Top Secret was, to the best of my knowledge, the first dedicated espionage RPG. Others, notably the licensed James Bond 007 RPG, soon followed. Alas, neither the original Top Secret, nor the followup Top Secret S.I. are available for purchase in PDF at this time. However, there is a new version with radically different rules, … Read more
DragonQuest was one of the first non-D&D fantasy RPGs that we tried out in high school. It was well advertised, SPI was a well known company, and they were trying some things that weren’t exactly standard game design at the time. It was a point buy system for stats, but there was a random roll … Read more
How important are the actual character sheets? So far, the games I’ve done have been relatively simple and so actual character sheets haven’t been necessary. As I move on to more complicated game systems for character generation, I’m not sure that will remain true. I have a couple of options: Hand fill out character sheet, … Read more
Vale Greg Stafford (1948 – 2018)
Okay, running a bit late this week but I decided to go with Gamma World. Gamma World is an interesting subject, in that it’s very niche, and that to enjoy it you need to accept some of its odd, over-the-top nature. People generally “get” it, or they don’t. At this point, there have been seven … Read more
I have a couple of options for next week’s character. If I keep trying to do things somewhat chronological, there are a few options. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons – I’d rather let that sit fallow for a bit. SPI’s Dragonquest FGU’s Villains & Vigilantes (1st or 2nd) FGU’s Space Opera Gamma World Top Secret If … Read more
Okay, it’s tough to talk about old school roleplaying games without touching on Classic Traveller at some point. I mean it was one of the first science fiction RPGs (Metamorphosis Alpha came out a year before Traveller, and Empire of the Petal Throne could also be considered SF). Traveller initially did not have much of … Read more