RPGaDay 2023 #4-8

 Where is the time going? Anyway...

#4 Most recent game bought

Same answer as #3:

• RPG: Codex of Worlds for Monster of the Week. 
• Board game: My City (actually the last game I bought).

#5 Oldest game you've played

I started playing RPGs in 1981 with Traveller, which probably makes that my oldest RPG. While D&D was published in 1974, I didn’t play it until 1985-ish, and we played AD&D anyway, which was 1978, I think. So Traveller.

This year, the oldest RPG I’ve played (or rather, GM-ed), is 2013’s Hillfolk at Continuum.

As for board games, I think the oldest physical game I’ve played is Reiner Knizia’s Lord of the Rings from 2000, which I rescued from an inaccessible cupboard in Miss H’s bedroom. I’ve also played a couple of games of Cosmic Encounter, which dates from 1977 (but my copy is the 2008 FFG version, so that may not count).

I’m not sure which is the oldest freeform I’ve played this year, as Retcon B and Continuum both featured several freeforms that have been run before. My guess is it’s one of Marlow 2020 or Hope Springs Eternal (at Retcon B), or Veterans Day (at Continuum).

#6 Favourite game you never get to play

My favourite game I rarely play is Cosmic Encounter. I wish I played more. I’ve played two games of it this year (a good year for me). While Miss H enjoys Cosmic Encounter (and I last played it with one of her schoolfriends), the theme doesn’t appeal to Mrs H, alas.

As for RPGs, I wish I played more Hillfolk. I’ve had the book for a decade and ran it for the first time in July. And it was awesome, and I’d like to run more of it – so that’s my plan. I’m not sure it’s my favourite game, though. At least, not yet. Other games I want to play more of include Microscope, Monsterhearts and Hot War. But none of those are my favourite games either. 

I’m not even sure I have a favourite RPG.

#7 Smartest RPG you've played

Hmm. Smart as in appearance, intelligence, or pain? Or all three?

Appearance: Traveller, in its little black dress with red trim. I prefer Traveller’s elegant design to most RPGs. (So much so that when I bought The Traveller Book, I threw away the dust jacket with its J Andrew Keith painting in preference for the original black-and-red design beneath.

Intelligence: Fiasco is one of the smartest RPGs I’ve played, the second edition especially. It does so much with a slim rulebook and a couple of decks of cards. I love it.

Pain: Anything with a lot of crunch I find painful. When I’m wading through the numbers and figuring out rules and exceptions and modifiers, I’m not enjoying the bit of roleplaying I enjoy – riffing off the other players. I don’t like playing crunchy games, and I try not to run them.

#8 Favourite character

I’m not sure I have a favourite character. I play a lot of one-shots (or 7-8 session mini-campaigns), and as a result, I’m never with my characters all that long.

My most memorable character was Kira, a Traveller character. I can’t remember her skills or anything, but I and another player decided we were married (which was actually a ruse, if I remember right). Anyway, I derailed the campaign (which was supposed to be Twilight’s Peak) when, a few sessions in, I threw a grenade into the game by declaring that my character was pregnant. Things didn’t last much longer after that.