It has been ages since I played James Bond.  I did get the "Classified" clone of it and read through that recently.  My sense is that the biggest "drawback" it has as a game is that it is heavily focused on a subset of the sub-genre of action/spy thrillers centered on James Bond movies.  I don't think it translates well to anything else, even some other action or spy settings.  Well, that and like any game heavily focused on "modern times", it is easy for it to become rapidly dated.  Of course, if what you want is to do James Bond, it is difficult to beat it.  

Funny, because Dragon Quest is built on very similar mechanics as James Bond.  I love DQ.  The Bond version of those mechanics have held up better than the DQ version, in part because the genre is narrower.

Certainly Maelstrom.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1121379Do you have an old forgotten favorite from the early days of the hobby that has never gotten the love it deserves?

Is there a RPG from those days that deserves a rebound? If so, what makes it special?

Twilight:2000.  It's fantastic alt-history, and it delves into a scenario where the world could (possibly) rebound from nuclear devastation (and indeed, it does, in 2300 AD).  It is to Gamma World as Cyberpunk 2020 is to Shadowrun.  A grittier, darker vision of the future with very little to no "weird" stuff in it (although seeing the need for that, a supplement called Twilight Nightmares was released which gives options for Zombies, time-travel, Cthulhu-like monsters, aliens etc. showing up in the game).

But core v.1 timeline T2k is awesome.  There's no need to "update" the timeline to try and make it fit current events.  They tried that with v.2, 2.2 and then later the well-meaning but poorly done Twilight: 2013, and they just kind of fell flat.  Leave the game steeped in Cold War era visions of a nuclear future and you've got a hell of a good game.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1121686It has been ages since I played James Bond.  I did get the "Classified" clone of it and read through that recently.  

There was another clone called "Double Zero" years ago (early 2000s). IIRC, the author took my advice and swapped the Q results so that Q1 was the worst result and Q4 was the best (to facilitate multi-action challenges).

I was on the guy's mailing list when he sent out an update that said, "If you don't support abortion, do not buy my book." It came completely out of nowhere and was the first time I'd seen an RPG author purity test their audience.

QuoteMy sense is that the biggest "drawback" it has as a game is that it is heavily focused on a subset of the sub-genre of action/spy thrillers centered on James Bond movies.  I don't think it translates well to anything else, even some other action or spy settings.

The car chase rules had some great ideas and I could see this game working for a Fast & Furious or Mission Impossible style of setting.

Wizards' World. This game is from 1983 and never got the love it was due. Every race has it's own unique stats including NPC's and Monsters. It is math heavy during creation but this is more than made up for in play. It is back in print from Goblinoid Games
Another one is FTL: 2448 it is a science fiction game that wrote as a response to Traveller. It is available on CD-Rom from Tri-Tac games.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1121686My sense is that the biggest "drawback" it has as a game is that it is heavily focused on a subset of the sub-genre of action/spy thrillers centered on James Bond movies.  I don't think it translates well to anything else, even some other action or spy settings.

Quote from: hedgehobbit;1121810The car chase rules had some great ideas and I could see this game working for a Fast & Furious or Mission Impossible style of setting.

On the one hand, when I've personally used James Bond 007, it was for within the James Bond setting. But the core system itself seems easy to use for something like Mission Impossible or other superspy settings. It just means that one can't use the background material as-is.

Quote from: jhkim;1121832On the one hand, when I've personally used James Bond 007, it was for within the James Bond setting. But the core system itself seems easy to use for something like Mission Impossible or other superspy settings. It just means that one can't use the background material as-is.

Yeah, that is why I was a bit wishy-washy in my statement.  There's a radius of genre around "James Bond" in which it wouldn't be that hard to use it.  Then as you edge away from that, it gets less and less viable.  

The chase rules are a great example, because they fit "action movie/thriller/spy" chases pretty much perfect.  You aren't going to do Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with James Bond, though (or at least not without some serious twisting).

1. FGU's Space Opera. Another response to Traveller. The rules are a kitchen-sink hodge-podge. That setting, though. Love that setting.

2. The Morrow Project. Again, less the rules and more the setting. (Bruce Morrow my Batarang! Bruce Wayne, more like.)

Quote from: Spinachcat;1121379Do you have an old forgotten favorite from the early days of the hobby that has never gotten the love it deserves?
Is there a RPG from those days that deserves a rebound? If so, what makes it special?

Some games from the '70s and early '80s that probably deserve a second life:

- Ghostbusters
- Lace & Steel (I've heard good things about Flashing Blades, too, but haven't played it)
- Amber Diceless
- Thieves Guild
- Lords of Creations (I've thought about running this for a World of Tiers campaign)

Others that are probably better off dead and forgotten:

- Phantasy Conclave (I just picked a copy of this up at the end of last year---I never owned it as a kid, but played some games at conventions BITD)
- Ysgarth
- Element Masters (another game I only played at cons)
- Flash Gordon & the Warriors of Mongo (another FGU title; I haven't played this, but did pick it up as a possible sourcebook for use as a Castle Greyhawk level sometime )

Allan.

I'm quite fond of Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder.  Magic World has one of my very favorite magic systems.

Sword Bearer was neat and had a neat magic system.  It needed some setting support but sadly Heritage didn't survive to do anything with it.  I really regret not picking up all their plastic miniature sets.

The cool thing about Space Opera is that they really give you Bolos and Power Guns and Dial a Guns and various other classic hardware.  It's very much over the top Space Opera.  I've always been a bit disappointed that they didn't do a bit more with ship to ship weapons which are pretty much limited to blasters and torpedoes.

Quote from: grodog;1122039Some games from the '70s and early '80s that probably deserve a second life:

- Lords of Creations (I've thought about running this for a World of Tiers campaign)

Allan.

I've often considered that myself

Chaosium need to redo the BRP book, with a brand new version of Worlds of Wonder attached to it.
I know Advanced Fighting Fantasy has been redone, but it really needs to have more profile than it currently has.
Also a new slim edition of Tunnels & Trolls would be good as well.

Quote from: Mankcam;1122333Chaosium need to redo the BRP book, with a brand new version of Worlds of Wonder attached to it.
I know Advanced Fighting Fantasy has been redone, but it really needs to have more profile than it currently has.
Also a new slim edition of Tunnels & Trolls would be good as well.

+1, or rather +2/3 (I don't care about Tunnels and Trolls).

Quote from: Mankcam;1122333Also a new slim edition of Tunnels & Trolls would be good as well.

Flying Buffalo is working on a 2-volume split of the existing Deluxe rules, so that the core rules are in one smaller book.

They also found and are selling some copies of the 5th edition rules printed in the UK if you just want a trimmer reference now.

Quote from: RandyB;11218361. FGU's Space Opera. Another response to Traveller. The rules are a kitchen-sink hodge-podge. That setting, though. Love that setting.

The interesting thing is that Space Opera is built on top of and compatible with the Space Marine miniatures game from 1977.  So the rpg elements really are tacked on.  I wish they'd done a bit more with starship combat.