Let's Talk About Fantasy heartbreaks and other FRPGs

Mezuka · Jan 14, 2022

I remembered last evening DragonQuest by SPI (1980). I recall playing one or two games of the second edition (1982). The GM said it did everything better than AD&D. Not sure why we didn't continue playing it. Qualifies as a hearbreaker.

A third edition was published by TSR in 1989. WoTC must have that in their boxes somewhere.

DragonQuest - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

TheSword · Jan 14, 2022

My favourite non-D&D RPG is unsurprisingly WFRP (I do keep trying to bang that drum on EN World).

The 1e version was also the first ever game I DM’d for my brother and a school friend, as a tender 14 yo. The module was Rough Night at the Three Feathers. It went something like this…

“Looking around the bar you see furthest away from you is a large group of travelers surrounding and waiting on a noble lady.

On the table nearest the door, three cultists… I mean farmers are quietly drinking.”

Suffice to say, I’ve never lived it down.

Willie the Duck · Jan 14, 2022

aramis erak said:
Palladium Fantasy. Great setting, mediocre rules.

Oh, shoot! Scratch my previous answer, this had to be my first non-D&D fantasy RPG!

I agree, it was an inventive alternate game setting on top of rules I'd call different, but not noticeably better or worse than AD&D.

Voadam · Jan 14, 2022

I vaguely remember playing my dwarf protagonist in what I think was the sample 1e WFRP corebook adventure. We started off entering a tavern and ordering some food and drinks and checking out the other shady patrons and staff. Immediately I had to make a check because the tavern owner regularly poisoned the food to knockout strangers and sell them into slavery. Dwarfen toughness FTW in a system where everyone's rolls are terrible.

eyeheartawk · Jan 14, 2022

Mannahnin said:
Yup. Jeff Rients wrote years ago about how they fell into the trifecta position of Retro/Stupid/Awesome. Raven used to run a hell of a game. Wild guy, and when I was playing with him just full of ideas and charisma and dramatic energy. That game was very much an advanced expression of how a game can look when a really creative GM full of D&D and comic book ideas just builds on his own house-ruled system and iterates it repeatedly over a decade and more.

Wait!

You played with Raven?!

Please more details!

I need more information. Was he anything like his public persona? What are some surprising facts about him? Like, was he also into model trains?

Voadam · Jan 14, 2022

Willie the Duck said:
Oh, shoot! Scratch my previous answer, this had to be my first non-D&D fantasy RPG!

I agree, it was an inventive alternate game setting on top of rules I'd call different, but not noticeably better or worse than AD&D.

Palladium (1e at least) had Physical Endurance stat (constitution) as bonus hp (so much less one shots at low level), a parry and dodge mechanic (fights take a little longer to resolve), and percentile skills. Otherwise a lot like old D&D with some different classes, races, and magic systems.

Mannahnin · Jan 14, 2022

eyeheartawk said:
Wait!

You played with Raven?!

Please more details!

I need more information. Was he anything like his public persona? What are some surprising facts about him? Like, was he also into model trains?

I'm not sure what would qualify as surprising. He had sung in rock bands, lived on the street and busked for money (told a story about having to fight a guy over a good busking spot at Pike Place Market), worked a day job as a draftsman at Boeing. He had a sweet late 80s/early-90s style mullet, black and vibrant, with a Tom Selleck-level mustache. Guy had charisma for days. I saw him wolf whistle at an older woman on the street once and she turned, saw his grin, and grinned back. Tons of energy, and stage experience showed in his GMing.

Blue Orange · Jan 14, 2022

I always felt bad when people compared Synnibarr to F.A.T.A.L. Synnibarr wasn't hateful and was really just Rifts turned up to 11. At the very least you could buy the book (I found a copy in an FLGS ages ago) for ideas to mine, which meant Raven got a few pennies.

eyeheartawk · Jan 14, 2022

Mannahnin said:
I'm not sure what would qualify as surprising. He had sung in rock bands, lived on the street and busked for money (told a story about having to fight a guy over a good busking spot at Pike Place Market), worked a day job as a draftsman at Boeing. He had a sweet late 80s/early-90s style mullet, black and vibrant, with a Tom Selleck-level mustache. Guy had charisma for days. I saw him wolf whistle at an older woman on the street once and she turned, saw his grin, and grinned back. Tons of energy, and stage experience showed in his GMing.

I love this so much.

In my head I always imagined him as the Wesley Willis of RPGs ( in only a good way).

Please know that this made my year.

If I could I would gift you all the Moonstone Bazooka Cannons.

Jer · Jan 14, 2022

Blue Orange said:
I always felt bad when people compared Synnibarr to F.A.T.A.L. Synnibarr wasn't hateful and was really just Rifts turned up to 11. At the very least you could buy the book (I found a copy in an FLGS ages ago) for ideas to mine, which meant Raven got a few pennies.

Synnibar is amazing - I feel like it was just ahead of its time. Not in mechanics, but in its gonzo approach.

I've been very tempted to use the D&D 4e Gamma World engine to try to run a Synnibar campaign, though actually a straight-up D&D 4e game might be an equally good choice...

(Nobody should compare Synnibar to FATAL. Synnibar is overflowing with ideas, while FATAL is an offensive unfunny joke repeated over hundreds of pages.)