Old School gamin

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I finally bit the bullet and re-purchased SWRPG (and the sourcebook). The core book just arrived here at work. I'm full of Glee. As if the action figure war zone and the superhero posters (I finally settled on a JLA collapsed building rescue scene poster, and the ad poster for Superman/Wonder Woman: Whom Gods Destroy for my wall decoration) were not enough, now I've run around showing htem all the geeky little ads for astromech droids and Imperial Navy recruitment in the full color glossy pages. Sigh, it is now confirmed that I am an uber-nerd.

I also broke out my original Greyhawk setting manual. With the full size posters. Two of 'em to make the whole map. I thought about hanging them, but that would make me such a nerd that no one would even talk to me... which may actually be a good idea... hrm...

[Slant]

Heh.  You wanna talk about Old School?  My group plays a campaign using the Basic-Expert D&D rules.  We haven't played it in months, but at one point it was our game of choice.  None of this namby-pamby "but monsters have feelings, too" jibber-jabber.  Fighters were always covered in the heaviest armor they could find, thieves stole from the party, clerics were medics (Which god?  Who cares?), elves were aloof and mysterious, dwarves were cantankerous, and orcs were worm food.  Nobody had any skills other than swinging a sword, casting a spell, or moving silently and picking locks.  Now THAT'S old school gaming!

[Entsuropi]

You sure your not playing D&D 3E there old chap? Sounds like nothing changed.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I guess I meant old school gaming MATERIALS. But yeah, you've basically outlined why I don't like old versions of D&D

[Slant]

Speaking of Old School Gaming, I greatly enjoyed the review of Dungeoneer.  I have all of the old AFF game books and they are truly something amazing: dirt simple yet highly adaptable at the same time.  We ran an entire campaign of it side-by-side with our D&D game back when we were all sprouts.  Sometimes they even intertwined.  My favorite was the worldbook, Titan  (which I hear is now about as hard to find as Britney Spears' virginity), but the Blacksand supplement also ranks high on the list.

Oh, and for anybody who enjoys AFF, it may be worth it for you to go hunt down another old RPG that was also published as a series of paperbacks:  Dragon Warriors.  Another example of old-school Brit style fantasy at it's hoary best.

I would like to see a regular column reviewing old games.  Arcana magazine (the now-defunct, but one best danged gaming mag in the universe) used to do this.  It would be cool to see how such games as Basic D&D, Top Secret, Villains & Vigilantes, Golden Heroes, Runequest, Maelstrom, Wild West, Dragon Warriors, etc.  What do the rest of you think?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

...about as hard to find as Britney Spears' virginity

She hasn't been saving herself for me?! NO!!!!!!!!!!!! MY WORLD IS OVER!!!!!!!!!

Actually, the column sounds good. I'd contribute occassionally, (i've already done like 4 or 5 reviews for oop materials: Paranoia, Star Wars, TWERPS, Warhammer FRPG...), but I'm not willing to take charge of it. Besides, none of you will like what I have to say about Basic D&D.

Another one for the list: Star Frontiers, Gamma World, and uh... I had another, but I can't remember. Plus, obviously, AD&D and AD&D 2nd ed. There was a Ghostbusters, if I remember. And did you mention TSR's Western game?

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

I love it!
I have a lot of old games, Maelstrom is one of my faves, including Dacatha Prime and tales from the Empire...

[Slant]

Yeah, I actually own not only Ghostnbusters, but the sequel RPG: Ghostbusters International.  The TSR western game was called Boot Hill.  The original 1979 version was more of a wargame than anything else, but they did a total remake of the game in 1991 that fleshed it out as a full RPG.

And does anybody else remember the infamous rpg Alma Mater?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Was that the Rocky and Bullwinkle game? Man, they made an RPG for EVERYTHING back in the day.
Plus, Teenagers from Space and Toon

[Prometheus]

I had Gamma World as a kid.  

Not a bad game, although a bit clunky in some aspects, and some of the rules didn't make any sense at all (In one part of the rulebook, using a weapon teched too high for you made it do less damage and in other, far more rare parts, they were harder to hit with. Guess which one I played.) and many of the powers were quite limited in what they could do. (Current 3rd Ed. D&D spells remind me of Gamma World powers, though greatly improved. The real saving grace is that you can make your own spells as a player.)

Rolling one of your powers as Hands of Fire or some such was always cool until you realized that you only had a 3m range, and your opponents were using Mark IV blaster rifles.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Sounds like you've got a volunteer for a Gamma World review, Slant. Actually, the more we talk about it, the more I like the idea. I just have too much on my plate to make sure it gets done. However, Slant, it'd be really cool if you did.

[Fellfrosch]

I used to have Toon, but I haven't been able to find it in years. I assume that means it's gone forever. I'd happily do some of the oop Palladium stuff, though, like TMNT.

[Slant]

Toon still shows up from time to time.  My local gaming store still has the entire run, although most of it is now in the 50% off bin.  We used Toon to play a Popeye game way back when.  Then Popeye and his mates met up with the crew from Hitch-Hiker's Guide ot the Galaxy and then things got REALLY odd.  

Alma Mater isn't the Bullwinkle game (although the Bullwinkle game holds status for being the only rpg to ever come with hand puppets).  Alma Mater was a game put out in the early 80's that became the only game to ever be banned from GenCon.  It dealt with high school life, and included tables for drug addiction, chance of pregnancy, and how likely a girl in a short, tight skirt was to get raped.  I'm sure you can see why it didn't fly at GenCon.  In addition, the artwork (by TSR veteran Erol Otus, no less) was very graphic in it's depiction of drug use (had a drawing of one kid shooting up) and sexuality (had drawings of naked teenagers engaged in hardcore groping).  The game was banned pretty much everywhere, but you can still sometimes snap a copy up on ebay.  It's a bona-fide piece of gaming history, albeit a piece that most rpg gamers feel uncomfortable acknowledging.

Oh, and I woldn't mind handling the whole retro-game article thing, I just need for somebody to tell me how to go about it.

[Fellfrosch]

The process is simple: you come up with some kind of name for the feature (Old Shool Gaming is fine with me) and a projected schedule. Tell me how often and how regularly you intend to post articles, and work out who will write each one. Coordinate with the rest of us--we could all send our articles to you, for example, and you decide when to submit them, and then I do the final run-through edit and stick it on the site. How does that grab you?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

So it was like that comic in the 1st ed DMG: "It's a fantasy game. We play accountants and students in a mechanized, industrial world." You just played being in school huh? Sounds like hell.