I'm not at GenCon, but let's play #RPGaDay2023!
1) Frist #TTRPG played (this year).
First played ever: D&D Basic Set (1981 Tom Moldvay edition)
First played this year: Impulse Drive by Adrien Thoen. #ImpulseDriveRPG
It's a #PbtA science fiction game for space opera. Depending on which ship playbook you choose, you can play as space-traders like "Firefly," mercenaries like "Dark Matter," pirates like "Captain Harlock," or explorers like "Star Trek."
2) First #TTRPG Gamemaster
Back in 1981 when I was 11, another kid I knew was big into D&D and talked about it a lot. He invited me to join his group. Turns out it was his older brother's D&D group (the brother was in high school) and the GM was one of HIS older friends, who was in college. They were all super-nice to me, and I had fun, but they lived on the other side of town and the age difference was weird. I only played with them 2 or 3 times, then bought my own D&D Basic Set.
#RPGaDAY2023
3) First #TTRPG bought this year:
This was a tough one! I buy a LOT of games in both digital and physical format, and back a lot of Kickstarters. I am going to restrict this answer to physical books.
I think the first physical RPG book I received this year was the Kickstarter reward for "Moonlight on Roseville Beach," a #PbtA supernatural mystery RPG set in a fictional queer-friendly seaside resort town (like Provincetown MA).
4) Most recent #TTRPG bought.
I guess that would be "Monster of the Week 2e revised", and the MotW supplement "Codex of Worlds," both of which arrived in the mail today!
5) Oldest #TTRPG I've played.
Ever: AD&D 1e (published 1979)
This year: Pathfinder 1e (published 2009), unless Old School Essentials counts as being the same as the 1981 Moldvay edition of B/X D&D
#RPGaDAY2023
#ADnD #ADnD1e #PathfinderRPG #OldSchoolEssentials #OSE #BXDnD #OSR
6) Favorite #TTRPG I never get to play
Fate
I love Fate, but pretty much all of my gamer friends bounced off it really hard, and I only ever get to play it at conventions. It's been 2 or 3 years since I've played it.
7) Smartest #TTRPG I've ever played.
That is a tough question to answer: "Smartest" can mean a lot of different things.
Ludonarrative resonance is a really tough thing to pull off in TTRPGs. That's where the game mechanics themselves harmonize with what's going on in the game narratively. And the game I've found with the best ludonarrative resonance has to be Trophy Gold by @JesseR. (And it just won an ENNIE!)
8) Favorite #TTRPG chatacter.
That's a tough one: I've played hundreds of characters over the years.
I'll go with Professor Marlena Allegheri, librarian at Eversink University and sorcerer in a Swords of the Serpentine playtest campaign (2017-8). She gained magical ability after translating ancient Serpentine tablets, and a rune slithered off and into her mind. Her spheres were Dimensions, Serpents, and Secrets.
#RPGaDAY2023 #SerpentineRPG #SotS #GUMSHOE
Illustration by Storn Cook
9) Favorite dice
My favorite die type is the d6: Nearly infinitely versitile, and also ubiquitous.
My favorite dice set in my collection is a set of six precision crystal polyhedral dice from The Armory that I purchased in 1982 (or maybe 83). (They were made before anyone thought to make a "10s place" d10.) They were also the first dice set I ever bought: Until then I'd used the crappy dice included in D&D box sets. And yes, they are "inked" with a crayon.
10) Favorite #TTRPG tie-in fiction
I'm not really a fan.
I did enjoy the 6-part short fiction pieces at the end of #Paizo's #PathfinderRPG adventure path issues, until they stopped including them in 2017. I read a few of the PF novels, but never got into them.
And when I was a kid, I liked the #DragonLance original trilogy, though when I re-read them in my 30s, I didn't think it held up.
But, in general, I don't care much about published settings' famous NPCs.
11) Weirdest #TTRPG I've played.
"The Final Girl" is a GM-less #StoryGame that simulates a slasher movie. The players create a setting and premise, then a cast of about a dozen characters. You play two scenes to establish relationships between the characters, then the Killer enters play. In Killer scenes, play a simple card game to see who dies; players can use their established relationships to play extra cards. Game ends when there's one character left, who escapes.
12) Old #TTRPG you still play.
This depends on definitions.
I play Old School Essentials, which is equivalent to the 1981 D&D Basic/Expert rules, but I don't think retro-clones count.
I really want to play the 1987 "Rocky & Bullwinkle Role-Playing Party Game" (TSR 1987), but I haven't actually done so yet. (And, yes, I have a copy!)
I'll go with Sorcerer by Ron Edwards (1999). Last played in 2020, but would happily do so again!
#RPGaDAY2023
#OSE #OSR #Bullwinkle #SorcererRPG #TheForgeRPG
14) Favorite #TTRPG convention purchase
That would have to be two sets of #Chessex 16mm d6 dice I bought at PAX Unplugged 2019.
CHX 27602 Marble Ivory/Black
CHX 27698 Lustrous Black/Gold
I bought these to use as Light and Dark dice for #TrophyRPG.
13) Most memorable #TTRPG character death.
D&D 3.0 campaign, circa 2002. I payed Lynnda Hawkwood, ranger. We were trying to stop a demon cult from re-opening a sealed gate to the Abyss. In the penultimate session, the Demonic High Priest was on a stone precipice above the gate, finishing the ritual. He was surrounded by demon guards. I charged past the demons, taking several AOOs, then Bull Rushed the priest over the edge. We both fell into the Abyss and were lost.
15) Favorite #TTRPG convention module or one-shot
My favorite one-shot to run is "The Flocculent Cathedral," an incursion for Trophy Dark, written by my dear friend @jimlikesgames .
It's a dark-fantasy horror scenario about a group of doomed treasure-hunters seeking fabled riches in an abandoned church lost to a desolate swamp. Lots of squishy, squirmy, wriggly, mossy, swampy horror where the characters invariably turn on each other at the climax.
16) #TTRPG I wish I owned
Given the fortuitous financial situation I find myself in currently, I can pretty much buy any game that's in-print if it strikes my fancy.
I'd love to get my hands on a print copy of the Leverage RPG (2010) by Margaret Weis Productions [Cortex Plus]. But it's long out-of-print, the license is up in the air, and copies go for over $300 on the aftermarket. That is far more than I'm willing to pay!
Day 17) Funniest #TTRPG ever played.
#HoneyHeist by Grant Howitt.
Our criminal gang of bears had to steal Abraham Lincoln's beehive from a tractor-trailer. So we scared off the staff of a truck stop and impersonated them, then lured the truck there by an offer of free pancakes. My bear dressed as a waitress to distract the driver while the rest of the crew played switcheroo with another truck's trailer. Highlight: the growly "conversation" my bear-waitress had with the driver.
Day 18) Favorite #TTRPG system
I'm going to play fast and loose with what constitutes a "system," and choose the "Powered by the Apocalypse" design framework.
#PbtA opened my brain to a new way to play RPGs where the game mechanics drove narrative outcomes rather than task resolution; where the game is intended to tell a specific kind of story and the rules enforce the conventions of the genre; and the concept of shared narrative control.
Day 19) Favorite published #TTRPG adventure
For a traditional #DnD zero-to-hero, save-the-world adventure series, it's hard to top "Rise of the Runelords" for #PathfinderRPG. Mix of dungeon, wilderness, urban, & small-town settings; interesting enemies; and lots of role-play opportunities.
Runners-up (all one-shots)
"Beast-Bound and Down" (Spirit of '77)
"Secret of Castonegro" (Call of Cthulhu)
"The Flocculent Cathedral" (Trophy Dark)
20) Will still play in 20 years
I've been playing for 40 years already, and have no plans to stop! Assuming I'm still alive in 20 years (and still have my faculties) I'll be GMing games in the rec center of whatever retirement community I'll be living in.
As for what game I'll be playing? Who knows! I don't play any of the games I did 10 years ago, and have no idea what the scene will be like in 2043.
21) Favorite licensed #TTRPG
I've been rather disappointed with most licensed games I've played. I have a few in my collection that look promising but haven't yet brought to the table, so the jury's still out. The two I have played and really liked are both out-of-print:
Star Wars: The Role-Playing Game (1987, West End Games) a.k.a. "d6 Star Wars"
Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG (1998, Last Unicorn Games)
#RPGaDAY2023
#StarWarsRPG #StarTrekRPG #WestEndGames #d6StarWars #LastUnicornGames
22) Best second-hand #TTRPG purchase
I've bought a lot of games on the aftermarket, but my favorite by far is the Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game (TSR, 1988).
It was decades ahead of its time. Many of its mechanics were re-invented during the Forge Era. It's a marvelous game, and still completely playable.
And it has hand puppets.
I found a "new, old stock" copy back in 2018 and bought it on the recommendation of @epidiah.
23) Coolest looking #TTRPG book
That has to go to Mörk Borg, hands down. The aggressive graphic design plays as big a part in establishing the game's themes and intended play-style as the words themselves. And if you only look at the rules divorced from the graphic design, it's still an excellent game!
24) Complex/Simple #TTRPG
Simple: Lasers & Feelings.
John Harper's free, one-page Star Trek pastiche is an extremely fun little game that always turns out a fun and ofen surprisingly profound story.
Complex: Cortex Prime.
The book presents a toolkit to assemble an RPG out of common parts, and the "assemble, roll, and choose" dice pool mechanic is fiddly and unlike any other. But once you get past the learning curve, it all makes perfect sense!
25) Unplayed #TTRPG owned
So many. I have over 75 games in print on my RPG shelf that I still haven't tried, and hundreds of unplayed games on PDF from various game bundles.
But that's not going to stop me from buying more.
Planning to finally try out two games in September: Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands, and Alien RPG.
#RPGaDAY2023
#AlienRPG #FirebrandsRPG #YZE #FirebrandsFramework
26) Favorite #TRPG character sheet
Have to go with the skull-sheet from Necronautilus. It completely drives home the themes of the game!
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