A to Z 10 Year Update: M is for Mazes & Monsters

This post has been updated since it was originally published on April 14, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

Mazes & Monsters

I previously posted about the satanic panic and alarm over D&D in my J is for "Just a Game" post.  The scene from Mazes & Monsters unfortunately demonstrates what many people at the time believed about D&D.  These people had usually never played D&D but the rumors, hearsay, and media attention would fuel the fire of their ignorance. 

The movie was based on the book by Rona Jaffe.  I do not know her motivation for the novel or what side of the D&D argument she stands on.  It is pretty apparent from reading the book and watching the movie that her knowledge of D&D is best described as superficial.  Take this still for instance:

 

In all of the years that I have played D&D and other games, I have NEVER seen, heard, or been a part of any game that was done by candlelight.  I am sure that this was done for dramatic flair, but I have never seen it done in reality.  The lack of accuracy was not important to the people viewing this, but the images and actions were very important.  Many people associate candles with "ritual" or "occult" type stuff and used this to help fuel the fire.  The detractors just ran wild with this information, and some would cite this movie as an example; some would suggest it was even "based on a true story"! Yes, there was a kernel of fact to the story in that a college student was believed to be missing in the tunnels below the campus and he happened to be a D&D fan, but the rest of Mazes & Monsters is strictly fiction.

Fortunately, I never directly faced this sort of hysteria from close family.  My mom just needed help with the names of the products she would buy as birthday or Christmas presents.  My step dad did not fully object but would just say "be aware of what you are messing with".  At times his stance would annoy me BUT I do get it now.  It is actually sound advice and makes sense.  You should be aware of what you are messing with regardless what "it" is - games, religion, politics, etc.  It never led to any arguments or heated discussions so it is no problem at all. 

Now that the 80's are long gone, I thought this sort of hysteria and alarm would be gone but it does resurface every now and then.  I hope that one day people will realize that activities such as gaming are not to blame for the actions of some people.  It all comes down to choice and agency.  People can choose to act "good" or "bad".

I bought a copy of the DVD years ago at a used gaming store.  I've watched the movie with my 15-year-old son one night.  He liked the few, quick scenes showing the game board and them playing.  He wasn't really impressed with the rest of the movie.  I explained the real-life case that was used as inspiration for the story and about the satanic panic.   He thought I was making up all of the stuff about the satanic panic with D&D getting banned in places, books burned, and the anti-D&D rhetoric.  His exact words were "I can't believe people actually believed that!".  Get ready, kid, you're going to have plenty of face palm moments ahead in your life.

A to Z 10 Year Update: L is for Living Steel

This post has been updated from the original version uploaded on April 13, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 19809s

Living Steel

                                                          

  It seems unusual to do a post about a game that I have never played but I have also never read the rule book; I did hold it in my hands and flip through it at the used bookstore one day.  All the gory details about the game can be found from the listing at Waynes Books.  The book was in pretty horrid condition, so it immediately fell into the no purchase category.  I remember the price being asked for it was much higher than the condition warranted.  I have also wondered if I made the right choice about purchasing that hardbound rule book several years ago. 

So, what's the point of a post about a game I virtually have no knowledge about?  I remember seeing the ads in Dragon magazine in the 80's.  We were also looking for other directions besides D&D or "yet another fantasy game" and this looked to fit the bill.  I also remember that several of us wanted to get this game.  Come on, look at the cover!  That looks to be pretty much the opposite of D&D.  The only thing I know is from the reviews I have read; basically, hearsay is it.  The general impression seems to be that it was super detailed in just about everything from combat, world history, guns, etc.

We looked at several of the game stores but could never find the game.  None of us knew anything about mail order at the time so that wasn't even an option...lol.  Maybe one of these days I can track it down at a reasonable price...  

I did find a copy of the rulebook at Half Price Books about 2 years ago.  Unfortunately, the condition was just downright dreadful with the corners all blown out, the cover peeling away from the book, and various other signs of heavy use and wear.  At least whoever owned it previously had gotten a ton of play out of the book from the appearance and condition.

More information about Living Steel can be found at the following links:

Wikipedia entry  

Video Retrospective

Rules Breakdown

A to Z 10 Year Update: K is for Krull

This post has been updated since it was originally posted on April 12, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

Krull

Here is another post that fits the "gamers that did more than just game" category of 80's memories.  The trailer for Krull is below:

Several of us went to the theatre and saw this film.  There was no D&D movie at the time but this was a close approximation to the way many  groups played the game [atleast for a short period of time]- as in, they did not strictly stick to fantasy but also threw in a little science fiction also.  Not to mention that TSR mixed science fiction and fantasy with EXPEDITION TO THE BARRIER PEAKS.  I admit that it is not a cinematic masterpiece BUT it is better than the official D&D movie that we got.

I don't have any new real insights to add to this post, but I did find some links that may be of interest to anyone that wants more information.  

One person's nostalgic look at the Krull movie can be found in this youtube video.

A look at the Atari 2600 Krull game can be found in this video.

The Glaive entry of the Krull Wiki is found here.

A to Z 10 Year Update: J is for "Just a Game"

 This post has been minimally updated at the end of the original post from April 11, 2012,

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

"Just a Game"

I uttered those words numerous times in the 1980's - every time some close-minded person would start rambling on about the "evils of D&D".  So did some of my gaming buddies.  Looking back at it all, I understand why the concern took place at this point in time.  I am not caving in and saying that "they" are right, but I am saying that the 80's was ripe for this sort of thing.  You see, the 80's was the time of the bogey man around every corner.

The Cold War happened during this time period.  Remember all of the hype about mutually assured destruction between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.?  I remember doing bomb drills in school!  We would actually get out of our seats and crouch under our desks during these drills.  Adding to the hype was the film Red Dawn.  I believe there was also a TV movie made during this time - Amerika, I believe - that told the story of a Soviet occupied America.

This decade also saw the spotlight hit the music scene.  Critics of hard rock and heavy metal bands such as Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie Jame Dio, Pink Floyd, and others were worried that these bands would lead to drugs, wild sex, satanic worship, or even suicide.  In fact, Judas Priest was even brought to trial over their music.  It was crazy times.

The slasher films and video games also came into popularity at this time.  This was another area of concern for critics.  They were convinced that the violence in these films and games would make people desensitized to the blood and gore so they would be more likely to commit violent acts.

Dungeons & Dragons came into extreme popularity in the 80's.  I am not talking about a somewhat large part of the population playing the game BUT it seemed like within a short while EVERYBODY had either played or at least knew a few details about the game.  Just to show how popular D&D was at this time, here are a few things I remember:

1. Mattel released an electronic D&D board game.
2. There was a red, electronic handheld pocket D&D game.
3. Basic D&D was in the SEARS catalog.
4. Basic D&D was available for a reward in GRIT Newspaper sellers program.
5. D&D action figures.
6. D&D animated series.

That's just real quick off the top of my head.  Not only was D&D very popular but people tended to play the hell out of it for long periods of time.  The point is that the popularity put D&D in the spotlight.  If someone committed suicide or murdered someone and they were a D&D player then it would draw more attention to it.   

The bogeyman was everywhere during the 80's.  It makes perfect sense that the role-playing game Paranoia would come out of this decade. 

I've rewritten this update three times in an attempt to get it "just right" but I neve3r felt like I had accomplished my goal. I'm going to keep it simple.  Despite the efforts of some inside and outside of the hobby, D&D is still just a game.

A to Z 10 Year Update: I is for Illuminati

This post has been slightly updated from the original version posted on April 10, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

Illuminati

Steve Jackson Games provided the games that filled many of our playing hours.  The two products that were probably my favorites were OGRE and Illuminati.  OGRE was a futuristic war game featuring a cybernetic tank that was close to unstoppable while Illuminati was a card game of conspiracy and world domination.  As a side note, SJG was somewhat know for the diversity of their products and these two are just the beginning; there was also others such as Car Wars and Raid on Iran. 

I know what you're thinking - what is so great about another card game?  Well, this is not your typical card game.  Each player controls one of the mastermind orgnanizations - the Bavarian Illuminati, Gnomes of Zurich, Servants of Cthulhu, etc. - that are trying to control the world.  Each one of these groups had a different victory condition such as controlling one group of each alignment, earning a certain amount of megabucks, or destroying a certain amount of groups. 

Other activities in the game involved controlling smaller conspiracy groups to build a power structure.  This could be groups like the Boy Sprouts, the UWA, the Post Office, etc.  Each of these groups was matched up with your starting master group one of the sides and each group had up to one arrow on each side that would allow the power structure to continue to grow.  Illuminati was actually more like a board game with the cards being placed on the table as play went on so the board was forming and changing during play.  The arrangement of each power structure determined what groups could aid other groups during your turn. 

This game actually seems to encourage players to think outside of the box and try to form alliances with other players, forge treaties, and even downright cheat their way to world domination.  It wouldn't be uncommon for some players to try to work out alliances or plans before a game was taking place.  I know I am not doing the game justice with this description but it's hard to do so because I haven't played in a while and the play goes beyond the rules in the box.  The best way to describe this game just may be to take a glimpse at the SJG catalog and read the following:

"Two to six players compete to take control of groups ranging from the FBI and CIA to the Dentists, increasing their wealth and power for further takeovers, until one rules supreme. Every player has different victory conditions! No ploy is too devious, no stratagem too low, as you scheme your way to victory."

Doesn't that sound fun?

I did get into Illuminati: New World Order, the collectible card game version, in the 1990s but that was more of a collector than a player. It wasn't for a lack of effort, but everybody was into Magic: The Gathering and played it like that was the only game in town.  Steve Jackson Games has released a version of the original game in a somewhat larger format, but they haven't done an updated version similar to OGRE or Car Wars.  If you're interested in the game, you can always check the official website at Illuminati: The Game of Conspiracy at the SJG site.

A to Z 10 Year Update: H is for Heavy Metal

This post has been updated since it was originally uploaded on April 9, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

Heavy Metal
Ok, here's another post from the "gamers that do more than game" category.  I'm not going to write a lot and just let the trailer speak for itself...

...and it's pretty awesome!  I remember staying up later than we were supposed to and sneaking in the other room at my buddies' house and discovering this show just as it was starting.  Of course, his parents probably would not have approved of us watching but it was everything a group of pre-teen boys would find awesome - rock music, swords, lasers, fighting, fantastic adventures, and naked boobies...lol.  Hey, what can I say, all of us were around 11 or 12 the first time we saw it?  Don't bother with Heavy Metal 2000; it sucks.  'nuff said!

I don't have a tremendous amount of information to add to this post, but I do have the following.  Heavy Metal was one of the first DVDs I bought.  I still enjoy it and watch it several times a year.  It still holds up today.  My favorite segment remains Den of Earth.  I have shown Heavy Metal to my son, and he enjoys it much like my friends and I did back in the day.  I really need to buy Mutant Crawl Classics at some time to see how well this type of game can be run straight out of the box.

A to Z 10 Year Update: G is for GURPS

This post has been updated from the version originally uploaded on April 7, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

GURPS

Several of the products from Steve Jackson Games were played quite frequently by the members of our gaming group.  It all started with Car Wars.  We were thrilled to find a game and play experience that reminded us so much of Death Race 2000.  The price of the game -$3.95 - was enough to lure us quickly into snatching up more of the SJG pocket box games.  Some of our favorites included OGRE, G.E.V., Illuminati and One-Page Bulge.

One of my favorite contents included in the SJG game boxes was the catalog.  It was like a miniature SEARS catalog of gaming goodness with sections devoted to each product.  There are several I would have liked to have tried like Raid on Iran, Kung Fu 2000, and others.  The catalog also included a little blurb about the upcoming products by SJG that were going to be released sometime soon.  I enjoyed reading about the products I did not have and the products that were coming soon and then one day I noticed the product spotlight for an upcoming product that grabbed my attention - GURPS, the Generic Universal Role Playing System.  The announcement promised that this one system was all a group would need to play in any style of game they wanted.  Most companies did not do that and expected you to buy a new game with new rules for fantasy, western, science fiction, supers, or other gaming.  I read the further previews with great interest and waited for the release of the game.    

When the original boxed set of the rules were released I bought them at the game shop I used to frequent as much as possible at the time.  I took it home and started reading through the rules.  The more I read, the more I liked and blazed through them pretty quickly.  I thought it was extremely revolutionary that you actually designed your character from points, used advantages and disadvantages to "balance" your character, and also had a basic combat as well as advanced combat system; there was also tons of GM advice available in the rules.  I played through the included solo adventure - Caravan to Ein Arnis, I think? - and was pretty excited to see more.  In short time I purchased GURPS Man to Man (basically a slimmed down fantasy combat version of the system), GURPS Autoduel (roleplaying in the Car Wars universe), GURPS Cyberpunk, GURPS Fantasy, and GURPS Supers.  With these additional rules volumes it became apparent that not every genre would use the exact same rules - some would be added or changed from the core - but all of these different genres did use a basic starting point that was the same.  Everything else could be figured out or dealt with in a reasonable fashion since the core was intact.  I began jotting down notes and ideas for a campaign that I wanted to run everybody through.  I was next up in the Game Master rotation and I wanted to introduce the rest of the group to this awesome new system I had just learned.

It turned out that GURPS would become my single biggest disappointment in my gaming experience.  No, it wasn't from play experience or any other dissatisfaction with the system.  My gaming group had one simple problem with GURPS - they believed that all of those rulebooks were mandatory and voiced opinions such as "if we're going to need all of those rulebooks then we might as well just keep using D&D, Gamma World, and Star Frontiers".  I tried in vain to convince them otherwise but Jamie was the only one that would listen.  We played around with Man to Man a few times but never did get a GURPS campaign going.  I would occasionally pick up future GURPS supplements - they are generally so informative that they can be used for other games - and even bought GURPS 3rd Edition even though I knew that none of my gaming buddies would give it a shot.  It remains a system I am highly interested in using.  Perhaps I will get the chance someday?

I never have managed to get a GURPS game up and going.  I eventually gave all of the material I owned to my cousin. He seems to have a pretty steady group and they play several games.  I need to check with him and see if he has had any luck bringing it to the table.  I never bought into GURPS 4th Edition just because of the bad luck I experienced in finding interested players of previous editions.  It doesn't seem to me that it reached the same level of popularity as 3rd but since my finger isn't on the pulse of the GURPS fandom, that is purely conjecture on my part.

One thing that always stuck out to me when reading through the GURPS rules was the mention of his earlier work, The Fantasy Trip.  I was just old enough at the time it would have been in the stores, but I missed out on buying the game.  I would catch glimpses about TFT over the years and I could see that GURPS was basically an evolution of that earlier game.  Eventually, Steve Jackson obtained the right to the game and launched a kickstarter for The Fantasy Trip: Legacy Edition.  I backed it and got everything.  Although I have only used TFT for solo play - and I'm about to introduce it to my teen son - I am NOT getting rid of it.

A to Z 10 Year Update: F is for Friday the 13th

 This post has been updated from the version originally upload on April 6, 2012.  The update is minimal.  Scroll to the bottom of the post.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

Friday the 13th

Yeah, I know what you're thinking at this point - I thought this guy was using gaming in the 1980's with his friends as the theme of all of his posts?  Yes, you are correct and I assure you that the series of Friday the 13th movies DO fit into the stated theme for my posts.  You see, my gaming group from the old days did not start out as my gaming group.  All of us were friends for various lengths of time before we started role-playing together.  In other words, we didn't just game together but did all sorts of other things in our free time.  Some of the posts for this challenge will reflect that fact.  This happens to be one of them.

One of our favorite activites was watching movies - especially horror movies - on the weekends.  Most of the horror movies we saw at the beginning of the 80's were just the kind of movies that would make you jump at certain points.  There might be some vague hints at gore and violence but the main point was to make the audience jump.  After viewing tons of these movies, you kind of get used to the jump scenes and can almost pinpoint the hints leading to those moments in the films.  Our whole experience with these films would change when we discovered the slasher films that exploded into popularity in the 80's.

I could not give you the exact date or even an approximate year for the start of the slasher films.  What I can tell you is that after a few of these series took off with tremendous popularity, there were many other slasher films of varying quality released to the viewing public.  As with most everything available for public consumption, the cream rises to the top.  The top tier of the slasher films consisted of movies like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th. 

The members of the gaming group had varying tastes when it came to these movies so there was no consensus about the best series in the genre.  All it took was one viewing of Friday the 13th for me to have my favorite.  I remember hearing about the legend of Jason in the movie and believing that he was doing all of the killing.  Instead, I was surprised to discover that his mother had been slowly getting her revenge throughout the movie.  I was even more surprised when Jason came out of the water at the end of the movie.  I remember that scene giving me creeps late at night and there was a few times where I turned on a lamp so it would not be dark.  I may have been just a tad young to be watching these movies but the "forbidden fruit" aspect was part of the fun.

There have been many sequels to the original film in the following years.  They all end pretty much the same way - Jason is vanquished and there is doubt as to whether he is truly dead or not.  Eventually, there is another sequel released that has Jason revived yet again to wreak havoc on pot smoking, beer drinking, and teenagers having sex out of wedlock.  The films are not "deep" or anything but I find them entertaining; maybe a guilty pleasure even.  With all of the times I have watched these and other horror movies I have never played any horror role-playing games.  There's something to that but I don't know what... 

This post isn't getting much of an update.  If you are a Friday the 13th fan then you know the rights to the films have been tied up in court for some time and there hasn't been an official sequel released in years.  The fans, however, have been busy...

Rose Blood is a continuation of Friday the 13th Part 7

Never Hike Alone 

Voorhees

Never Hike in the Snow

If you're interested, just search "Friday the 13th fan film" on youtube.  There's a ton of them.

A to Z 10 Year Update: E is for Expert Set

 This post has been updated from the post originally published on April 5, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

Expert Set

Following the foundation laid out in the Basic set, the Expert set provided details for characters to advance in level to the approximately the mid-teen levels; I know it's somewhere around 14th or 15th level but it has been a while and my memory is a little fuzzy.  The Expert set also focused more on wilderness and overland adventuring and encounters in contrast to the focus on the dungeon environment found in the Basic set.  Of course, since the characters gained new options then were also new monsters, treasures, and other assorted information in these rules.

I have heard that there were actually adds from the old TSR catalog that had information for an unproduced Holmes Expert set.  I have no idea if this is true or not.  Regardless, all of us in the gaming group had a copy of the Mentzer version of the Expert rules.  I do recall playing through the included adventure, Isle of Dread, and thinking how cool it was to go on a pirate adventure to an uncharted island.  I have acquired a Moldvay Expert set rulebook sometime in the last couple of years.  It's in really good condition and I feel fortunate to have gotten it for a super low price.  Now, I have the complete B/X rules and I pull them out from time to time to read through them.

For some reason, no one in the playing group owned a copy of the Moldvay version of the Expert rules.  I think this is a case of somewhat odd luck because several of us had the matching Basic rules.  I am sure the differences between the two Expert sets were not all that vast, but I would have preferred a copy of the Moldvay set for no other reason than to match the corresponding Basic set.  Judging from the cover, the presentation matched the Basic set, and The two boxes would have made a nice pair on the shelf together.  I have also heard that there was a Moldvay Companion rules set that was unproduced as well.  For those you that aren't aware, the Moldvay Expert rulebook has a section on page 8 about levels beyond those listed that suggests higher level benefits but also mentions the DM can "wait until the D&D Companion supplement is released which will detail levels up to 36 in more detail.". Although this particular Companion volume was never released, there are at least 3 fan versions found at various sites on the internet.

Out of all the D&D products that I have owned over the years, the product(s) I feel would be ideal for playing today would be the Moldvay Basic along with the matching Expert rules that I never owned.  Most of our D&D campaigns rarely made it further than the levels presented in the Expert rules so these two boxed sets of rules would make an ideal rules set for my old gaming group.  It's pretty tempting to head over to some used game sites to see if I can pick both of these up.  As I mentioned previously in this post, I now own the two B/X rulebooks so I don't have to search for them any morel

  

A to Z 10 Year Update: D is for DC Heroes

This post has been updated since it was originally published on April 4, 2012.

A to Z 2012: Gaming in the 1980s

DC Heroes 

I have been a fan of supers gaming ever since I picked up the Villains & Vigilantes 2nd Edition boxed set in the early 80's.  From that game, several of us tried out Marvel Super Heroes from TSR and Heroes Unlimited from Palladium Books.  One summer I ran across the first edition of DC Heroes in the local game shop.  It seemed like an obvious purchase since many of us were avid readers of several of the DC titles; plus, Green Lantern will always be my favorite super hero of all time.  I figured any game that had Green Lantern included in the universe and available for play should be a must have for me.  Besides, maybe the system would be easy to translate back and forth between this system and the one used in the Marvel game.  We had plans for the ultimate crossovers and battles between the universes but the systems were not compatible at all.  

If we would have put a little more effort into it, I now believe the systems could have been converted between with just a little more patience.  Marvel had ranks and DC had APs and a reasonable approximation between the two systems could have been worked out.  The question is if the power level from one system to the other would have been an easy match.  That would have most likely been the most challenging part of the conversion.

I was a little concerned with the price but then I opened the box and was pretty much blown away.  There were three booklets (a Players Manual, a Game Masters manual, and a Skills & Powers manual if I recall correctly), a GMs screen, and a boatload of character cards that served as miniature character sheets for many of the most popular and some of the more obscure figures in the DC universe. 

One of my favorite sections of the rules was the designer notes appendix.  If I recall correctly, it talked about acquiring the license, several failed attempts at starting the design, and how the designer came upon the AP concept and how the design team reached several crucial decisions. A section similar to this used to be a common thing among wargames and some early role-playing games.  I always enjoy reading about the design process and I feel that modern games should include a similar section.

There were several of us that were pretty excited to get home and play this one.  I have to admit that most of us were a little intimidated by the way the rules were presented.  There were some areas that were super easy to grasp but some of the other areas left us somewhat confused.  It didn't seem to me that you could do a proper gadgeteer under the rules because every invention had charges associated with their use, the powers were somewhat specialized to a DC exclusive outlook with custom names instead of general names, and the fact that we were somewhat confused by the rules at the time.  An older brother helped us tremendously with the rules but we got the idea that DC Heroes was more about playing established super hero characters rather than your own creations so we did not play it much. 

I have heard that there were two other editions of DC Heroes published that cleaned up some of the problems and issues from that first edition.  It seems there is also a legacy product called Blood of Heroes that made further revisions and additions to the rules.  Maybe I could look that up sometime and give the game another spin?

I never did buy any of these products.  I've lost a few auctions for the 2nd edition of DC Heroes over the years.  Someone keeps coming in and outbidding me by a substantial amount.  I hear this is the "definitive version" of the Mayfair editions of the game so I will eventually get it at some point.  I have seen two or three copies of Blood of Heroes at a local used bookstore.  I saw it often enough that I would skip it when I found something else because "it hasn't been bought yet" until it was bought and I haven't been able to find it since.  Lesson learned.  I'll add it to the list.