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Post by calithena on Dec 2, 2007 16:07:20 GMT -6
This is another really great non-TSR quasi-RPG from the early days. Like B&B it's evidence of massive creativity early in the hobby that got somewhat stifled later on. Interesting if somewhat overformalized campaign management tools, and I loved the whole dueling clubs thing.
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Post by doc on Dec 2, 2007 17:05:45 GMT -6
I remember En Garde! with fondness. My character Josef Ducat had an entire history of fighting with a military unit, acting as an advisor to an officer and taking place in several prominant battles, and then mustering out to spend a decade inflicting himself upon his native France in countless duels, nights of wenching, one-upmanship with his comrades, and political intrigues involving a Spanish merchant house. His one and only loss was when he brazenly challeneged an elderly Englishman who'd spoke poorly of France and it's customs. The old man beat Ducat in all of two moves and left him with a near fatal hole in his lung, telling him "warn your countrymen that Solomon Kane still draws breath."
En Garde! is still in print for a relatively inexpensive price ($16 for a softcover book I believe). It's worth having, just to own a piece of gaming history.
Doc
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Post by thorswulf on Dec 3, 2007 22:31:28 GMT -6
So where do you get the rules from?
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 6, 2007 14:43:13 GMT -6
I was searching for something the other day (maybe something about Steven Brust's worlds? Alexandre Dumas? Hmmm.) and I found some references to En Garde as used in that world, only there were no links pointing to where one could obtain the game.
Doc, do you recall where you saw this for sale?
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Post by badger2305 on Dec 6, 2007 15:29:09 GMT -6
I was searching for something the other day (maybe something about Steven Brust's worlds? Alexandre Dumas? Hmmm.) and I found some references to En Garde as used in that world, only there were no links pointing to where one could obtain the game. Doc, do you recall where you saw this for sale? Having played a little bit in Steve's fantasy campaign, what I can tell you was that people did not roll "to hit" - they rolled to evade being hit. There were three kinds of magic: witchcraft, lesser and greater sorcery. Dragaera was an interesting place to adventure in. Steve hated the idea of dungeons, so when people kept badgering him for one, he made it rather deadly. And all of it came from his experience with another gaming world, Piara (might have the spelling wrong on that one, though).
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Post by doc on Dec 7, 2007 8:23:01 GMT -6
Finarvyn, I think I picked it up at a games store about 3 years back or so. I have the game right in front of me and it has this website on it: www.engarde.co.ukIt is a Brit website that sells the game mainly in their neck of the woods, but if you reside in the USA you can order it from Amazon. Doc
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 6, 2008 5:42:28 GMT -6
En Garde! was a game I first heard about through the book What is Dungeons & Dragons?, but for years I could never find a copy. In the late 1980s it was picked up by Small Furry Creatures Press and published to go along with a PBM game that the Small Furry Creatures themselves, PEvans and Theo, were running, which led to a small revival in the UK. The new edition is clearly very close to that one, rather than the small format GDW original.
As an RPG I find it lacking in several areas (Flashing Blades or Lace & Steel handle the swashbuckling a bit better, I feel) but it really excels for play-by-mail and even solo play. For a game of its vintage the elements of social interaction and advancement are quite innovative, and even though it can be a little dry in places I always thought it had a certain tongue-in-cheek charm, probably due to constantly arriving to visit one's mistress and finding another PC doing the same thing! Bits like that are really missing from games like D&D.
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Post by grodog on Jan 7, 2008 2:35:15 GMT -6
I've found myself with two copies of this, so I'll be selling at least one, eventually....
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Post by calithena on Jan 7, 2008 16:49:36 GMT -6
Give me a ping on that, gro - let me know your asking price and maybe we can work something out...
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Post by grodog on Jan 13, 2008 18:35:20 GMT -6
pinged
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 6, 2015 20:15:08 GMT -6
I am having a look over the En Garde! rules, interesting how the combat works.
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Post by delverinthedark on Dec 7, 2015 16:52:38 GMT -6
This is one of those games that I would love to get an original copy of. Probably only a pipe dream, but it seems like it would be a delight to play with alone or with friends.
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 10, 2015 11:14:06 GMT -6
Interesting background book
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Post by rsdean on Dec 13, 2015 19:11:19 GMT -6
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 13, 2015 21:02:26 GMT -6
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Dec 13, 2015 21:26:22 GMT -6
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