RPG First 11

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Or 11 Games every gamer should play before they fail their saving throw vs. death

This post was inspired by the post on Dane of War’s blog now on Geekcentricity.

In alphabetical order are eleven games that I think are really worth your time and money. These are all games that I have played on a regular basis, and have reasonable knowledge of. They cover several different genres and eras.

7th Sea – excellent Swashbuckling fun and writing a last minute review for Valkyrie got me a foot in the door of writing.

Call of Cthulhu / Delta Green – The best post gothic horror game(s).

Conspiracy X – If the X-Files had been an RPG this is the game it would have been

Deadlands (original system) – Had great fun playing this and loved its slightly quirky system.  Keeping to just ten games forced a difficult choice and this didn’t quite make it so I decided to go with 11 instead.

D&D 3.5 (Specifically Ravenloft) – My favourite incarnation of the most famous RPG ever. 2nd Edition with the annoying bits sorted out.

Hong Kong Action Theatre (1st Edition not the BESM version) – With or without the meta game elements this is a very cool martial arts Role Playing Game. It might not have had Feng Shui’s graphic design but I found it played and ran both smoother and faster which for the genre beats artwork hands down.

Over the Edge – If one game has made me think harder and longer about how RPGs should work and how settings should be put together I can’t think of one. One day I will run a game set in San Serriffe using Over the Edge.

Paranoia –The first RPG I ever played. A rarity – a comedy RPG that works.

SLA Industries – I can’t really explain it but something in SLA speaks to me – it’s probably the subtle, subversive, dark Britishness beneath its surface.

Strange Grogge (Wessex Games) – This excellent, small press, fantasy Swashbuckling game is great fun.  Plus you get both an RPG and a skirmish wargame in one book without one compromising the other because the rules are so simple.

Tunnels and Trolls – The other classic fantasy RPG.  Do I really need to say more?

Reserve: Legend of the Five Rings – This would have made the list if 7th Sea wasn’t on it already. Unfair of me really. Brilliant game and setting but I’ve made it sit on the bench.

 

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