Monday 20 October 2008

Man's Battle for the Stars

Thanks to the Godzilla Gaming Podcast, my new obsession is tracking down fans of 2300 AD. Any players of the game out there amongst my readership?

My other new obsession, ever since I wrote this post, is the War Machine (the mass battle rules) from the Companion set for Classic D&D. I'll be putting up a hack for the system some time soon.

In other news, the excellent Primer for Old School Gaming has been discovered by the good people over at story-games.com. I was more than a little surprised to see that thread, and even more surprised to see it get the thumbs up from most.

8 comments:

  1. James: You're a man of impeccable taste. Give 2300 AD some love on your blog!

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  2. I got into 2300 AD in a big way back when it first came out. That and Twilight: 2000. I loved the very gritty feel-- like playing "Alien" without the aliens.

    I could really see doing another Twilight:2000 game with a slightly different background. Maybe a bunch of G.I.'s trying to get home from Iraq...

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  3. Give 2300 AD some love on your blog!

    If there's a way to mention 2300 AD, I certainly will, but I'm not sure how likely that'll be. It's a pretty late game to qualify as old school anyway.

    Still love it =)

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  4. Joseph: That would be very interesting, although I like the idea of returning from Afghanistan better - it's further away and situated behind vast and hostile distances.

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  5. I have much love for 2300 AD and it's dirty, gritty SF gaming delights. I'm currently running a Classic Traveller campaign, but I'd love to run a 2300 AD campaign at some future date. The old stuff is quite easy to come by on ebay these days.

    As for it not being old school, I wonder what the cut-off date is for this category? 2300 AD came out in 1986, so presumably the old school ends prior to this date? Please note that my tongue is firmly embedded in my cheek as I write this.

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  6. Sacha: Well I was only 5 years old in 1986, so it counts as old school to me... ;)

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  7. As for it not being old school, I wonder what the cut-off date is for this category?

    There's no specific cut-off date for "old school," but, generally speaking, rare is the old school game published post-1983 or thereabouts. In the case of 2300 AD, the game has a universal task system, an extensive skill system, and a metaplot (of sorts), so publication date aside, it's mechanically/philosophically not in line with the old school.

    Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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