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Author Topic: What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?  (Read 13208 times)

RPGPundit

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« on: April 15, 2018, 10:54:23 PM »
Of the RPGs that were released in the 1990s, which would you say was your favorite?

New editions of games released previously to 1990 do not count.
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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2018, 11:39:43 PM »
Early 90's it'd be Rifts without question; my first character back then was a Rogue Scientist whose most useful skills seemed to be Prowl, Read Sensory Instruments, followed by some engineering or electrical skill that turned really expensive hardware into non-functional junk before the rest of the party raided a place.

These days its a Ley Line Walker whose brother ran off to fight the good fight at the Siege at Tolkeen and died there. His day job is transporting people and things via rift teleportation and he got involved with the current party because they needed his services. He annoys the heck out of them though because he's got a strong aversion to killing (magic net is his go to spell when a fight breaks out), its a pain hauling people back to civilization to face trial (and because he's Scrupulous he won't LET any of the party kill helpless prisoners and holds the threat of withholding his 'mend the broken' spell that saves a ton on armor repairs from those who do) and often uses his healing spells on injured enemies once they've been captured/surrendered. On the plus side, he's raked in the credits on confiscated (and usually undamaged) armor and weapons.

The other biggie from that era that I played the heck out of and started my longest campaign ever with (going on twenty years now depending on how you count it... we've had several complete player/PC turn-overs but the world has persisted uninterrupted to the point that 99% of the NPCs these days are retired PCs) was Mage the Ascension (2nd Edition; Revised in 2000 was too dark and gritty and my world had already gone through the end of days and came out the other side before those books were even released).

In college I also played some 2e-era AD&D (and got my insane 3d6 in order rolled in front of the DM character with his Str 17, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 16 and max hit points rolled at first level... who could never roll above a three whenever he tried using a magic sword... he even broke a magic sword designed to cut through magic barriers on a magic barrier... but as soon as either fumbled the magic sword out of his hand or threw it away in frustration and drew his battered old starting blade his next roll was ALWAYS an 18-20. The DM eventually decided (after destroying the fourth consecutive magic sword via multiple critical fumbles in the same fight) that my fighter was just born so utterly non-magical that he could harm stuff that could only be hurt with magical weapons anyway because I literally sucked the magic out of them when I hit.

Apparition

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2018, 12:53:55 AM »
Buck Rogers XXVc, of course. :p

crkrueger

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2018, 01:11:08 AM »
Hmm, Shadowrun 1st was 1989, but 2nd was 1992, and I consider Shadowrun definitely one of the 90's games.

For me Shadowrun and Rifts occupy the top slot.

Others in no particular order:
Vampire: The Dark Ages
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Deadlands
Kult (for inspiration)
Jovian Chronicles
Heavy Gear
Fading Suns
Witchcraft
Earthdawn
Underground (ideas for Shadowrun)
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Larsdangly

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2018, 01:12:11 AM »
Prince Valiant doesn't really count because it came out a year too early. But I'll nominate it anyway because it is awesome and is more like the first 90's game than like the last 80's game.

Beyond that I'm kind of surprised at how few games I own (or even know of) that were published as 1st editions in the 90's

artikid

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2018, 01:54:42 AM »
Castle Falkenstein and Mage the Ascension

Ratman_tf

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2018, 02:10:47 AM »
Ughh. This is like picking a favorite child.

1. Rifts. Played the hell out of it.
2. Earthdawn. Ran a great, long running campaign.
3. Deadlands. Had a good GM who was into the time period the game is set.
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Skarg

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2018, 02:43:01 AM »
Aquelarre, not for the system so much but the setting, content, art, flavor, etc. I'm looking forward to the English version when it finally arrives

Looking over this list, I don't see many others that I have positive feelings or interest in, such as:

* Fudge, mainly because I mostly like Steffan O'Sullivan.
* Prime Directive, just because it's set in the Star Fleet Battles universe and I like SFB, but of course I'd tend to refer to the later GURPS version of it.

vgunn

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2018, 03:03:24 AM »
Castle Falkenstein
Over the Edge
Unknown Armies
 

artikid

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2018, 03:24:04 AM »
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1034461
Earthdawn
Good pick, not my favorite but worth, at the very least, a honorable mention.

S'mon

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2018, 04:08:42 AM »
I think the only game I've run/played that was first published marginally in the 1990s was Traveller: The New Era (1990), which barely counts as a new game - I ran it online pbem & a bit tabletop ca 2000. For me the 1990s was definitely the Dark Age of Gaming after the 1980s golden age. I ran the setting of NightLife (1989) but using AD&D based rules, likewise Cyberpunk 2020. Ran a mix of 2e & 1e AD&D. But it was definitely the worst period for RPGs, when cool games like PARANOIA and d6 Star Wars (and Traveller) came to an end, Classic D&D ended, AD&D nearly ended, etc.

AsenRG

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2018, 04:29:20 AM »
Amber
Aquelarre
Bloodlust, CORPS
CP 2020?
Fading Suns,
Feng Shui
Fudge
Sengoku
Pavillion Noir?
Talislanta
Unknown Armies
Usagi Yojimbo
Witchcraft

BTW, Skarg, Aquelarre is out for backers;).
« Last Edit: April 18, 2018, 05:50:24 PM by AsenRG »
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Kiero

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2018, 05:59:04 AM »
Feng Shui (1st edition). A real breath of fresh air compared to my gaming to that date (it was 1997), and still one of my favourites.
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Simon W

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2018, 07:06:04 AM »
It has got to be Amber Diceless. The fact that I'm still playing it now and I'm no longer playing any other 1990's rpgs says it all.

finarvyn

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What was Your Favorite 1990s Game?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2018, 08:11:19 AM »
Amber Diceless as a clear favorite, but I also enjoyed several others. (Buck Rogers XXVC and Castle Falkenstein immediately come to mind.) I liked the worlds of TORG but not the game mechanics. Dragonlance 5th Age (with the SAGA system) was a neat alternate to D&D. I wanted to like Alternity, but somehow it never quite clicked for me.
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