13 Great Classic ROLE-PLAYING GAMES That AREN’T Dungeons & Dragons
Columnist JIM BEARD has dice on the brain. After all, he’s got a new book out: D20 or Die!, a collection of essays from a variety of contributors that recall the heady days of role-playing games in the ’70s and ’80s. The book was just released through Amazon — click here to order. “In D20 or Die! writer-editor Jim Beard acts as a game-playing guru as he expands his “Memories from Today’s Grown-Up Kids” series of pop-culture reminiscences to crack the covers of all the classic, old-school, tabletop role-playing games of legend and lore! Just watch those hit points, adventurers!” reads the book’s description. Anyway, to mark the occasion, Jim has put together a trio of columns that celebrate those RPGs of yore. The first is below and the other two will “roll” out in the coming days. Dig it. — By JIM BEARD I get it, I really do—Dungeons & Dragons has always dominated the tabletop role-playing game field, practically created it in fact, but I’m here to tell you there’s something more. A lot of somethings, actually. Back when I gamed regularly, when I had a lot more hair but was still nearsighted, D&D was my go-to, but while my friends experimented with other, uh, medicinal concoctions, I chose to expand my mind into other games. When I did, I found there was life beyond the Beholders and Bugbears. Settle in for a brief celebration of a whole passel of RPGs that, just because they weren’t D&D, had to try harder and fly farther. — Boot Hill (TSR, 1975). Did you know Boot Hill was only the third game TSR published? Interestingly, it’s supposedly the first RPG to use percentile dice rolls and had a huge focus on gunplay as opposed to more peaceful means of solving problems. Go figure. — Bunnies & Burrows (Fantasy Games Unlimited, 1976). Hey, I actually played this one, so hear me out. Inspired by Watership Down, B&B was not only one of the first games to feature non-human player characters, but also the first to kick up interest in martial arts for role-playing use. — Traveller (GDW, 1977). I suppose it’s a coincidence it hit the same year as Star Wars, but it was probably pretty significant for an SF game to be available when everyone was going gaga for anything...
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