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Post by doc on Nov 27, 2007 16:43:15 GMT -6
Hello all! I've been reading the forum posts for months now, and finally decided to take an active part in what has got to be one of the best old school game boards on the net. I've been gaming since around 1983, and have played dang near every game from the mid 70's to late 80's. Some of my favorites are Arduin, Villains & Vigilantes, Hidden Kingdom, Daredevils, Marvel Superheroes, and of course OD&D. I have to admit that I even like some games that 99.9% of the gaming world finds downright poisonous, like SenZar, Fantasy Wargaming, and the infamous Spawn of Fashan! The worst game I've ever come across? It's likely The World of Synnibar. Well, enough about me for now. I'll be busy posting these next few days. this site's got it goin' on like Donkey Kong  Doc |
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Post by coffee on Nov 27, 2007 17:04:41 GMT -6
Yikes! I'm a 1963 guy, myself. Apparently it was a good year for gamers! Um, I didn't see Kingmaker. I saw Kriegspiel. Although, on a related note, I've been stalking Kingmaker on eBay for about six months now. Never even got close; my max bid would get stomped on in the last two minutes. But we were cleaning out my dad's house (he's moved into an apartment) and we kept finding boxes of my old stuff. One of them had a complete (!) copy of Kingmaker that I acquired somewhere, back in the day. I don't know where I got it from, but I have it now! It's been too long... |
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Thorulfr
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 264
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Post by Thorulfr on Nov 27, 2007 17:11:10 GMT -6
Yikes! I'm a 1963 guy, myself. Apparently it was a good year for gamers! Um, I didn't see Kingmaker. I saw Kriegspiel. That is correct - I said Kriegspiel. However, I own and have played Kingmaker (a LOT) (another wargame fav is SPIs Starforce Alpha Centauri) Oddly enough, I used to play in a LARP group (IFGS), and one of the members wrote up a game based heavily in Kingmaker, right down to the names. (and much fun was had by all.) |
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Post by coffee on Nov 27, 2007 17:13:40 GMT -6
Hmm, maybe we DO need to start a Kingmaker forum!
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Post by makofan on Nov 27, 2007 17:36:07 GMT -6
We should get a Starforce PBM game going some time - I have the game but have never found an opponent
I was born in 1965,btw
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Thorulfr
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 264
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Post by Thorulfr on Nov 28, 2007 8:18:41 GMT -6
I have to admit that I even like some games that 99.9% of the gaming world finds downright poisonous, like SenZar, Fantasy Wargaming, and the infamous Spawn of Fashan! The worst game I've ever come across? It's likely The World of Synnibar. Doc Fantasy Wargaming? Is that the hardback by Bruce Galloway? That came out in 1981; some interesting ideas, generally marred by the author's inflated opinion of himself (Just look at the title: The Highest Level of All Fantasy Wargaming. Naaaaa...no ego there  ) I did like his ideas on how well traps would age (i.e. not very well), but in general he seemed oblivious that everything he wrote Chivalry&Sorcery had already been doing for years (and in ehaustive detail) ...You've actually played Spawn of Fashan? Are you a closet masochist, or something? |
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Post by coffee on Nov 28, 2007 10:05:07 GMT -6
I have Galloway's book. I've been procrastinating for about a month now on adapting his Astrology table for D&D (strictly as an optional rule).
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Post by doc on Nov 28, 2007 16:03:13 GMT -6
I still maintain that Fantasy Wargaming wasn't a bad game; just a badly WRITTEN game. If it had been seriously edited and put in a better order with a lot of the superfluous stuff removed, it coulda been a contender. I really liked his essays and the way that he used actual folklore to develop his adversaries as opposed to ripping off JRR. How can you not likea game that has venomous sheep? Yes, I actually PLAYED Spawn of Fashan (though admittedly briefly). If you just take a couple of hours to streamline things and get rid of the stuff that isn't needed, the game can actually work. Unlike, say, World of Synnibar Doc |
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Nov 30, 2007 7:00:02 GMT -6
Hello all! I've been reading the forum posts for months now, and finally decided to take an active part in what has got to be one of the best old school game boards on the net. I've been gaming since around 1983, and have played dang near every game from the mid 70's to late 80's. Some of my favorites are Arduin, Villains & Vigilantes, Hidden Kingdom, Daredevils, Marvel Superheroes, and of course OD&D. I have to admit that I even like some games that 99.9% of the gaming world finds downright poisonous, like SenZar, Fantasy Wargaming, and the infamous Spawn of Fashan! The worst game I've ever come across? It's likely The World of Synnibar. Well, enough about me for now. I'll be busy posting these next few days. this site's got it goin' on like Donkey Kong Doc Why don't you start some threads in the Other Old School Classics forum and post about some of your gaming experiences. |
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Post by doc on Nov 30, 2007 22:55:40 GMT -6
Certainly doable. What would you like me to post about specifically? TSR games? Pre 1980 games? Little-known games? Gunfightin' penguin pirate games? Just let me know.
Doc
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Post by tgamemaster1975 on Dec 1, 2007 8:09:07 GMT -6
Given the parameters of the admin, I would suggest that you post about any game that you consider to be old school or at least somewhat old school. I would be interested in all of the categories that you posted. I am especially interested in what you have to say about OD&D, Arduin, Villains & Vigilantes (all I know about it is the name), Hidden Kingdom sounds cool just from the name, and the ones that you list as poisonous I know nothing about, so if you start a thread titled *My OD&D and other games and post it where Crim suggested or perhaps more appropriate might be down at the bottom in the Around the Campfire Forum. *Of course title it anything you want. |
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Post by carjack on Dec 6, 2007 18:38:20 GMT -6
Well, I should probably get around to introducing myself around here...
I started my gaming career in 1981 with the Moldvay Basic set. Soon that led to the Expert set, and my brother and I were extremely happy with our new hobby. Then, while on vacation, we played AD&D with some kids at the resort we were staying at. Suddenly we were convinced that we were playing the KIDDIE GAME, and that we should bump up to AD&D. I wish we would have resisted back then, but we were just kids and didn't know any better.
Soon, I was buying everything under the sun RPG related and amassed quite a collection until college, when I got confused and got rid of all my books. Again, just a kid and didn't know any better.
I haven't had a lot of good things to say about D&D 3.x, except that the buzz around it in 1999-2000 got be back wanting to game again and back into buying stuff. After re-buying a lot of the stuff I had gotten rid of years earlier, I came across an entire set of OD&D books plus Swords and Spells for under $100 at a local store. I bought em, looked at them a little, but then quickly filed them away into the collection.
Enter this year, when I run across S. John Ross' Encounter Critical, and even though it is a joke, that game stirs in me the old fun my brother and I had with our Basic set back in the day. Then, finding this forum and reading about OD&D, I am convinced to dig into the collection and seriously look at those little brown books.
Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. Now to get my group around for this and get some games going. Thanks to everyone here for being so friendly and making me feel welcome!
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 6, 2007 18:51:05 GMT -6
Um, I didn't see Kingmaker. I saw Kriegspiel. Crud. I guess my eyes see what they want, not what is typed.  I've never played Kriegspiel, so I can't comment on that one.  I may start a Kingmaker thread, however.... |
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Post by badger2305 on Dec 6, 2007 20:48:36 GMT -6
Where to start? I'm 44, and started gaming at the age of 7 when a friend's father pulled out a copy of A/H's U-Boat (with the die-cut depth-charge patterns), and wondered if I wanted to learn how to play. That was around 1969 or 1970 or so. Did that, then Afrika Korps and Blitzkrieg and Stalingrad. Got a little older, and started to play D&D with junior high and high school friends. They had gotten their start through La Belle Alliance, later The Little Tin Soldier Shoppe, on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Was a rugrat member of the Conflict Simulation Association (the student wargames club at the University of Minnesota, and Prof. MAR Barker was its faculty advisor). Did a bunch of gaming at the 6th Precinct Games Group (the pseudonymous "Golden Lion Game Club"), and helped out with Minnesota Campaigns 3 through 5 (again, if memory serves). In the midst of all this, also hung around with the SCA and the local SF fan community, and eventually went off to college. Became a member of Prof. Barker's Thursday Night Group in the early 80's and stuck with that as my longest lasting game campaign. I also did some gaming with Mike Ford, mostly a Renaissance alternate history reminiscent of his The Dragon Waiting. I've played lots of different wargames, miniatures, and role-playing games. Relatively recent stuff (i.e. since 1990 or so) seems overworked and not that much fun to play. These days, the games that interest me are: - Tekumel (I've run sessions of Empire of the Petal Throne at U-Con in Michigan in the past)
- OD&D, right around 1977 or so in flavor
- Classic Traveller and MegaTraveller (the rules, not the setting)
- The Morrow Project (tinkering with using CORPS as a rules set for that)
- ...and maybe a 1930's game, for which a decent set of rules would be appreciated.
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Post by coffee on Dec 7, 2007 3:36:48 GMT -6
They had gotten their start through La Belle Alliance, later The Little Tin Soldier Shoppe, on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Which then changed to Phoenix Games. Sadly, they closed their doors this summer, but they still exist on the web. Are you still in the Minneapolis area? I'm in Saint Louis Park, myself. |
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Post by badger2305 on Dec 7, 2007 8:01:17 GMT -6
They had gotten their start through La Belle Alliance, later The Little Tin Soldier Shoppe, on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Which then changed to Phoenix Games. Sadly, they closed their doors this summer, but they still exist on the web. Are you still in the Minneapolis area? I'm in Saint Louis Park, myself. Um, sort of? I still have a duplex in Minneapolis, which is currently rented out to friends (Elizabeth, the manager at Dreamhaven Books, is one of them). I get back to Minneapolis/St. Paul about once a month, these days. Not sure what will happen when I graduate. So it's clear as mud. |
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Post by ffilz on Dec 7, 2007 17:53:14 GMT -6
Yikes! I'm a 1963 guy, myself. Me too! Frank |
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Post by coffee on Dec 7, 2007 18:06:59 GMT -6
Heh. We could form our own discussion thread, The 1963 Guys. And keep everybody else out!
(Except that would lead to the kind of partisanship and fragmentation that I hope never happens to this most excellent forum!)
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Post by James Maliszewski on Dec 7, 2007 18:45:02 GMT -6
I just joined the site a few days ago, thanks to Philotomy Jurament, who's been ever so helpful in helping me find my way in the "old school" gaming world. I really feel as if I'm coming home, which is a good indication that I'm where I should be.
I'm one of the "younger" guys here probably, born in 1969. I started roleplaying with the Holmes edition of D&D sometime in early 1979. I quickly migrated to AD&D, though, since I bought the Monster Manual out of the Sears Catalog (can you believe it?) and that in turn led to picking up the PHB and DMG sometime over the course of the same year. I played 1E very heavily, along with most of the classic TSR games, like Gamma World (which I loved to death) and Top Secret. I played a lot of Dawn Patrol too, if I recall, and Traveller, my one true love in sci-fi gaming.
2E coincided with my going away to college and I played it a bit during those years, but not much, as I was too busy with my studies and other distractions. I picked it up again when I attended grad school; I never played much, though, for the same reasons. I jumped back into D&D with the release of 3E and won't deny that I enjoyed myself a lot. Played in some fun campaigns and my interest in the game was reinvigorated.
However, my dislike of overly codified rules and unnecessary complexity eventually got the better of me and, over the last couple of years, I found myself wanting to return to the simplicity I remembered from my younger days. Now, I never played OD&D but I did once own most of the books, which I picked up as curiosities over the years. Thanks to Philotomy and others, I've begun to think a lot about what I like in fantasy gaming and the kinds of rules that encourage and promote those things. OD&D certainly has a lot to recommend it. I'm not sure I'll necessarily start up an OD&D game, but I'm certainly considering the possibility, along with simply soaking up the wonderful vibe that the game and its proponents give off. Compared to the confusing mess that is 3E, this is a breath of fresh air.
So, here I am. As I said, I don't know just where I'm headed gaming-wise, but this seems a good place to sit and think and discuss things. I've already found it amazingly welcoming and enjoyable. Thanks for having me. I'm sure I'll be here for quite a while.
James
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Post by makofan on Dec 7, 2007 20:38:37 GMT -6
Nice to meet you James
Traveller has a special soft spot in my heart. I loved the 3 black books, and the add ons were okay. I GM'd many a Traveller campaign.
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bert
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 138
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Post by bert on Dec 9, 2007 9:00:28 GMT -6
I am a recent joinee, having come across a reference to this board on the Tekumel Yahoo group.
Lemme see, born 1967, in Southern England, now live Oop North as we say over here. Started playing with Basic D&D in 77 and played quite a number of other games; Traveller, Runequest, Bushido, Tunnels and Trolls, Superhero 2020, Champions, Call of Cthulhu and so on, along with boardgames like Kingmaker, Divine Right, Apocalypse, Car Wars and Elric!.
Runequest was definitely my favourite at the time - I liked Glorantha, it was a place with a history and culture and at that time it still had a sense of humour. I played a little of the Avalon Hill 3rd Edition, but I think they ruined it.
I was also a fan of the much derided Superhero 2020, mainly because one of my dafter mates had invented a new combat system based on sound effects as per the old Batman TV series. You could go for a nice easy Blam, beef it up with a Ker-Blam, or add vowels and/or consonants for further enhanced effects. Kerrblaaammm!!! would knock your villain into the middle of next week, if you could pull it off. My mam thought we had all gone potty when we played this in the back room, screaming Zzzapp, Whoom and Kerthump and arguing the toss over whether a Krunch with a K was better than a Crunch with a C.
My current favourite game is Empire of the Petal Throne. Back when I was a kid I played a few sessions but my group never really got into it, preferring the comfortable cliches of D&D, now I appreciate what a work of art the world setting was and have collected most of the old books. I wish I had read the Book of Ebon Bindings back when I was 11 - I was an odd kid but if I had read that I would have probably tried to summon Origob to eat my headteacher.
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Post by doc on Dec 9, 2007 13:22:09 GMT -6
Bert, what is Superhero 2020? Do you mean Superhero 2044? The idea of a damage system based on sound effects is just great! Imagine what you could do with a Kraka-THOOOONN!!!! Doc |
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Dec 9, 2007 17:42:30 GMT -6
A hearty welcome to all the new members! Especially those who grace us with their tale of how they came to be here and what happened along the way.
Crim
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bert
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 138
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Post by bert on Dec 9, 2007 23:30:59 GMT -6
Bert, what is Superhero 2020? Do you mean Superhero 2044? The idea of a damage system based on sound effects is just great! Imagine what you could do with a Kraka-THOOOONN!!!! Doc Er yea, 2044, (it has been 25+ years y'know...) Shame our Dan never published his system. I seem to recall it requiring huge mitfulls of dice. |
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wulfgar
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 126 
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Post by wulfgar on Dec 11, 2007 8:46:10 GMT -6
Howdy all,
I just found this site and joined a few minutes ago. I moved to a new town in 1986 and one of my new friends taught me about this game called "dungeons and dragons". We played a mishmash of B/X and AD&D (B/X were his books, AD&D were his older brothers who let us use them). Eventually, we got into all other sorts of rpgs and they got the majority of play time for many years (TMNT, Earthdawn, Shadowrun, to name a few). We got back into D&D with AD&D 2nd Edition which is probably the rpg I've played the most. In the years since, I've purged a lot of what used to be in rpg collection and only kept what I see myself playing again some day and had the most fun wit.h. B/X is my favorite version of D&D because of the simplicity. The game is about the game- not the rules. It's fun and common place for pcs to die, and not a big deal because it takes 10 minutes to make up a replacement.
In any case, I'd never actually seen or played the OD&D rules. I first really started hearing about them when I joined Dragonsfoot last year and they intrigued me. Well, I finally got intrigued enough to hunt down a copy, so here I am. I haven't read through it yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. B/X D&D captures a spirit of freewheeling fun, imagination, and adventure that is missing from a lot of later games. From everything I've heard OD&D does the same.
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Post by doc on Dec 11, 2007 9:49:23 GMT -6
Welcome Wulfgar! Make sure to let us all know what you think after you read through the books. I have a sneaking suspicion that you will be very pleased. Doc |
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Post by makofan on Dec 11, 2007 9:54:17 GMT -6
Great to see you wulfgar - I too came here from Dragonsfoot. You have to unlearn a lot of stuff, but then the fun really kicks in. Magic Users with d6 hit dice - monsters with d6 hit dice; hooray!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2007 16:12:59 GMT -6
Greetings to you, Wulfgar! You've made another fine choice by joining this group. |
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Dec 13, 2007 11:10:44 GMT -6
Welcome Wulfgar! The more the merrier!
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Post by cadriel on Dec 28, 2007 6:14:24 GMT -6
I figure I might as well send an introduction...
I'm probably one of the younger of the "old guard" gamers...I was born in 1981, and got into D&D as an idea around 1993-1994. Back in "the day" (a few years earlier) I improvised games like this with a friend around a Monopoly board, using dice and chits to fight monsters from video games like "Dragon Warrior." I started playing with the "big black boxed set" at the end of 1994 (literally, New Year's Eve) and soon went on to AD&D (by then it was, of course, second edition).
In high school, I went old school in more than one way. First, I began to migrate my games backward, buying the 1st edition rulebooks and using them in preference to the "modern" ones, although I still incorporated chunks of 2nd edition material. Second, we also played the old Marvel Super Heroes game, which is still one of my favorite supers RPGs.
In college, I went into other games, and was generally unhappy with the direction 3e had gone, and then roleplaying became more and more sporadic. I've played a variety of things, and recently I started a Castles & Crusades game -- but I wasn't really happy with that system or the direction my game was going. So I started looking back at my 1st edition rulebooks, but more and more the online OD&D community has caught my eye. The simplicity of OD&D, and the notion that it's really what you make of it, really has started to appeal to me. So I'm eager to give it a go, and hope to get something going in the near future.
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)
I may start a Kingmaker thread, however....
