You're moving to a space station for your new job.  Past a certain baggage allowance the cost to boost your stuff becomes prohibitively exhorbitant.  It seems that almost your entire RPG collection will have to stay dirtside.  You can manage exactly one game, either a single boxed set or up to a trio of corebooks.  No supplements, no additional games, nothing else but a handful of polyhedrals.  You've decided to forego all that stuff in order to bring some extra underwear and a bottle of your favorite beverage.

What do you pick?

I got this thread idea by coming to the startling conclusion that D&D is not my favoritest RPG anymore.  Encounter Critical has supplanted it as first in my gamer heart.  If it came down to it, I'd take EC along over any version of D&D, even my beloved '81 Basic/Expert rules.

(BTW, I'd pick gin as my beverage.  Bombay Sapphire to be exact.  I'd mourn the lack of proper tonic water, but I'd get by.)

At the moment it would be a coin toss between WFRP and True20. I'd probably pick the latter as I could make a decent fist of emulating the Old World with it, but would be hard pressed to do the reverse.

Beverage would be Jack Daniels.

How long am I stayin'? And, you know, really, I wouldn't NEED a rulebook for some stuff.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!How long am I stayin'? And, you know, really, I wouldn't NEED a rulebook for some stuff.

You're staying long enough you could conceivably play multiple long campaigns.  And sure, I could run something like Risus without a rulebook, and probably do a pretty good job of D&D from memory (though it wouldn't be any one version of the game), but assume your potential players want to consult the rulebook from time to time.

Okay.  I'm taking Castles & Crusades, Monsters & Treasures and the Yggsburgh supplement.  That's 3 books.

D&D or Alternity. I'd really love to bring nWoD with some supplements, but that seems it would violate the question's rules.

I'd have to say GURPS. With the core books I can do any setting, and with some tweaks, any style.  Bonus points: I can get new dice much easier (d6's for the win, convert the craps players and you got fresh dice!)

That and I have some franjabalistic games in my collection that I could run from memory, so I don't need the books.  


And to disrupt the thread: I'd probably SCAN everything else and carry it all electronically. Mwahahahahahahaha!!!

Beverage? Um... hard lemonade? Vodka of some sort? STARBUCKS!

oh... um... yeah.

Well I want to say GURPS. But you said no supplements and their some really sweet stuff for GURPS. So I think I would go with Heros Unlimited. You can pretty much do what ever you want with it. Of course BESM3 does it all too. Thats a hard one there. The beverage is an easy one though. Glenlivet Archive 21 year old Scotch.

Exalted Core book, Shadowrun Core book, and a bound printout of the SRD.

If they complain that it's three systems I explain that we're talking weight allowances and rockets don't tend to care about which words are on the paper.

(1) I start bitching that it should be based on a page allowance because my seat neighbour is bringing HERO.  

(2) I grab Truth & Justice and Legends Walk! - T&J because that way I can run a lot of different things based on the core mechanics.

(3) When the space pirates board our shuttle, I steal my seat neighbour's copy of HERO to use as body armour.  :keke:

RIFTS and some Reed's Ginger Beer.

I'd pick Shadowrun 3rd Edition. Assuming I only get the main book, I'd also take about ten six sided dice. As long as I could get a mixer, I'd bring some Jack Daniels. (Just some Coca Cola, that's all I need!)

System would be Savage Worlds (it's not my favorite system of all the ones I have, but it is probably the most versatile), and the beverage would be Leinie's Honey Weiss.

System would have to be the Mage & nWoD corebooks.  It would pain me to leave burning wheel behind, but I can run more types of stuff with the nWoD core and Mage's magic system.  Beverage would be Conquering Lion rum, because a bottle would last forever.  Much like Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya.

What's the fascination with these "desert island" things? I don't understand the attraction.

-clash