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Author Topic: Forgotten RPGs  (Read 30123 times)

shuddemell

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #30 on: September 27, 2020, 09:43:56 AM »
Powers & Perils? Too mainstream?
I always want to like that, but it's so complex.


The rpg.net review of the game is pretty hilarious. It always cracks me up that the women characters have lower INT according to the rules, and something about (unintentional?) homoerotic art. Sounds like a bit of a mess, don’t know if it’s a fun mess at the table though 😊


I actually liked Powers & Perils as a system. Tower of the Dead wasn't a bad adventure to start with... Ysgarth on the other hand is a hot mess. Never could get anyone to even give it a try.
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Omega

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #31 on: September 27, 2020, 10:50:54 AM »
Universe from SPI.

Ravenswing

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #32 on: September 28, 2020, 07:08:31 AM »
Huh.  Ysgarth's the only game mentioned so far I ever owned -- pretty much because I was a contributor to Alarums & Excursions for a few years in the early 80s, and I was collecting ideas for my ever-more-variant homebrew.  That being said, other than homebrews, what's the most obscure forgotten game you ever played, other than homebrews?  As far as I can recall, being on a playtest of Lee Gold's Lands of Adventure was likely it. 
« Last Edit: September 28, 2020, 07:11:15 AM by Ravenswing »
This was a cool site, until it became an echo chamber for whiners screeching about how the "Evul SJWs are TAKING OVAH!!!" every time any RPG book included a non-"traditional" NPC or concept, or their MAGA peeners got in a twist. You're in luck, drama queens: the Taliban is hiring.

Lurkndog

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #33 on: September 29, 2020, 10:07:41 AM »
That being said, other than homebrews, what's the most obscure forgotten game you ever played, other than homebrews?
I did play Phoenix Command once in the 90's, with a GM from my HERO system group who was fixated on The Terminator. To his credit, he knew the byzantine system well enough to walk us through it in a reasonable amount of time.

Looking back on it now, I would describe it as "very tacticool." ;)

Abraxus

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #34 on: September 29, 2020, 10:32:25 AM »
Dangerous Journeys where Gary Gygax showed me at least he tried to learn nothing about modern gaming design of the time. While continuing his obsessions with CHARTS! and more CHARTS!.


I had bought a copy and just found it utter lacking in any innovation and sold it. Other than TSR suing to get GDW to cease production of the rpg I don't remember anything besides the overabundance of charts.

rgalex

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #35 on: September 29, 2020, 10:40:34 AM »
That being said, other than homebrews, what's the most obscure forgotten game you ever played, other than homebrews?  As far as I can recall, being on a playtest of Lee Gold's Lands of Adventure was likely it. 


I think that would probably be Empire of Dust.  I picked up the box set at GenCon back in... 2009 I think.  Only played it a handful of times but it was good fun.  IPR has the pdf, but I'm not sure how many physical copies ever got made.  I've never seen another one.

Bren

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #36 on: September 29, 2020, 11:03:33 AM »
Huh.  Ysgarth's the only game mentioned so far I ever owned -- pretty much because I was a contributor to Alarums & Excursions for a few years in the early 80s, and I was collecting ideas for my ever-more-variant homebrew.  That being said, other than homebrews, what's the most obscure forgotten game you ever played, other than homebrews?  As far as I can recall, being on a playtest of Lee Gold's Lands of Adventure was likely it. 
Published? Beast, Men & Gods by Bill Underwood.

Unpublished? A play-test draft of Milton Bradley's Star Wars RPG from the early 1980s that preceded West End Game's D6 version by several years. It had a unique starfighter combat aid that determined and visually displayed effect based on your chosen maneuver vs. the opponent's chosen maneuver.
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brettmb

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #37 on: September 29, 2020, 03:44:16 PM »

Lurkndog

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #38 on: September 30, 2020, 07:49:49 AM »
Huh.  Ysgarth's the only game mentioned so far I ever owned -- pretty much because I was a contributor to Alarums & Excursions for a few years in the early 80s, and I was collecting ideas for my ever-more-variant homebrew.  That being said, other than homebrews, what's the most obscure forgotten game you ever played, other than homebrews?  As far as I can recall, being on a playtest of Lee Gold's Lands of Adventure was likely it. 
Published? Beast, Men & Gods by Bill Underwood.

Unpublished? A play-test draft of Milton Bradley's Star Wars RPG from the early 1980s that preceded West End Game's D6 version by several years. It had a unique starfighter combat aid that determined and visually displayed effect based on your chosen maneuver vs. the opponent's chosen maneuver.
Was it like Ace of Aces, where each player has a flip-book that shows the view out of the cockpit, and you go to a different page depending on which maneuver you choose?

Lurkndog

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #39 on: September 30, 2020, 07:59:29 AM »
Here's Part 2 in the series
Wow. I was expecting to encounter at least one game I had seen or bought on speculation, but I've barely even heard of any of these.
Was there such a thing as regional game distribution back in the day? I guess I'm just used to getting word of mouth via the internet.

hedgehobbit

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #40 on: September 30, 2020, 09:13:28 AM »
Here's one I found at a used book store





It's a fairly standard D&D knock off from the time with a light hearted cartoony aesthetic. It was written and illustrated by Cheryl Duval back in 1981. Considering the date, this might be the first RPG written by a woman [or at least written by a woman who identified as a woman at the the time she wrote it because it's 2020 and I have to clarify such things]

Ravenswing

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #41 on: September 30, 2020, 09:44:50 AM »
It's a fairly standard D&D knock off from the time with a light hearted cartoony aesthetic. It was written and illustrated by Cheryl Duval back in 1981. Considering the date, this might be the first RPG written by a woman [or at least written by a woman who identified as a woman at the the time she wrote it because it's 2020 and I have to clarify such things]

It wouldn't be.  Lee Gold's Land of the Rising Sun (essentially, Sengoku-era Japan on C&S mechanics) was published the year before, and that was the earliest by JH Kim's list ...

Huh.  His list cites "Niels Erickson, C. Polite, W.G. Murphy" as the authors of Wizard's Realm.  Sounds like either Duval was "Polite," solely the artist, or someone's in error.
This was a cool site, until it became an echo chamber for whiners screeching about how the "Evul SJWs are TAKING OVAH!!!" every time any RPG book included a non-"traditional" NPC or concept, or their MAGA peeners got in a twist. You're in luck, drama queens: the Taliban is hiring.

hedgehobbit

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #42 on: September 30, 2020, 10:20:46 AM »
Huh.  His list cites "Niels Erickson, C. Polite, W.G. Murphy" as the authors of Wizard's Realm.  Sounds like either Duval was "Polite," solely the artist, or someone's in error.
I'm not sure who JH Kim is but here's the credits from the first page:


Edited by Niels Erickson
Original concept by Cheryl Duval
Written by Cheryl Duval, Niels Erickson, Willian Murphy, and Clifford Polite.


Duval, Erickson and Polite are also listed under illustrators.

I see no reason to think that these credits are not accurate.

brettmb

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #43 on: September 30, 2020, 10:25:16 AM »
I’ve actually tried contacting a few people involved in Wizards Realm to no avail. It’s pretty good for the era. Pretty sure there was mixed roles for writing and illustrating. Seems like Cheryl Duval was the lead on it.

Null42

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Re: Forgotten RPGs
« Reply #44 on: September 30, 2020, 10:44:36 AM »
From what I read Powers & Perils was still too stuck to wargame-style simulationism (makes sense since it came from Avalon Hill) and failed to compete with D&D 1e. Kind of like TSR blowing themselves up with Spellcraft trying to compete with Magic...


I rather enjoyed reading Synnibarr, oddly enough. The dude had a fertile imagination, even if it didn't work as a system.