Old school RPG guy, 59, in Florida US. Traveller, Hero, Cyberpunk, Action! System, and about a hundred others.

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  • Ross Winn@ttrpg.networkOPMtoTraveller@ttrpg.networkconversation
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    2 days ago

    Well, to start out with, Traveler was the second game I ever played in 1977, just a few weeks after I started playing Dungeons & Dragons. I think the pulpy goodness and the references to the Age of Sail give a really great roleplaying environment. Traveller really created the concept of the big story arc within the game, and the lifepath system. Both really give you a lot of information that you can use to create a fun character. Combat is pretty deadly and I think that helps encourage role-playing. There are some anachronisms and things that don’t really make sense in a modern context. However, I think you can really leave those if the rest of this setting makes sense to you.










  • I’d definitely study the evolution of the hobby using books like The Elusive Shift (Petersen), Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations (Deterding, Zagal) and Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry (Appelcline). Once the students had a grounding in the history I would suggest a unit on Dice and Probability, the Mechanics and influence on settings.

    • D&D for level and progression, and contrasting that against Palladium’s approach.
    • Traveller for the lifepath concept as well as the developing of universal setting.
    • Hero System and the rise of point based mechanics, contrasting with GURPS.
    • Interlock (Mekton, Cyberpunk) and the emergence of Unified Game Mechanics, maybe contrast with Atlas Games All Flesh Must Be Eaten, et al.
    • Vampire, and the development of Dice Pools and the rise of “splats” as a business model.
    • Over The Edge and Amber Diceless as differing approaches to non-traditional RPGs.
    • Sorcerer, indie games, The Forge, and the story game movement. See also gamist/narrativist/simulationist as styles of play.
    • D&D 3.0 and the OGL explosion.
    • Apocalypse World and the New Wave of RPGs as a reaction to OGL. (one man’s opinion).