What is, in your opinion, the single WORST RPG ever made, and why is it so bad?

[Bedrockgames]

@Thomas Shey was referring to OSR and "story" games, that were responses to 1990s and 2000s RPGs. So I don't think that V:tM would be an example.

I think there was just bitterness between these two camps sometimes. I can't remember a game that from either camp that was marketed with attacks against the other. I do remember some OSR books that would challenge the play styles they were reacting against but that was kind of necessary to explain themselves (and they were not reacting to storygames but things like railroads or 90s style storytelling)

 

[Arilyn]

Yep. No dice. No random element at all!
That makes the game about the player's choices rather than about the vicissitudes of chance.

There were some really good ideas in the game that, unfortunately, were badly implemented. Energy was super important and characters ran through it way too fast. Gambit couldn't throw many charged up cards, which seemed weird. I made a character who could drain energy and he was way too tough. The GM house ruled a lot of fixes, got stubborn about the game, but eventually threw his hands up in despair. Maybe devopment was rushed?

 

[Thomas Shey]

@Thomas Shey was referring to OSR and "story" games, that were responses to 1990s and 2000s RPGs. So I don't think that V:tM would be an example.

No, I was including the sort of games he was referring to too. It was splashed across anything that claimed it was taking a new tact at the time (well, not everything, but it wasn't uncommon, especially once you started to read the text). As that poster noted it was even more common among the fandom (a lot of OSR people were really blatant about it--there were whole forums which added up to "play (OSR game of choice) because D&D now sucks.") It wasn't exactly uncommon on USEnet either.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think there was just bitterness between these two camps sometimes. I can't remember a game that from either camp that was marketed with attacks against the other. I do remember some OSR books that would challenge the play styles they were reacting against but that was kind of necessary to explain themselves (and they were not reacting to storygames but things like railroads or 90s style storytelling)

Saying you did things in a better way may have been just typical marketing speak. But I thought a lot of it went farther than that.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Saying you did things in a better way may have been just typical marketing speak. But I thought a lot of it went farther than that.

I think if we are talking about the post 2000s story and OSR divide, I agree a lot of the rhetoric went further than that (and a lot of the rhetoric towards other styles of play went further than that). But was it in the actual marketing?

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think if we are talking about the post 2000s story and OSR divide, I agree a lot of the rhetoric went further than that (and a lot of the rhetoric towards other styles of play went further than that). But was it in the actual marketing?

Good question. I certainly saw it from actual game creators on occasion, but its 20 odd years ago now. I think there was certainly some dodgy text in the actual works, but I won't swear it was in cover blurbs or the like.

 

[Deset Gled]

I think if we are talking about the post 2000s story and OSR divide, I agree a lot of the rhetoric went further than that (and a lot of the rhetoric towards other styles of play went further than that). But was it in the actual marketing?

The first game that I can find (with 5 minutes of googling) that advertises by using the word "grognard" as selling point was published on DriveThruRPG on 2004 (which is also the year that site went online).

North Africa Theater by Dream Pod 9:

DriveThruRPG

preview.drivethrurpg.com

I don't know if that counts as rhetoric, but it shows that the old-vs-new debate was crossing into the marketing for indie stuff 20 years ago.

 

[Dire Bare]

Tons of games did this sort of thing. There was another one, and I can't recall which is was, that had as its marketing "Stop playing a 1st level loser". But I mean these were competing products, it isn't like there isa rule the have to be polite to each other. Some of the attempts were funny (like the first level loser one that still makes me laugh) and some were more eye rolling or just aged weird)

Talislanta - "No elves!"

 

[niklinna]

Talislanta - "No elves!"

Heh, I just looked it up, and the title of their main page is "Still No Elves!"

 

[Thomas Shey]

Heh, I just looked it up, and the title of their main page is "Still No Elves!"

Which was always particularly eye-rolling since Talislanta probably has a half dozen variations of elves-in-everything-but-name.