That's pretty much why I've never run it for my group either. One of them played EQ, the rest know about it because I tell them about it. Hard to run a game for folks that don't know the universe. However... at the same time, a good GM (I am not) can make exploring a new world more fun than playing in the old one. Best games I've been in have been new game worlds. You can only visit Homlett 10 or 12 times before it gets old.
Not sure if it was homemade or not but I found an everquest monopoly version online. Whats game night without monopoly at least once a year right!
The tabletop was actually really well done, provided you had al'kabor's arcana for all the utility stuff. I ran a campaign that lasted about 1.5 years back at university. Because the system flat punishes multiclassing, my characters were all really well developed as characters rather than mechanics blobs, and it was the best tabletop campaign I have run in 25 years of GMing.
My all-time favorites not in any particular order. AHGC's Advanced Squad Leader (link) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADB/TFG's Star Fleet Battles (link) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Larry Bond's Harpoon (link)
One of my favorite DnD adventures was return to keep on the borderlands. My wife and I were playing 2 chars each. One of mine died during one run (too low level to raise) so we recruited another from the town to replace them (was an evil necromancer, although the party didn't know they were evil). We ended up in a pretty epic fight killing some necromancer with a massive library in one of the caves. Just my necromancer, and one of my wifes characters barely surviving. I'll never forget the look on her face when I said "I cast magic missile" .. "But everthings dead!" "You aren't"
For role playing non-computer games, I would stick with D&D, or some version of AD&D, with or without various home made modifications. The other thing I would take a look Hero, and the various settings for it. I like it since it is very versatile for a large variety of setting, everything from sword and sorcery, to contemporary spy vs spy stuff, to superheroes zorching each other, to a space opera. I consider games such as Diplomacy, Starfleet Commander, Squad Leader, and lots of other stuff from Avelon Hill / SSI (board games) as very different genre. Risk would be a much simpler version of this type of game. Those that like EQ / RPGs may not always like playing this genre. Games such as Nuke War (yes I am dating my self), Cosmic Encounter, Settlers of Catan, would be a much simpler social type of game that is fairly easy to learn and quick to play. FYI when servers are down, several good options to take a look at would be ADOM, ADOM II, for more of a traditional role playing rogue RPG. If you like empire building games, consider something like Ascend or Civilization. For card games, consider Forge, which is based on Magic the Gathering. For space combat consider taking a look at Vega Strike, or Space combat. Finally take a look at Dwarven Fortress. The above list of computer based single player games are freeware / shareware, meaning you can legally download them for free. Some of these games have rather simplistic UI, and not as graphically appealing as EQ or other contemporary games, but with a high replayablity.
There was a game called Dungeon! back in the day that was based on D&D. I don't know if it's still available, but it's fun. Blackmorn Manor was based on your basic haunted house scenario, and I do not believe it is available any more. Talisman of course, Warhammer Quest (not the mmorpg, but based on the same material), Heroquest, Sorcerer's Cave, Magic Wood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there are a plethora of games based on this concept. Just look and you shall find. There's even a massive Call of Cthulhu board game, Arkham Horror. I hope you manage to find something you like.
[quote="Games such as Nuke War (yes I am dating my self), Cosmic Encounter, Settlers of Catan, would be a much simpler social type of game that is fairly easy to learn and quick to play. FYI when servers are down, several good options to take a look at would be ADOM, ADOM II, for more of a traditional role playing rogue RPG. If you like empire building games, consider something like Ascend or Civilization. For card games, consider Forge, which is based on Magic the Gathering. For space combat consider taking a look at Vega Strike, or Space combat. Finally take a look at Dwarven Fortress. The above list of computer based single player games are freeware / shareware, meaning you can legally download them for free. Some of these games have rather simplistic UI, and not as graphically appealing as EQ or other contemporary games, but with a high replayablity.[/quote] I've played Nuke War lots of times, and had the pleasure of working on Nuclear Escalation, Nuclear Proliferation, and the Nuclear War expansion deck. These are all expansions on the theme of Nuclear War, and whether you play the expansions or not, you will enjoy the base game. It is still available from Flying Buffalo Games for a fairly good price, and you can get updates on what else is available from the same source. Flying Buffalo has a webpage, flyingbuffalo.com, I believe. In any event, it can be googled. As a pop culture aside, Nuclear War was created over 50 years ago in the deepest part of the cold war and reflects that in it's themes. Doug Malawicki, the creator, is also one of the creators of the original Robsaurus of monster truck show fame, and is a heck of a nice guy. The owner of Flying Buffalo is Rick Loomis, who introduce me to Nuke War way back in 1975, and I've been a fan since. He is the prime creative force behind all the subsequent expansions, though everyone who ever worked for Flying Buffalo on any project was either a direct contributor or play-tester. Gosh, those were fun times. Flying Buffalo's other signature game, Tunnels and Trolls dates from 1975 and is still the go to game for introducing people to rpgs in my opinion. It's recently been updated and expanded, and it's very competitive with any rpg on the market today. It has new material by Ken St. Andre, the original creator, new art by a host of great fantasy artists, and new material by James Peters, Ken St. Andre, and a ton of the original crew that Ken inflicted this game on way back in the seventies. If you like a game that doesn't take itself too seriously and is very easy to learn, this is one of your best options. Take this as a fan post, not a solicitation for purchase. I don't work for FBI any more and I don't gain anything by commenting on this subject. Unless you buy the expansions I worked on, and even then, all I get is ego-boo. LOL.
