Obscure RPGs

[Flynn]

I saw a copy of Synnibarr once. I was tempted to buy it. I didn't.

I should have.

A friend of mine got it and tried to run a session. None of us had an Engineering degree, so we couldn't understand the higher level math equations needed to actually handle the basics of combat, so we faked it for a session or two. It's got some neat ideas, but the game mechanics sucked... hard. They even released a player's guide (The Ultimate Adventurer's Guide), which I never saw but apparently made the game even more complicated.

I finally found a copy at Half Priced Books, and decided to pick it up for the sake of the occasional laugh.

Enjoy,
Flynn

 

[Cyberknight]

Extreme Vengeance
Zero
both by Archangel Entertainment that I won at Winter Fantasy raffle some years back

I also won Groo the card game. We had some fun with Groo but never even tried the RPG's.

 

[Heckler]

I think I still have a copy of Space Opera laying around somewhere, though I don't think we ever played it.

I should still have Toon, which I've played a couple of times.

Also, Lords of Creation, which we played once or twice. I thought it was an interesting game with some potential, but it never caught on. Of course, I was like 13 at the time, so what did I know.

 

[DMH]

Anyone remember Hunter Planet? That's another Australian RPG.

The "GM" was called the "CM" in that game, which could stand for many things, but the designers preferred "Certified Maniac".

Check out post #26.

Another game that is unfortunately obscure on my shelf is Mechanical Dream.

 

[Theron]

At Origins '84 in Dallas (this was back in the olden tymes before Origins found a home in Columbus), some guy quite literally walked up and handed me a copy of an RPG he'd published called Treasures of the Third Reich. It was a simple, short, Xeroxed and stapled pulp action game. Needless to say, I never saw a copy in a store and I've never encountered anyone else who'd even heard of it.

Another one of my favorite obscure ones is Yaquinto's Pirates & Plunder, which was notable for two things: a learn-as-you-go adventure format that taught players the various rules bits throughout the course of the story, and the complete and utter lack of rules for sailing vessels or anything nautical. Yes, a pirate game without ships. And they wonder why it failed...

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Oh man...Space Opera!! I remember a friend of mine got that for christmas wayyyyyy back in 1983 or 84. We never got around to playing it but it was really cool to have something that wasn't basic D&D.

I played one long campaign in it. For SciFi we mostly played Universe, though. But Space Opera had the best starship creation rules I've ever seen.

 

[Capellan]

Some weird RPG about a fantasy world with superheroes, where everyone had wings I never can remember the name of it.

Providence, I suspect.

 

[jmucchiello]

Another one of my favorite obscure ones is Yaquinto's Pirates & Plunder, which was notable for two things: a learn-as-you-go adventure format that taught players the various rules bits throughout the course of the story, and the complete and utter lack of rules for sailing vessels or anything nautical. Yes, a pirate game without ships. And they wonder why it failed...

Most likely planned for a future splatbook.

I have the FGU bunnies and burrows on the shelf next to me. It's a wonderful spoof of AD&D except, they were serious.

I don't think Bushido counts as obscure though. It was advertised in the Dragon for 5 or 6 years. That's not how obscure works.

Macho Women with Guns would be more obscure if it hadn't been updated by Mongoose. But the BTRC version is awesome.

Like Buck Rogers, does Gangbusters count as obscure?

 

[3catcircus]

As was previously mentioned - Lords of Creation by Tom Moldvay, how bad could it be?

It actually shows some D&D influences, but is otherwise a nifty little game with a really cool premise: start out as a nobody and eventually become a "Lord of Creation" - a Q-like character who can master space and time.

I've also got another obscure but really cool game: Delta Force (Task Force Games). I don't know how realistic the rules were, but they certainly gave a "feel" for being an elite commando. Unfortunately, the game suffered from the 1980's political situation: after rescuing hostages and attacking Moammar Khadafi, there wasn't much more substance to the game. I imagine that if it were given a proper treatment in regards to reasonable long-term campaigns , it would still do well today. For inspiration, I highly recommend Eric Haney's "Inside Delta Force."

 

[Bayushi Seikuro]

Orkworld by John Wick, the man behind the Legend of the Five Rings rpg and Seventh Sea.

What I enjoy about Orkworld is... literally 7/8 of the book is culture and world info, history and lore, about the world the players, who are orks, live in.

Some examples:
Dwarves want to perfect swordsmanship, the whole Riddle of Steel thing. They are typical dwarves - shtoonties, they're called.

Humans are like the Roman Empire, out to conquer the world.

Elves are perfect. Literally. However, they are magic-energy beings, who take over bodies and shape them. Elves are terrifying because their moral code comes down to not right and wrong, but Strength and Weakness. Wick takes great lengths in talking about their beliefs with real-world analogies, like the author who lived on ramen and mac and cheese, who framed his first rejection letter over where he worked, and kept at it and kept at it; as he says in there, "His name is Stephen King, by the way."

Halflings - rhoontees as they're called - were hunted to extinction by the Humans. They were peaceful, very Shirefolk like, and went out to meet the humans. The Human Emperor immediately offered a gold coin per rhoontee killed. So, they're no more.

Like I said... a very interesting world with interesting concepts, like the concept of Trouble. Basically, everyone's born with Trouble. Some people have little Trouble, and have easy lives. Others have A LOT OF TROUBLE, and if they're strong, they manage and somehow continue on; heroes have Trouble.

Enough of a rant. Look it up sometime.