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Tell me about "Any RPG" from before 1990!
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<blockquote data-quote="Krensky" data-source="post: 4770355" data-attributes="member: 30936"><p>Well, it's not quite in the explicit time frame, but they're certainly older:</p><p></p><p>Pretty much everything by R. Talsorian before Mike Pondsmith got hired by Microsoft.</p><p></p><p>Cyberpunk (2013 and 2020): The first cyberpunk game I can think of, and the one that best captures the 80s hair metal, mirror shades, and full auto feel of the "classic" cyberpunk genre. One of the 2013 source books as a licensed adaptation of the seminal novel Hardwired by Walter John Williams, written by the author himself. Features 'classes' in the form of archetypal roles. Each class basically gets you a small benefit, some hooks, and a class skill. No matter how good someone is at a mundane skill, if you class skill applies, you'll probably win. This wasn't a flaw, so much as a way of enforcing genre. Basically, no other character role would be as good in your specialty as you were.</p><p></p><p>Cybergeneration (First and Second): Takes place in the near future of Cyberpunk (2027), with the premise that PCs are post human children. Can be much more light hearted and comedic then Cyberpunk, but only because it can be much much more bleak. Each kid had a yogang (social tribe) and an Archetype (evolved power). There are also rules for playing Edgerunners, the adult cyberpunks from 2020. Largely the same system as 2020.</p><p></p><p>Mekton (I, II, Z): The first Anime RPG outside of Japan, and still a strong contender. Also the system Dream Pod 9 first wrote Jovian Chronicles up with (II). Z's construction tool kit let you build anything, and with notes from the GM Screen could even build stuff for Cyberpunk 2020 and by extension Cybergeneration. One of Z's settings (Starblade Battalion) was also the future of Cyberpunk (2180), and maybe of Cybergeneration as well. Z also has an official Japanese translation that sold very well and was licensed a few times by Japanese publishers, most notably for a Gundam RPG in 2000. Z also categorized PCs as one of three types. Ventrans (older, more skills to start, slow advancement), Rookies (low skills to start, quick advancement), and Proteges (low skills, slow skill advancement, except if one area where the advance at an insane rate). </p><p></p><p>One of the drawbacks to these three games is that the Reflexes score is over loaded (all combat skills are based on it) and it can be pretty easy to break the game. They are also designed to an earlier standard, and have many more 'holes' and spots where you'll have to make a judgement call.</p><p></p><p>Castle Falkenstein: A cross world adventurer, a faeire lord, magical steam punk Europe. Very, very distinctly a storytelling game, somewhat geared for LARPing. Resolution is with cards (standard poker deck, iirc), characters were recorded in journal form in prefrence to simple sheets, the rulebook can be read (largely) as an epistolary novel or a RPG. Really a cool game.</p><p></p><p>Teenagers From Outerspace: A commedic game, usable as a generic light anime system. Humans, wacky aliens, high school. Pretty self-explanatory. Similar to Toon!. Well suited for replicating Tenchi Muyo! or Uresei Yatsura. Has an interesting mechanic that 'punishes' you for succeeding too well to discourage characters that will break the genre conventions.</p><p></p><p>Then there are the liscensed games from the time. I understand Armored Trooper VOTOMS is well done. I know nothing about Dragonball Z, other then it has a page devoted to determining the results of things like 850d6 or higher. Note that the game admits this is an issue with trying to cover the range of powers in the source material and because it's tounge in cheek. Gundam Senkei (the aforementioned Gundam game) was released in 2000 in Japan, were still waiting on the US release. I can speak to the last one, Bubblegum Crisis.</p><p></p><p>The three books released for the BGC RPG are full of art (some not released until these books) source material from the TV series and OVAs, along with a very good rendition of Fuzion that lets you raid from Cyberpunk 2020, Cybergeneration 2, and Mekton Z. It also presents pretty much ever major, minor, or bit character from them, all of the boomers (and a bunch that never made it), rules for making your own vigilante team, and material for using the massive amount of published material for Night City (the default locale of Cyberpunk 2020, like Seattle in Shadowrun). I ran a long campaign in it and still have fond memories of it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Krensky, post: 4770355, member: 30936"] Well, it's not quite in the explicit time frame, but they're certainly older: Pretty much everything by R. Talsorian before Mike Pondsmith got hired by Microsoft. Cyberpunk (2013 and 2020): The first cyberpunk game I can think of, and the one that best captures the 80s hair metal, mirror shades, and full auto feel of the "classic" cyberpunk genre. One of the 2013 source books as a licensed adaptation of the seminal novel Hardwired by Walter John Williams, written by the author himself. Features 'classes' in the form of archetypal roles. Each class basically gets you a small benefit, some hooks, and a class skill. No matter how good someone is at a mundane skill, if you class skill applies, you'll probably win. This wasn't a flaw, so much as a way of enforcing genre. Basically, no other character role would be as good in your specialty as you were. Cybergeneration (First and Second): Takes place in the near future of Cyberpunk (2027), with the premise that PCs are post human children. Can be much more light hearted and comedic then Cyberpunk, but only because it can be much much more bleak. Each kid had a yogang (social tribe) and an Archetype (evolved power). There are also rules for playing Edgerunners, the adult cyberpunks from 2020. Largely the same system as 2020. Mekton (I, II, Z): The first Anime RPG outside of Japan, and still a strong contender. Also the system Dream Pod 9 first wrote Jovian Chronicles up with (II). Z's construction tool kit let you build anything, and with notes from the GM Screen could even build stuff for Cyberpunk 2020 and by extension Cybergeneration. One of Z's settings (Starblade Battalion) was also the future of Cyberpunk (2180), and maybe of Cybergeneration as well. Z also has an official Japanese translation that sold very well and was licensed a few times by Japanese publishers, most notably for a Gundam RPG in 2000. Z also categorized PCs as one of three types. Ventrans (older, more skills to start, slow advancement), Rookies (low skills to start, quick advancement), and Proteges (low skills, slow skill advancement, except if one area where the advance at an insane rate). One of the drawbacks to these three games is that the Reflexes score is over loaded (all combat skills are based on it) and it can be pretty easy to break the game. They are also designed to an earlier standard, and have many more 'holes' and spots where you'll have to make a judgement call. Castle Falkenstein: A cross world adventurer, a faeire lord, magical steam punk Europe. Very, very distinctly a storytelling game, somewhat geared for LARPing. Resolution is with cards (standard poker deck, iirc), characters were recorded in journal form in prefrence to simple sheets, the rulebook can be read (largely) as an epistolary novel or a RPG. Really a cool game. Teenagers From Outerspace: A commedic game, usable as a generic light anime system. Humans, wacky aliens, high school. Pretty self-explanatory. Similar to Toon!. Well suited for replicating Tenchi Muyo! or Uresei Yatsura. Has an interesting mechanic that 'punishes' you for succeeding too well to discourage characters that will break the genre conventions. Then there are the liscensed games from the time. I understand Armored Trooper VOTOMS is well done. I know nothing about Dragonball Z, other then it has a page devoted to determining the results of things like 850d6 or higher. Note that the game admits this is an issue with trying to cover the range of powers in the source material and because it's tounge in cheek. Gundam Senkei (the aforementioned Gundam game) was released in 2000 in Japan, were still waiting on the US release. I can speak to the last one, Bubblegum Crisis. The three books released for the BGC RPG are full of art (some not released until these books) source material from the TV series and OVAs, along with a very good rendition of Fuzion that lets you raid from Cyberpunk 2020, Cybergeneration 2, and Mekton Z. It also presents pretty much ever major, minor, or bit character from them, all of the boomers (and a bunch that never made it), rules for making your own vigilante team, and material for using the massive amount of published material for Night City (the default locale of Cyberpunk 2020, like Seattle in Shadowrun). I ran a long campaign in it and still have fond memories of it. [/QUOTE]
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