Roleplaying Games of the 1970s (and very early 80s)


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Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator
Staff member
Supporter
Hmmmm...early RPGs?

I had AD&D and Basic in 1977. As I recall, I got into Traveller in the next year or so, but didn’t own the books until some decades later.

Next came the MicroGames Melee, Wizard and the RPG that spawned from them, The Fantasy Trip/In the Labyrinth. I also picked up a host of other MicroGames/Steve Jackson Games- O.G.R.E., G.E.V., Car Wars, Helltank, Hot Spot and others. plus similar mini games from TSR and Task Force Games. Star Fleet Battles and Starfire also joined my library, along with a few Avalon Hill games. Somewhere in there, I picked up the card game, Nuclear War.

I picked up Champions as soon as it hit the shelves, and bought every edition after that (except Fuzion). And I got the first edition of Stormbringer.

And that was pretty much it for a decade or so. I bought revisions or expansions of the games I owned, but didn’t continue to expand my horizons.

Then I kinda went RPG crazy 1990-1994, adding to the collection quickly and broadly. Eventually, the collection hit over 100 RPGs, dozens of board games, and M:tG (plus a couple other CCGs),
 

TerraDave

5ever, or until 2024
At the time, knew of the TSR games, Runequest, Traveler, Rolemaster (sold as a D&D supplement), Arduin, a few others. But D&D, in its various versions, certainly was the king.

But...
 

TerraDave

5ever, or until 2024
There were so many:


 

TerraDave

5ever, or until 2024
Continuing from two posts above, I can't believe I left off Call of Cthulhu. Actually played that, Start Frontiers, Gamma World, Arduin. (And some of the "semi-roleplaying" games like Car Wars).

EDIT: AND Fasa Star Trek and Palladium Fantasy (but played it later). Also the TSR Marvel one and Twiligt 2000, but those are more mid 1980s.
 
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aramis erak

Legend
I just realized I forgot to mention that I was aware of Boot Hill and Gamma World in 1981 - due to the conversions in AD&D - but wouldn't actually see a copy of either until the 1990's.
 

aramis erak

Legend
There were so many:


Some of the posters could use a trip through to get their dates correct...
Such as having AD&D in 77? not possible unless you worked at TSR... or only had the MM, as only the MM was released in 77. PHB was 78, and DMG 79... I do recall looking through the MM and PHB in 1978 at the Ft. Rich commissary... My mother said no... (but I grew up with books of mythology and archaeology as bedtime reading...)
 

I just realized I forgot to mention that I was aware of Boot Hill and Gamma World in 1981 - due to the conversions in AD&D - but wouldn't actually see a copy of either until the 1990's.
Likewise for awareness, but what I could figure out about them from the conversions didn't motivate me to seek them out. I've never seen a copy of Boot Hill, and while I had a look at someone's copy of Gamma World at some point before 1983, it confirmed me in the view that I wasn't interested. Metamorphosis Alpha was a little more interesting as a concept, but I could see where ideas had been lifted from Aldis' Non-Stop and other generation-ship stories, and they didn't seem to have been integrated well.
 

aramis erak

Legend
Likewise for awareness, but what I could figure out about them from the conversions didn't motivate me to seek them out. I've never seen a copy of Boot Hill, and while I had a look at someone's copy of Gamma World at some point before 1983, it confirmed me in the view that I wasn't interested. Metamorphosis Alpha was a little more interesting as a concept, but I could see where ideas had been lifted from Aldis' Non-Stop and other generation-ship stories, and they didn't seem to have been integrated well.
When I borrowed a friend's 1st ed Boot Hill, let's just say it wasn't exactly looking like an RPG. Oh, there were concessions to RP, but not strong ones. 3rd is much more clearly an RPG. If you didn't know how D&D was played, BH 1e won't get you there.
 

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