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Obscure Games?

Started by brettmb, November 11, 2008, 12:03:33 AM

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Omega

Furry Outlaws and Furry Pirates: Under the anthro theme is a darn good historical england and historical high seas low magic to no magic setting. Illustrated by Terrie Smith no less. I was one of the playtesters for Pirates.

GetRPS: Gammarauders Extremely Tiny Role Playing System: 1988 from the Gammarauders comic.

IceBlinkLuck

I have fond memories of running this game called Rus (can't do the umlaut over the u so just imagine it). D&D-esque rpg set in early feudal Russia and the surrounding empires. It was a mishmash of rules but mostly level and class based. It had skills bolted onto it, much like they were in 1st ed. Chivalry and Sorcery. It was, without a doubt, a hot mess. However it did have lots of interesting bits and pieces about the campaign world which kept it from turning into just another quasi-medieval European setting.

One of the best stretches of the game happened when the players managed to piss off a local group of Cossacks. This lead to a protracted chase through a winter-darkened and snow-covered forest as the players frantically sought to escape the cossacks and their trained wolves.

Previously mentioned in the thread, but still want to give my shout out to: 1st Ed. Pheonix Games Bushido, Psi World (I loved running my spin on this as near future Bladerunner-esque cyberpunk) and Whispering Vault ( a game I still pull out of my hat for one-shot adventures).
"No one move a muscle as the dead come home." --Shriekback

Matt

#197
Not sure what counts as obscure...games nobody seems to own but may have heard of, or games no one has heard of?

Probably my least commonly encountered games are Delta Force (Task Force Games), The Price of Freedom (WEG), Man Myth & Magic (Yaquinto), and Crime Fighter (Task Force).

I've never even seen another copy of Crime Fighter, which surprises me because Aaron Allston is well known and well respected. I would have thought his name on the box would've sold more copies.

Have quite a lot of other games where I have never met anyone else who owned them, but those are the ones from major publishers. All are bad ass in their own quirky ways.

Omega

Another one from the obscure list.

Superhero 2044: A near future superhero RPG that came out in 77 or so from I believe Gamescience? Mine was I think the second edition. Pretty odd game setting and mechanics. But had a solo play section at the back.

Simon W

Quote from: Matt;831364Probably my least commonly encountered games are Delta Force (Task Force Games), The Price of Freedom (WEG), Man Myth & Magic (Yaquinto), and Crime Fighter (Task Force).

Had 'em all but got rid of Man Myth & Magic because I wasn't that taken with it. The other three (especially The Price of Freedom) weren't bad at all.

TheShadow

Quote from: Omega;831366Another one from the obscure list.

Superhero 2044: A near future superhero RPG that came out in 77 or so from I believe Gamescience? Mine was I think the second edition. Pretty odd game setting and mechanics. But had a solo play section at the back.

Certainly obscure, but worth remembering as the very first superhero RPG.
You can shake your fists at the sky. You can do a rain dance. You can ignore the clouds completely. But none of them move the clouds.

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Molotov

Quote from: The Shaman;265541I've never heard of this.

I must own it. Now.

(Thanks for the link.)
I have two copies of En Garde (via Amazon) arriving today, thanks to you heartless bastards and your 7+ year old thread. :D

Omega

Another apparently obscure one.

Lace & Steel by Paul Kidd. Pretty interesting system that used a tarot deck to create a character. Very interaction driven. Though the combat system was pretty good too. Folks at TSR liked it enough they did a novel based on it even. But I meet hardly anyone who has ever played it.

Black Vulmea

#203
I acquired Burros & Bandidos and its lone supplement Frontier recently - it's a roleplaying game published in the early Nineties by Sierra Madre Games set against the backdrop of the Porfiriato (B&B) and the Juarez republic (Frontera). It has an interesting character career system that we're using with our Boot Hill campaign.

I was going to suggest Starleader, but apparently I already did, over seven years ago.

Quote from: The Shaman;265260Starleader: Assault, published in 1982 by Metagaming, was the first module of the Starleader rpg. S:A provided the introductory man-to-man combat rules of the system, like Melee to the The Fantasy Trip. None of the other modules were published, however, leaving S:A as a stand-alone skirmish game.
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ACS

Tristram Evans

I nominate Theatrix (1993), a diceless system that takes a notion similar to Amber's style of play, makes it "generic", and then runs with it. It did FATE Aspects and Fate points long before Fate was a thing, it had maybe the best character creation system of all time, and it made use of numerous "flowcharts" a GM could use to resolve actions in numerous ways.

Dan Davenport

Quote from: Arminius;265197Whenever this topic comes up, I mention Waste World, an aborted product line from the 90's. The game system reads a bit like a cross between GURPS and Talislanta/Omni, while the setting is a very over-the-top post-apocalyptic world with a bit of a kitchen sink feel--cybergear, lizard men, etc. But beneath all the cool gonzo there's also a neat premise of a world in which resources are so depleted that people go out into the wastes to risk their lives scrounging. If I were to run it I might redo the setting a bit to play up that element, basically turning it into a world where licensed and unlicensed recyclers fight each other, toxic environments, and mutated horrors in order to salvage precious materials.

An excellent choice!
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Dan Davenport

Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;265487The sheer absurdity of it all.  Nazi Gestapo Elves.  Anti-Elf Paint.  Midnight Sunstone Bazookas.  A Ninja (that's a class)-cum-God of Metal named "Blade".  Amazons that can cure or kill with a bitchslap. Power Armor that costs so much money that you can't afford it when you could use it, and when you can you're so powerful that you don't need it (and it actually holds you back).  You can enchant your soul so that if you die and get reincarnated, the spells come back with your body automatically.  Timeline of ridiculous length with multiple near-extinction-level events that would act as genetic bottlenecks.  Every last fucking Guild-Trained Adventurer class (save a pair or so) are filled with noble heroes that Saved The Worldship from Certain Doom.  Tenjehusan.  Venderant Nalaberong and God Power.  "Rings with authenticity", as everything about it comes from the designer's personal experiences and inquiries.  Going from 1st to 20th level in a single adventure; getting $500M and not knowing what the hell to do with it all.

Don't forget Giant Mutant Fire Clams and Flying Grizzlies with lazerbeam eyes!
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Dan Davenport

Quote from: Marleycat;631238Totally skimming here but Whispering Vault. You must play it, run it, and buy it. I have said my piece.

Great game, but the PCs are way underpowered compared to the way they're described.
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Dan Davenport

Ralph Bakshi's Wizards (1992), based on the 1977 animated movie. A post-apocalyptic, post-human setting in which the true ancestors of mankind -- Elves, Dwarves, Faeries -- use magic to battle the technology-using mutants and their demon allies. Had a nice, simple attribute+skill system, IIRC, and a decent spell-creation system, but the damage system depended upon being big and strong enough to use heavier weapons... which meant that only a maxed-out, human-sized Dwarf could wield a battle axe.
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Simlasa

#209
Quote from: Dan Davenport;952599Great game, but the PCs are way underpowered compared to the way they're described.
That is the common complaint. Considering what they're up against... renegade gods... and that it's meant to be at least partially a 'horror' game... I'm not sure the Stalker's aren't as they should be. Some of their powers can gimp the whole hunt if not run correctly... and they can certainly lay waste to most lesser creatures, and mortals.
I never did get to play it enough to get into its finer points though, or to feel comfortably tweaking it if/when I felt it needed tweaking.