I. Dear Reader,
2024 is the 50th anniversary of D&D. It’s going to be a big year for looking back on the history of published RPGs. Lots of people are going to be looking back on D&D and so I wanted to do something different.
So I’m doing a project this year called “10 Games From The First 10 Years” where I will read and try to play 10 games that were published between 1974 and 1984. And then write about them. I think I have a lot of misconceptions about games from back then and I think engaging them will actually teach me a lot about games now. It’s going to be fun! I think!
But the thing is I don’t actually know a lot about the history of RPGs. So with some help from Lowell Francis and lots of good folks over at the Indie Game Reading Club, I have made a list of
- Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne (1975)
- Metamorphosis Alpha (1976)
- Monsters! Monsters! (1976) / Tunnels & Trolls (1975)
- Bunnies & Burrows (1976)
- Classic Traveller (1977)
- Flash Gordon & the Warriors of Mongo (1977)
- Runequest (1978)
- Boot Hill 2e (1979)
- Dallas (1980)
- The Morrow Project (1980)
- Champions (1981)
- The Mechanoid Invasion (1981)
- Top Secret (1981)
- Fringeworthy (1982)
- Timeship (1983)
- Lords of Creation (1983)
- Paranoia (1984)
- Twilight 2000 (1984)
- Marvel Superheroes (1984)
As you might’ve noticed, that’s a bit more than 10 games! I’d like your help in narrowing the list down. Let me know if any of these names seem particularly interesting! There isn’t a poll or anything, I’m just keen to see what names show up in the comments.
Also: When I play these games now, it’ll be without a lot of unwritten context so if you’ve played any of these games back in ye olde days, I’m definitely interested in chatting about the stuff that won’t be obvious to me from just looking at the books.
Yours bunnies-and-burrowsly,
Thomas
PS1: I’m aware the Tekumel author turned out to be a nazi and I think that might be worth writing about as I look at the game.
PS2: I know these are all American games. I would’ve loved to play games from elsewhere (like Das Schwarze Auge 1e) but accessing games from other countries is hard because of language or there are no just ways to get them anymore. Most of the games above can still be bought on Drivethru.
II. Media of the Week
- A nice flip-through and play report on Trophy Dark, the one shot dark fantasy game.
- Dungeon Newb’s Guide has a video about Stoneburner, the dwarves-in-space game.
- Please consider joining 100+ other patrons and support the newsletter on patreon to help keep me going.
- If you’ve released a new game on itch.io this month, let me know through this form so I can potentially include it in the end of the month round-up.
III. Links of the Week
- Michael Prescott of Trilemma adventures writes one of the best blogposts of last year just before the bell rang. It’s about the idea that “the player who desires the outcome of a mechanic should be responsible for invoking it.”
- When I was reading it, it sounded like Nassim Nicholas Taleb and I mean that only in the complimentary sense. Definitely check it out, I hope it becomes one of those codified maxims.
- JDCorley writes a funny tongue-in-cheek post about the great crime of railroading: “Naturally, we all hate railroading, as all good people do. Railroading is the act of a criminal…a scofflaw…a bandit…a Vampire player! But what exactly are the elements of railroading?”
- The basic idea of the post is that different people consider different things railroading. Is it railroading if it helps the players do what they want? Is it railroading if it involves spending special GM points that the system allows? Is it railroading if the players like it?
- I have pretty clear answers to all of them but it’s probably best if you make up your own mind first.
- This is an idea that people have talking about for a while now and I know there’s folks out there who see as it as the final evolution of games. I’m talking about capsule games. On the Knight of the Opera blog, Dwiz breaks down the appeal of a game that contains everything you need to play, that can be opened and you can start playing immediately.
- It’s a good post so we’ll have to forgive it for coining the word “cappier”.
- On rpg.net, there’s a nice explanation of how Call of Cthulhu became popular in japan but particularly interesting to me was the last paragraph: “The new generation of players have also taken to playstyles not necessarily favored by the older participants of the hobby. Among them are narikiri (“become completely”) and uchiyoso (roughly translated as “you-and-me”). Narikiri refers to heavy in-character role-play, in particular the use of anime-style voices to create immersion. To the point that it behooves a would-be player to find out before joining a group whether it is narikiri or not. Uchiyoso is a style in which two players agree for some kind of strong relationship to exist between their characters. In essence, the two characters almost become one character unit, because what will happen to one will strongly affect the other.”
- Cozy Cauldron reviews momatoes’ new generational worldbuilding game, The Marvelous Children of Inang-Uri
- A nice interview with designer Sam Leigh about their game, The World We Left Behind, which became a dance piece by New York base BalletCollective.
IV. Small Ads
All links in the newsletter are completely based on my own interest. But to help support my work, this section contains sponsored links and advertisements. If you’d like your products to appear here, read the submission form.
- Celebrate heroic fantasy worlds, unearthed magazines, forgotten gamebooks, enchanting artwork & the coolest fantasy products – old & new – with Rediscovered Realms free fantasy newsletter!
- Don’t miss out on our Legacy Solo RPG of handcrafted horror. Don’t Play This Game, inspired by found footage films and cursed messages. Late Pledges Now Open
- REALITY SOUP is a blog that records solo journaling RPG experiences. Like, the entries. You get it.
This newsletter is currently sponsored by the Bundle of Holding.
- A huge bundle of Pelgrane Press’ Dying Earth RPG based on the Jack Vance. books
- Also, the Midderlands bundle, an old school dark fantasy setting.
Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. If you’d like to support this newsletter, share it with a friend or buy one of my games from my itch store. If you’d like to say something to me, you can reply to this email or click below!
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