22. Best Secondhand RPG Purchase
It wasn’t a purchase, but rather a gift, and an amazing one at that. I came to be friends with a kind gentleman and his partner from Milwaukee. They were fascinated by my AD&D Etinerra campaign but we were never able to make schedules work for them to come join in my game.
One day, he shows up with a gift – and what a gift it was! He had an old collection of first edition books – nearly all of them! The core three books, Unearthed Arcana, the Dungeon/Wilderness Survival books, Oriental Adventures, Adventures in Greyhawk, Manual of the Planes, Fiend Folio and… the first printing of Dieties/Demigods with the Cthuhlu/Melnibonéan pantheons! He also gave me a third alpha (Dec 1978) printing of the Monster Manual and a white spined copy of the Monster Manual 2
I was blown away, and suggested many times that he should keep the first printing of Deities/Demigods as it is worth a bit of money. Nope, he said he knew I would use them all and value them.
23. Coolest/Best Looking RPG Product (that I own)
It’s not the latest or shmexiest of RPG products, but I thought it was really cool that I got a still-in-the-shrinkwrap box set of The Empire of the Petal Throne, which is the first 3rd party campaign product that TSR ever published. Yes, I opened the box. Games were meant to be played!
The box set comes with a coil bound book of rules and setting that outline a take on OD&D that was unique, but yet easy to play if you know D&D. The map posters were amazing at the time! I think it’s just so damn cool to have this nearly 50 year old product and it looks like it just came from the game store.
EPT and Tekumel on its own is a world rich in lore and connected to a nearly 50 year history of campaigns, products and additions across the community. The author of this, MAR Barker, was discovered to be connected with really shitty racist writings, which has left a stain on that legacy.
24. What are complex/simple games that I play?
The crunchiest game I play is AD&D/1st edition from 1979. I’ve added on a number of houserules to address things that I wanted to change or include. Such as allowing shields absorb a blow, but become useless (or ruined).
The simplest game I play is OD&D from 1974. I’ve gradually stripped away rules the more I play it. I started with the OED/Dan Collins houserules, but aside from rules that benefit fighters (allowing multiple attacks per level, ala Chainmail) and a couple stolen from Holmes Basic, I’ve tended to stick to just the basics from the 3 little brown books.
25. An unplayed game that I own
The Fantasy Trip by Steve Jackson Games. First released in 1977 by rereleased in 2019 through a Kickstarter. I bought the full KS box but…
I don’t know if I will ever play it. After I read the PDF of the rules, I just didn’t feel motivated to open the box and learn it. None of my group ever expressed interest in playing either.
Maybe I’ll keep it? It hasn’t annoyed me enough that I will get rid of it in a purge, but it could some day.
26. Favorite Character Sheet
Before May of this year, I would have said “a character sheet is a character sheet.” Then I started talking about putting together a Battlestar Galactica campaign using Classic Traveller.
Norton Glover of the blog polyhedralnonsense.com was inspired to make me this awesome character sheet for my game! It’s a fillable PDF which does some things behind the scenes and is a really cool piece of work. He sent me a color and b/w version.
He has dozens of other fillable character sheets on his website for all sorts of RPGs. Some of you may get a kick out of all these different, niche games. Go check his site out!
27. Game I’d like new edition for?
I’m one of those strange birds who doesn’t get excited about new editions of rules. Early on, I read Gary Gygax’s suggestion and took it to heart:
“Use the written material as your foundation and inspiration, then explore the creative possibilities you have in your own mind to make your game something special.”
For me, I don’t need newer editions to make that happen. I find later editions of most games to slide down that slipper slope of “fixing something that ain’t broke.” If something is broke, that’s what errata are for!
So, I’d have to say none, but I admit, that’s just for me, the strange bird!
28. Scariest game I’ve played
I’ve never played a TTRPG that “scared” me. I’ve played stressful games where time or a resource was dwindling, but that’s not the same.