Who played non-computer RPGs?

[SlipperyJim]

Back in the Dark Ages -- before everyone had a computer and high-speed 'Net access -- we used to play RPGs with pencils, paper, and loads of dice. If you're one of those dinosaurs, it's time to 'fess up! :)

I started AD&D when I was 10 years old, with the classic module "Keep on the Borderlands." In addition to AD&D, I have also played:

Shadowrun
GURPS
Toon
Car Wars (not precisely an RPG, but it had some character development)
Torg
Paranoia
Marvel Superheroes RPG
Call of Cthulhu
Earthdawn
Vampire: The Masquerade
NightLife (an obscure RPG about supernatural creatures, but much more like Clive Barker than like Anne Rice)
and a few other RPGs, even more obscure than any of those....

Of the lot, I think that GURPS (http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/) was my favorite. It's a generic system that can be tailored to anything you want to play. Swords-and-sorcery? GURPS will do that. Sci-fi? GURPS will do that. Kung-Fu? GURPS will do that. Cavemen at the dawn of mankind? GURPS will ... you get the idea!

Shadowrun was my second-favorite. I spent much of my free time during college on Shadowrun. It's a nice fusion of cyberpunk with magic. Well, I like cyberpunk, so I was hooked right away....

[Reaper]

The D&D Boardgame and the old Role-Playing Books. They are epic.

[Samhayne]

Matey, you're dating yourself :) But yeah, I started playing pen & paper RPGs back in the day; Red box basic D&D with Keep on the Borderlands. Best of times was always with a good GM to keep things interesting.

[Reaper]

Yeah, but you couldn't find many of them unless you went to community areas that played the games. At least the guys there didn't lie ;)

[Justg]

Tons of D&D back in the day. Our 7th grade teacher ran a weekly game before school. It was epic :)

[nerdherd]

Haha...a teacher running D&D, now that's just awesome. I remember thinking that D&D was evil and had to do with satan and devil worshipping or something like that when I was young...ok, I actually thought that until a year or two ago when I became friends with some guys who were into D&D and they explained that I had been misinformed. Funny stuff :)

[SlipperyJim]

Remember Bards, back when you had to dual-class through Fighter and Thief to become one? Yeah, I used to have a 23rd level Master Bard. He was totally overpowered in true munchkin style, but he was awfully fun to play.

Ah, good times.... So, did anyone other than me play any non-D&D RPGs? ;)

[FeralDruid]

Thanks to D&D I had to invent my own RedBull back then, Coffee with Coca Cola substituting the water for brewing. Oh and 12 teaspoons of sugar.

[Samhayne]

If we're still tripping down memory lane, check out Wikipedia's list of D&D Modules (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dungeons_%26_Dragons_modules). All the Gygax modules were the bomb: D1-3 Vault of the Drow, G1-4 Against the Giants, T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil. Had a lot of fun with those :)

@SlipperyJim - yeah we played some non D&D stuffs to. I think I had more fun with GURPS thinking through possible games than actually playing them. Paranoia was a total hoot and Villains and Vigilantes was good superhero fun. Probably why I liked City of Heroes so much :)

[Dizko]

I'm the biggest gamer-nerd I know and you guys make me feel like a noob.

[SlipperyJim]

If we're still tripping down memory lane, check out Wikipedia's list of D&D Modules (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dungeons_%26_Dragons_modules). All the Gygax modules were the bomb: D1-3 Vault of the Drow, G1-4 Against the Giants, T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil. Had a lot of fun with those :)
Loved Against the Giants. The only AD&D module that was better? Tomb of Horrors!

Mwahahahahahaha....!

[Royce]

Ah, good times.... So, did anyone other than me play any non-D&D RPGs? ;)

Shadowrun is incredible. And yes, I also played a ton of D&D. I still have a whole crate of books somewhere. I wonder if they're worth anything now...
I played several other ones but mostly just dabbling.

[rainwork]

Remember Bards, back when you had to dual-class through Fighter and Thief to become one? Yeah, I used to have a 23rd level Master Bard. He was totally overpowered in true munchkin style, but he was awfully fun to play.

Ah, good times.... So, did anyone other than me play any non-D&D RPGs? ;)

I willingly confess to playing many.
First non D+D game I played was Traveller (which I remember fondly as the best way to live out all of the first three Star Wars movies)
Then spent years with Runequest (still probably my favorite of all time)
Also (in no particular order), Monsters-Monsters, Call of Cthulhu (awesome), Superhero 2044, GURPS: TransHuman Space, Deadlands (which I hated).
My son is starting to get interested in RPG's. I picked up the GURPS Hellboy game and the Mouse Guard RPG to see if these might interest him- since he love those comics.

[Raiya]

I played DnD in 1978-79. Made our own campaigns. Great fun. After then I had a hard time finding people with enough time to get together, and eventually just stuck with computer RPGs once they came out.

[Smellulater1]

Without telling anybody my age ( 38) started on D &D and went through almost every other rpg in the market. Finished with Warhammer and Dragon warriors ( wipes tear from eye). The good old days. Then fast forward to today, onlyn playing Pocket legend after spending three year playing world of warcraft. Great thread

[Smellulater1]

Loved Against the Giants. The only AD&D module that was better? Tomb of Horrors!

Mwahahahahahaha....!

omg againts the Giants, memory flash back hugs slipperyjim

[Reaper]

Dizko, you are more of a hardcore casual gamer ;p

[Endless]

Played a lot of Rifts. Liked the way it fused different genres but still stayed cohesive. As far as D&D goes, me and my friends played the red box set to death then ventured off to the Ravenloft Campaign but spent most of our time in the Forgotten Realms.
I'm getting all misty eyed. Need to hit up facebook and find my high school rpg buddies...

[SlipperyJim]

Played a lot of Rifts. Liked the way it fused different genres but still stayed cohesive.
I tried Rifts at a Con once. I never really liked the Palladium gaming system upon which Rifts was based, so I didn't care for Rifts either. That said, I only played one game of Rifts, so I never really gave it much chance....

Torg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torg) did the multi-genre thing much better, in my opinion. Not only could you have a party with a Victorian occultist, an Elven mage, a cyberwarrior, and a modern-day soldier ... but Torg also explained why all of these people would be working together. The cards were also a nice touch, allowing players to really engage in the story with the GM. Sadly, by the time I got hooked on Torg, the game was already going out of print, so I didn't get to play it as much as I would have liked. Still, Torg was great fun, especially as a GM.

[LordRaid]

Oh Christ, you guys make me feel like I was just born.

Kinda makes me feel envious; did you guys ever play for money/rewards?

[Endless]

@LordRaid Not for money. Just for bragging rights to a game most of my high school buddies didn't know about. lol

@SlipperyJim Never got a chance to play Torg. Sounds good though. Was used to the Palladium system from playing Robotech(almost forgot about that one). Rifts had a pretty interesting backstory as well. Not that I'm a fanboy or anything but I do admire when game creators think outside the box and craft an awesome game. ;)

[SlipperyJim]

Kinda makes me feel envious; did you guys ever play for money/rewards?
HA! :) I spent quite a lot of money on books, dice, more books, more dice..... Making money from my gaming habit wasn't even a possibility.

On the other hand, I probably would have just wasted the same amount of money on something really stupid and frivolous. Beer, perhaps. So spending piles of money on gaming books & dice doesn't seem so bad. ;)

[NoseToNose]

Necro'ing the thread I know, but I love me some dungeons and dragon