No, really. I think every gamer should own a copy of this game. Not necessarily to play it -- I'm not sure I could manage that trick myself. No, just to remind yourself of those bygone days when you were a hyper 13-year-old gamer so jazzed about the endless possibilities of gaming, and man, wouldn't it be cool if there were a game that let you play, like, dragons, and ninjas, and robots, and giants, and superheroes, and...

Oh, and there are giant mutant fire clams and flying grizzlies with laserbeam eyes.

That actually sounds like fun. Then again, it would need a good system to go with it.

Quote from: danbuter;457782That actually sounds like fun. Then again, it would need a good system to go with it.

Yeah... not so much.

It does, however, have grainy linear attribute scores designed to go up to godlike levels, so if you ever wanted, like, a million trillion bajillion Strength, this is the game for you.

Also, the author has jumped off of diving boards.

I know this because it's listed on the back cover as one if his game design qualifications.

But did he make shoes?

Quote from: Dan Davenport;457777No, really. I think every gamer should own a copy of this game. Not necessarily to play it -- I'm not sure I could manage that trick myself. No, just to remind yourself of those bygone days when you were a hyper 13-year-old gamer so jazzed about the endless possibilities of gaming, and man, wouldn't it be cool if there were a game that let you play, like, dragons, and ninjas, and robots, and giants, and superheroes, and...

This is pretty much what Rifts was to me. I was 13 or 14 at the time I bought it.

And I don't know about Synnibar, but Rifts is playable out of the core book. Especially if you stick to the core book and the first few books... I sure as hell had a blast playing a game which truly let one's imagination run wild.

My 13 year old alter ego would have hated Worlds of Synnibarr. I have never liked gonzo, not even when I was 13. When I was 13, I fell in love with RQIII.

A friend of mine owns a copy (of Synnibar), and he claims it sucks. A lot.

I'm with Claudius on this. At 13 I was fascinated by the possibilities offered by rpgs and just barely scratching the surface. But full on gonzo wasn't my cup of tea and still isn't.

Squealing about dinosaurs vs robots or whatever is simply an internet forum trope to me, which for some reason grizzled old gamers seem to think makes them seem charmingly childlike. It doesn't.

I own a copy of this (and the only supplement, the Adventurer's Guide), though I've never managed to convince anyone to play it with me. Its one of three or so softcover books I love so much I had to laminate them, though it is badwronglove.

Anything bad you have heard about this game on the internet is probably true (Except the bit above about bajillion Strengths; mortals have a Strength maximum of 1,000 for a x600 damage adjustment). The rpgnet review is rather harsh too, there are a number of good ideas hiding in the game system in various places, if obscured behind some shockingly bad implementation.

The setting is fun if silly, but the amount of drinking required to maximally enjoy it may make using the system problematic for most people.

I like science fantasy, but gonzo is a thing of degrees, like anything else it's best not take to extremes. At 13 i was far too inflexible to engage in anything even remotely like Synnibar.


This is a lovely straw man:
 

Quote from: The_Shadow;457837Squealing about dinosaurs vs robots or whatever is simply an internet forum trope to me, which for some reason grizzled old gamers seem to think makes them seem charmingly childlike. It doesn't.

Translation- my way of pretending to be an elf is best.

I don't enjoy vanilla fantasy in the least, but I somehow lack the compulsion to characterize its adherents as hidebound zero imagination fatbeards riding the horse of same old same old down into oblivion whilst caressing the crotch of their stratigraphically semen crusted pants. Instead I just take it as a given that different people have differnt tastes.

Yeah, from my early teens into college years and beyond, I was a frowny anti-gonzo curmudgeon. And Runequest was the game I wanted to play, with the fantastic elements dialed down to 1 or 2.

Nowadays I see some attraction but Waste World, not Synnibar or Rifts, is my gonzo fairy princess.

Quote from: Aos;457843Translation- my way of pretending to be an elf is best.

Pretending to be an elf is for geeks. When I roll the dice, I become the elf. Needless to say, this would be impossible without my home-brewed system where elves no longer have artificial restrictions like race as class and level caps. But Aos, you need not apply as it's for Master Gamers only.

Quote from: The_Shadow;457852Pretending to be an elf is for geeks. When I roll the dice, I become the elf. Needless to say, this would be impossible without my home-brewed system where elves no longer have artificial restrictions like race as class and level caps. But Aos, you need not apply as it's for Master Gamers only.

You only think you're having fun.

Quote from: Aos;457843Translation- my way of pretending to be an elf is best.

Translation - You hit WAY too close to the mark for Aos' comfort. :rotfl: