Strange and/or Stupid reasons you've bought an RPG

jcfiala · June 11, 2018, 11:11:16 AM

I think the biggest stupid RPG purchase I ever made was the big box set of DragonStar (D&D 3rd in space) books at Black & Read. Now, admittedly, I got a good discount on them, but I don't think I ever read any of the books. They just sit and take up space.

Sigh.

tenbones · June 11, 2018, 11:12:57 AM

I bought the original Arcanum RPG because it had a bitchin red pentagram on it!!!

Gabriel2 · June 13, 2018, 10:28:32 AM

Quote from: tenbones;1043349I bought the original Arcanum RPG because it had a bitchin red pentagram on it!!!

In the 80s, I knew of at least two dozen groups which would have bought anything for that reason.

tenbones · June 13, 2018, 10:48:30 AM

Quote from: Gabriel2;1043724In the 80s, I knew of at least two dozen groups which would have bought anything for that reason.

And every one of those groups had too many members that were into Manowar/Rush/Yngwie Malmsteen wore way too much denim, smelled of BO, bongwater and bad incense. Had bad hairdos. But they would game their asses off. AMIRITE?

If they were on the west-coast they were sunburned wore Van with no socks and had smelly feet, or Chuck Taylor shoes held together by duct-tape.

jcfiala · June 13, 2018, 10:51:24 AM

Quote from: tenbones;1043349I bought the original Arcanum RPG because it had a bitchin red pentagram on it!!!

Happily, the Arcanum RPG was worth buying. I remember many fond hours reading through that while on vacation.

Gabriel2 · June 13, 2018, 10:53:12 AM

Quote from: tenbones;1043726And every one of those groups had too many members that were into Manowar/Rush/Yngwie Malmsteen wore way too much denim, smelled of BO, bongwater and bad incense. Had bad hairdos. But they would game their asses off. AMIRITE?

Close enough that I'm not going to quibble over the details.

Brad · June 13, 2018, 11:02:50 AM

I backed the Princess Bride KS just to prove how dumb the game would be to a buddy. That's gotta rank high on the stupid scale.

When I went to college, I decided AD&D was terrible and decided to spite TSR by only buying GURPS books, and even made a pact with myself to ONLY play GURPS from then on. I like GURPS, but the amount of books I bought for a period of about two years was exponentially higher than any sort of actual preference I have for the system. Eventually I grew out of that phase and went back to getting AD&D stuff.

Steven Mitchell · June 13, 2018, 11:05:50 AM

Quote from: Brad;1043731When I went to college, I decided AD&D was terrible and decided to spite TSR by only buying GURPS books, and even made a pact with myself to ONLY play GURPS from then on. I like GURPS, but the amount of books I bought for a period of about two years was exponentially higher than any sort of actual preference I have for the system. Eventually I grew out of that phase and went back to getting AD&D stuff.

That is an impressively dedicated run of spite.

jcfiala · June 13, 2018, 11:09:52 AM

Quote from: Brad;1043731I backed the Princess Bride KS just to prove how dumb the game would be to a buddy. That's gotta rank high on the stupid scale.

Wow, you're dropping $50 on a game that you don't think you will like out of spite? That's pretty high up there.

That said, I wouldn't count Stephen O'Sullivan out so quickly. But we'll see when the book arrives.

Brad · June 13, 2018, 11:17:28 AM

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1043733That is an impressively dedicated run of spite.

I went through another phase when cleaning out the closets when I got out of grad school, decided I didn't want to haul around a bunch of stuff I never played anymore, so I dumped all my AD&D 2nd edition books. I had almost everything, including some boxed sets that are now worth $100+. Dropped it all off at Half Priced Books, got maybe $20, no fucks given. Of course, I ended up buying most of it again a few years later...

Quote from: jcfiala;1043734Wow, you're dropping $50 on a game that you don't think you will like out of spite? That's pretty high up there.

That said, I wouldn't count Stephen O'Sullivan out so quickly. But we'll see when the book arrives.

I did say it ranked high on the stupid scale.

RPGPundit · June 16, 2018, 05:12:35 AM

I bought both Cyborg Commando and Dangerous Journeys just because it had the words "Gary Gygax" on them.

Gabriel2 · June 16, 2018, 01:36:03 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1044264I bought both Cyborg Commando and Dangerous Journeys just because it had the words "Gary Gygax" on them.

I really wanted Cyborg Commando bitd. The only reason was that I was in love with the idea of battle cyborgs back then. I don't know if I ever knew anything about the game beyond the title. Luckily, I never found a copy.

I remember when Dangerous Journeys hit stores. I picked up a copy, flipped through it, and then set it back down not finding anything interesting about it at all. My distant recollection was a book full of dense charts and the one block of text I read being the worst sort of high Gygaxian prose. I think it's the only major published RPG that I've never heard of anyone ever playing. So, I think the only value it has is because, like you observe, it has Gary Gygax on the cover.

jcfiala · June 16, 2018, 01:52:41 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1044264I bought both Cyborg Commando and Dangerous Journeys just because it had the words "Gary Gygax" on them.

I didn't pick up DJ, but I've got to agree with you, I picked up Cyborg Commando because his name was there. I'm not sure that's really stupid - after all, I often buy new books because of the author's name! But it turned out to be a strange and stupid game.

RPGPundit · June 19, 2018, 04:45:47 AM

Ironically, Gary Gygax was a one-hit-wonder. Of course, it was the biggest hit ever.

Nerzenjäger · June 19, 2018, 06:17:35 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1044643Ironically, Gary Gygax was a one-hit-wonder. Of course, it was the biggest hit ever.

Gary was a cool dude, but I am of the opinion, that a lot of what we now associate with D&D already was established bei Dave. I may be wrong on that and we might never now exactly how it all went down, but i think Arneson was an ideas guy.