2013/02/14

Name your obscure fantasy RPG from 70s or 80s you want to know more about



Ok this is sort of a challenge which is useful even to myself in order to understand how far i can push my boundaries.

At the same time it might be useful to someone out there as well.

So, i started blogging in September 2011 so this is still a somewhat young blog, nonetheless i already had the opportunity to write about such diverse little known fantasy rpgs such as Bifrost, Melanda, Sword's path glory, Castle Perilous, and others.

But this is just the beginning! In fact, at times i have the feeling that i didn't even started to really blog the way i would like to . There are so many obscure fantasy rpgs i must talk and write about (not taking into account the ones mentioned above, which deserve a more profound treatment in words and they will certainly have it), i have literally tons of other obscure fantasy rpgs in my collection that i never mentioned.

You know, too much to do, too little time, as usual. But several times i gaze at my collection and i see some jewels staring back at me, as if they asked to be put out there under direct light in order to be known and to be spoken about loudly to the masses.

Really, as i always said, Dungeons & Dragons is just the tip of the iceberg.
Deep below there lie treasures dormant and unknown.
My aim (sometimes i feel it to be a duty but maybe i'm a visionary) is to unveil them here, one at a time, because no one did it or because it was done somewhere on other blogs but in a cursory way which does not suffice.

So i took it as a duty to open this blog, even if -as is known- i'm not an english mothertongue so at times it is "painful" to me to properly convey my ideas and thoughts in this language.But i want to do it.

I am a solitary kind of person, i have always been, i don't really feel the need of company most of the time, and this may be felt reading my blog where i almost never ask for things to others. No wonder that i called this a personal diary, instead of calling it a blog.

But i found many new friends since i started blogging and several of them often send private mails to me to share ideas and stuff, so i think today it is time to make an exception and i would like to make a poll.

Name your obscure FANTASY rpg from 70s or 80s that you want to know more about and i'll see if i can help.

The only rule is: it must be a FANTASY game, its rules must be written in english language, and it must have been published between 1975 and 1989. (see here for help).

So i won't take into account the fact that you might name a game published in 1990 or even in 1974 :)

happy poll to everyone.

15 comments:

Timmy Crabcakes said...

I always wanted a glimpse inside of the High Fantasy RPG (1979?)... all I've seen of it is its awful/awesome cover.
Also, that great cover to Phantasy Conclave has me wishful-thinking its rules might somehow convey that moody blue strangeness it depicts.

The thing is, with a lot of these, I get a hold of one and it turns out to be a wall of typewriter font text that doesn't do much but add complexity to good/bad old D&D. Their settings are usually bog-standard quasi-Tolkien+S&S... where I think I'm hoping to find some new Glorantha or Tekumel.

Greyhawk Grognard said...

How about Adventures in Fantasy by Dave Arneson?

Brett Slocum said...

I'm totally curious about Arduin Adventure by Dave Hargrave. I remember seeing it many times in the store, but never opening it.

Vargr said...

To be honest, rather than just superficial looks into more mid-70's to late-80's anglophone fantasy games what I would really like is more detailed information about some of the systems already mentioned on this blog, data about rules, chargen, just how similar or different they are to the "big ones" of that era (AD&D1st, Runequest, etc) and possibilities of cross-compatibility and/or adapting sub-systems from these obscure rulesets to those games.

Personally I am curious about High Fantasy, it has covers of remarkably high production value for such an old game that seem to convey a more "swords and sorcery" feel to it than AD&D. I am also intrigued by a system mentioned here whose precise name escapes me right now: Dark Thelos, Talos, Thelion or something. The one that is virtually unknown outside one USA city were it is still played today even in conventions and uses only d6's.

Charlie Warren said...

I have always been interested in Melanda after reading the listing in Heroic Worlds.

faoladh said...

Adventures in Fantasy is a particularly interesting one to me, but some others that I'd like to know more about include Element Masters, High Fantasy (from Neston Publishing), Pirates and Plunder, Neighborhood (from Wheaton Publications), Excursions into the Bizarre, Kabal (and M.I.S.S.I.O.N. while you're at it), and Mach: The First Colony. Of those, I have only been able to play Pirates and Plunder and Excursions into the Bizarre, but I don't have copies myself, so I wouldn't presume to try to review them at this time.

Jay Murphy said...

I used to have Pirates & Plunder back in high school. I was crushed it did not have any information on adventuring on the high seas! The authors made the pitch that most adventures happen on land, and that books dealing with adventures on the waters would come later. Deeply disappointed, but ran a few adventures to try the combat system. Any game with a detailed critical hits table always seemed to play well at my table.

That reminds me of DragonQuest, it had a fun critical hit table as well.

Jay Murphy said...

Tom Moldvay's Challenges Game System from Challenges International, Inc. 1986.

Batman said...

Lords of Creation. I've found downloads for the rules and the first adventure, but nothing else. The problem I have with much of this older stuff is that so many of the sets are aged and moldy. I'd rather have digital files that I can, eventually, print for myself.

Raskal said...

i will love to have in pdf Star Patrol (Gamescience)

faoladh said...

Scott: When I get my copy back from the friend to whom I've currently loaned it (he plans on running it), I plan on doing a review of Lords of Creation for my Obscure Games series.

Perpetual Role said...

I never thought there'd be a blog like yours! Thanks for having it. We at PERPETUAL ROLE are very interested in out-of-print games and their revival: we want to start a convention & would love to play some of this stuff. I recall a very short game called PIXIE: have you heard of it?

Philosophical slumber said...

Thanks, your mission statement at your blog sounds quite interesting.

Yes, i heard about Pixie, though i don't own it.
You can still get it here
http://www.cafepress.com/crankmonkeys.345114924

anyhow, as you know it was published after 1989 and moreover it is not an heroic fantasy game, so it is not likely i will choose that game to review, i'm afraid.

cheers

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know more about the Melanda setting. The book cover piqued my interest: the unicorn standing in the open field rendered in pink gave it a strangely dreamlike, impressionistic quality. Does this aesthetic carry into the rules and setting at all?

Gonster said...

I would love to see your comments about DragonQuest and Gygax's second attempt at owning the FRP market with Dangerous Journeys.

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