no Nephilim. It
is a form of delusion that strikes those with magical potential, and the
basic principles get blasted through the ether from one addled soul to
another.
Now to boogie on out of here before Ken Hite gets his axe unholstered.
Uncle Bear
DocCross wrote in message <19971213010...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
>>> I have....Barony (fantasy RPG) and Era Ten (SF rpg) by Better
Games....
>>
>>Aren't they the guys who did the pro-wrestling RPG that came in a can?
>>
>>Dave
>
>No, I don't think so, but I know the wrestling game you mean. Can't recall
who
>published it.
Wasn't it one of Ken Whitman's companies?
-Uncle Bear
Klyfix
Can we count games that never actually got released? If so,
_RuneQuest:Adventures in Glorantha_ (aka RQ4) would be about the most obscure
thing I have as it never was and never will be released. There's a game I saw
ads for years back in _Dragon_ that I wonder about, if it ever even made it to
playtest, where the ads were wildly colorful things with dragonriders attacking
a castle with swastikas on it and bits of high tech about. I wonder if any
copies of that thing ever actually got printed.
Well, going with the idea that "obscure" can be "stuff people haven't
heard of or played no matter who published it" I have _Worlds of Wonder_,
_Ringworld_, _Attack of the Humans_, pretty much all the _TWERPS_ stuff, and
that Virgin published _Time Lord_ RPG which as I recall is available on a CD
ROM along with a host of other things including bits by me. Check the "Fantasy
Realms" site at http://www.fantasyrealms.simplenet.com/ to get details on that.
I'm now resolved to actually trying to play the above games....
V.S. Greene : kly...@aol.com : Boston, near Arkham...
"I want to spend my Christmas with a Dalak..."
Scott
Well everybody named almost all of the ones I was thinking about. But I
do have some on my shelves that were not mentioned try these on:
Boot Hill the original version published by TSR it has an orange cover.
Night of the Ninja Reality Role-playing Game
UUHRAAH Prehistoric Roleplaying
Intersteller Elite
Both versions of Behind Enemy Lines
Starleader Assault Metagaming
Empire Of The Petal Throne Boxed from the 70's sometime
High Colonies One of the best Science Fiction games ever produced
World Action and Adventure probably one of the worst rpg games ever made
Commando by SPI
> David G. Bell wrote:
> >
> > In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>
Marcus L. Rowland
In article <66sobd$1qs...@news.mindspring.com>, Bruce Baugh
<bruce...@mindspring.com> writes
>
>>The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright: The RPG - Published and sank without
>>trace.
>
>Did they have any suggestions about what one might -do- in the setting?
Get recruited as a local agent by zero-zero then fight the Disrupters,
mostly. What else would you expect?
R. Scott Maxwell
Henry Vogel wrote:
>
> I don't know how obscure this game is but I know I haven't seen any
> discussion about it since about the time it was released. It may not
> be as obscure as other games mentioned here but I'd say it's probably
> got the highest production values of the bunch. The game is called
> Metascape. Anybody remember it? Anybody ever play it?
>
> Henry Vogel
I bought it from the recomendation of one of the Playtesters -- it was
"Created" at Gonzaga University, by the way (Aren't you glad that I told
you that?). It's greatest claim to fame was a silly die that is used as
a multiplier so rolls can range up into the hundreds of thousands...
Never could figure it out....
Bruce Baugh
In article <RPRVuBAQ...@ffutures.demon.co.uk>, "Marcus L. Rowland" <mrow...@ffutures.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>Did they have any suggestions about what one might -do- in the setting?
>
>Get recruited as a local agent by zero-zero then fight the Disrupters,
>mostly. What else would you expect?
I didn't -expect- anything else, I was just vaguely -hoping- for
something that would make other uses of the setting.
Chris Goodwin
In article <3490A779...@eatel.net>,
Mitch A. Williams <mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
>Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>
>
I've got "Kill the Commie Bastards."
--
arc...@peak.org <*> http://www.peak.org/~archer
Libertarian Fiction, Jack Chalker, Corvallis Gamers mailing lists.
* * * http://www.peak.org/~archer/maillist.html * * *
E-Gold transactions accepted! http://www.e-gold.com/
wi...@ix.netcom.com
I purchased a copy of the first superhero rpg ever published.
SUPERHERO 44.
It is, even for the time, awful.
Spyke!
wi...@ix.netcom.com
David said:
> I remember that "Tunnels & Trolls" was once put out in a paperback
> edition by Corgi, maybe as part of an effort to break into the solo
> gamebook market. But I wonder how the economics works out. Paperback
> books get distributed by a whole different system.
>
I understand that edition of T&T sold upwards of three hundred thousand
copies in Europe.
Something like twenty times it's US sales.
Go Figure,
Spyke!
wi...@ix.netcom.com
I have the most obscure game ever:
Element Masters: a horrid far future medievil fantasy killing spree
game.
Spyke!
Uncle Bear
Klyfix wrote in message <19971213195...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> Can we count games that never actually got released?
Gee, I can add KINIGHTS OF TORQUE & RECOIL and GIANT MONSTER FORCE TATSUJIN
to the list then!
Gerry Saracco
Llyam wrote:
>
> Just to jump into the fray here...I have Space/Time by BTRC...it was a
> semi-cyberpunk rpg using the same system as TimeLords (which is semi-obscure in
> it's own right). And what about Living Steel? The demonstrators made it look
> *so* easy, but the system was such a bear...used d1000s for hit
> locations...blech...
I actually have Time Lords somewhere in my room. I liked the game, but
the system kind of turned me off. I did use the background for a short
lived campaign using Hero System that went over well. Too bad we never
got to finish it
David G. Bell
> High Colonies One of the best Science Fiction games ever produced
Not sure it's the best, but it happens to be another that I have.
--
David G. Bell -- Farmer, SF Fan, Filker, Furry, and Punslinger..
Marcus L. Rowland
In article <66v3mn$288...@news.mindspring.com>, Bruce Baugh
<bruce...@mindspring.com> writes (re the Luthor Arkwright RPG)
>I didn't -expect- anything else, I was just vaguely -hoping- for
>something that would make other uses of the setting.
I just can't see much else that _can_ be done with it really. In its own
way it's no more limiting a context than a spy RPG, or something of the
sort.
Dave Nalle
In article <34945...@news2.ibm.net>, bl...@ibm.net (Steven Howard) wrote:
> In <01bd08ae$6348f7a0$c7bfabc7@datel-customer>, on 12/14/97
> at 04:36 PM, "Denise and Christian Walker"
> <ant...@nospam.deltanet.com> said:
>
> >I don't know if this will qualify as the most obscure, but is certainly
> >rare. Thieves' Guild by Gamelords Limited was a pretty fun system. A
> >bit awkward (AD&D meets Rolemaster), though. What made it great was the
> >incredible effort that the company put into creating a fantasy city.
> >Haven as it was called, was and still is the most detailed urban setting
> >I have ever seen on the market.
>
> Not that rare, really. Did they ever publish all of Haven? I remember it
> came out in pieces. The first one or two were loose-leaf pages (so you
> could rearrange the pages, add your own notes, etc.), but the last one I
> saw was perfect-bound.
I think their publishing schedule was more or less aborted when Kerry
Lloyd got sick and then later died. He had a heart attack infront of our
booth at Gencon East in (I think) 82, and the company was never the same
after that. I believe that a couple of his helpers tried to keep things
going, but ultimately not much came of it. Really a pity, since they had
some of the best fantasy soure material around.
Dave
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I write both as an individual and as a company representative
Scriptorium Fonts & Art: http://ragnarokpress.com/scriptorium
Ysgarth RPG Site: http://www.ragnarokpress.com/ragnarok/ysgarth
Gerry Saracco
Larry Anderson & Diane Hare wrote:
> Ah... Now here is a game! Not quite obscure but notable:
>
> Cyborg Commando!
>
> You know I actually stuck with it enough to roll up a character (what a
> job that was) I think it could be nominated for the least-played yet
> most common game. (I even waded through two of the three paperback
> companion stories, that was a struggle...)
I actually ran this game for about 3 months, then we got the urge to play
Champions again.........
Leszek Karlik, aka Mike
On Fri, 12 Dec 1997 13:12:31 +0100, Juergen Hubert
<HUB...@gawein.physik.uni-erlangen.de> wrote:
>Mitch A. Williams wrote:
>>
>> Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>> based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls". Can
>> any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>>
>> Mitch
>
>The German "Pluesch, Power & Plunder", a RPG about playing stuffed toy
>animals and their hidden society.
Hell, if we're counting German games, how about Polish "Krysztaly
Czasy" (Time Crystals), a baaaad AD&R ripoff with a world that is
ruled by Uruk-hai (yep, the orks)?
It hardly qualifies as "obscure" in Poland, as it was the first widely
known Polish RPG, but anywhere else... <grin>
Leszek Karlik, aka Mike - tr...@friko.onet.pl; http://www.wlkp.top.pl/~bear/mike
Amber fan and Star Wars junkie; FIAWOL
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Jason Stokes
In article <66uimg$pug$1...@excalibur.flash.net>, Uncle Bear
<unca...@flash.net> wrote:
Whit publications released the World Wrestling Federation Role Playing
Game. In about 1993/94 I think.
--
Jason Stokes: j.stokes (at) bohm.anu.edu.au
I use a spam block. Replace (at) with @ to discover my email address.
Ross Smith
SPI's _Universe_, a fairly competent semi-hard SF game. It must have
been just about the last thing they published before they were taken
over by TSR, which is probably why it's so obscure.
--
Ross Smith (Wellington, New Zealand) ...... <mailto:al...@netlink.co.nz>
"While I'd like to claim that it was a bitter and satirical
attack upon the mindless brutalities of war, it was really
just plain bloody violent..." -- Alan Moore
Joseph M. Saul
V.S. Greene wrote:
> Well, going with the idea that "obscure" can be "stuff people haven't
>heard of or played no matter who published it" I have _Worlds of Wonder_,
>_Ringworld_ [ * * * ]
Hey! I've played _Ringworld_! Ran a campaign in it for several sessions!
Joe Saul
jms...@umich.edu
Joseph M. Saul
Here's one: the Star Trek role-playing game put out by (I think)
Grenadier. (And if you have a copy, please email me. I have fond junior-
high memories of that game, and would love a copy...)
-- Joe
Lizard
On 14 Dec 1997 01:34:07 GMT, Joseph M. Saul <jms...@us.itd.umich.edu>
wrote:
>Here's one: the Star Trek role-playing game put out by (I think)
>Grenadier. (And if you have a copy, please email me. I have fond junior-
>high memories of that game, and would love a copy...)
>
I remember that! With Kzinti as a PC race, and, no, I'm not thinking
of Star Fleet Battles.
Was that even a legal/liscenced game?
*----------------------------------------------------*
Evolution doesn't take prisoners:Lizard
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice;
Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue:AuH20
http://www.mrlizard.com
Matthew R Blackwell
In <66rv1l$nmr$1...@galois.WPI.EDU> mea...@galois.WPI.EDU (Mike Mearls)
writes:
>
>
>Speaking of obscure games, has anyone out there ever actually played
>Spawn of Fashan or World Action and Adventure? I've heard of both of
>these games but have never met anyone who has played them or read the
>rules.
>
>Are they both just rumors or what?
>
I've still never seen the fabled "Spawn", but a local store did have
copies of World Action and Adventure for sale.
Matthew R Blackwell
In <3491837e...@news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net> gol...@ibm.net (Henry
Vogel) writes:
>On Thu, 11 Dec 1997 20:54:49 -0600, "Mitch A. Williams"
><mit...@eatel.net> wrote:
>
>>Let's see who has the most obscure RPG lying around....I have a game
>>based on the Nathan Brazil novels "Midnight at the Well of Souls".
Can
>>any of you top that? (if 'top' is valid here <g>).
>>
>>Mitch
>>
>
>discussion about it since about the time it was released. It may not
>be as obscure as other games mentioned here but I'd say it's probably
>got the highest production values of the bunch. The game is called
>Metascape. Anybody remember it? Anybody ever play it?
>
Sure. It had those ads for months in the Dragon, with the cloaked
Jedi-like character saying "It is coming" or something similar. It was
done by people in Meeker, Colorado. Heck, I've seen about a half dozen
copies of that. Never played it though.
Llyam
Alex Williams
>I quite like Nephilim. I keep getting the feeling that if I read enough
>supplements, one day I'll finally see the light, and figure out how to
>run it. Perhaps it's a game which can only be understood by those who
>have been Illuminated...
Actually, I don't see a lot of problem running NEPHILIM; on the other
hand, I most decidedly like open-ended settings and enjoy the Chaosium BRP
system. Its a near-completely character-dominated experience to run it
well, I think; you have to run a couple of (real-time) months with a group
to get them settled in, find out how they're dealing with their
Simulacrums' personal lives, etc. Once you have an idea of what they're
interested in, you can start to inject 'Plot elements,' Arcana direction,
Strange Goings On, etc.
The latest sup, MAJOR ARCANA, helps /tremendously/ in getting a handle on
understanding the Nephilim themselves. Plus, if you're really strapped,
whip out CTHULHU NOW or DELTA GREEN and create some BRP 'normal people'
who're in the secret societies profiting off the Nephilim or trying to
eradicate them.
--
--
[ Alexander Williams {tha...@alf.dec.com/zan...@photobooks.com} ]
[ Alexandrvs Vrai, Prefect 8,000,000th Experimental Strike Legion ]
[ BELLATORES INQVIETI --- Restless Warriors ]
chris nasipak
Long ago in the mists of time, Zachery J. Bir mumbled:
: On 12 Dec 1997 17:47:25 GMT, NUELOW <nue...@aol.com> wrote:
: >Here are a few more...
: * A really, really fabulous one that involved Time Travel. Made by
: Avalon Hill (I think...)
Lords of Creation? I think I have that lying around somewhere...
--
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| Known to Reality as | -- Warrick Morgannen, |
| Chris Nasipak |_________________ Archmage of Pittsburgh. |
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