A few of these single-word topics for #RPGaDay2019 stump me, and Day 8 is one of them: OBSCURE.
A funny story about an obscure rule? A PC worshiping an obscure god and elevating them to the top of the pantheon?
Nah, this is one of those straight and narrow interpretations, "What's the most obscure RPG item you own?"
As a man who was once granted the title of "Games Guru of the Lehigh Valley," for my knowledge and collection of games, old and new, I've got to lay down a few ground rules.
First if it's a D&D item published for sale through retailers with TSR or Hasbro/WotC on the cover, it's can't be that obscure.
Second, in the new world of crowdfunding, pdf, print on demand, and more nefarious models of production nothing need remain obscure.
Third, yet some of these campaigns are so small that it's a wonder they can raise the couple hundred bucks.
Fourth, obscurity of older items is based on geography. I happen to live in northeast Pennsylvania, which saw a glut of old D&D module go through the Kay-Bee Toys chain for a buck or less. I used to giggle when I saw these same modules on eBay for insane prices when I know people with four or five copies still in the shrinkwrap. I then realized all the retailers and bidders were not east of the Mississippi, where Kay-Bee had stores.
I'm also mere minutes from Honesdale Pennsylvania, old home of West End Games. They would come to the local cons with 'scratch and dent' books for all their lines and would sell softcovers for $3 and hardcovers for $5. The rare and pricey Star Wars d6 books? They were in the sale as well, with less damage than the shopworn copy at your FLGS.
So that all being said, the most obscure modern thing I've picked up is a physical copy of Pyramid of the Lost King by Genius Loci Games. A desert campaign using Sword & Sorcery, I pledged for it on Kickstarter, and after long delays finally got my copy in the mail. It's solid, definitely worth the fifteen bucks and I may run it for the kids someday, but there were only 126 backers, and many only requested the pdf. Considering they only drew in three grand, and a LOT that money went to artwork AND did I mention shipping was included on that $15? I can imagine a only few boxes of books in the guys garage possibly, but definitely no giant print run.
Kickin' it old-school 20th Century obscure RPGs is a lot harder. The collection has been purged and culled over the years. The primo stuff that's rare and only has a small rabid fanbase, is all long gone.
Are the later Hackmaster 4th Edition modules (non-old module parodies) obscure enough? Top Secret modules? Tales of the Sleepless City by Miskatonic River Press? Space 1889? The books I'm pondering using later for "Ancient?" Dream Park? (If I still had Dream Park I might put that up.)
But with all the factors to consider, I'll dig back to Day 30 of #RPGaDay 2014 and go with my copy of Reindeer Games' The T.W.E.R.P.S. Files for TWERPS.
Last product of the game line, barely advertised, and in my journeys, the one supplement for the game I've seen in two or three times at cons or FLGS over the years.
A funny story about an obscure rule? A PC worshiping an obscure god and elevating them to the top of the pantheon?
Nah, this is one of those straight and narrow interpretations, "What's the most obscure RPG item you own?"
As a man who was once granted the title of "Games Guru of the Lehigh Valley," for my knowledge and collection of games, old and new, I've got to lay down a few ground rules.
First if it's a D&D item published for sale through retailers with TSR or Hasbro/WotC on the cover, it's can't be that obscure.
Second, in the new world of crowdfunding, pdf, print on demand, and more nefarious models of production nothing need remain obscure.
Third, yet some of these campaigns are so small that it's a wonder they can raise the couple hundred bucks.
Fourth, obscurity of older items is based on geography. I happen to live in northeast Pennsylvania, which saw a glut of old D&D module go through the Kay-Bee Toys chain for a buck or less. I used to giggle when I saw these same modules on eBay for insane prices when I know people with four or five copies still in the shrinkwrap. I then realized all the retailers and bidders were not east of the Mississippi, where Kay-Bee had stores.
I'm also mere minutes from Honesdale Pennsylvania, old home of West End Games. They would come to the local cons with 'scratch and dent' books for all their lines and would sell softcovers for $3 and hardcovers for $5. The rare and pricey Star Wars d6 books? They were in the sale as well, with less damage than the shopworn copy at your FLGS.
So that all being said, the most obscure modern thing I've picked up is a physical copy of Pyramid of the Lost King by Genius Loci Games. A desert campaign using Sword & Sorcery, I pledged for it on Kickstarter, and after long delays finally got my copy in the mail. It's solid, definitely worth the fifteen bucks and I may run it for the kids someday, but there were only 126 backers, and many only requested the pdf. Considering they only drew in three grand, and a LOT that money went to artwork AND did I mention shipping was included on that $15? I can imagine a only few boxes of books in the guys garage possibly, but definitely no giant print run.
Kickin' it old-school 20th Century obscure RPGs is a lot harder. The collection has been purged and culled over the years. The primo stuff that's rare and only has a small rabid fanbase, is all long gone.
Are the later Hackmaster 4th Edition modules (non-old module parodies) obscure enough? Top Secret modules? Tales of the Sleepless City by Miskatonic River Press? Space 1889? The books I'm pondering using later for "Ancient?" Dream Park? (If I still had Dream Park I might put that up.)
But with all the factors to consider, I'll dig back to Day 30 of #RPGaDay 2014 and go with my copy of Reindeer Games' The T.W.E.R.P.S. Files for TWERPS.
(346/130)
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