What RPG book "TO FIND" in a desert island?

[Dannyalcatraz]

An as-yet unwritten "Lord of the Flies" RPG.

It will be diceless, and the GM gets a seashell.

 

[aco175]

It will be diceless, and the GM gets a seashell.

Sounds like Dark Sun.

 

[MattW]

The Traveller Book.
GURPS 4th edition
Space 1889
Hillfolk

 

[cmad1977]

Giant lands? Probably being run by a desert prophet “Michael”.

 

[Hex08]

One book? Vampire the Masquerade (second edition if I had to pick an edition). It may not be as popular as it once was but it was one of the most entertaining rulebooks I have ever read. It is has great little stories and narrative pieces though out to set the mood. It's well written and it's immersive with an easy system to learn. It encourages roleplaying but combat can be fun too. Very few other rulebooks do as good a job of immersing the reader in it's world as Vampire.

 

[aramis erak]

I'd say the best for found is probably not a beginner box. Why? usually too limited. LMoP may be a month or two, but it's still pregens.

For a single volume, learn to play out of it, any one of these:

• Talisman Adventures (but with a sticker reading "double the costs for level-up.")
• Talislanta (the big blue book)
• Mouse Guard
• WEG d6 Star Wars 2nd Ed.
• WEG d6 Star Wars 2nd Ed Revised and Expanded
• WEG TORG (The setting is ultra-gonzo, but the rules are solid)
• FFG boxed reissue of WEG Star Wars 1E & Star Wars Sourcebook 1E
• The One Ring 1E

Talislanta is little known, but it's a good system, has a lot of setting (it's onlly like 20% mechanics, including gear and classes). It's the same core mechanics as Morrigan used in all their other games, too... not that there were all that many...

Talisman's relatively new... but it's fun, has a lot of options in the book, and a decent example of play. It's also simple to run and simple to wing it with.

The One Ring is an arguably poor lore source, but it gives enough to run a game with the right feel, has good adventure design suggestions, and plays well. (2E is too early to tell.)

Any of the WEG SW editions mentioned include a solo adventure to teach the basics to the GM. The FFG reprint is a bit of a dodge of the 1 book rule, but since (AFAICT) it was only sold as a bundle....

Mouse Guard is extremely easy to run. It has a strong set of guidance on how to play it, and it has stronger advice on how to build adventures for it.

I think you just described the hobby up until about the year 2000!

Maybe on that side of the megapuddle, but on the US West Coast, that ended about 1985... with D&D in the box chains, and in the AAFES and Navy Exchange ordering system. All the bases had situations wanted boards (usually physical) as did most of the colleges and universities. And most of the game stores except Toys R Us and Kaybee Toys. It wasn't hard to find a group at all. Finding one that wasn't too out there? That was a little harder.