Paper and Dice Gamers...

[mischief]

Anybody ever, (or better yet currently) get into the "oldschool" RPG's?

I still have quite a collection of Palladium games (Rifts, Robotech, Palladium FRPG), some of WhiteWolf's WOD series and an obscure RPG based on Roger Zlazny's Amber series.

With so many Mac Geeks here there must be SOME folks that practice these old arcane modes of entertainment... I've been toying with the idea of setting up some games for the SC area and/or doing an IM game... Either way I'd love to know who's into at least discussing the analog RPG experience...

:)

[mischief]

I just discovered something really cool about P2P networks!

TONS of out-of-print games are available in PDF form from gamers who have been cool enough to scan them in and compile them.

I found the best concentration using Acquisition. Many of the files are too big for diallup to be practical. I LOVE the thought of having some of these out of print RPGs complete and on CD. :D

[krimson]

it's wierd that this is in the Mac scene section.. :)

anyhoo... old paper games eh?
stack of AD&D (like i really needed to say that) about shoulder high.. mostly FR, some DL.
Never got the GM set for Robotech, but i have some of the other manuals.
Paranoia, huge stack of that too
Cyberpunk, GM boxset and a few expansion manuals
Shadowrun, GM boxset only

dice collection... lets not even go into that. ;)

[seamuskrat]

I still play Champions, and Palladium. I have my old AD&D stuff and I think I have cyberpunk, and a few others of similar ilk.

I also play a lot of Magik:the gathering but not lately.

That is nice to know you can get PDF of many of these now defunct publications. I will have to take a look out there.

[Santiago]

We just wrapped up a nine-month Nobilis game on Monday night. (Nobilis is a diceless resource-management game where you essentially play gods.) I also run an Exalted game on Tuesday nights. (Exalted is a game from White Wolf that ditches the angst and turns you into the reborn champions of the gods setting out to reconquer Creation in a mythic age of the bygone past. It's a combination of Wuxia Kung-Fu movies and Homeric Epic.) Next up on Mondays is My Life with Master, where we'll play the minions of an evil overlord, trying to build up enough self-esteem to betray him and become good guys.

[mischief]

I was beginning to feel utterly obsolete! :eek:

For those of you who have or collect out of print systems and supplements:

I have an extensive collection of CyberPunk 2020, The Shadow Knight supplement fot the Amber Diceless system and many Palladium Megaverse titles, some of which are distinctly out of print (The Harmony-Gold Robotech series).

Would any of you like a particular out of print supplement or be willing to scan and compile some of your collection?

I found that the Robotech 2: Sentinels titles are rare even on P2p so I'd love it if I could talk someone into putting theirs out for the collecting.

I also have some first and second editions of the above for those of you who prefer the erratta/first edition of various things.

[mischief]

I'm writing up some Character Classes from some favourite novels for an extended Rifts campaign. I thought those of you who have been spectating might find this amusing:

From the Steven King Universe (Gunslinger books plus Insomnia and some others including It, Regulators and Black House/Talisman):

Gilead Gunslinger PCC/OCC

Regulator NPCC/RCC

Breaker PCC

Outsider NPC/RCC


From Frank Herbert's Universe:

Fremen RCC/OCC

Bene Geserit RCC

Bene Tleilax Master RCC

Bene Tleilax Face Dancer RCC

Pre Butlerian AI (Omnius) NPC/RCC

Pre Bulterian AI (Android) NPC/RCC


From Zelazny's Amber series:

Line of Amber RCC

Line of Chaos RCC

Chaos Demon RCC

Broken Pattern Initiate OCC


And for those who like to mess with the PCC player characters, from Arthur C Clarke's Universe:

Black Monolith NPC/RCC

[seamuskrat]

That sounds very cool. I may have to find more time to blow playing agian.

Someone should mirror or centralize some of these files for us all to gather.

I'm writing up some Character Classes from some favourite novels for an extended Rifts campaign. I thought those of you who have been spectating might find this amusing:

From the Steven King Universe (Gunslinger books plus Insomnia and some others including It, Regulators and Black House/Talisman):

Gilead Gunslinger PCC/OCC

Regulator NPCC/RCC

Breaker PCC

Outsider NPC/RCC


From Frank Herbert's Universe:

Fremen RCC/OCC

Bene Geserit RCC

Bene Tleilax Master RCC

Bene Tleilax Face Dancer RCC

Pre Butlerian AI (Omnius) NPC/RCC

Pre Bulterian AI (Android) NPC/RCC


From Zelazny's Amber series:

Line of Amber RCC

Line of Chaos RCC

Chaos Demon RCC

Broken Pattern Initiate OCC


And for those who like to mess with the PCC player characters, from Arthur C Clarke's Universe:

Black Monolith NPC/RCC

[yellow]

Ah.. old school RPGs.

Last time I sat and played D&D was in 1984. Off and on over the years though I've flirted with Warhammer & Warhammer 40k. But never got into group play though. It was a 'basement' thing. Once I graduated onto MUDs, the paper and dice was all left behind. But I DO have an original copy of Monster Manual and Fiend Folio sitting on my shelf here at work!

Ah.. good times..

[krimson]

Ahh... MUD's ended my "paper & dice" days as well... Materia Magica (www.materiamagica.com) has sucked up almost a 1/3rd of my life.

[mischief]

Ahh... MUD's ended my "paper & dice" days as well... Materia Magica (www.materiamagica.com) has sucked up almost a 1/3rd of my life.


I've experimented with them and they're nowhere near as organically freeform. You can't do the same sort of in-character stuff... Thbbt...

[krimson]

true, they aren't for everyone, that's why there's so many different ones, with different themes, engines, etc...

Being an admin/builder for MM is a better creative outlet for my gaming experience, than sitting around DM'n for a bunch of guys

[Veldek]

I still play "The Dark Eye" with three of my friends. You probably don't know it in the States, but it's quite popular here in Germany. Never played AD&D, but also tried Shadowrun.

My nickname has its origin in a character I played in "The Dark Eye" by the way.

[mischief]

true, they aren't for everyone, that's why there's so many different ones, with different themes, engines, etc...

Being an admin/builder for MM is a better creative outlet for my gaming experience, than sitting around DM'n for a bunch of guys

I've been wondering how to bridge that gap for a while. Still haven't found a good solution.

[rueyeet]

I've experimented with them and they're nowhere near as organically freeform. You can't do the same sort of in-character stuff... Thbbt...Without meaning to sound snooty, there's a difference between role-playing, and "roll"-playing. I've noticed that my own acquaintances who are more into the roll-playing--game mechanics, rule interpretation, min/maxing, etc--are the ones who tend to find MUD's to be satisfying.

Personally, I like the out-of-game social aspects of the good old dice-and-paper gaming as much as the game itself, and a MUD can't really replace that face-to-face interaction for me.

[Blue Velvet]

Without meaning to sound snooty, there's a difference between role-playing, and "roll"-playing. I've noticed that my own acquaintances who are more into the roll-playing--game mechanics, rule interpretation, min/maxing, etc--are the ones who tend to find MUD's to be satisfying.

Personally, I like the out-of-game social aspects of the good old dice-and-paper gaming as much as the game itself, and a MUD can't really replace that face-to-face interaction for me.

Yes, good times.

Hilarious unintentional moments like the time one of my friend's character's accidentally grew wings in the middle of a battle... and the ongoing sniping between thief & paladin...

I've still got loads of the old AD&D books and some D&D stuff. Not sure what to do with it... everybody seems so busy these days.

[iShater]

I've always been a fan of the idea of role-playing, but definitely didn't get a chance to really play enough.

Longest campaign was summer of 1997, a few weeks of GURPs, that was fun.

Another was a short game of Shadowrun.

And I still play Magic: The Gathering (yeah, not really role playing)

I might be joining an AD&D game soon, but my favorites are still the hi-tech futuristic games vs. fantasy.

Oh, and I got a StarCraft RPG, that was interesting, didn't get a chance to GM except for one short game.

[mischief]

Yeah, it's the interaction that makes it exceptional. The single most successful campaign I've ever played was a party of five player/PC's. We didn't really get along out of game but we routinely whacked parties much bigger and badder (on paper) than ourselves by being creative, efficient and working to assure that the whole party was covered. We kinda had a Marines ethos going.

Most recently I played a Yeti that got as far as having two Pantheons and the entire Council of Worms backing him through good role playing. It took a year and involved some exceptionally odd circumstances but was damn funny at the end. I'd get sent into an area to negotiate or keep the peace, some schmuck would decide to be biggotted and attack me only to be roasted by a wing of five or six Amethysts that 'ported in almost immediately.

[WinterMute]

I Played AD&D as late as 1985, but other things took precedent after that I've still got all the original hardback manuals, plus a whole case of incidental stuff. There's a game running in a local game shop every Wednesday apparently (so the 16-year-old next door tells me, I feel soooo old)

I once created a monster based on the Sandgorgon from Dolaldson's Thomas Covenant series, it made mincemeat of a whole series of PCs before they figured out the command word and found it's name, then they wasted it trying to kill the Gnoll God...!!!

Computer games have taken over really, but I do miss those all-nighters buried in paper and dice sometimes. :D

[mischief]

I'm glad to see that there's a few of us out there still who recall what truly imaginative Gaming is.

I've been wondering recently if there wasn't a way to build a chat cleint that is designed for use with these games. It'd have to have Group Chat, a built in "soft-die" option that could be toggled between public and private modes. I think it'd be best if it lacked a built-in game manual for simplicity's sake.... Could be fun and would get us Gaming in our heads again... Hmmm...

[Santiago]

I've been wondering recently if there wasn't a way to build a chat cleint that is designed for use with these games. It'd have to have Group Chat, a built in "soft-die" option that could be toggled between public and private modes.

It exists. It's cross-platform and GPLed. See OpenRPG.com (http://www.openrpg.com/).

[mischief]

It exists. It's cross-platform and GPLed. See OpenRPG.com (http://www.openrpg.com/).

Looks like the ticket but it's a little involved. Having to install the developper tools, Python AND Fink in addition to spending time in the Terminal is a bit much for a GUI centric guy like myself.

Good resource though. Thanx. :D

[Converted2Truth]

It's all about Battletech and Shadowrun baby...

I wish they'd make a modern RPG based off Shadowrun. The old 16-bit console versions were fun, but graphics are so much better these days...

[Pyrik]

I still play once in a while, but mostly people are too busy.

Actually, I'm looking for a copy of an old game, DragonQuest 2nd Edition. Anybody got one they'd be willing to part with?

[mischief]

It's all about Battletech and Shadowrun baby...

I wish they'd make a modern RPG based off Shadowrun. The old 16-bit console versions were fun, but graphics are so much better these days...

Rifts is a good substitute for SR. I once wrote psionics and Magic rules for Cyberpunk 2020. Based it on Akira and Japanime's way of approaching the subjects.

Did you see the game based on WhiteWolf's WOD that came out a couple of years back? TERRIBLE.... I mean REALLY AWFUL. A game system that has so much potential turned into a bad card game and a truly **** ty computer game.

[boz2004]

Anybody ever, (or better yet currently) get into the "oldschool" RPG's?

yeppers!

I am in a group that meets every Sunday for "Geek Night" as we call it... :cool:

right now, we're getting back into Earthdawn but we just finished a (long) stint playing Star Wars... I just couldn't get into that one (maybe I like my elf in Earthdawn, too much)....

we've also played Deadlands, Shadowrun, and It Came From The Late, Late Show to name a few

as for gaming over distances, one of our regulars moved out to South Carolina (I'm in Indianapolis) and we video conference him... it's worked out fairly well - though the video feed eats bandwidth far in excess of what's needed... I'd say if you do something like it, stick to audio-only