Sunday 31 August 2014

RPG A Day August 2014

To celebrate the end of August's RPG A Day here are my 31 entries.

Many thanks to Dave Chapman for setting up this excellent month's worth of fun. It's been very informative!

1st

First RPG played, Red Box D&D in 1984. It was my first foray into tabletop gaming after spending more than a year playing Fighting Fantasy ganebooks and it was something of a revelation. Instant creativity, storytelling, fun and excitement.

2nd

First RPG Gamemastered - Fighting Fantasy, the introductory RPG. I didn't have the confidence to run a game as complicated as Basic D&D, so I chose a simple game system. The FF rules were so simple anyone could run it, and I remember running a game set in Port Blacksand - at the time Allansia was my favourite gameworld and it was fun to run.

3rd

First RPG Purchased - that'll be the red box Basic D&D in 1984, from the toyshop up our town precinct that had a wall full of games, miniatures and dice. I'd been playing Fighting Fantasy for a year and that's a kind of RPG, but Basic D&D was the first dedicated group tabletop game I bought.

4th

 Most Recent RPG purchase - Ars Magica 4th Edition. It was at a gaming convention and it was cheap, so how could I say no?

5th

Most Old School RPG owned - D&D Cyclopedia. Not my favourite system but full of nostalgic goodness.

6th

Favourite RPG never get to play - Warhammer FRP 1st Edition. Played this to death in the 1990s but nobody wants to play 1st Edition days.

7th

Most 'Intellectual' RPG owned - Blimey, that's a tough one. Probably Call of Cthulhu as that asks for a bit more from gamers than just hack n' slash.

8th

Favourite Character - Tere Swordsong of MERP. He had a simple beginning, had a proper run of adventures with great NPCs and ended up married and owning the inn in which his adventures started. He was a great character.

9th

Favourite Die / Dice Set - my original pair of D6s from my early 1980s Fighting Fantasy days. They're in a lined miniature chest on my desk. No, really.

10th

Favourite tie-in novel/game fiction - that'll be a toss-up between RA Salvatore's Icewind Dale books, and the Warhammer Gotrek and Felix books. I'll go with Gotrek and Felix.

11th

Weirdest RPG owned – That has to be Task Force Games’ Prime Directive. I know that Star Fleet Battles went off on another timeline from the official Paramount course but it’s peculiar to see Star Trek almost ‘militarised’. I ended up using the character sheet and some elements of the game in a post-Dominion War campaign using the D6 system.

12th

Old RPG you still play/read – Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 1st Edition. It’s really full of flavour and atmosphere and always gives me ideas for campaigns.

13th

Most Memorable Character Death – Zeke Greyfellow, Shadowrun 1st Edition. Unmodified and with no magic, Zeke met with a Dragon to cut a deal. When it went south, the rest of the group ran for it and Zeke stuck around to fight it, riding at it on his Yamaha Rapier and blazing with his SMG. One round later; dead.

14th

Best Convention RPG Purchase – The 25th Anniversary edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, because I met Jackson and Livingstone and got it signed.

15th

Favourite Convention Game – Pathfinder. Always a great game with some great convention GMs.

16th

Game you wished you owned – Anything to do with Dune.

17th

Funniest Game you’ve played – Paranoia, by far. There’s nothing quite like double crossing other players and appreciating being nailed in the process.

18th

Favourite Game System – The D6 System. Versatile and easy to use, I love it as I enjoy more cinematic games with plenty of action adventure.

19th

Favourite Published Adventure – Mask of Nyarlathotep. Pure genius from start to end, and a great read to boot.

20th

Will still play in 20 years time… - Star Wars D6. Because it’s the D6 System and Star Wars.

21st

Favourite Licensed RPG – Tough one. I’d say Star Wars or the FASERIP Marvel game, but I have very fond memories of MERP. I’ll go with MERP.

22nd

Best Secondhand RPG Purchase – Ars Magica. Great game, and very, very cheap.

23rd

Coolest looking RPG product/book – Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition. I’ll probably never play it again, but it’s a beautiful book.

24th

Most Complicated RPG Owned – MERP, for the obvious Rolemaster reasons.

25th

Favourite RPG no one else wants to play – That’s easy: Dragon Warriors. From the flavour of the text to the excellent Johnny Hodgson artwork this game is a little quirky but very playable. It’s the setting more than anything and I got one excellent campaign out of it, but sadly it’s no longer top of my group’s list.

26th

Coolest character sheet – It’s not so much cool but clean and functional; red box Basic D&D sheet. It’s nice and simple and easy to use. If it’s sparkly cool you’re looking for then I’d say Icar, the free game from the talented Rob Lang. It’s a good system and the character sheet helps enhance the atmosphere. http://www.icar.co.uk/

27th

Game You’d like to see a new/improved edition of… - Wow – I’ve never been a lover of new editions because to me, the liquid nature of a roleplaying game means that if there’s something you don’t like about a system you change it best you can. That’s why a lot of the games I play are still first edition versions. I’d like to see a new Star Frontiers, though – that’d be a great open setting D&D-esque sci-fi RPG.

28th

Scariest Game you’ve played – Call of Cthulhu. Without question. It introduced me to Lovecraft’s works and gave me some of the most intense games I’ve ever run or been involved in, and some of the adventure plots I came up with, and the NPCs I played, made me very uncomfortable.

29th

Most memorable encounter – MERP, 1990. ‘So… it surely can’t be a real dragon, can it?’

30th

Rarest RPG owned – Sadly, thanks to real life, I was forced to part with my collectable games, but I used to have an original copy of Boot Hill, that I never even read but sold for a lot of money many moons ago. I think now, the only game I have that I don’t really see anywhere else is the first edition Star Trek RPG, but it’s unboxed and in bad condition.

31st

Favourite RPG of all time – Oof. Wow. Erm… because I’ve gamed in just about every genre and I’m able to change my attitude and creative angle to suit each of those genres, I think my favourite RPG of all time is the hobby itself. Is that answer even allowed?



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