Thursday, February 6, 2014

Tomb of Tedankhamen Presents: March Madness Non-D&D OSR Blog Challenge

Blogging/gaming/expat-in-Asia-studying-for-a-PhD buddy Tedankhamen has fired a shot across the bow of the current D&D 40th anniversary blog carnival dealio.

In March, he's looking for bloggers (and actually not just OSR types, as he says) to take up a challenge to answer a question a day about non-D&D RPGs.

Ted has posted his March Madness Non-D&D OSR Blog Challenge over at his Tomb blog.  Go ahead and go read it there, although I'll also copy the questions here in this post.

This, for me, is a wonderful idea.  I, like most of the bloggers I follow, focus on D&D in its various forms, or in the simulacra/clones which IMO are still D&D.  And yes, I consider Flying Swordsmen and Chanbara to be D&D, I just don't have the legal authority to put those two words with an ampersand between them on my games.  You may draw the line closer to home, that's fine.  My point, and really Ted's point, is that we don't spend enough time posting about other games we've played. 

Looking back on my own gaming career, I haven't played that many other games, really.  It's mostly been D&D.  Or other TSR/WotC offerings like Star Frontiers, Gamma World, d20 Modern.  But I've played a few other games for short periods, including some narrative/indie games and plenty of home brew systems, including my own very un-D&D Presidents of the Apocalypse.  So I should be able to work out some interesting answers to the questions.

I'm not sure if I'll manage to get to post once for each question Ted's offered up, or get through all of the questions in March - I've already got my Mentzer cover to cover series going, plus Chanbara development updates taking up most of my blogging currently.  The new semester also starts in March, which means lots of time spent on academics rather than gaming.  But I hope to eventually answer each of the questions Ted poses in his challenge:

March Madness 31 day Obscure Game Blogging Challenge
1 What was the first roleplaying game other than D&D you played? Was it before or after you had played D&D?
2 In what system was the first character you played in an RPG other than D&D? How was playing it different from playing a D&D character?
3 Which game had the least or most enjoyable character generation?
4 What other roleplaying author besides Gygax impressed you with their writing?
5 What other old school game should have become as big as D&D but didn’t? Why do you think so?
6 What non-D&D monster do you think is as iconic as D&D ones like hook horrors or flumphs, and why do you think so?
7 What fantasy RPG other than D&D have you enjoyed most? Why?
8 What spy RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
9 What superhero RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
10 What science fiction RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
11 What post-apocalyptic RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
12 What humorous RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
13 What horror RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
14 What historical or cultural RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.
15 What pseudo or alternate history RPG have you enjoyed most? Why?
16 Which RPG besides D&D has the best magic system? Give details.
17 Which RPG has the best high tech rules? Why?
18 What is the crunchiest RPG you have played? Was it enjoyable?
19 What is the fluffiest RPG you have played? Was it enjoyable?
20 Which setting have you enjoyed most? Why?
21 What is the narrowest genre RPG you have ever played? How was it?
22 What is the most gonzo kitchen sink RPG you ever played? How was it?
23 What is the most broken game that you tried and were unable to play?
24 What is the most broken game that you tried and loved to play, warts and all?
25 Which game has the sleekest, most modern engine?
26 What IP (=Intellectual Property, be it book, movie or comic) that doesn’t have an RPG deserves it? Why?
27 What RPG based on an IP did you enjoy most? Give details.
28 What free RPG did you enjoy most? Give details.
29 What OSR product have you enjoyed most? Explain how.
30 Which non-D&D supplemental product should everyone know about? Give details.
31 What out-of-print RPG would you most like to see back in publication? Why?

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