Obscure RPGs

[the Lorax]

A few of my favorites from my collection of old RPGs-
M.I.S.S.I.O.N. and KABAL (same rules, Modern and Fantasy respectively)
Jorune (still have it in its pre-release box)
Stormbringer (which our group switched to playing for almost a year during the D&D = Satan worship craze of the late 80s - the YMCA where we played said we had to stop playing D&D but could play any other game - and if you are familair with the game and setting is hilarious)

 

[Evilhalfling]

My favorite obscure game:
Beasts, Men, and Gods - we played with two photocopied sets in 3 ring binders.
TMNT - mutant ninja rhino teams kick but.

huh I have played a lot of D&D .....

 

[Glyfair]

A couple of obscure RPGs I'm aware of, but never owned that I haven't seen mentioned:

Rocky & Bullwinkle Roleplaying Party Game: What other RPG came with hand puppets? None other were cool enough! Friends of mine owned this, although I don't recall playing. I do remember them opening the box and going over the stuff.

Oh yeah, and it came from TSR. I still think it's obscure.

There was also a soap opera RPG licensed off one of the major franchises. IIRC, it was the All My Children RPG, all though I might be wrong about that. I don't know anyone who ever bothered with it though.

BTW, the ultimate list of obsure (and non-obscure) RPGs is here.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I have this, and I have to admit to two very conflicting feelings about it. On one hand, I think it's well-written and fun to read. On the other hand, it's a storytelling game whose actual rules could have been handled with maybe two paragraphs. I think it's worth having, don't get me wrong, but I can't imagine myself or anyone else I've ever gamed with ever playing it - except maybe as an adjunct to the main RPG we were playing, and even then the reasons to do so would be few and far between. But it does have a nice distillation of the Baron's exploits that can be used as adventure hooks.

Heh, I played it many times - mostly in a bar (Gritty McDuff's) with SCAdians from East Realm. On one occasion, following a boffa fight it was decided to actually duel (with the boffa weapons) rather than use the simplified combat system.

I also ran one game at a LARP - where the players were playing Changelings playing drunken nobles lying merrily as they sat in the public areas of the freehold. Eventually some non-Changelings joined in (we Changelings had brought a popcorn popper to the LARP - we were amazingly popular that night... everyone wanted popcorn, even the Giovanni). Very silly, very Changeling, and probably my favorite memory of LARPing. (LARPers LARPing LARPers....)

As for Late, Late, Late Show... Dang it! I meant to mention that one. The only problem with the game is that I never wanted to run it, I wanted to play it, dang it all!

The Auld Grump, cussing like a very young sailor there....

 

[ColonelHardisson]

It Came From The Late, Late Late Show

Yep, I have that. Another of the many I haven't gotten a chance to play. The good thing about a lot of these older games is that they're pretty rules-light, so they could be used as a good beer & pretzels game or a way to introduce non-gamers into gaming.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have owned about 1/4 of the games listed here...but I sold most of the more obscure ones to make space & buy novels to donate to the troops. I do still own my copies of Stormbringer (Hawkmoon & Corum as well!), Torg and everything in the Space:1889 line (except the minis), though.

I'll add some of the ones that I still have that I don't think have been mentioned:

Melee/Wizard/Advanced Wizard/In the Labyrinth: the quasi-RPG/Fantasy Wargame from MicroGames that eventually became GURPS from SJG.

Underground: a dystopic cyberpunk superhero game made by Mayfair games.

Everway: an interesting offer from WotC's own Johnathon Tweet...I have almost all of the cards that go with it (it was semi-collectible).

Primal Order: a "capsystem" for semidivine to divine beings and their agents from WotC...really cool stuff for roleplaying conflicts on all levels of reality

Universe: by SPI, it was an excellent hard sci-fi game that would have given Traveller a run for its money...had there been any support for it. AFAIK, there was only the initial box set, then nothing.

Brave New World: a slightly dark supers game with middling mechanics. Best for its cynical illuminati-esque setting.

I also own almost all of the Tom Wham games published in Dragon, a near complete collection of the Lost Worlds game books (along with some Ace of Aces books).

Also in the collection are a bunch of Microgames, TSR Minigames, and Task Force Games mini games, that are quasi-ancestors to the Cheapass Games of today.

 

[Talmun]

Three more

Some that I own and haven’t seen mentioned here:

SenZar – It’s awful. Even the website is bad.

Feng Shui – Fast paced and lots of fun.

Lacuna – I love this game. Really, really love it…so much so that I write fiction based in the setting.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I also have a playtest copy of an unpublished game called A.C.E.: The Advanced Conflict Environment (by GURPS contributor, Ben Ellinger) that was floating around Austin in the 1990s, and R. Talsorian's Dream Park (based on the books of the same name).

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

The most obscure RPGs I own are both pro wrestling related; Whit Publications "WWF Basic Adventure Game"

I helped design, playtest, and edit that one...

My favorite character was my heel, "The Foreign Object" who would come into each match with a different outrageous accent and a different, thematically-appropriate foreign object stuffed down his spandex-- a big Italian salami, a bottle of French perfume, etc.

Several other Whit games have been mentioned-- add Mutazoids to the list. Of course, these games aren't obscure to me.

Let me tell you-- there is no worse job than editing Ken Whitman's writing. Cleaning the Augean stables pales in comparison.

 

[Henry]

My favorite, for which very little has been seen in 7 years, has been Aetherco's Continuum game, the "game of time-travelling societies." Created by the lady and gents who created the Yamara comic from years past, it was cool as heck but really died from lack of popularity except in tiny circles, from what I could tell.

In a nutshell: History IS this way, but people want to screw it up. Now go and make it fit! It was four parts time corps, 3 parts inventive history and creative strategizing on the players' parts, two parts psychology-sociology experiment, and one part Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. The one time I got to run several sessions, it was great fun, and the players found their characters "godlike yet limited at the same time." I'm just sad the game has pretty much disappeared from public awareness. I think the perception is that it's too hard to comprehend and run easily.