Over the years, there have been some gaps in my gaming collection I've never quite been able to fill. These are games I would have liked to have played, but which always eluded my reach. For some reason, they never made it to the shelves of any of the bookstores, toy stores, and game shops I went to. They include:
Ringworld - the Holy Grail of RPGs for me. I love the books, and would love to have had this game back in the day.
The Fantasy Trip - I ran across one minor supplement for this game, and it's the closest I ever came to getting a look at it.
Games I finally landed in recent years, long, long after I would have had the chance to run them for my old game groups:
OD&D - I managed to grab this and its supplements in pdf while WotC let them be sold.
Metamorphosis Alpha - Another of the early RPGs I never saw back in the day, but which I finally was able to buy on pdf.
The Arduin Grimoire (original 3 booklets) - I think these books would have caused my original game group to shit a collective brick had we had them back in the early 80s.
Any others have games that have eluded them over the years?
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401731OD&D - I managed to grab this and its supplements in pdf while WotC let them be sold.
I got lucky, and traded my copy of the 1e Gamma World rules for the three books and first four supplements, back in about 1984. I don't think the guy's dad ever found out what happened to them...
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401731Metamorphosis Alpha - Another of the early RPGs I never saw back in the day, but which I finally was able to buy on pdf.
After keeping an eye out for 25 years, I found a really nice copy of the original MA in my FLGS just a few weeks ago! Cheaper than eBay, too.
The one that's still missing for me is the first Jorune book.
And the Midnight at the Well of Souls box set.
Dune :(
I would like to get a look at Ringworld and The Arcanum 2ed.
Empire of the Petal Throne. The actual, physical boxed set (I have the PDFs).
One day I'll solve this once and for all.
Metamorphosis Alpha, one of the TCI translations of S.F.3D Maschinenkriger, probably more, can't think straight right now.
The only one I've ever really wanted and somehow never picked up is Monsters, Monsters!.
For me its TORG.
I read the three book trilogy that was meant to introduce the setting and game - loved those books. Never got a chance to own or play the game.
- Ed C.
TORG for me as well. I also wish I'd picked up the rappan althuk reloaded boxed set when I saw it on the shelf.
Some of the rarer/older Call of Cthulhu stuff for me. I remember Horror at the Orient Express and Walker in the Wastes on the shelves in the game shop back in the 90s, but I wasn't that into the heavy books at the time - shame. Later I've aqquired stuff like Beyond the Mountains of Madness and Golden Dawn, but I have never seen the before mentioned two in a reasonable price range.
Also, a couple of years ago I found three of the AD&D Birthright box-sets dirt cheap at a secondhand bookstore, and later bought the other boxes on Ebay, but the actual Birthright basic-box has evaded me so far, which is kinda bugging me, since I really like the setting and the whole army-battle-cards-thing, so I feel it is somehow missing in my collection.
Quote from: Koltar;401768For me its TORG.
I read the three book trilogy that was meant to introduce the setting and game - loved those books. Never got a chance to own or play the game.
This one surprises me. I remember TORG being pretty common in my area. The various supplements and sourcebooks were ubiquitous. I still have my original boxed set and most of the realm books. It's weird to see how something I always thought of as common was rare in other areas.
Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;401778Some of the rarer/older Call of Cthulhu stuff for me. I remember Horror at the Orient Express and Walker in the Wastes on the shelves in the game shop back in the 90s, but I wasn't that into the heavy books at the time - shame. Later I've aqquired stuff like Beyond the Mountains of Madness and Golden Dawn, but I have never seen the before mentioned two in a reasonable price range.
Horror at the Orient Express - I think that was the one that was supposed to have been a super-deluxe CoC adventure. I remember getting a poll in the mail from Chaosium (I was on the snail-mail list, long, long before the internet) asking if there was a call for a really premium adventure that could cost well over $100 (this was ~20 years ago). It was supposed to include, among other things, an actual (as opposed to cardstock) evil idol of some kind. I think Orient Express ended up being that adventure, much reduced. I never saw it for sale anywhere besides in Chaosium's catalogs.
I've always wanted, and have never been able to find for a reasonable price, a copy of either edition of RuneQuest prior to the 3rd, Avalon Hill, edition. Nobody I gamed with circa 1979+ ever had a copy or had even seen one. I was the only one with the Avalon Hill edition, and it was met with a thundering lack of interest when I showed it to the rest of my original game group. I'd like to see the original version of the game (I know it was the basis for BRP) and adventures like Pavis and Big Rubble. I vaguely recall seeing Big Rubble at a shop in the early-to-mid-'80s, but I didn't have the cash for it at the time.
Bifrost -- Published as three separate books in the UK around 1977-1979. I saw reviews in White Dwarf but never saw a copy of any of the books in the US. I hear it is nothing special, but it the only early RPG I know of that I've never even seen.
I bought Horror on the Orient Express cheap from my local game shop where it was being neglected and slowly getting more and more beaten up by shelf-wear... still have it. Awesome box set.
I think the only game book I really wanted that I never got my hands on was the leatherbound Call of Cthulhu anniversary edition. I didn't have the money when it came out. I don't have the money now. I'll pretty much never get it. No huge loss.
As an old Niven fan, Ringworld is sorely missing from my collection.
I actually have an extra copy of TORG I got of a friend who was a bit strapped on cash.
I have longed to get a hold of Witch Hunt. A friend had a copy back in the day, but I'm haven't laid eyes on a copy in 25 years.
I would have put Rus at the top of this list, but I found it online a couple of years ago and got it, the GM pack, and the only published adventure for it.
I wish I hadn't lost track of my copy of Torg. I'm not exactly sure how it and I parted ways, but it wasn't by choice. Ditto Ghostbusters and original edition Villains & Vigilantes.
Quote from: jdurall;401873I would have put Rus at the top of this list, but I found it online a couple of years ago and got it, the GM pack, and the only published adventure for it.
I stumbled on Rus and the adventure brand-new at a cool bookstore way back when. I thought it was pretty amateurish, about the level of something freely available for download on the internet now, but YMMV. I sold them off a couple of years back; I think the adventure still sits on the shelf at the nearest Half Price Books.
Quote from: skofflox;401744Dune :(
My LGS had a copy of this. I told myself that I would purchase it on my next trip to the store. Someone else bought it. There were no restocks (of course). :banghead:
Oh my God. How could I forget.
The ULTIMATE item in this category for me is Les Annees Folles, a Call of Cthulhu boxed set presenting France in the 1920s for the game. Hard to find. Very hard.
Quote from: PaladinCA;401888My LGS had a copy of this. I told myself that I would purchase it on my next trip to the store. Someone else bought it. There were no restocks (of course). :banghead:
ohhhh...so close. :banghead: indeed.
A few months back I saw it available (Troll and Toad?) online for $300.00. Am still seriously considering...
Quote from: skofflox;401896ohhhh...so close. :banghead: indeed.
A few months back I saw it available (Troll and Toad?) online for $300.00. Am still seriously considering...
I wouldn't at that price. ICON had a lot of cool ideas, but the system has its issues. It has stayed around $300 since it went out of print though.
I have a very specific one.
A copy of Death on the Reik WITH the poster map.
I have a copy of the Hogshead version, but without the map. It drives me mad when I think about it for some weird reason.
In this age of internet stores and the waning days of ebay, the question isn't "is this obtainable?" Instead the question is "Am I willing to pay the price for this?"
There are only three games I've ever wanted that I haven't acquired:
Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium = I could get it if I was willing to pay the premium, but I'm not. I'm really only interested in it for the modifications to the Icon system, and have no interest in Dune whatsoever.
Space Opera = Another one I could get if I was willing to pay the price. However, I'm only interested in this one as a curiousity. It was never worth any serious outlay of cash to me.
"Paragon System" = Advertised in one issue of Dragon Magazine as an offering of the Paragon Society of Wargamers, I've always been curious about this one. I've never seen it mentioned anywhere other than that Dragon Magazine advertisement. Of course, when it comes right down to it, I'm not curious enough to pay any money for it.
Quote from: Benoist;401894Oh my God. How could I forget.
The ULTIMATE item in this category for me is Les Annees Folles, a Call of Cthulhu boxed set presenting France in the 1920s for the game. Hard to find. Very hard.
I'm pretty well-versed in CoC boxed sets, and I've never heard of this one. When was it published?
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401948I'm pretty well-versed in CoC boxed sets, and I've never heard of this one. When was it published?
It was a French boxed set published by Jeux Descartes in ... 1988. See the description of the product in French here (http://www.legrog.org/jeux/appel-de-cthulhu/1920-s-1930-s/annees-folles-fr). It never made it to English. It's a gem of gaming.
(http://www.legrog.org/visuels/couvertures/4876.jpg)
aw man, that looks neat, with the Eiffel Tower and all. Like the Colonel I know my CoC, but I never heard of it before and now I kinda wish I hadn't, since it looks so cool and so very unattainable.
Quote from: Gabriel2;401923In this age of internet stores and the waning days of ebay, the question isn't "is this obtainable?" Instead the question is "Am I willing to pay the price for this?"
That's a good point, and is the reason I don't have Ringworld. I simply won't pay what I've seen it going for.
A game that might have made this thread for me, had I not lucked into getting a copy, is Spawn of Fashan, which received an infamous drubbing of a review in Dragon. To be honest, I never thought it was real until the internet came along; I'd always assumed the review was an attempt at humor. Nope. Turns out it was real. I immediately wanted it, but finding it at that time wasn't all that easy even with the internet.
Lo and behold, Piratecat, a mod at EN World, somehow tracked down the guy who wrote it and managed to get him to print up a batch. I bought one. I'm glad I have it, but only as an artifact of a lost age. An especially
bad artifact, but still...
The author included a note describing how he and his friends created the game, and made a trip to GenCon to sell it. That note is what makes the purchase worthwhile; it's poignant and wistful, showing how a bunch of enthusiastic gamers tried hard at game designing, turned out to have more energy than talent, and then took a critical beating for their trouble. It's a compelling little footnote in the history of gaming.
I'm another Ringworld hunter. It's the one game I'd really like that I've never even seen in person. One that I once had and wish I still did was TFT. I had all the TFT stuff, and for the life of me I can't remember what happened to them. My brother and I used to play it all the time.
Empire of The Petal Throne... I've got the Different Worlds reprint but there is so much more to be had...
Also, there are a few Jorune books I'm still missing.
Quote from: Gabriel2;401923In this age of internet stores and the waning days of ebay, the question isn't "is this obtainable?" Instead the question is "Am I willing to pay the price for this?"
*snip*
Space Opera = Another one I could get if I was willing to pay the price. However, I'm only interested in this one as a curiousity. It was never worth any serious outlay of cash to me.
*snip*
dude, I can get you Space Opera ( a heavily used ed.) from my local shop for less than $10.00. Books (2) only, no box etc., and I mean
heavily used though not taped together or anything...am willing to help out a fellow gamer and ship it to you if you re-imberse!
I will go there today and check on the condition/price to be sure.
:)
Black Madonna for Kult 1st Edition... Aside from 'Fallen Angels' for the same game system (which I have not been looking for) that is the only book I have looked up from time to time.
I've acquired everything else via ebay and waiting for the right time to buy...
However, I once had Florence Magnin's Amber Tarot deck but it was stolen when idiots vandalized my car back in 98... Too expensive to obtain now, sadly.
And, while I have not been looking for it, there was the elusive box set of Otosan Uchi for L5R 1st edition... I'd still like to get my hands on it.
Of course, now that I know about 'Les Annees Folles' I need to start hunting for it. :)
Bunnies & Burrows (1st edition) and Dinky Dungeons come to mind.
Quote from: MonkeyWrench;401905I have a very specific one.
A copy of Death on the Reik WITH the poster map.
I have a copy of the Hogshead version, but without the map. It drives me mad when I think about it for some weird reason.
Yeah, the WFRP maps are often missing. I think they were so nice, people used them for other ideas. The hardest ones to find complete are the huge compilation volumes Warhammer Adventure and Warhammer City Of Chaos. The maps were attached to the inside covers with very weak glue, so they're always missing; I bet half of them fell out in the stores. Took me a year to find truly complete copies of those.
Quote from: Gabriel2;401923In this age of internet stores and the waning days of ebay, the question isn't "is this obtainable?" Instead the question is "Am I willing to pay the price for this?"
This is the truth, and not even necessarily in cash, but time. Do I want to spend a week of my time reading that 300 page book? Dunno.
One thing I missed wasn't so much a system, but the Rolemaster
Shadow World supplement. Judging by a review that ran in a Hungarian gaming magazine back then, it would have been perfect for me when I was 15, except no stores were selling it. Today, it doesn't seem out of my price range, but... do I really want it anymore? Hm.
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401731Over the years, there have been some gaps in my gaming collection I've never quite been able to fill. These are games I would have liked to have played, but which always eluded my reach.
I guess there aren't books that I'm really missing these days, now that I think about it: I've been collecting on and off since the days of r.g.f.marketplace, but there are still definitely some gaps in my collections:
- edit: "Treasure of the Dragon Queen (http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_tourneys_dragon_queen.html)" - a long-long and likely never-to-be-found tourney I played in 1983
- Medieval France (from White Rose Publishing): I've got the original edition of Fief (and the Cumberland Games expansion, as well as the recently-released Town), but have never been able to find Medieval France anywhere: I'd consider a pretty hefty trade for a copy, if anyone has one available?
- Thoan: unfortunately I don't read French, but this is an RPG based on Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers books, and I'd love to have an English version to play; hell, I'd love to pick up the French books, just to check them out :D
- edit: I forgot Heritage Models' Caverns of Doom and Crypt of the Sorcerer sets: my brother and I had one of these, but they were lost or given away or whatever over the years, and it certainly doesn't look likely that I'll be picking one up anytime soon, given their pricing!
- Grenadier's TSR logo lizardman mini (~10 or so were made c. 1977 or so): http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/temp/minis/DCP04223.JPG
I own several games I've never played at all, or only once or twice, that I wish I could play more:
- OD&D: I've owned this since ~1982 or so (via Dungeon or Mail Order Hobby Shop), but I haven't really ever played OD&D; I did play in two Tim Kask games at NTX RPG Con the past two years, but I'd like play under diaglo or Philotomy Jurament to get a better handle on how OD&D can be run
- Stormbringer/Elric: I love MM but haven't ever played this in any form
- Paranoia: I've DM'd Paranoia a few times, but never had the chance to play it; ditto for Ars Magica
I've played quite a bit of CoC in college, grad school, and at cons, but it's probably been a solid 10 years or more since my last game, which is just too long :(
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401731Games I finally landed in recent years, long, long after I would have had the chance to run them for my old game groups:
My games that fall into that category are:
- RuneQuest: After Tadashi Ehara piqued my interest in the game, I picked up a nice used 2e hardback sans dustjacket at KublaKhan while living in CA, but I've never played it. I'm hoping to play some RQ next year at NTX with Paul Jaquays, if we can talk him into running an event.
- V&V: I've loved the Jeff Dee illustrations from his ads in Dragon, but haven't played this yet
- WEG Star Wars: own it (I traded a spare D&DG with Cthulhu/Melnibone) in the '90s or so for ~6 or 8 WEG Star Wars books, but I've never played it
- TORG: own it, never played; ditto Ghostbusters
Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;401778Some of the rarer/older Call of Cthulhu stuff for me. I remember Horror at the Orient Express and Walker in the Wastes on the shelves in the game shop back in the 90s, but I wasn't that into the heavy books at the time - shame. Later I've aqquired stuff like Beyond the Mountains of Madness and Golden Dawn, but I have never seen the before mentioned two in a reasonable price range.
I too passed on Horror on the Orient Express at the time: IIRC my FLGS owner at Penn State wasn't too impressed with it, so I didn't pick it up.
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401781Horror at the Orient Express - I think that was the one that was supposed to have been a super-deluxe CoC adventure. I remember getting a poll in the mail from Chaosium (I was on the snail-mail list, long, long before the internet) asking if there was a call for a really premium adventure that could cost well over $100 (this was ~20 years ago). It was supposed to include, among other things, an actual (as opposed to cardstock) evil idol of some kind. I think Orient Express ended up being that adventure, much reduced. I never saw it for sale anywhere besides in Chaosium's catalogs.
No, this was "One Night" boxed set, which Chaosium asked about but never produced unfortunately; for some info, see http://www.yog-sothoth.com/threads/821-Query-about-quot-One-Night-quot-product
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;401782I've always wanted, and have never been able to find for a reasonable price, a copy of either edition of RuneQuest prior to the 3rd, Avalon Hill, edition. Nobody I gamed with circa 1979+ ever had a copy or had even seen one. I was the only one with the Avalon Hill edition, and it was met with a thundering lack of interest when I showed it to the rest of my original game group. I'd like to see the original version of the game (I know it was the basis for BRP) and adventures like Pavis and Big Rubble. I vaguely recall seeing Big Rubble at a shop in the early-to-mid-'80s, but I didn't have the cash for it at the time.
I didn't get into RQ at all until I met Tadashi while living in CA :( I knew RQ only from the Oliver Dickinson Griselda stories in White Dwarf---and for some reason the only one that I ever thought of was "Shamus Gets a Case" and I just didn't like it much at that time (middle-teen through early college or so). Once Tadsahi sold me on RQ, I traded some stuff and started picking up books, including the Oliver Dickinson collection of Griselda stories, which I now consider the best gaming fiction I've ever read.
Quote from: jdurall;401873I have longed to get a hold of Witch Hunt. A friend had a copy back in the day, but I'm haven't laid eyes on a copy in 25 years.
Thanks for the reminder on that: I haven't looked for a copy for awhile, and just bought the module "A Tyme of Darkness". I still don't own the rules, though. They do pop up on eBay every few years, though (I just get outbid on them by the serious collectors :D ).
Quote from: jdurall;401873I would have put Rus at the top of this list, but I found it online a couple of years ago and got it, the GM pack, and the only published adventure for it.
I agree with Jeff's assessment: it's pretty amateurish, in particular if you know much about Russian folklore and mythology. I haven't looked at it in years, though. (GURPS: Russia, however is quite good on the research front).
Quote from: Benoist;401950It was a French boxed set published by Jeux Descartes in ... 1988. See the description of the product in French here (http://www.legrog.org/jeux/appel-de-cthulhu/1920-s-1930-s/annees-folles-fr). It never made it to English. It's a gem of gaming.
That looks great. Given the large number of French rpgs and non-English CoC items that have come over (to Chaosium a la Nephliim, or elsewhere a la Kult, etc.), I wonder why that was never produced?
Is the original publisher still around, Benoist? You've piqued my interest! :D
Quote from: jdurall;401873I have longed to get a hold of Witch Hunt. A friend had a copy back in the day, but I'm haven't laid eyes on a copy in 25 years.
This reminded me Jason... long ago I promised you my copy of
Witch Hunt but then couldn't find it... but it popped to the surface just the other day.
I've sent you a PM about it.
The game that's evaded my wallet so far is
Nexus the Infinite city... which I mostly wanted because it sounded like Matt Howarth's 'Bugtown'... kinda... that was supposed to get a game of its own at one time... but didn't. It's pretty much dropped down the list behind lots of newer stuff I might actually run someday.
I also need to finally spring for a copy of
Chi Chian, but that's cheap and I'm just being lazy.
Quote from: Simlasa;401998Also, there are a few Jorune books I'm still missing.
Call these guys: http://www.kingshobbyshop.com/
They had a bunch of still-in-shrinkwrap
Jorune stuff the last time I was in there, a few months ago.
Quote from: grodog;402394No, this was "One Night" boxed set, which Chaosium asked about but never produced unfortunately; for some info, see http://www.yog-sothoth.com/threads/821-Query-about-quot-One-Night-quot-product
Thanks for the heads-up on that, Allan. I must've made an assumption based on "Murder"'s being the most expensive CoC product I'd seen up to that point. EDIT: By the way, I also checked the "I will buy one copy" box.
Ringworld, The Fantasy Trip, Metamorphosis Alpha, The Arduin Grimoire (original 3 booklets), 1e Gamma World, The Arcanum 2ed, TORG, Beyond the Mountains of Madness (I have an autographed copy), RuneQuest, Villains & Vigilantes, Space Opera, WFRP, Paranoia, Chi Chian and Jorune (I don't know if I have all of the books). I own all of these in first printings.
Empire of the Petal Throne, this is the one I want a physical copy of... sigh.
Quote from: grodog;402394That looks great. Given the large number of French rpgs and non-English CoC items that have come over (to Chaosium a la Nephliim, or elsewhere a la Kult, etc.), I wonder why that was never produced?
Is the original publisher still around, Benoist? You've piqued my interest! :D
Oh yes, they're still around (http://www.jeux-descartes.fr/). :)
The French products that actually made it in the US at the time were relatively few. There were products that were cherry picked by US designers (INS/MV*), and those that were created by French fans of US games creating their own, who would then get known by the fans circles' in the US (Nephilim, which was created by HUGE fans of RuneQuest and Glorantha who knew Greg Stafford personally).
In the case of Call of Cthulhu, it's a game which had a HUGE following in France, and still has, as far as I'm aware (with Jeux Descartes still publishing it in French btw). Lots of good French material was published for it, and almost all of its US catalog was translated as well. Anecdotically speaking, most of the people who worked on this French CoC stuff ultimately participated a lot to Casus Belli, THE magazine of RPGs in France at the time, and in return kind of created the notion that D&D was an "archaic" game of sorts, whereas games with a more "role" component like CoC, or later World of Darkness games, were the future of the hobby. This is a big part of the reason why the hobby evolved the way it did in France.
Anyway, in the case of CoC and Chaosium games, it seems Chaosium was very open to the adaptation of its products to the specificities of the French market, or the creation of French-grown licensed content, but for quite some time treated the French market as fundamentally different than the American one, not wishing to pick up anything from the French for its star games, CoC, Stormbringer, RuneQuest. Chaosium DID pick up some French stuff later, like Nephilim for instance (and butchered it as well, but that's for another post). So it was more like French GAMES were sometimes picked up, but not actual Supplements to EXISTING US games. Interesting contrast.
* I have an anecdote about this: As a kid, I'm actually the one who sold Greg Stafford on INS/MV. He was at the local convention called the "Joutes du Téméraire" in Nancy (Eastern France) at the time. I was literally pissing in my pants, so shy I was to walk up to the man and say hello. Anyway, at the end of the convention, I was looking with a friend at the booth of a local store, when Greg walked up there and asked me "Hey there: I'm searching for a French game I could bring back with me and play as a souvenir. What games do you guys like?" I proceeded to rave about In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas, and Greg purchased it.
Quote from: Benoist;402468* I have an anecdote about this: As a kid, I'm actually the one who sold Greg Stafford on INS/MV. He was at the local convention called the "Joutes du Téméraire" in Nancy (Eastern France) at the time. I was literally pissing in my pants, so shy I was to walk up to the man and say hello. Anyway, at the end of the convention, I was looking with a friend at the booth of a local store, when Greg walked up there and asked me "Hey there: I'm searching for a French game I could bring back with me and play as a souvenir. What games do you guys like?" I proceeded to rave about In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas, and Greg purchased it.
I guess I'm missing something. I thought In Nomine had been adapted by SJG. Has Greg Stafford been instrumental in this?
Quote from: boulet;402470I guess I'm missing something. I thought In Nomine had been adapted by SJG. Has Greg Stafford been instrumental in this?
I remember reading somewhere that Greg Stafford had something to do with Steve Jackson picking up INS/MV, but can't find it back at the moment. My anecdote was mostly included because well, that's a cool anecdote, for me at least. :)
Quote from: TAFMSV;401739And the Midnight at the Well of Souls box set.
I just took a quick look at this game (and found my Star Patrol rule book in the box, too) after a long time and it looks better than I remember. Like the Pirates of Dark Water game, it's definitely a fan effort rather than a slick professionally done game and some of the material looks like it's straight off of MacPaint (the program that came with the original Macintosh) or typeset off of an early laser printer or proportional typewriter. Worth getting if you can find an inexpensive copy as a curiosity, but I wouldn't spend big bucks for a copy.
Ringworld, on the other hand, which I also have, is a very cool game and I expect the only way you'll be seeing copies of it that don't go for big bucks is in estate sales as old gamers hoarding copies start dying off.
The game I want that I've never gotten a hold of is Spawn of Fashan. I'm curious about the Dune game but not $300 worth of curious.
Most of the other games that I've really wanted (e.g., Star Rovers, The Fantasy Trip books, a replacement for my lost Gamma World 1st edition), I've managed to get through used games stores, convention vendors, or eBay and there are reprints of some great old classics (e.g., various FGU games) and also old stock of some old games around (e.g., Melandia, the TFT-lite Dragons of the Underearth) that I've taken advantage of. A few others I wanted (e.g., the 3 original D&D books, some classic D&D modules, the original Metamorphosis Alpha) I've managed to get as legitimate PDFs (before WotC shut down PDF sales of classic D&D stuff) and I'm fine with PDFs for those books.
By the way, anyone interested in TFT who might be happy with a simplified version of the TFT rules should look for a copy of Dragons of the Underearth. I've seen copies in several game stories and online fairly recently at basically cover price.
Quote from: Benoist;402468Oh yes, they're still around (http://www.jeux-descartes.fr/). :)
[snip]
In the case of Call of Cthulhu, it's a game which had a HUGE following in France, and still has, as far as I'm aware (with Jeux Descartes still publishing it in French btw). Lots of good French material was published for it, and almost all of its US catalog was translated as well. [snip]
So it was more like French GAMES were sometimes picked up, but not actual Supplements to EXISTING US games. Interesting contrast.
Definitely. I have a copy of "Dark Continent" which Chaosium was/is selling for awhile, and one of my friends in Germany (Jens Kaufmann) raved about several German CoC publications, I haven't seen any of these high-end type supplements which seem to blow the Chaosium books out of the water. It would be cool to check some of them out.
Can you please post a list of your favorites among the French CoC supplements, with a quick note about why, and whether they're still in print or not?
Thanks!
PS: I had an old comb binding version of Nephilm from way back in the day (I used it as part of my review of the game in TUO, IIRC), but traded it away for something or other. I think it may have been the MultiSim version, but don't remember....
I played a few sessions of TORG...wasn't real impressed, not that I remember much from 1989 or so when I played.
For me, the game that got away as Broadsides and Boarding Parties.
MB made these huge boxed games with plastic bits long before it became in vogue, and had a whole series. Axis and Allies, I played and loved. Shogun, I played and liked alot (tended to deadlock once players figured out the game, though). Fortress America was awesome if unbalanced (I still have mine, with Hussein on the box, back when he was just another CIA employee).
But the fourth game in the series was B&B. I heard it sucked, but I still would have liked to play the game...never have seen a copy in decent condition at a decent price.
Quote from: grodog;404050Can you please post a list of your favorites among the French CoC supplements, with a quick note about why, and whether they're still in print or not?
Les Années Folles is really *the* supplement coming to mind. This is the one to get. I checked a list of supplements over the years, but none of them really hits a homerun like this one did.
Quote from: grodog;404050PS: I had an old comb binding version of Nephilm from way back in the day (I used it as part of my review of the game in TUO, IIRC), but traded it away for something or other. I think it may have been the MultiSim version, but don't remember....
Hmm. Do you remember the cover? Was it mostly blue, with a sort of astrolabe of gold on it, or was it mostly white, very light grey?
Ah. Here. This is the first edition of Nephilim in French:
(http://www.legrog.org/visuels/couvertures/1161.jpg)
And this is the second edition:
(http://www.legrog.org/visuels/couvertures/2801.jpg)
The First edition is great in a "less is more" kind of way which will appeal to the old schooler in all of us. The Second edition is IMO better, since it has better mechanics (still Basic RPS), benefits from the years of development of the first edition, with better spells, invocations and alchemical formulas, a clearer background, full-on descriptions of possible periods of incarnations for your Nephilim, with a neat way to determine what your character did during this or that period of incarnation, and how it affects your final skills, Ka, types of occult knowledge you developed and why, when you reincarnate in the present days. Very, very cool. Highly recommended.
The Third edition, this:
(http://www.legrog.org/visuels/couvertures/4147.jpg)
Uses a new game system losely based on WW's world of darkness with dots and stuff, but is VASTLY more complex, and ends up not making sense at all. It basically sucks. NOT recommended at all.
Quote from: Drohem;402117Bunnies & Burrows (1st edition) and Dinky Dungeons come to mind.
A 1976 FGU edition of Bunnies & Burrows is my most prized gaming possession. My
only prized gaming possession, come to think of it.
I keep forgetting - I've never been able to get my hands on a copy of TWERPS.
Quote from: Melan;402129One thing I missed wasn't so much a system, but the Rolemaster Shadow World supplement. Judging by a review that ran in a Hungarian gaming magazine back then, it would have been perfect for me when I was 15, except no stores were selling it. Today, it doesn't seem out of my price range, but... do I really want it anymore? Hm.
If you are still curious about Shadow World, this new introductory book (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=83779) might be worth checking out.
I own a fair amount of SW material (I was really into RM in the mid-late 1980s, and retain a certain fondness for it to this day). The quality of SW books varies wildly. Some are complete rubbish. However, the material written by Terry Amthor (the creator of the setting) is consistently interesting and of high quality (although Amthor has a deep love of very detailed timelines: one for the master atlas was over 50 pages long, describing in some detail what happened in SW over thousands of years).
The setting is an interesting mix of fantasy and science fiction (I believe that 'magic' is attributed to the planet's existence on some inter-dimensional nexus, or something like that).
One nice thing about the world is that the continents constitute (largely) autonomous settings. So most of what I own is for the continent 'Jaiman' (which is a decent 'quasi-medieval' setting), and I never really had any interest in anything that concerned any of the other continents.
The big downside of the setting (IMO) is that it includes a few uber-NPCs and world-spanning organizations. All of the real movers-and-shakers of the world seem to be ageless/immortal members of various 'superhero'/'supervillain' orders/cabals. Some of the 'supervillains' are actually very cool, but I could not imagine running a game with PCs capable of actually taking them on. Fortunately, this aspect of SW can be downplayed/ignored/excised.
I still enjoy mining Amthor's SW modules for ideas to this day. However, I doubt that I will ever run a Shadow World campaign.
Quote from: skofflox;402001dude, I can get you Space Opera ( a heavily used ed.) from my local shop for less than $10.00. Books (2) only, no box etc., and I mean heavily used though not taped together or anything...am willing to help out a fellow gamer and ship it to you if you re-imberse!
I will go there today and check on the condition/price to be sure.
:)
Thank you for the offer. It is appreciated.
But I think I'm going to let Space Opera remain the one that got away. I think I'm better served by letting it retain it's mystique to me rather than finally own it and see what it's really like.
Quote from: Doom;404058MB made these huge boxed games with plastic bits long before it became in vogue, and had a whole series. Axis and Allies, I played and loved. Shogun, I played and liked alot (tended to deadlock once players figured out the game, though). Fortress America was awesome if unbalanced (I still have mine, with Hussein on the box, back when he was just another CIA employee).
But the fourth game in the series was B&B. I heard it sucked, but I still would have liked to play the game...never have seen a copy in decent condition at a decent price.
That's one of the ones I missed out on too. I wanted it pretty damn bad back in the 80s.
As I understand it, B&B was the first of the Game Master series. I've never seen a copy of it in real life. As you say, it's supposed to be pretty bad, but all the minis and the model ships gave it a level of coolness.
The second game of the Game Master series was Conquest of the Empire. I've seen and played this one. It was kinda neat, but it definitely didn't measure up to the later three Game Master games, and that was probably why it was discontinued in short order. I believe a company has recently released a new edition of this one.
Then came Axis & Allies, Shogun, and Fortress America. I wish I still had Fortress America. The interesting thing is that everyone said it was unbalanced, but the opinion was split 50%/50% as to whether it was unbalanced on the side of the U.S. or the invaders.
I remember playing the Hell out of Fortress America. A friend still owns a copy of it. I never noticed it being unbalanced; the US lost about as often as it won.
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;404156I remember playing the Hell out of Fortress America. A friend still owns a copy of it. I never noticed it being unbalanced; the US lost about as often as it won.
I love that game... still have it somewhere.
I don't think the game was unbalanced, but the strategy was all about time. The early game favors the invaders. The late game favors the US. So if you were the invaders, you had to blitz and try to win fast, because the invaders' resources diminish while America's slowly increase.
I also love the card that repurposes "farm machinery" into attack helicopters.
Quote from: Benoist;404061Les Années Folles is really *the* supplement coming to mind. This is the one to get. I checked a list of supplements over the years, but none of them really hits a homerun like this one did.
Thanks. I checked out your first link via Google Translate @ http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.legrog.org%2Fjeux%2Fappel-de-cthulhu%2F1920-s-1930-s%2Fannees-folles-fr and I'm definitely impressed: it sounds like a wonderful boxed set! Hmmm.....
Quote from: Benoist;404061Hmm. Do you remember the cover? Was it mostly blue, with a sort of astrolabe of gold on it, or was it mostly white, very light grey?
My recollection is that it was red and comb-bound, but I'll have to go back to my old notes (if I still have them) to confirm that. I might be thinking of an early edition of Taiga, perhaps, too....
Oh yeah, Conquest of the Empire, another fun game, mostly cool because of the plastic pieces that are nigh mandatory nowadays. I had that one too. Good, but combat was goofily flawed (catapults ftw!).
And, back when we all played such games, Fortress America was sure considered very heavily favored for America. Any trip up by any of the invader players in the first few turns meant an easy win for America, while America could screw up the first few turns and actually be better off for it.
Quote from: Insufficient Metal;404161I also love the card that repurposes "farm machinery" into attack helicopters.
:heh: I'd forgotten that.
Yeah, you're right about timing in the game. If the American player could hang on in the early rounds, he had the game won.
Quote from: Gabriel2;404150Thank you for the offer. It is appreciated.
But I think I'm going to let Space Opera remain the one that got away. I think I'm better served by letting it retain it's mystique to me rather than finally own it and see what it's really like.
roger that...:)
Had Ringworld and sold it years ago for £30.00 :(. Also own Dune and will never give it up lol. You can prise it from my cold dead handsand only after you have disarmed the booby traps lol.
The game I would love to get is Chivalry and Sorcery 2nd Edition.
Quote from: Clanger;404243Had Ringworld and sold it years ago for £30.00 :(. Also own Dune and will never give it up lol. You can prise it from my cold dead handsand only after you have disarmed the booby traps lol.
The game I would love to get is Chivalry and Sorcery 2nd Edition.
Hello Clangor...welcome to the fun factory!
Dune RPG?...I wants soooo bad...
:)
Hey. Welcome, Clanger-dude! :D
I think there was one called "orbit" by psychobilly games that I've heard of but never could get.
Premise: An advanced peaceful civillization has a practice of sending younger members out of a 4 year "wanderschen" into the uncivilized fringes to weed out the unfit and encourage the naturally rebellious to remain in the fringes. You are essentially a teenager from a federation type culture given a small stipend and expected to survive 4 years on the frontier as a rite of passage.
As one politician put it, it's a chance for the kids to spend 4 years " Getting screwed, blewed and tattooed!" before settling down into the stratified, regimented life in the civilized federation.
Quote from: Cylonophile;404287I think there was one called "orbit" by psychobilly games that I've heard of but never could get.
Premise: An advanced peaceful civillization has a practice of sending younger members out of a 4 year "wanderschen" into the uncivilized fringes to weed out the unfit and encourage the naturally rebellious to remain in the fringes. You are essentially a teenager from a federation type culture given a small stipend and expected to survive 4 years on the frontier as a rite of passage.
As one politician put it, it's a chance for the kids to spend 4 years " Getting screwed, blewed and tattooed!" before settling down into the stratified, regimented life in the civilized federation.
Interesting, kinda extended Rumspringa rpg?
Quote from: Cylonophile;404287I think there was one called "orbit" by psychobilly games that I've heard of but never could get.
I vaguely remember hearing about that game... sounded like an interesting concept. I'd be curious to see what all it had going for it to separate it from something like Traveller... how much of a setting they worked up for it and how it pushed the theme.
Well, hold you nose and click on this for the "Asshole's basement" review:http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10058.phtml
Qin.
I actually had it then sold it.
Now I regret it.
One of the best rpg's ever written. A gorgeous book with an excellent system.
Magic is not as stylish or atmospheric (or complicated and poorly explained) as WotG, but i would pay money (if i had any) to own the rights to that system!
Quote from: Cylonophile;404305Well, hold you nose and click on this for the "Asshole's basement" review:http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10058.phtml
Thanks so much for this link...great review. Nice he passed on the basic system as well. Seems totaly cool!
:)
Quote from: Simlasa;402405This reminded me Jason... long ago I promised you my copy of Witch Hunt but then couldn't find it... but it popped to the surface just the other day.
I've sent you a PM about it.
Just got it in the mail... thanks!
Check your own PM box.
I finally have a copy of TORG.
Now I owe one of you guys three or four GURPS 3/e books.
May or not get that sent before the funeral I have to go to this weekend.
- Ed C.
...and THANK YOU! - you know who you are.
A big score for me would an original version of En Garde! (1975), or even the 'Revised Edition' published in 1977.
Oh, another one just came to mind: Space Marine.
My name is Paul and while I am new to the forums, I have played RPGs since Melee and Wizard first came out. I migrated to Advanced M and W, then to BD&D, AD&D, C&S and its variants, winding up finally with Rolemaster/Spacemaster/MERP. During those years, I picked up OD&D, Adv. in Fantasy, RQ, CoC, Stormbringer, T&T, Arduin Grimoire (Vol. 1 - 3), Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, Morrow Project, Space Opera, Traveller/MegaTraveller, Aftermath, Bushido, DragonQuest, Star Patrol, and several dozen more lesser known RPGs. I also had a large collection of Dragon, Dungeon, Spacegamer, Different Worlds, and several other RPG magazine collections.
Hurricane Katrina wiped out my collection, but I was able to save the PDFs I had a friend create. Unfortunately, he did not have a chance to finish turning all the games to PDFs. He was able to get some of C&S, all of RM/SM, and a fair amount of the other core rule books saved.
Over the last 5 years, I have been able to recreate most of C&S hardcopy (1st - 4th ed.), minus Arden, Saurians, and Land of the Rising Sun (Probably the 3 I miss the most out of ), RM and MERP, portions of AD&D, Traveller, and a few others. EBay and Amazon have been my primary replacement sources.
Some of my things are still PDF only as I have not been able to find affordable copies, or can't find hardcopies at all.
Quote from: Akrasia;404135If you are still curious about Shadow World, this new introductory book (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=83779) might be worth checking out.
I still enjoy mining Amthor's SW modules for ideas to this day. However, I doubt that I will ever run a Shadow World campaign.
I used parts of SW for my RM/MERP/C&S/Other mix when I GMed. I agree it was hit or miss in terms of quality.
Welcome to the place, kring1bc! :)
Sorry to hear about your collection being wiped out by Katrina. :( That must have been rough.
Nobilis, damn it.
Hello Paul and welcome.
Fellow C&S and TFT fan here. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your collection. I lost some of my stuff as well during Katrina, I've been slowly rebuilding. I'll keep an eye out for those titles on the off chance I see one.
Yes, I always wanted to get a copy of Nobilis as well... It was sold out just before I was ready to order it. Thankfully, Eoris is on the way... I'll post a review after I've had time to look it over. I had Ogre and GEV once, don't have it now, and it is difficult as all get out to find a copy at a decent price.
It took me 27 years, But I finally got every map and campaign guide for the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting, last year some time. I only know of one other person with a complete original Wilderlands Campaign Collection.
Quote from: GameDaddy;410261
It took me 27 years, But I finally got every map and campaign guide for the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting, last year some time. I only know of one other person with a complete original Wilderlands Campaign Collection.
I got them back in the day. Actually I got double sets of almost all of them so I could lay out them all at once. Wish I had gotten even more copies and not made marks all over them.
Quote from: GameDaddy;410261Yes, I always wanted to get a copy of Nobilis as well... It was sold out just before I was ready to order it.
According to Moran, the third edition should be out in
"November if all goes swimmingly, December if anything at all goes wrong, and early 2011 if the world is angry at me."
Quote from: kring1bc;410110I used parts of SW for my RM/MERP/C&S/Other mix when I GMed. I agree it was hit or miss in terms of quality.
Good to see another person who likes (at least to some extent) Shadow World, Rolemaster, and MERP around here. Welcome. :)
Quote from: kring1bc;410107My name is Paul and while I am new to the forums,.
Welcome to theRPGsite!
RPGPundit
Quote from: Akrasia;410454Good to see another person who likes (at least to some extent) Shadow World, Rolemaster, and MERP around here. Welcome. :)
Y'know, I actually have nothing against Rolemaster. Matter of fact, I wouldn't mind giving it a try; I think my group tried it out a little back in the 80s, after finding that MERP was basically RM Light, but I don't recall much about how it played.
The problem I had with MERP was simply that I didn't think it modeled Middle-earth well. Taken on its own, in a different context, I could see it being an enjoyable game.
Quote from: jdurall;401873Ditto Ghostbusters and original edition Villains & Vigilantes.
Dude, I have had people offer me high-end hookers and truckloads of porn for my copy of Ghostbusters. I only have the two books at my apartment, but I know that somewhere in the forgotten hell of my parents' basement lies a box that contains the original boxed set box with all the cards in it.
Quote from: Akrasia;410454Good to see another person who likes (at least to some extent) Shadow World, Rolemaster, and MERP around here. Welcome. :)
I too love'd MERP and ran quite a few campaigns in the 90's. The magic spells were very much Rolemaster and were obviously a lazy port over to MERP. I also remember my friend George flipping his shit when his mage's only real spell was "Boil Water".
One book I really want and regret not buying is the
Ends of Empire book for Wraith the Oblivion. People charge way too much for it on eBay. It's just a game supplement!
-=Grim=-
Quote from: GrimJesta;410616I also remember my friend George flipping his shit when his mage's only real spell was "Boil Water".
This made me bust up laughing.
Quote from: ColonelHardisson;410621This made me bust up laughing.
I can still see his face. Priceless.
If you remember, leveling up in MERP was as slow as armless old folks screwing, so he literally had to wait until he had 40,000 XP to get a useful spell (4th level
Wall of Fire - Fire Law list). Successfully casting a spell is 100XP. Killing an equal level monster/opponent was also 100 XP. Factor in that this is the game with those INSANE critical tables. That's 200 dead Orcs to get to that level when any one of them could trip you and you break your neck.
Most characters never made it past 3rd.
-=Grim=-
Quote from: GrimJesta;410616I too love'd MERP and ran quite a few campaigns in the 90's. The magic spells were very much Rolemaster and were obviously a lazy port over to MERP. I also remember my friend George flipping his shit when his mage's only real spell was "Boil Water".
"Spirit Mastery" was the wise player's choice for first level mages. :pundit:
Quote from: GrimJesta;410663I can still see his face. Priceless.
If you remember, leveling up in MERP was as slow as armless old folks screwing, so he literally had to wait until he had 40,000 XP to get a useful spell (4th level Wall of Fire - Fire Law list). Successfully casting a spell is 100XP. Killing an equal level monster/opponent was also 100 XP. Factor in that this is the game with those INSANE critical tables. That's 200 dead Orcs to get to that level when any one of them could trip you and you break your neck.
Most characters never made it past 3rd.
-=Grim=-
Yes, MERP was not for wimps!
The highest level any of my PCs achieved was around 8th level, iirc.
Quote from: Akrasia;410714Yes, MERP was not for wimps!
The highest level any of my PCs achieved was around 8th level, iirc.
Same thing here.
GURPS Conan :(
A couple more came to mind - "Space Marine" and "Mechanoid Invasion". The former may have been a tactical wargame though (not GW, by the by)
Quote from: Akrasia;410714Yes, MERP was not for wimps!
The highest level any of my PCs achieved was around 8th level, iirc.
Quote from: Benoist;410740Same thing here.
Wow... you guys are fucking
hardcore. Someone in our group once made it to 3rd level and we were in
awe. :worship:
First edition DC Heroes (the boxed set with all the standees and cards and stuff)....couldn't get it back from the fucker I lent it to when, to quote the killers, we were young.
Other than that I would have loved to have gotten Dune, though given it died on arrival it's probably no great shakes.
You know, MERP actually does a great job of modelling Middle Earth. But it's the Middle Earth of the Hobbit where your average troll hole yeilds enough gold to buy a small kingdom and three powerful magic swords. Heck even a non-combat encounter with a decrepit old hobbit yeilds a ring of invisibility. The GM even ganks the big dragon that's out of the party's league with an NPC so they can gain a massive treasure.
And yeah, MERP magic is very limited, no over casting so you're stuck with spells of your level or less making a 10' r fireball eighth level. Enjoy your hot cup of tea mister Mage. (well unless your GM lets you get away with boiling the water in a person's brain)
Quote from: Ghost Whistler;469613First edition DC Heroes (the boxed set with all the standees and cards and stuff)....couldn't get it back from the fucker I lent it to when, to quote the killers, we were young.
Other than that I would have loved to have gotten Dune, though given it died on arrival it's probably no great shakes.
gods YES, that one too. I know a friend who doesn't even play rpgs very often, and he will not part with that OR the Watchmen suppliment, despite my generous offers of cash and hints as degrading sexual favors. Damn him to hell.
Not a personal trial so much as someone else's, but I'm amazed at the number of people who can't find Nobilis 2e. I'm actually selling my copy later today to a friend of a friend because it's so unplayably bad.
Quote from: Yevla;469767gods YES, that one too. I know a friend who doesn't even play rpgs very often, and he will not part with that OR the Watchmen suppliment, despite my generous offers of cash and hints as degrading sexual favors. Damn him to hell.
I lent it him as a kid and the fucker refused to ever return it. That was years ago. God knows whatever happened to it. I'd love to know because I thought they did a really good job accomodating the various power levels and origins and the box had a shit ton of stuff. Of course DC's sensibilities then are not as they are now. :D
I also had the FASA Dr Who rpg as well which I bleive I sold on years ago also.
Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;469778Not a personal trial so much as someone else's, but I'm amazed at the number of people who can't find Nobilis 2e. I'm actually selling my copy later today to a friend of a friend because it's so unplayably bad.
I don't remember it being hard to find: I do remember it being very expensive at the time, oddly shaped, and massively overhyped if the gushfest at the Purple Palace was any indication.