1. Some form of D&D.  Likely the 2e PHB & Monstrous Manual, or the C&C PHB and M&T, along with either the 1e DMG, or the D&D Rules Cyclopedia.
2. Keep on the Borderlands
3. Palladium Rifts (for a change of pace)
4. Mongoose Traveller (ditto)
5. D6 Core Set (Adventure/Space/Fantasy, to round out any other gaming needs)

Come to think of it, this would also be what I'd get first if I somehow lost my game collection (*knock on wood*)

1: Moldvay/Cook/Marsh BX
2: LotFP
3: Barrowmaze I and II
4: Carcosa
5: Other Dust

Easy Call...

0D&D/Rules Cyclopedia
Traveller
Fudge
Aces & Eights
Spycraft

DC Heroes (2e)
Marvel Super Heroes (Advanced)
Star Wars (2e R&E)
Rules Cyclopedia
d20 Modern

Well, I'll trade in 2 - 5 for more GURPS Books.

So...

GURPS Basic Set
GURPS Magic + Fantasy
GURPS High Tech + Horror
GURPS Powers +  Martial Arts
GURPS Ultratech + Vehicle Design

So there you go...

For those who are surprised I didn't list Rolemaster, don't be, the new edition isn't out yet.

1. D&D. I'm torn between the D&D RC and ACKS. Technically the RC is more complete, but ACKS quite frankly features everything I love about it and then some. If we're allowed supplements I'd take the AD&D 2e Monstruous Manual, for the classic beasties (and maybe the ACKS Player's Companion depending on how good a toolbox it turns out to be).

2. Runequest 6e. Because sometimes you just want classless, skill-based non-D&D fantasy gaming. Maybe a Glorantha or Elric setting book if we're allowed supplements.

3. Mongoose Traveller. Again, a clear and concise distillation of a classic. Again, if we're allowed supplements, I'd take the Central Supply Catalogue and maybe a couple of vehicles or starship books (they should really compile those, I think).

4. Call of Cthulhu 5e. Along with the D&D RC, the one book I've made the most use of, sans supplements, for the longest time (15 years in this case).

5. Savage Worlds. My go-to system for pick-up games. I'm taking a sabbatical from SW right now but I'm almost ready to come back to it. Again, if allowed supplements, I'll take Necessary Evil and/or the Super Powers Companion to fill the "supers" void in my collection (also I feel SW does four-color low-to-mid-tier supers well enough, which is what interests me anyway).

I wish I could find room for World of Darkness (for those non-CoC horror games) plus Hunter: The Vigil (which has a nifty sub-system for making up supernatural beasties), but the idea here is to make hard choices, right?

The first four are easy:

ICONS
Bulldogs!
Bounty Hunters of the Atomic Wastelands (*)
Barbarians of Lemuria

Not sure about the fifth choice. I am tempted to list go for a classic like TSR's Gamma World, WEG's Star Wars or the venerable D&D Rules Cyclopedia, but to be honest I've not really got much use from these games in while.

So instead I'll go for something I've never run before: Savage Worlds with either Deadlands or Interface Zero. Both of which seem good for long term play and aren't for genre already covered by my top four selections. Yeah, I know that's not quite in the spirit of the OP but if I am going to be stuck on a desert island, might as well have something new to look forward to.

(*) No, you haven't missed anything. BHAW is not a real game, it's just my homebrew post-apocalypse Fudge/Fate derived system.

Quote from: The Butcher;5868541. D&D. I'm torn between the D&D RC and ACKS. Technically the RC is more complete, but ACKS quite frankly features everything I love about it and then some. If we're allowed supplements I'd take the AD&D 2e Monstruous Manual, for the classic beasties (and maybe the ACKS Player's Companion depending on how good a toolbox it turns out to be).

I thought about ACKS, but as ACKS is more B/X and RC is more BECM, and I really like BECMI more than B/X, I had to land on the side of the RC just for the sheer flexibility. I think it'd be easier to ACKS-ify RC than the reverse.

But ACKS would be my second choice if I couldn't bring RC for some reason... and I have the Player's Guide PDF and it's pretty faboo.

1. Exalted 1e (Corebook, Storyteller Companion, Scavenger Sons, Games of Divinity and Book of 3 Circles)
2. WFRP 2e (Corebook, OW Bestiary, OW Armory, Sigmar's Heirs)
3. Castles & Crusades (Player's Handbook, Monsters & Treaure)
4. Cthulhutech (Corebook, Vade Mecum)
5. Marvel Heroic RP (Basic Game, Civil War Event Book)

Not to belabor the point but depending on the group I can imagine the mere suggestion of a T2k game going something like "Hey, guys, if you're tired of dungeon crawls...I've got this one...!" and someone jumps up and holds a stone axe or points a flare gun at me and yells SUGGEST IT AGAIN, MOTHERFUCKER!  I DARE YOU!  SUGGEST WE PLAY A GAME WHERE WE'RE STARVING TO DEATH AND BARELY SURVIVING IN A HOSTILE WILDERNESS AGAIN.  GO ON, DO IT!

Meh just give me a d10, d6 and a knife, I can make paper and cordage for tying the strips together out of palm leaves and charcoal from wood. Actually just a knife will be fine.

Basic Fantasy RPG - my favorite OSR game
Forgotten Realms gray box and FR1 to FR6 - my favorite setting
Mongoose Traveller
Mini Six
Champions (4th ed)

Quote from: Doctor Jest;586910I thought about ACKS, but as ACKS is more B/X and RC is more BECM, and I really like BECMI more than B/X, I had to land on the side of the RC just for the sheer flexibility. I think it'd be easier to ACKS-ify RC than the reverse.

But ACKS would be my second choice if I couldn't bring RC for some reason... and I have the Player's Guide PDF and it's pretty faboo.

Fair point. For years, I've regarded the D&D RC as the definitive version, the Cadillac of D&Ds, and also as the one and only single book to support the game from the PCs' humble tomb-robbing beginnings, through Name level stronghold-building and beyond, up to literal apotheosis (Immortality).

I see ACKS as a refinement of the RC mechanics I hold dearest to my heart, as well as introducing some great new elements, enough that I consider it my favorite version of D&D right now.

Can't wait to see the Player's Companion (I'm still miffed I didn't buy into the KS in time).

Quote from: The Butcher;586931Can't wait to see the Player's Companion (I'm still miffed I didn't buy into the KS in time).

If you pre-order it now, you can still get the PDF for free.

FASA Star Trek
d6 Star Wars 2nd Edition / Revised
Pendragon + Great Pendragon Campaign
V:tM (last edition)
OSRIC (or however many AD&D 1st edition items I can bring)

Star Wars would be awesome in this case, because you'd never have to worry about GL or his spawn from spoiling the franchise again. Same thing with FASA Star Trek - turn the episodes into games to remember them, perhaps even to do them better.

I elected for OSRIC (or AD&D 1st Edition) even though I enjoy Pathfinder and run it now, but Pathfinder without online statblocks for building adventures is too much work.

Likely Id just start running Pendragon + the Great Pendragon Campaign. That would probably last longer than my patience for running games.