RPGs No One Is Playing

RPGPundit · December 12, 2009, 02:28:27 PM

So, which RPGs do you think are not being played anywhere, by anyone, at present? Published RPGs only, obviously, not ultra-obscure games. Games that were released once, but either due to the crapulence of the rules or the stupidity of the setting or just plain bad luck, are not being played anymore?

Mind you, I suspect that a great deal of the non-RPGs that the Forge crowd had developed are not being played, what with the combination of their short shelf-life and the fact that so many Forgers want to talk about Storygames more than they want to play them, but that's an easy mark.

RPGPundit

ggroy · December 12, 2009, 02:41:08 PM

Perhaps:

- Aftermath!
- original SPI version of DragonQuest
- Chivalry & Sorcery
- Immortals box set of BECMI D&D
- Gangbusters
- older editions of Bushido
- Twilight 2000
- Cyberspace (by I.C.E.)
- 1st edition of Ars Magica

Akrasia · December 12, 2009, 02:56:35 PM

Quote from: ggroy;348304- original SPI version of DragonQuest

I think that this is still being played (at least the 2e version) by at least a dozen people out there. There's some online support for it.

Akrasia · December 12, 2009, 02:57:15 PM

I doubt that any FGU games are seeing much play these days (Space Opera, Bushido, Aftermath, Psion World, etc.).

Bedrockbrendan · December 12, 2009, 02:58:33 PM

I haven't seen anyone play Middle Earth Role Playing in a while. I still have the books somewhere. There was also a Hercules and Xena game released as a boxed set years ago. The game itself wasn't bad. But it was doomed for obvious reasons.

Bedrockbrendan · December 12, 2009, 02:59:05 PM

Tales fromt the Floating Vagabond is another.

ggroy · December 12, 2009, 03:03:28 PM

Quote from: Akrasia;348309I think that this is still being played (at least the 2e version) by at least a dozen people out there. There's some online support for it.

Is the 2e published by TSR or SPI?

Akrasia · December 12, 2009, 03:03:36 PM

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;348311I haven't seen anyone play Middle Earth Role Playing in a while...

I'm pretty sure that MERP is seeing some play. At the very least, people are still using the supplements (and, judging by their prices on ebay, there remains a very high demand for them). I continue to use material from ICE's Middle-Earth campaign books today, albeit primarily for non-ME games (and I haven't run MERP since 1999).

MERP's close cousin (nephew?), Rolemaster Express (essentially a 'stripped down' version of Rolemaster 2e/Classic, similar in many respects to a 'generic MERP') is being sold by ICE.

Akrasia · December 12, 2009, 03:04:44 PM

Quote from: ggroy;348317Is the 2e published by TSR or SPI?

SPI. 2e is the version that was published in book form (c 1981, iirc).

TSR's version was 3e (the version that stripped out all the cool stuff on the 'Dukes of Hell', etc.).

ggroy · December 12, 2009, 03:06:46 PM

Quote from: Akrasia;348319SPI. 2e is the version that was published in book form (c 1981, iirc).

TSR's version was 3e (the version that stripped out all the cool stuff on the 'Dukes of Hell', etc.).

The one I have is in three books published on rather low quality paper with a copyright date of 1980 by SPI.

Ian Absentia · December 12, 2009, 03:13:43 PM

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;348311There was also a Hercules and Xena game released as a boxed set years ago. The game itself wasn't bad. But it was doomed for obvious reasons.

I'm not sure the reason is so obvious -- at least I'm not getting it. Do you mean the fact that both shows went off the air? That puts it in the same general category as the Ghostbusters RPG, which I also think no one is playing anymore, in spite of the fact that it's a very, very good game. The system was developed further and used in subsequent West End games, though.

!i!

Simon W · December 12, 2009, 03:16:22 PM

Quote from: Akrasia;348310I doubt that any FGU games are seeing much play these days (Space Opera, Bushido, Aftermath, Psion World, etc.).

I've run some Flashing Blades & Villains & Vigilantes only very recently. But some of those you specically mention - perhaps not.

Simon W

ggroy · December 12, 2009, 03:19:21 PM

Quote from: Akrasia;348318I'm pretty sure that MERP is seeing some play. At the very least, people are still using the supplements (and, judging by their prices on ebay, there remains a very high demand for them). I continue to use material from ICE's Middle-Earth campaign books today, albeit primarily for non-ME games (and I haven't run MERP since 1999).

MERP's close cousin (nephew?), Rolemaster Express (essentially a 'stripped down' version of Rolemaster 2e/Classic, similar in many respects to a 'generic MERP') is being sold by ICE.

Where does "Rolemaster: The Basics" fit in? (The copy I have has a copyright date of 1995).

Bedrockbrendan · December 12, 2009, 03:21:50 PM

Quote from: Ian Absentia;348322I'm not sure the reason is so obvious -- at least I'm not getting it. Do you mean the fact that both shows went off the air? That puts it in the same general category as the Ghostbusters RPG, which I also think no one is playing anymore, in spite of the fact that it's a very, very good game. The system was developed further and used in subsequent West End games, though.

!i!

Maybe it is less obvious than I thought. When I got the game when it came out, I knew it wouldn't last no matter how good the game was. I think its because it was based on a show that many gamers probably watched but wouldn't set their campaign in. I tried to get people to play, but as soon as you said "Hercules and Xena" no one was interested. I did like this system though. If I remember they used their own dice with "hits" and "blocks" etc on them. So no math for the die rolls.

Halfjack · December 12, 2009, 03:22:19 PM

I sincerely doubt anyone is playing UNIVERSE from SPI. I have a copy around here that's probably 25 years old. A google search on it, however, suggests that the last played game might have been fairly recent -- say within the past five years.