2013/05/01

Announcing: The Obscure fantasy rpgs appreciation day

Here we are.

Today i want to establish a new OSR celebration, to be held once a year, to which any blogger out there can participate.

After the S&W appreciation day, it is well time for a new celebration: The Obscure fantasy role-playing game appreciation day, to be held on the 30th of May of every year.

Every blogger who wish to participate in the event, will have to write a post centered around an obscure/lesser known old-school fantasy rpg, of the kind i write about here on my site (to get a rough idea)..

The post can contain anything related to that game: a rant, a deep analysis, new material, much like the posts created by enthusiasts from all over the blogosphere some days ago for the S&W appreciation day.

The game must be fantasy genre and must have been published between 1975 and 1989. These are the two basic and mandatory rules to be followed.

You have 30 days from now to make your post.

For this year 2013, I WILL GIVE AWAY TO WINNERS FREE COPIES OF "THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ZORIN GREYSTAR".

(CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO ENLARGE!)

I actually have four copies to bestow. The rulebooks are free, the only cost will be for the shipping amount to physically deliver the copies.

"The Complete works of Zorin Greystar" is hard to find nowadays (last copy was on Amazon but now disappeared, and Abebooks fails to help as well). Published in 1984, it was a 120 page AD&D house rules. (you can see it in the photo below on the right side).

Image

I will choose the four best posts among those that will be published and then send the free stuff accordingly.

So, time to share the love for obscure fantasy role-playing games of the past! You have plenty of time ahead of you to write your shining post. Good luck.

26 comments:

Daniel Luce said...

Sure, I'll give it a try. Unfortunately, the only semi-obscure RPG I actually own anymore is Marauder 2107, will that fit the bill?

Anthony N. Emmel said...

Sign me up. I might actually post on 30 May, since that is the Day. I put it on my claendar. :)

http://isungr.blogspot.com

cmagoun said...

Cool idea! I love your coverage of old rpgs. Hope you get some participation on this.

cmagoun said...

Actually, I just realized that I have seen a copy of Swordbearer in my FLGS. Maybe I will buy it and post a review to celebrate.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

This is cool.

I think I might have something, I'll need to check the date on the book.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I have to admit I have my eye on Gladestrom. ;)

You need a cool graphic to go with this.

Jeremy Deram said...

Great idea! I've looked at a friend's copy of Zorin Greystar and it's an interesting supplement for sure.

Pulp Herb said...

I'm in but I'm not sure I have anything both old and obscure.

Phersv said...

You should make a Logo! :)

Obscurity is relative or context-dependent. For some people, all second generation games are called "obscure". Foreign games like Drakar och Demoner or Das Schwarze Auge are obscure by the standards of most of us but were the most famous RPGs in their respective countries.

But I have nothing as obscure as Melanda or Bifrost. Would a game like Legendes (1984) count as "obscure"?

Philosophical slumber said...

I think i should expand on the list, so:

@Daniel Luce: yes, Marauder is ok.

@to all: i'm working on a graphic/logo for this project.

@to all: "Obscure" is a relative term, that's true.

"Foreign games like Drakar och Demoner or Das Schwarze Auge " are obscure by the standards of most of us but were the most famous RPGs in their respective countries".

True, so i have to define what i mean by obscure fantasy rpg: let's say that any fantasy rpg between 1975 and 1989 (inclusive) which is not D&D or AD&D may be considered "obscure" because it is not the 800-lb. gorilla of our hobby.

So, even games such as Chivalry & Sorcery, Rolemaster or Tunnels & trolls may count as "obscure" for the purposes of this post.

And obviously, games such as Drakar och Demoner or Das Schwarze Auge would be perfect just because they were never so popular in the US as they were in their country of origin.

@Phersv: yes, "Legendes" is ok.

Anthony N. Emmel said...

Oops....FANTASY! OK, got that covered as well"

Eldrad Wolfsbane said...

I completely love this BLOG! I love going into ancient and old gameshops with obscure RPGs from the old days!

I totally missed Little Wars in Baton Rouge before it was bought out and their giant collection of old games were liquidated for pennies by the new owners.

There is Book Stan in Beaumont, Tx. It has a huge collection of RPGs many very old and obscure.

Tim Snider said...

D'oh! Great idea, but the "fantasy only" angle leaves me out. See, I loved all the NON-fantasy oddball RPGs that were coming out during that time. Yaquinto's Timeship anyone? How about WEG's The Price of Freedom? Avalon Hill's Tales From the Floating Vagabond perhaps? (Though that was 1991). Anyway, it'll be interesting to see all of the other stuff!

Anonymous said...

Shucks, I shot my load on that a year or two ago with my magnum opus on Bruce Galloway's Fantasy Wargaming. (not sure it's really obscure, except that almost no-one plays it...really it's rather infamous)

But come to think of it, there is another Fantasy Wargaming by the same publisher that no one seems to be talking about... count me in!

Mike Monaco said...

Hmm, that Fantasy wargaming was published in 1990 so I guess it's out. Well, maybe I'll come up with something else. Need to check my shelves.

lars_alexander said...

I'll write something, if that something crosses my mind. I posted an article referring to your OFRPGAD to spread the word.

faoladh said...

I haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I wanted to ask if a game like Lords of Creation, which mixes fantasy, science fantasy, and science fiction, among other things, count as "fantasy" for this purpose?

Philosophical slumber said...

yes, Lords of Creation is ok.

As i said, i expanded upon the subject and on the logo i wrote "The Obscure rpg appreciation day" instead of "The obscure fantasy rpg".

faoladh said...

Oh, I missed that! Excellent! Now, to figure out what to do…

Cygnus said...

I'm in, too. I've got a fun one planned for May 30 on Servitor Ludi. (It's evolved from my first choice, which was Ken St. Andre's Starfaring. I'm going to post a little something about that, too, but hopefully sooner than the 30th...)

Tedankhamen said...

My first post for ORPGAD is up!

http://tomboftedankhamen.blogspot.jp/2013/05/dragon-half-rpg-review.html

Charlie Warren said...

This is an awesome idea and I will definitely be contributing a post!

Charlie @ The Semi-Retired Gamer

Roguelantern said...

Count me in!

I have a blog called Acirema Mountain, centered on an obscure Finnish RPG: The Secret Treasure Of Raguoc In The Acirema Dungeons. This RPG is the predecessor to Miekka ja Magia (the RPG mentioned in the Risto Hieta interview here at Mesmerized), making it the first Finnish RPG ever commercially published. I still play Acirema, now with my kids.

Acirema Mountain blog can be found here:

http://www.roguelantern.com/blog

Claytonian said...

Blast I already blogged my only obscure RPG, Barony:
http://killitwithfirerpg.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-barony-was-dungeon-world-before.html

faoladh said...

Claytonian JP: I have Where Fools Dare To Tread, their horror version of that system, but none of the others. Someday, I'll have to hunt them down.

Anonymous said...

OK, all set with Valley of the Pharoahs (1983).

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