Day One: Which forthcoming RPG most looking forward to?
I’d have to say Apocalypse World Second Edition.
I loved Apocalypse World by D Vincent Baker; the design work, the bare hints at setting, the general vibe, the way it brought characters together and put them in conflict with a free-form fallen-world of desperate survivors scrabbling through the ruins.
I’m expecting great things from iteration 2.0
Day Two: Kickstarter game most pleased you backed?
I’ve not backed any. Not being totally connected to the whole gaming/blogging ‘community’ I tend to learn about these things three weeks after the kickstarter has closed. I really need to start paying more attention…
Day Three: Favourite new game of last 12 months?
In terms of ‘new to me’ games, I was planning to go with Hero Kids; clean design, clear and simple rules, excellent art and the children (ages 8 to 13) seem to enjoy it when we manage to find time to play amidst the computers and tablets and DVD-watching.
Last week though I finally encountered Stars Without Number, and despite the fact I’m just at the ‘reading the book’ stage, I’m already well on the way to being a big fan. It’s science fiction, in the far future, in a universe that’s slightly worn out and weary, but also built upon the ruins of a better past. Aside from that it’s basically D&D in space, and you can even use old monsters and scenarios with a little tweaking; dungeons become narrow-twisty corridor spacecraft, monsters are alien races, etc.
I have big plans.
Day Four: Most Surprising Game?
This would have to be YEAR OF THE PHOENIX from FGU and published way back in 1986.
I can remember the GM giving us the pitch: your characters are members of an elite space shuttle crew, codenamed ‘Project Phoenix’ and and tasked with putting down terrorists incidents – in space!
Except the game is not about that at all. The cover art might have been a clue if we’d seen it. As it is, things went a little Red Dawn very quickly.
Day Five: Most recent RPG purchase
The Seattle Doomsday Map by Tony Dowler.
As the name suggests, it’s a map of post-some-kind-of-apocalypse Seattle. Also included, a guide to various people, places and things. I’ve not used it for anything yet but I intend to because it is excellent, both as a concept and as a physical product.
I also bought The Strange because it sounded interesting and the design work is very pretty indeed.
Okay, that’s five down. What’s next?