>I found it on p.59 of the 5th edition. (I assume everyone has Call of
>Cthulhu within easy reach :-) Interesting, but I like the biohazard
>better.
How many people here have play, or have played RPG's? I ask because
I've always been facsinated by the alternate realities that are created in
such detail by game designers, and how they reflect attitudes and
concepts in "the real world" in an archetypal way.
For instance (and I hope this makes sense to people unfamilair with
D&D) the "Dark Sun" setting in AD&D is a rehash of the Wasteland--a
common symbolic element in western literature. I found it intersting that
this came out in the late-eighties, during the resurgence of "Green"
politics, "Earth Day", recycling and the like. Even in fantasy "magic"
no longer is a "miracle cure" to all that ails us, just as we have begun to
lose confidence in technology in the "real world".
Anyway, what is the RPG experience out there?
I bought my first copy of the basic set, in red, at age 8. My first
character was a wizard named "Croman" who I intended to be a fighter before
he ended up with STR:5 and INT:17. Destiny?
I played D&D regularly in high-school (my Grandmother did not think I was a
devil-worshiper, much) and some during college. I stopped playing as my
free time began to get eaten up by wine women and song but I still collect
RPG literature and play the occasional adventure whenever the "old gang"
gets back into town. I've drifted away from D&D towards GURPS. I have
most of the core rules and supplements for the following games:
Dungeons and Dragons (yes, I own a copy of the original "Chainmail" rules)
AD&D (both editions, Spelljammer was my favorite setting...wouldn't you
know it gets axed)
Star Frontiers (which published some excellent adventures right before TSR
killed it)
Top Secret
Gamma World...and pretty much anything else TSR published before 1990
GURPS
Call of Cuthulu
Star Wars
Star Trek and StarFleet Battles
Traveller (all the additions, it's a mania, really...I can't help myself)
ShadowRun
Marvel Super Heros
Champions
Villians and Vigilanties
Paranoia
Twilight: 2000
BattleTech (how could I, almost, forget this one?)
Rifts
I'm sure I'm forgeting some.
"Cuthulu for president: Wy pick the LESSER of evils?"
Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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