The worst Roleplaying game ever!!!

[Darth Shoju]

bad bad

Lol I guess I've been lucky so far but I've never really played a terrible RPG. I've really just stuck to D&D (AD&D, D&D, 3e) and Call of Cthulhu. But I do remember one Inquest that mentioned a post-appocalyptic RPG where you were mainly playing a farmer and featured having to fill out tax returns (and not in an abstract sense either, you actually had to fill out tax returns).

 

[Piratecat]

I'm telling you, Spawn of Fashan.

 

[PowerWordDumb]

Worst one I've ever *played* has got to be RoleMaster. Sorry for those who like it, but I grit my teeth to this day thinking of how absurdly painful the system is in even the most simplistic situations. I have played and enjoyed other "detailed" systems, so I have to believe that it can be done right, but RoleMaster just plain did it wrong in every conceivable way.

I have to say however, that I'm impressed by the accounts of FATAL, Hybrid, and Synnibar. Those sound truly retch-worthy!

I may have to re-evaluate my Rolemaster experience - maybe I've been lucky not to experience any worse. Sobering thought...

 

[herald]

I remeber a very old rpg, I believe it was Kabal. It came out in a small box. Required the use of LOGARITHMS to resolve combat.

I actually meet the maker of that game a few times, long into the past. "Ernie" I believe was his name.

Needless to say, he and I never saw eye to eye on any mattter. The amount of work it added to the game was abit astounding to me. But then again, to each his own.

 

[Henry]

I'm telling you, Spawn of Fashan.

I've read the reviews; and despite it all, I'd rather play Spawn of Fashan than F.A.T.A.L.

Of course, I'd rather be on the receiving end of an IRS audit or a prostate removal than to play either one, but all things considered...

The worst game I've ever played, however, is one that I might get shot for mentioning, because it is beloved by many; but it has something to do with clans and generations and 10-sided dice, and I possibly would have had a better experience with a better GM.

In regard to Stannis' earlier suggestion, I have to say that truly horrible games never even get as far as our gaming table, because our group is very conservative versus new games (If we've played it, I've probably introduced it). We have to be able to understand and/or stomach the rules before we try to play it.

 

[shurai]

Somebody mentioned RaHoWa, and that reminded me that I've got you all beat:

RaHoWa the RPG was invented by white supremacists, and has skinhead racism built right in to the system. It assumes a dark-future dystopia that presumes the world has gone bad thanks to the failure of National Socialism.

The player characters are, you guessed it, white crusaders against a world overrun with, well, everyone else. The 'monster manual' part of the rulebook is particularly grotesque . . . you can send your team of heroes against all sorts of non-white-people-as-monsters, each with their special power. Asians, for example, got extra attacks because they watched lots of fake martial arts movies (although they're not called Asian in the book . . . they use a racial slang word that I will not utter here).

I believe it had all sorts of horrid things to say about homosexuals, women, and 'liberals' as well.

All this, and the system was terrible, and I mean really awful. Weird dice rolling everywhere, ambiguous rules, counterfactual game physics, the works.

Anyway, I only mention it because, to me, it will forever be the worst game I have ever seen.

-S

 

[Greatwyrm]

Okay, I admit it, I own a copy of Synnabar AND what I believe was the only supplement ever printed for it. Got them both in a package deal several years ago.

For anyone who doesn't understand how this could be the worst game ever, here's your big chance. I will sell both of these books to you for a total of $1.00 (US) plus the cost of your choice of shipping methods.

Bear in mind, these are two reasonably good sized books. The main rulebook is about as large as the phone book of a good-sized city.

So here's your chance to see it for yourself. The price of admission is just $1 plus shipping. It would be too hard on my concience to ask for a penny more.

 

[Mirth]

To anyone thinking to download it - don't! Think of it like someone telling you not to go looking around for goatse or tubgirl. If you know what's good for your sanity and stomach don't be looking at them. (and don't go looking for these things either if you don't know what they are.)

Your time would be better spent doing just about anything else than reading FATAL. Trust me, and don't blame me if you feel the need to look anyway.

I blame you, sir. I blame you.

What a day. FATAL'd, HYBRID'd, goatse'd & tubgirl'd.

All from ENWORLD, no less. The BoVD is nothing to complain about folks. Nothing.

Now I have to go send these links to a friend. The only thing that will make up for the damage is to have someone else suffer

 

[PJ Mason]

Critical Miss had some things to say about this little gem of RPG awfulness ...

http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue3/worst1.html

Warning: do not read this anywhere that loud laughter is frowned upon

LOL! Though that group had some real misfires as far as communication goes, it did express the just plain weirdness of the game.

 

[diaglo]