(no subject)

[bryant]

I was introducing myself to some gamer people just now and it occurred to me that there was a fun RPG quiz embodied in my email. So: you're about to leave for a desert island. There will be four to six other people on the island; they will magically adjust to suit your gaming preferences without being annoyingly similar to you. Or if you want, they can be your best friends, whatever suits. It's magic.

You can bring ten tabletop RPGs. (You can also bring ten boardgames, but that's a different post.) You get the core book plus all the supplements. For something like the new World of Darkness, you get the core rulebook, plus the appropriate game-specific rulebook, plus all the supplements.

Me:

• Feng Shui, the best action game of all time.
• Hero 5th edition, to satisfy my desire for superheros. Also an acceptable framework for crunchy spy games and so on.
• Unknown Armies, for when I want to play modern weirdness.
• Over the Edge, for when I want to play modern weirdness some more. Don't judge me. It's also the go-to system for minimalist flexible gaming.
• Dogs in the Vineyard, my favorite indie game. Great for moral questions, and a super cool setting.
• D&D 4th edition, for fantasy gaming with tactical crunch.
• Trinity, a surprisingly flexible near-future game that can be used to do a ton of different stuff.
• Esoterrorists, for investigative play. I came really close to picking Trail of Cthulhu instead, but I think I want the Esoterrorists source material. And actually...
• Call of Cthulhu, which gets me all the Cthulhu goodness so I can run it with Esoterrorists if I wanna. Also means I have Delta Green.
• Sorcerer, which is really pretty much here for the sake of Sword and Sorcerer, which is here for the sake of Charnel Gods. Dear Scott Knipe: we miss you!

Vampire: the Requiem dropped off the list while I was writing this post to be replaced by Sorcerer. It's awesome but there were already four modern occult/horror/weird RPGs on the list. Five if you count Feng Shui. I guess Sorcerer is also a modern occult game but like I said, it's on there for other reasons.

Comments

[bluegargantua]

Although I'd never actually play it, I'd take GURPS, just to have all the source books. Because that's a vast reference library right there.

later
Tom

[jeregenest.livejournal.com]

Less so under 4th. a lot less so.

[bryant]

Yeah. Hm, GURPS 3rd. I know the OtE system by heart but I don't want to lose the supplements... looking bad for Sorcerer. Or maybe Trinity.

[bluegargantua]

Do you get all previous versions of the game for this experiment? I'd agree with you about 3rd vs. 4th if you had to choose.

later
Tom

[bryant]

Nah. You get the edition you choose, but not previous versions, unless the version change doesn't change any rules.

So I guess I dunno about GURPS. Call of Cthulhu doesn't really change from edition to edition, tho!

[mgrasso.livejournal.com]

Excellent meme. I agonized but in the end chose what I found to be a surprising 10 for myself:

http://mgrasso.livejournal.com/1624259.html

[robotnik.livejournal.com]

10 games plus all the sourcebooks for each? This is a pretty luxurious desert island.

[bryant]

Well, I'm not springing for real wood bookshelves or anything. The books have to live on IKEA Billy shelves.

[telepresence.livejournal.com]

1. D&D4E..might as well ride the addiction.

2. Paranoia..because there's no better gaming ever than a trip to R&D.

3. SLA Industries: I know the universe is ridiculous but I still love it.

4. Shadowrun: Cyberpunk plus Dragons.

5. Rifts: I've got to sneak a Palladium game in there somewhere and Rifts gives me the most flexibility.

6. Amber Diceless: When I want to sit around being an asshole with my friends.

7. Castle Falkenstien: Adventure and wit.

8. Over the Edge: For the more serious Paranoia game mood.

9. Star Wars: Adventure and spaceships.

10. Prime Time Adventures: Never played it but it sounds fun, and it would be nice to take an unknown game to the island.