Gangbusters and Gangbusters 3rd edition

[HellHound]

Addendum - to make matters worse, it is very hard to find information about the two editions, because they have the same stock number - 7009

Also, the third edition title is a misnomer. It was because it was released in 1990, the same year as Boot Hill Third Edition. The cover says New 3rd Edition on it, but the interior indicates credits for the second edition instead, and only lists the two copyright dates - 1982, 1990.

 

[Henry]

Oh yeah, and the third edition smells distinctly of cat urine. But that *may* just be my copy.

Note to Self: Get Guarantee of Non-Urination on any purchases from 'Hound...

 

[HellHound]

No problem there, Henry. I don't sell ANYTHING from my collection of RPG antiquities. Even the smelly ones.

 

[Henry]

I wish I had that kind of Space and Fortitude. I've probably sold or given away in the past as much as I own NOW.

 

[SWBaxter]

I don't know what exactly is planned, but I *do* know that WotC is not willing to license those product line names at this time, so I figure they have SOMETHING planned for them (or maybe I'm just to small-fry to consider licensing agreements with - but that's too depressing so I'll go with the "they have other plans" theory instead).

Always have to keep the hope up, I guess. But plans, schmans - all I really want to see is reprints of "Ballots and Bullets", "Death on the Docks", etc. with d20 Modern statblocks. Heck, I'll take 'em without the statblocks. WOTC's handling of the d20 Modern line does not inspire me to confidence as to their ultimate plans, unfortunately.

 

[SweeneyTodd]

We played it, and it had a fairly odd twist of play that I had never seen at the time.

You were expected to play characters on opposite sides of the law if you so desired.

The lines drawn between in-character and out-of-character info were crucial to play.

It's true, there were a lot of elements in GB that I didn't see again in a RPG until a few years ago.

The default method of play didn't involve a PC party, and might have several sides working at cross purposes (a FBI agent trying to stop a criminal's plot, with a journalist uncovering the story and causing trouble to both). Although there were levels and XP, you only advanced by achieving goals relevant to your profession. And if you got good enough, there were provisions for being retired from play without explicitly giving up the character -- a high level gangster could continue advancement off the profits from his speakeasies and numbers business, and a high level journalist might become nationally syndicated.

There was also a fair amount of solid advice for player-driven play. Criminals could commit petty crimes till they raised a stake to go into extortion or loansharking. I think private eyes and law officers were the only ones who had to wait around for plot hooks from the GM.

All that cool stuff, and unfortunately we never did more than play cops & robbers skirmishes. Well, I *was* ten years old at the time.

 

[grodog]

GB is was much fun back in the day, so much so that I ended up buying several sets on eBay (not remembering that I'd already bought one, or two, or three...). So, if anyone's particularly jonesing for some solid GB RPing, shoot me an email: I'm sure we can work out a trade or purchase

 

[Vonlok The Bold]

Thanks for all the info. I was heavily involved in both Gangbusters and Boothill campaigns back in the day. They were both a blast.

And Teflon Billy was right about keeping specific knowledge ooc. It was kind of cool. The one drawback with the game was if you were a cop you might be waiting for a while during the time the journalist pc played, and vice versa.

In our game it worked out ok because I was a PI. I would be involved in a case. Most of the rest were criminals who formed gangs and worked together. And we had one FBI agent. He was usually on the case after the criminals.

The funny thing was that the criminals in our group would always do strange things. My favorite was when they formed the Santa Clause gang and dressed like Santa Clause for all their capers.

I was too imature to play Top Secret the right way. I was too in love with the freedom of the modern world, and I would usually take high powered weapons and waste time and effort robbing a 7-11, and stealing cars in the game. It got pretty boring, and I wish I had played the game more earnestly now.

 

[HellHound]

I was too imature to play Top Secret the right way. I was too in love with the freedom of the modern world, and I would usually take high powered weapons and waste time and effort robbing a 7-11, and stealing cars in the game. It got pretty boring, and I wish I had played the game more earnestly now.

One of my Top Secret groups was very much like that. And that's something that plagues many modern RPGs to this day.

I've even seen it stagger into Vampire games...

But Top Secret remains one of my FAVE RPGs of all time. No matter how much my wife hates it... (sigh)