Old-school RPG's?

[Itisnotlogical]

Even more old-school than the D&D games on the NES- actual pen and paper roleplaying games, with honest-to-God grid paper and little miniatures representing your characters. Who plays these anymore? I'd like to sit down at a table with a 24-pack of Coke, some pizza and a few buddies, rolling berjillion-sided dice to determine what happens. Two problems:

I can't ever find any people to play with.

I can't find any little sets with miniatures and rulebooks and pre-written campaigns.

I've been wanting to play a pen-and-paper RPG ever since I read that the plot of Doom was inspired by Romero and Carmack's most recent D&D campaign, which ended with demons overrunning the planet. Is there actually an audience for pen and paper RPG's like D&D or trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh or the WoW TCG?

 

[Skywalker]

Pen-and-paper RPGs are still around and being played by a lot of folks, but I have the same problem as you, I don't know any gamers around here and I don't know how to find them (no gaming stores in the area).

 

[Spiderpope]

If you have a Games Workshop store near you, check in there. Whilst they wont have the products you are looking for, given they focus on tabletop wargames rather than rpg's, a staff member invariably will belong to an esoteric local gaming group that will be playing the games you wish to play.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

^^
Cool, tabletop wargames seem fun too, but unfortunately I live in Modesto (read: middle of nowhere) so a Games Workshop seems pretty out of reach, but I'm moving up to the Coast soon so maybe I'll find one there. I wish I'd bought such things when I lived in Texas, there was a cool little shop down there called GameWyze

 

[Pindar]

Quite a few people here still play them.

I am currently running a game set in the HALO universe.

It's deliciously violent.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

My roomies and I are in a DND campaign.

Depending what kind of game you want, GURPS may be a good answer. (Generic RP system, allows almost any kind of game to be designed and played)

 

[the Dagman]

^^
Cool, tabletop wargames seem fun too, but unfortunately I live in Modesto (read: middle of nowhere) so a Games Workshop seems pretty out of reach, but I'm moving up to the Coast soon so maybe I'll find one there. I wish I'd bought such things when I lived in Texas, there was a cool little shop down there called GameWyze

If by "up to the coast" you mean the Bay Area, try going to a place called "Games of Berkeley" (I actually worked there ~25 years ago). It is right across the street from the downtown Berkeley BART station and will have all that you need. Also, the local gaming convention is held every February and is called DunDraCon. It is held in San Ramon each year. Also, if you go into that site's community section you can find info for gaming stores throughout Northern California. Most of those stores will at least have a bulletin board where you can find gaming contacts.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Even more old-school than the D&D games on the NES- actual pen and paper roleplaying games, with honest-to-God grid paper and little miniatures representing your characters. Who plays these anymore?

I do quite regularly, even if not as often as I did (or I would like). I used to play Star Trek RPG once a week and D&D once every two weeks. Now it's Star Trek every once in a while, D&D once a month and some one-shot now and then (Buffy TVS, Superhero, Nobilis, Legend of Five Rings...).

I love very much my RPG.

 

[Davros]

I started out with A D&D but happily switched to Runequest within 4 years.

 

[the Dagman]

I started out with A D&D but happily switched to Runequest within 4 years.

I worked on that one. Always glad to hear when people like it.

 

[Davros]

I started out with A D&D but happily switched to Runequest within 4 years.

I worked on that one. Always glad to hear when people like it.

It's one of the best ever. Having characters go up in skills they use or train in rather than having characters just go up in level was a brilliant stroke. Hit location and hit points per location lead to some great fights. Add to that one of the most developed fantasy worlds ever created and you have one of the greatest games ever made.

I have been temped to start a thread on why Runequest is better than D&D but it might seem to be trolling.

 

[Pindar]

I worked on that one. Always glad to hear when people like it.

Oooh, that's extremely cool.

I am running RQ long term just now, I am having a mini break to play sci-fi violence and then am going back to my RQ'ised Pathfinder game a week on Sunday.

 

[The Fatman]

I've had a group I've played various games with for almost 15 years. Over the years, we've gone through Vampire: the masquerade, Shadowrun, AD&D, D&D 3rd Ed/D20 system, and Mechwarrior/Battletech.

As we've gotten older we can't get together like we used to, but we still try to go on once a month or so. At this point, we've got a house rules version of D&D we're all very happy with.

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

Gary Gygax often posted on http://www.dragonsfoot.org

There is a forum on that site to find old-school gamers in your area.

Good luck, and Enjoy

 

[Cain]

I never played pen and paper RPGs until a few months ago. I'm now hooked. I got started through Meetup.com. My area (Tucson, AZ) has a very active RPG meetup.com group. Once a month there is a meetup for the whole group and other activities throughout the month. So, Meetup.com is a place to look.

I just finished a 3.5 D&D campaign with a few people I met a the first meetup I went to. I'm planning on starting a 4th Edition D&D campaign soon with some friends and family who are interested in RPGs. 4th edition is a good game to get your feet wet. As newbie, I feel it is the most straightforward game to use.

 

[FPAlpha]

Best bet is to find a local gamestore that has roleplaying and/or tabletop products there.. most games store will allow you to either hang a search sheet somewhere in the store or there are already some searching for other player.

Alternatively just try to google some sites where people meet.. if you are interest in a particular game google it and find some boards and ask for players in your area there.

Many groups are all to happy to include new blood since it's a very small niche and as people get older they tend to slip out of it (as in my case.. have been gaming till my late 20s and then have faded away).

 

[Alpha_Geek]

I still have all my old Traveller stuff. Who needs polyhedra dice? I can rule a large chunk o' the galaxy with 3d6! LOL

Cheers

 

[Davros]

I still have all my old Traveller stuff. Who needs polyhedra dice? I can rule a large chunk o' the galaxy with 3d6! LOL

Cheers

Traveller is the only game I know of where your character can die while it's being created.

Great fun stll.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

We always regarded those incidents as "debiliating events" that immediately stopped the current term and negated eligibility for future terms. "Mostly Dead", I suppose, though "Caught doing the admirals daughter" could also qualify...

 

[Davros]

Does anybody remember Arduin Grimiore?