Desert Island RPG

[Darrin Drader]

1. Pathfinder Core Rulebook
2. Pathfinder Bestiary
3. GURPS 4th Characters
4. GURPS 4th Campaigns
5. Babylon 5 RPG 2nd edition

 

[Betote]

I'll try not to be witty:

* D&D Rules Cyclopedia. The best D&D one can find in just one book.
* Call of Cthulhu v5.6. I was torn between this one and Trail of Cthulhu, but I went with the classic, as it has a broader scope.
* Mongoose Traveller Core Book. Enough for any sci-fi setting. The planet generation tables are a big plus.
* Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition. Great for its own setting and for any superspies/secret agents gme.
* Fudge. For anything else.

Also, I would prefer just that solar-powered laptop to write my own homebrews. But the game is (or so I choose to interpret it) about published books, so this is it

 

[Janx]

i don't know if that program for laptops for kids in africa is still going on, but $200 got you a linux based laptop with a 4-shade LCD screen, and it had wifi and some tech for charging.

I'd bring Piratecat. I don't know him. We've never talked. But his posts and Rep make him out to be a good GM. Once I bring him to the Island, I'm sure I can hive fun with all sorts of games.

 

[Pramas]

Leaving aside things I've worked on:

1. Pendragon: Still my favorite RPG.
2. D&D Rules Cyclopedia: My favorite iteration of D&D.
3. James Bond 007: A game ahead of its time.
4. Call of Cthulhu: Need I say more?
5. Warhammer Quest: It does have a roleplaying book in it, and this would net me a giant box of minis and tiles to use with other games as well.

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Festivus]

So there are only two of us on the island? That certainly narrows things down for my choices:

1. Basic Fantasy - Because I can make up fantasy adventures for a single player really easily with that (I opt for this over Basic D&D because I find the rules make more sense to me)
2. Villians and Vigilantes - Because I can make up super hero adventures for a single player really easily.
3. Boot Hill - Because I can make up a western adventure for a single player really easily.
4. Gamma World - Because I can make up a post apocolyptic adventure for a single player really easily.
5. Top Secret! - Because I can make up an espionage adventure for a single player really easily.

Ok, I am heading back to 1982 I guess.

Edit: Who to take with me? Tough call. Probably Bullgrit since I know he likes the older editions

 

[coyote6]

Ok, I am heading back to 1982 I guess.

Judging from the time travel, you are stuck on the island from Lost.

 

[bardolph]

1. 4ed Player's Handbook (post-errata edition)
2. 4ed Monster Manual
3. 4ed Monster Manual 2
4. 4ed Dungeon Master's Guide (post-errata edition)
5. War of the Burning Sky, 4ed Compendium (assuming I got stranded after the release of this product).

If I was stranded on a desert island, I would want a "ready-to-play" RPG, so I can focus my time between sessions on stuff like, maybe, getting off the island.

 

[karlindel]

Being limited to only one player cuts down on the utility of a lot of systems. I will also note that specifying only 5 RPG books rather than only 5 RPGs benefits games that are more compressed (i.e. it's hard to justify 3/5 of the selections for a single game). I'll assume that I also have anything needed to play the games (i.e. pencil, paper, dice).

Selections:
Dresden Files RPG - Your Story
Dresden Files RPG - Our World
Hero System 5th Edition
Fading Suns 2nd Edition
Ptolus

Honorable Mentions:
Starblazer Adventures
Earthdawn Player's Compendium
Earthdawn Gamemaster's Compendium
War of the Burning Sky Compendium


I love the Dresden Files, and it would be good to have as reading material, as I haven't read it yet, and it's also something I would love to play. Hero System is just fun to build characters for, and can be used for any genre. Ptolus is great for generating tons of ideas for medieval fantasy games. Fading Suns is one of my favorite science fiction games, and I love the world.

For the honorable mentions: Starblazer Adventures is massive and would be very useful (ony losing out as it is FATE-based as is Dresden Files). Earthdawn is a fun read and also has a ton of material in those two books, but doesn't make the cut because like D&D it's really meant for multiple players, and it would eat up two slots on the list. War of the Burning Sky loses to Ptolus as I prefer having a more open setting to having an adventure path.

 

[MortonStromgal]

1. Desolation
2. Dark Ages Vampire
3. Shadowrun 3e
4. Witchhunter: The Invisible War
5. GURPS 3e

Disclaimer, I tried to pick games where I could get a lot of mileage out of a single core book.