Saturday, December 08, 2007

Games I wish I could play; or why The Evil DM cries himself to sleep

It has been MONTHS since I rolled the dice. And man, am I Jonesing for a game. The thing is:

#1 I want to play, not GM
And
#2 I don’t want to play anything I’ve played before.
And
#3 I only want to play something from this list.

Now that’s not a tall order eh?
Ha! Guess again.
Sacramento may be the capital city of the greatest state in the most powerful nation in the modern world. But I still can’t fill a table of gamers unless I’m running D&D.
Now I love D&D, always have, always will. But I have a ton of games on my shelf that I may never get to play in my lifetime. This coming year I want to make a dent in those shelves. So here, in no particular order are 11 games that are not D&D that I would love to play. Of course there are more, but I want to get these knocked out first. Even if it’s just three good sessions each, enough for one good adventure. Any takers?

Here’s the list:


Legends of steel
Before the car wreck I had a group all ready to play-test my Opus. With the holidays upon us I doubt I’ll be able to get them together before the New Year. When I do I’ll most likely be the one to run it.




Hollow earth expeditions
A beautiful book dedicated to one of my favorite genres. Several times a year I make a BIG RPG PURCHASE, Hollow Earth was one of those. No regrets, but man I really want to play this. The problem is finding other folks in the area not only willing to play, but who have the books as well.


BASH Fantasy
This is a local game created by a guy who lives in Davis (about 30 miles away). The game is affordable and looks like a quick system. Since it’s a local game I might have a shot of getting in on a local campaign.


Top secret SI: Agent 13
I tried to get a TS/SI game off the ground at least twice in Hawaii. I wanted to run a TS/SI agent 13 campaign- I still do.



Cthulhu Dark Ages
I have several editions of CoC including the rare D20 version. I respect the system but I was just never into the hopelessness of it all. But in looking over Cthulhu Dark Ages I’m thinking this might be a pleasant diversion for a few sessions. I like percentile systems and I like gritty fantasy and I reckon you can’t really get much more gritty that a Cthulhu fantasy world. Did I just say reckon?


Savage worlds- Solomon Kane, Conan or Pulp
The core book is only $10.00 what’s not to love? Hell, I have TWO copies. I even have the virtual table top version. Have I ever played it? Hell no. all the guys I know who game regularly have a D20 stamped on their foreheads. I REALLY, REALLY want to try this system. The Solomon Kane book is #1 on my Christmas list. And If I don’t get it I’m ordering it on December 26th.


Chill-Mayfair edition
I played Pacesetters Chill in the 80’s and loved it. I even wrote an article about it for Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine. But when Mayfair obtained the license I wasn’t in the Horror game mindset anymore, and it didn’t help that I absolutely hated the art in the new edition. But recently I picked up a couple of Mayfair Chill lots for real cheap on EBay. Two copies of the core rules, the companion, CM screen and several splat books all for under $20.00
The gaming Gods are trying to tell me something, I still think the art sucks but I’ve been looking over the rules and they have really improved them over the original Pacesetter ones. I’m ready to play.


Army of Darkness
I just bought this tonight. I should get it by next week. Anyone up for a game?


Mutants and Masterminds –Golden age
I don’t play D20 often, in fact only twice and one of those times was a M&M Golden age game it was just a pick up game to test out the system (so I still count it as a game I’ve never really played). I had fun. I would play D20 again in a heartbeat if it meant playing in a Golden age M&M campaign.


Conan D20
I am a Conan fan from waaay back. My grandfather used to pick up Conan, Kull, and Thor comics to help him learn English

“Jeff my lad, gather thy cloak and accompany an old man to yonder Safeway I must fetch a skin of milk for the feast this night.”

He didn’t really talk like that, but it woulda been cool huh?
Anyway, when Mongoose came out with Conan I waited and waited and hesitated and delayed. I was never sure why and as the weeks ran into months the reports started to filter in about the jacked up editing and typos, so I waited a bit longer. Eventually I found a mis-categorized copy of the Atlantean edition on EBay. I snatched it up for $13.00 ( I now have an almost complete set), which started a trend- to this date I have never paid full price for a single Mongoose Conan product. And I never will. Thank you eBay.


Broadsword

How could I not include the only game I’ve had published to date? I would love to play Broadsword. Not run it, play it. I would want to see someone else’s take on it.


So there you have it folk’s 11 games that I would love to play. So, are any of my Blog readers out there in the Sacramento area up for a game from this list? Drop me a line. According to the stats there are over 50,000 of you. Some of you have got to live in Northern California, all I need is 3 more players and a GM.

8 comments:

  1. I count myself amongst the lucky ones I have a regular group to play in..We are playing Savage Wrolds "Rippers" right now..

    I hope that soon you will find a group you can play some of those games with..I also say I am scared as to how similar our tastes are.

    It is like you are an American version of me...except with hair...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:17 AM

    Good list.

    I think you may add
    http://www.devir.es/producto/alatriste/inicio/index.htm

    to your list, isn't it?

    I'm currently running a couple of Savage Worlds Steampulp adventures ala The difference engine or Homunculus, and the system is as FFF as it quotes.

    Solomon Kane is my Christmas present too... I'm craving to take a look at it. By the moment, the cover is gorgeus.

    I'll get SlipStream as soon is released, too --YumYum--

    By the way, how good is the Fantasy grounds SW addon?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:33 AM

    Hmmm, you're looking to play and I'm looking to run. On top of that, your list of games is pretty similar to the ones I'm interested in. Here's mine:

    HEX
    BASH
    Moldvay B/X D&D
    Solomon Kane


    Oh wait, we're on opposite sides of the country.

    D'OH!

    Too bad.

    A few other notes:

    Savage World of Solomon Kane IS an awesome book.

    BASH Sci-Fi just came out. I haven't picked it up yet but will be. I'm thinking of maybe mixing it all together with BASH Fantasy for some Barsoom style gaming.

    Hooray for someone else mentioning Slipstream! From what I've heard about that book it sounds awesome, it just remains to be seen when it will ever get printed.

    Good luck finding a group.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous8:11 PM

    I know your pain...I run 90%, play about once a year.
    Good material on this blog, always looking for new resources.
    I might get to play Savage Worlds, but I'm leery of the "poker cards & chips" mechanicals.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ironwolf: thanks for that link. nice looking game. I have to find a pdf of it.

    Wulfgar: I loves me some Moldvay D&D.

    Labssenpai: I've never been a fan of chips, cards, beads, etc. to me gaming is dice. I have to roll dice or i'm not really gaming.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh...Savage Worlds is gaming my friends..it is plenty gaming!!!

    I have to say I have totally drunk the kool-aid here..SW is my pound-for-pound favorite rpg out there right now..

    It is indeed FFF! with a slight larger font size for "FUN!" :P

    You know, at first I was very leery of the playing cards for initiative and the use of "bennies"..

    I was of the "If it ain't all dice, it ain't gaming!" school..

    But once we started using the cards, it added to the fun...nothing gets a table table talking like when that joker card is drawn..if either you are the bad guy is in for some serious trouble..

    ReplyDelete
  7. I guess I can open myself to it now. beggars cant be choosers and all that. dice, cards, beads, ok.
    but I draw the line at rock, paper, scissors...thats just silly.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just picked up a copy of savage worlds today. Nothing quite like that new RPG core book smell. Especially at under ten bucks, it's a steal.

    ReplyDelete