Forgotten RPGs

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In hopes of driving off a few more members, I present: Pax Draconis, a late nineties, early aughts RPG. A D100 system, Earth had been conquered by humanoid dragon aliens but brought into a galactic empire. I think, it's been a decade since I read it.

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No they own Gamelords(Thieves Guild, Traveller adventures, Runequest 2e stuff) and I think some other older companies stuff.
All the Gamelords Traveller stuff is on the Apocrypha III CD-Rom.

What RQ2 stuff does Different Worlds have? All the Chaosium RQ1 and RQ2 stuff is in print (well, not Quest World).

Thieves Guild would be cool to see back in print, and the 3rd volume of Haven finished...

Someone at one time was in talks with Different Worlds to make the magazines available (though that would also probably require cooperation with Chaosium since Glorantha material is included).
 
I'm not sure if this is a forgotten game so much as a "nobody ever heard of it" game but I'll toss out...


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Lords of Creation is one of those product-of-the-times games that is kind of awesome and terrible at the same time. It was written by Tom Moldvay (yes, that one) sometime back in the early 80's and had a really wonky game system that was really ahead of its time in scope and ideas, but just missed the mark in so many heartbreaking ways in execution. I guess you could think of it as a proto-RIFTS nearly a decade before there was RIFTS, if RIFTS didn't have a default setting.

But damn, that game had the most absolute badass bestiary of any RPG game ever made. I mean, you not only had the usual stuff like goblins, cyborgs, gangsters, and vampires... You had every single old world god from every historical mythology ever all stated up complete with XP values. The amount of work and effort that went into the bestiary of this game truly boggles the mind and I've never seen one that ambitious since. We could probably make a whole separate thread about the sheer scope and scale of every monster stated out in Lords of Creation and keep ourselves entertained for years.

It's one of those games I'm really glad I hunted down a copy of, not to play, but just because it's such a thought provoking read. If the mechanics had just not been so kludgy or full of 80's-isms, or if the fluff just had some kind of clear goal or purpose, I can almost imagine a parallel world where LoC went on to become one of the industry big contenders by 3rd edition or so.
 
I'm not sure if this is a forgotten game so much as a "nobody ever heard of it" game but I'll toss out...


lords-of-creation-747x1024.jpg



Lords of Creation is one of those product-of-the-times games that is kind of awesome and terrible at the same time. It was written by Tom Moldvay (yes, that one) sometime back in the early 80's and had a really wonky game system that was really ahead of its time in scope and ideas, but just missed the mark in so many heartbreaking ways in execution. I guess you could think of it as a proto-RIFTS nearly a decade before there was RIFTS, if RIFTS didn't have a default setting.

But damn, that game had the most absolute badass bestiary of any RPG game ever made. I mean, you not only had the usual stuff like goblins, cyborgs, gangsters, and vampires... You had every single old world god from every historical mythology ever all stated up complete with XP values. The amount of work and effort that went into the bestiary of this game truly boggles the mind and I've never seen one that ambitious since. We could probably make a whole separate thread about the sheer scope and scale of every monster stated out in Lords of Creation and keep ourselves entertained for years.

It's one of those games I'm really glad I hunted down a copy of, not to play, but just because it's such a thought provoking read. If the mechanics had just not been so kludgy or full of 80's-isms, or if the fluff just had some kind of clear goal or purpose, I can almost imagine a parallel world where LoC went on to become one of the industry big contenders by 3rd edition or so.
Well stating up all the dieties in the early 80s wasn't exactly rare. I mean that's what Gods,Demigods and Heroes did and Dieties and Demigods. It you like stated up Dieties check out Fantasy Wargaming and see Jesus and Satan!

I had a neighbor who bought it when it came out but he was sort of the bastard stepchild of our gaming group. We never played it because no one wanted to see him GM.

Its a cool idea. I picked it up like you just to see what it's about.
 
Those are the exact LoC books that I've got ORtrail! (Core, Horn, and Omega.)

And I *love* the art cover of Omegakron and would totally get a poster of it.




I've got Lords of Creation, but never knew what to do with it. Didn't even remember that I had it. Maybe I should include that in the next entry.

Yeah, Lords of Creation was pretty much just a bunch of rules, charts, gear, and a bestiary, without any hints given as to how you were supposed to actually assemble any of it into a coherent game you could sit down and play with other people. "The most potentially metal game you'll never know what to do with!" would have made a fitting tagline.

Speaking of which, here's a good rundown of Horn of Roland (and all the same issues I had with it myself): http://thoulsparadise.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-horn-of-roland-spoilers.html

So you've got all these rules for becoming a cyborg sorcerer living god with a magic sword... And the first published adventure has you muddling though a slow, plodding, barely coherent murder mystery that's almost comical in how little sense it makes before railroading into a tediously boring "clear every room of this deeply unimaginative tower without any other form of interactions" dungeon crawl? Yeah, I can see why this didn't grab or impress anyone. With a game this bewilderingly open to possibilities the first published adventure really needed to hook people and demonstrate what cool imaginative things you could do with it. I think Horn did eventually get better as it went but man, I can see those first two adventures losing a lot of gamers really fast.

Omegakron was a totally gonzo post-apocalyptic sandbox full of all the awesome weirdness missing from Horn of Roland. Perhaps the gameline would have fared better if that had been the opening act.
 
For completeness you can find Novos Akros on Bandcamp—the soundtrack to an imaginary movie inspired by Omegakron—and wistfully wonder what might have been if Avalon Hill had published the final adventures in the series, The Towers of Ilium and Voria.

There’s also an adventure and several articles published in Avalon Hill's Heroes magazine:

Survival Run of the Starnomads (adventure) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue, 1 pg 15-33
Dragonslayers (NPCs) by William Wilson Goodson Jr. - Vol. 2 issue 2, pg 11-12
Pirates, Buccaneers & Highwaymen (NPCs) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 4, pg 9-13
Swordsmen Real and Reeled (NPCs) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 5, pg 36-39
Alienating Yourself, Part 1 (science fiction races) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 2, pg 7-8, 39
Alienating Yourself, Part 2 (science fiction races) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 3, pg 8-10, 14
The Creations of Abnaric Elgar (fantasy races) by "Drachir Redins" (Richard Snider) - Vol.
2 issue 3, pg 27-30
Musketeers, Swashbucklers & Crimson Pirates: Dueling Rules for Lords of Creation by
Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 3, pg 19-30
Heroes Etcetera: Thugs Vol. 1 issue 5 pg 43-44
 
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For completeness you can find Novos Akros on Bandcamp—the soundtrack to an imaginary movie inspired by Omegakron—and wistfully wonder what might have been if Avalon Hill had published the final adventures in the series, The Towers of Ilium and Voria.

There’s also an adventure and several articles published in Avalon Hill's Heroes magazine:

Survival Run of the Starnomads (adventure) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue, 1 pg 15-33
Dragonslayers (NPCs) by William Wilson Goodson Jr. - Vol. 2 issue 2, pg 11-12
Pirates, Buccaneers & Highwaymen (NPCs) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 4, pg 9-13
Swordsmen Real and Reeled (NPCs) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 5, pg 36-39
Alienating Yourself, Part 1 (science fiction races) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 2, pg 7-8
Alienating Yourself, Part 2 (science fiction races) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 3, pg 8-10
The Creations of Abnaric Elgar (fantasy races) by "Drachir Redins" (Richard Snider) - Vol.
2 issue 3, pg 27-30
Musketeers, Swashbucklers & Crimson Pirates: Dueling Rules for Lords of Creation by
Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 3, pg 19-30

It's like you waited YEARS to make that post, but it was very handy. Love the album cover and liked enough of what I heard to buy the digital album for $5.
 
The first Alienating Yourself article should include pages 7,8 and also 39. The second Alienating Yourself article seems to cut off when talking about robots, and I don't think it continues?
 
The first Alienating Yourself article should include pages 7,8 and also 39. The second Alienating Yourself article seems to cut off when talking about robots, and I don't think it continues?
You’re correct, I missed the continuation pages in my listing (the index I originally copied the page numbers from used a plus sign for the continuation page, which seems to have been dropped when I made my version). In the case of part two it continues on page 14. I’ve edited the list to reflect that.

Come to think of it, I might be missing another article there. I’ll check.

EDIT: Here we are: there’s a short article about using Thugs on pages 43 and 44 of Volume 1 issue 5.
 
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For completeness you can find Novos Akros on Bandcamp—the soundtrack to an imaginary movie inspired by Omegakron—and wistfully wonder what might have been if Avalon Hill had published the final adventures in the series, The Towers of Ilium and Voria.

There’s also an adventure and several articles published in Avalon Hill's Heroes magazine:

Survival Run of the Starnomads (adventure) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue, 1 pg 15-33
Dragonslayers (NPCs) by William Wilson Goodson Jr. - Vol. 2 issue 2, pg 11-12
Pirates, Buccaneers & Highwaymen (NPCs) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 4, pg 9-13
Swordsmen Real and Reeled (NPCs) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 5, pg 36-39
Alienating Yourself, Part 1 (science fiction races) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 2, pg 7-8, 39
Alienating Yourself, Part 2 (science fiction races) by Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 3, pg 8-10, 14
The Creations of Abnaric Elgar (fantasy races) by "Drachir Redins" (Richard Snider) - Vol.
2 issue 3, pg 27-30
Musketeers, Swashbucklers & Crimson Pirates: Dueling Rules for Lords of Creation by
Tom Moldvay - Vol. 1 issue 3, pg 19-30
Heroes Etcetera: Thugs Vol. 1 issue 5 pg 43-44

Oh, wow, I never knew any of this was out there.

Hold up. There's a Omegakron soundtrack!? Tell me it's 80's-style synth because nothing else would really fit that game :hehe:
 
I'm not sure if this is a forgotten game so much as a "nobody ever heard of it" game but I'll toss out...


lords-of-creation-747x1024.jpg



Lords of Creation is one of those product-of-the-times games that is kind of awesome and terrible at the same time. It was written by Tom Moldvay (yes, that one) sometime back in the early 80's and had a really wonky game system that was really ahead of its time in scope and ideas, but just missed the mark in so many heartbreaking ways in execution. I guess you could think of it as a proto-RIFTS nearly a decade before there was RIFTS, if RIFTS didn't have a default setting.

But damn, that game had the most absolute badass bestiary of any RPG game ever made. I mean, you not only had the usual stuff like goblins, cyborgs, gangsters, and vampires... You had every single old world god from every historical mythology ever all stated up complete with XP values. The amount of work and effort that went into the bestiary of this game truly boggles the mind and I've never seen one that ambitious since. We could probably make a whole separate thread about the sheer scope and scale of every monster stated out in Lords of Creation and keep ourselves entertained for years.

It's one of those games I'm really glad I hunted down a copy of, not to play, but just because it's such a thought provoking read. If the mechanics had just not been so kludgy or full of 80's-isms, or if the fluff just had some kind of clear goal or purpose, I can almost imagine a parallel world where LoC went on to become one of the industry big contenders by 3rd edition or so.

Yeah I got this back in the 80s along with Powers and Perils. It seemed like a neat idea but as I recall I wasn't able to make heads or tails of the rules.

I think we actually have a fan of the game here, and thought there was a thread started about it but I'm coming up empty on a search.
 
Lords of Creation was really one of my favorite games back in the 80s. I gave away my collection a couple of years back.

Mostly, I think you just had to not worry too much and plain roll with the kitchen sink gonzo in a kind of semi-humorous way. I can't even imagine trying to play it in a serious fashion.

It's a real-life Encounter Critical, as opposed to a retro-fake EC.
 
I mean, the way I played it, it ended up Doctor Who crossed with Zelazny's Amber, by way of Toon and Tales From the Floating Vagabond.
Sounds great! I bought Lords of Creation and some of the adventures when it came out, but like others in the thread never quite figured out what to do with it and eventually gave it away. I’d not thought of it in decades before these posts.
 
It's been age
I bought Lords of Creation and some of the adventures when it came out, but like others in the thread never quite figured out what to do with it and eventually gave it away. I’d not thought of it in decades before these posts.
It's been ages since I looked at Lords of Creation, but wasn't there some core organization the PCs were assumed to be members of, with a mission statement to hold off some other faction and/or stop incursions of weirdness?
 
It's been age

It's been ages since I looked at Lords of Creation, but wasn't there some core organization the PCs were assumed to be members of, with a mission statement to hold off some other faction and/or stop incursions of weirdness?
I don’t think so, but maybe someone else who remembers the game better will chime in?

I don't think I ever owned the 3rd adventure, Omegakron, but now that I live in NE Ohio, I'd love to see it. I guess Moldvay lived in the Akron area for some years. There is a Google Maps site that shows that main venues of the adventure as they are today: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...aa6KX&ll=41.098334733502924,-81.52800755&z=14
 
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In hopes of driving off a few more members, I present: Pax Draconis, a late nineties, early aughts RPG. A D100 system, Earth had been conquered by humanoid dragon aliens but brought into a galactic empire. I think, it's been a decade since I read it.
Not only did I play this, but I was in Justin's group when he was playtesting the wildlife suppliment. My one claim to role-playing fame is that my character from that is a major part of the Pax Draconis novel (not that you can find *that* anywhere).

The background is even wierder than you're saying. The "treebers" are the actual original inhabitants of the Pax Draconis galaxy (which is not our own). Humans slipped through a one-way rift into that galaxy, and basically took over interstellar trade. A human then genetically engineered the Dragons (who are more-or-less human sized). After a few hundred years, the dragons took over the galaxy (in less than thirty years), using a satrapy system. At which point (like less than a decade after the conquest was complete), the Emperor and Emperess dragons "got a divorce", and split the galaxy between them. The game is set about three years after the "divorce", where the two sides are still settling out who owns which systems' tribute, and they both are actively working to supress the handful of multi-system polities that are trying to regain their independence from the Imperial System without going back to the incessant low-level violence that was the norm before the dragons took over.

That's without talking about the interdimensional symbiotes who grant humans and treebers Jedi-like powers or their criminal organization that is also a religion.
 
Not only did I play this, but I was in Justin's group when he was playtesting the wildlife suppliment. My one claim to role-playing fame is that my character from that is a major part of the Pax Draconis novel (not that you can find *that* anywhere).

The background is even wierder than you're saying. The "treebers" are the actual original inhabitants of the Pax Draconis galaxy (which is not our own). Humans slipped through a one-way rift into that galaxy, and basically took over interstellar trade. A human then genetically engineered the Dragons (who are more-or-less human sized). After a few hundred years, the dragons took over the galaxy (in less than thirty years), using a satrapy system. At which point (like less than a decade after the conquest was complete), the Emperor and Emperess dragons "got a divorce", and split the galaxy between them. The game is set about three years after the "divorce", where the two sides are still settling out who owns which systems' tribute, and they both are actively working to supress the handful of multi-system polities that are trying to regain their independence from the Imperial System without going back to the incessant low-level violence that was the norm before the dragons took over.

That's without talking about the interdimensional symbiotes who grant humans and treebers Jedi-like powers or their criminal organization that is also a religion.
...Why isn't this on DriveThru:shock:?!?
 
...Why isn't this on DriveThru:shock:?!?
Justin ended the project at about the same time Drive Thru RPG was getting started. Like the last thing published was the novel in 2006. Looks like Amazon has the line available, though.

I had fun playing it: I had a combat medic/sniper who would waive the medical service charges if he was the one who shot you. :grin: :hehe:
 
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One of my close friends told me he played Lords of Creation back when he was in the army in the 80s. There was this guy in his unit that ran it.

I've never been able to get any details about the game out of him. He just claims to remember it fondly and otherwise was too drunk at the time to recall details.
 
There was a big, fat fantasy game called Undiscovered, well I think it was called "Undiscovered" you haven't done yet. I'm not so sure it got very far.
 
I played a Dragonroar campaign a dozen years ago. It went quite well, the rules worked smoothly, the problem was that they needed to be completed a lot to cover all we wanted. In the end, I think that almost half of the rules we were using were houserules. Some good memories though.
 
I've run Lords of Creation...I wanted to play it so bad. It was odd, but it was neat, and definitely tended to be a touch like most genre-crossing games+Amber, where you went to different worlds had different adventures to level up in the goal of becoming immortal powers i.e Lords of Creation.
 
I have the deluxe foil hardcover edition of Fantasy Imperium. Bought it from Goodwill Online listed as the normal edition for $3-5 I think. I heard it had good illustrations for lots of weapons. I think I took a quick look at it and it's say on my shelf ever since.
 
One of my close friends told me he played Lords of Creation back when he was in the army in the 80s. There was this guy in his unit that ran it.

I've never been able to get any details about the game out of him. He just claims to remember it fondly and otherwise was too drunk at the time to recall details.
Lords of Creation was a very good concept attached to a not-very-good game. I mentioned it in passing in my review of Powers & Perils, but since I don't have access to the books any longer (for over two decades!) I can't give any more details than "it was simultaneously too fiddly and yet not fiddly enough".
 
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