Weirdest RPGs evah

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Goblinoid Games has this available in pdf. Being unfamiliar with the IP, I have no clue what it's supposed to be about. I like the Pacesetter system and own Cryptworld and Rotworld, so I am potentially interested in anything compatible with these. Is it any good?

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SANDMAN: Map of Halaal - Goblinoid Games | Pacesetter System | Sandman | DriveThruRPG.com

It uses a slightly simplified version of the Pacesetter Action Table System, so it should be mostly compatible. It was supposed to be a three-part game, but as it was never finished, no one ever won the prize that was suposed to go to whomever solved the mystery of the game ($10,000 IIRC). I read that Daniel Proctor bought the answer when he bought the IP, and he has teased that there may some day be another Sandman game. But given the limited appeal and almost nonexistent name recognition of Sandman, I doubt it. I've always thought it would be cool to run this for a group of non-roleplayers.
 
Back in the early '00s there was a small company called Limestone Press that put out a mini game called Void, which was very clearly meant as a joke and not a real game. The premise was that the heat death of the universe has occurred, and there is nothing left. The entire rule system was "any time you want to do something, roll a d0. If you get a 1 or higher you succeed."

And somehow, my friends and I managed to have a very enjoyable session of this "game." Though I doubt it would work if we ever tried it again.
 
Back in the early '00s there was a small company called Limestone Press that put out a mini game called Void, which was very clearly meant as a joke and not a real game. The premise was that the heat death of the universe has occurred, and there is nothing left. The entire rule system was "any time you want to do something, roll a d0. If you get a 1 or higher you succeed."

And somehow, my friends and I managed to have a very enjoyable session of this "game." Though I doubt it would work if we ever tried it again.
In a book about the CCG Jyhad, Richard Garfield wrote something to the effect that a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors can be fun with the right group of players...
 
It uses a slightly simplified version of the Pacesetter Action Table System, so it should be mostly compatible. It was supposed to be a three-part game, but as it was never finished, no one ever won the prize that was suposed to go to whomever solved the mystery of the game ($10,000 IIRC). I read that Daniel Proctor bought the answer when he bought the IP, and he has teased that there may some day be another Sandman game. But given the limited appeal and almost nonexistent name recognition of Sandman, I doubt it. I've always thought it would be cool to run this for a group of non-roleplayers.
OK, but what is the IP about?
 
Yeah, I don't know. This sort of trippy stuff isn't really my cup of tea. It also sounds really railroady.
 
Well, it's definitely weird! "The content of the scenarios is bizarre, involving magicians, Greek gods, zombie motorcycle gangs, cartoon animals, Captain Hook, Judge Roy Bean, and the cast of the movie Casablanca." Nuff said!
 
I've played a couple of sessions of High String, and it was great fun. Excellent for a one - shot with a few beers.

Yeah. It's designed for one shots and short campaigns! The fact it has end conditions is a signal for this! :grin:
 
Immortal: The Invisible War. This is basically the result of the White Wolf overdose of the 90s, IMO. Many, including Justin Alexander, say that underneath this horrific layout and terribly written veneer lies a fantastic set of rules with amazing lore. Others, like System Mastery, have pronounced it an unplayable mess (that is their entire schtick, though, as I always point out).

You're supposed to have 9 d10s, each in a different color (and the colors matter). Oh, and each 0 is actually read as 0, rather than 10.

You start out by playing yourself. As in you, the one reading this post. Only you discover that you are a magical, shapeshifting, undying godlike being.

There have been 3 editions of this game. My comments are about the 3rd, the only one I have ever looked through. From what I gather, the 2nd (called Immortal: Millenium) a d 3rd use different mechanics. Oh, and the 3rd is largely a reaction to the 2nd , which apparently angered the designer so much he took back all rights to the game and created a 3rd.

The current edition is available free here:


Supposedly the game has a cult following, but I've never met anyone who actually played it.

This game has its own HUGE lexicon, right down to each and every term in the game being brand new. I'd say that's like re-inventing the wheel, but it's more like someone trying my to explain a wheel to you, but without using any words that would actually explain a wheel.

The layout is hideous. And the character sheet is a freakin' mess (see below).
 

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The layout is hideous. And the character sheet is a freakin' mess (see below).
The early '90s. That period where widely available desktop publishing had made layout design something that anybody could do, but something that most people shouldn't.

That book made early issues of Wired look restrained.
 
I remember Immortal: The Invisible War. I recall reading a review in a local gaming newsletter around the time it came out. As I recall it had a small local following that seemed to be a subset of the gaming goth crowd.
 
I remember Immortal: The Invisible War. I recall reading a review in a local gaming newsletter around the time it came out. As I recall it had a small local following that seemed to be a part of the gaming goth crowd.

You from the Phoenix area, by chance? It's by a company from that area. Same company made a card/board game called Slasher: The Final Cut, which I enjoyed a lot. Lost it in a move. Wish I had a copy.
 
I've just remembed the existence of Diana Warrior Princess. A lot of fun although I suspect it may not have aged gracefully.
 
You from the Phoenix area, by chance? It's by a company from that area. Same company made a card/board game called Slasher: The Final Cut, which I enjoyed a lot. Lost it in a move. Wish I had a copy.
No, I'm from a bit further east. I wasn't aware that Precedence was based in Arizona.
 
No, I'm from a bit further east. I wasn't aware that Precedence was based in Arizona.
Tempe, actually. It's a college town to the Southeast. Part of the greater Phoenix area, though.
 
I remember Pandemonium, I played with a smallish group of women back in the mid90s for a couple months. We had to stop when three new players joined us and decided Pandemonium was too weird so we ended up playing RC D&D for awhile instead as that was the only thing everyone seemed to agree was acceptable.


Pandemonium! seems like a fun "in-between" game. Fun fact: it was written by Stephan Michael Sechi, of Talislanta fame. Chill 1e has the same sort of horror/humor vibe, but Pandemonium is more rules-lite.

Edit: taking a fresh look at it, the base mechanic for Pandemonium! seems somewhat similar to Talislanta, except using d10 instead of d20.
 
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I wouldn't call Immortal: The Invisible War weird as much as it was of it's time and…..er…not very good.
 
Pandemonium! seems like a fun "in-between" game. Fun fact: it was written by Stephan Michael Sechi, of Talislanta fame. Chill 1e has the same sort of horror/humor vibe, but Pandemonium is more rules-lite.

Edit: taking a fresh look at it, the base mechanic for Pandemonium! seems somewhat similar to Talislanta, except using d10 instead of d20.
Fun fact. I once bought a box of unsold inventory from a game store. Mostly Atlas games stuff but in it was 10 copies of Pandemonium! I have them away to anyone who seemed remotely interested in an attempt to drum up players. Still have a few copies. Never worked.
 
Fun fact. I once bought a box of unsold inventory from a game store. Mostly Atlas games stuff but in it was 10 copies of Pandemonium! I have them away to anyone who seemed remotely interested in an attempt to drum up players. Still have a few copies. Never worked.
Is that the same Pandemonium as referenced in Dread/Spite:smile:?
Cause I've played one of those.
 
Is that the same Pandemonium as referenced in Dread/Spite:smile:?
Cause I've played one of those.
Somehow I doubt it. Pandemonium is a game where player's play investigators in a world where the stuff reported in the Weekly World News and other tabloids is all true.
 
Somehow I doubt it. Pandemonium is a game where player's play investigators in a world where the stuff reported in the Weekly World News and other tabloids is all true.
Yep, sure seems like that's the one:smile:! The government was demon-infested, men in black abounded, and so on.
Did it use a d12 dicepool:wink:?

 
Yep, sure seems like that's the one:smile:! The government was demon-infested, men in black abounded, and so on.
Did it use a d12 dicepool:wink:?

No. It's a totally light hearted game of paranormal investigation.
 
Yep, sure seems like that's the one:smile:! The government was demon-infested, men in black abounded, and so on.
Did it use a d12 dicepool:wink:?
It was a very simple throw a d10 and add your stat to beat a target number sort of system. It's comedy in a madcap world where you might end up at a beach party with Elvis and bigfoot.
 
It was a very simple throw a d10 and add your stat to beat a target number sort of system. It's comedy in a madcap world where you might end up at a beach party with Elvis and bigfoot.
Looks like there was an adventure in White Wolf magazine, and another in a German mag called Abenteuer.
 
It was a very simple throw a d10 and add your stat to beat a target number sort of system. It's comedy in a madcap world where you might end up at a beach party with Elvis and bigfoot.
I'm not sure Bigfoot would have fitted our game, but maybe we excised parts of it? I remember demons had shown up and we got recruited to fight them because we were deemed suitably expandable, in a 2000s-as-seen-in-the-80ies-by-a-Steven-King-on-a-downer-drug world.
Our first and only clash with them was epic, and many bullet-ridden corpses later, we won (and some PCs even survived:devil:)!
And yes, it was rather light-hearted the way we played it:smile:.

Still seems like it's a different game, but you'd admit the names are quite similar:wink:.
 
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No, Dread and Spite were games by my friend Rafael Chandler, and totally spatterpunk. Pandemonium was a silly, fun, goofy take on popular culture. Not the same game at all! The only thing they had in common was the word paranormal.
 
I remember the game Mechanical Dream, which, if I recall correctly, was set almost entirely in giant trees and had ten playable races, none of which were humans.
 
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Still seems like it's a different game, but you'd admit the names are quite similar:wink:.
Well, pandemonium is a word that carries the meaning "wild uproar" so it doubtless turns up in many places in the hobby.

Looks like there was an adventure in White Wolf magazine, and another in a German mag called Abenteuer.
I wasn't aware of that. I'll have to look into those. I think all the back issues of White Wolf Magazine are available on DrivethruRPG these days. If I recall correctly back in 1995 our GM favored a method of adventure design that involved picking up a copy of The Weekly World News at the grocery store for inspiration. Sadly WWN ended publication in 2007 but I'm sure the Internet has a plethora of insane paranormal and satirical news sites to make up the lapse. I wonder what Bat Boy is doing these days...
 
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