The Art & History of Tabletop RPGs
My first brief, mostly failed attempt at painting miniatures back circa 1991 centered on RAFM’s line of Call of Cthulhu miniatures. I got a handful of them from my local comic shop (RIP Infinity Comics) and used Testors model paints. Most of the results are now lost (RIP Dark Young, Nightgaunt, Cthonian) but honestly, no […]
Chaos lurks just under the surface. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we talk about the Enemy Within campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. We recap the original version, theorize where it went off the rails, enthuse over Cubicle 7’s five-volume remaster and discuss the perils of satire.
Let’s look at some miniatures this week! First up, this is Ral Partha, the evil wizard. To my knowledge, this was the first miniature produced by Ral Partha Enterprises. He isn’t technically named Ral Partha, he’s 01-001 Evil Wizard, Casting Spell (1975), but he represents Tom Winkler’s character, after whom the company was named. The […]
Hail Tzeentch! Er, I mean, nice empire you got there, sure would be a shame if something were to happen to it…
Dragon 81 (January, 1984). Awesome cover by Steve Peregrine. I’m always here for the monster, the more unusual, the better. Weird giant horned snow cat creature > another dragon any day.
Dragon 80 (December, 1983). The fifth Caldwell cover of 1983. This one often gets singled out as the start of an increasing focus on cleavage and such to appeal to an adolescent audience and sell them more D&D products (which, at least in the context of Dragon Magazine, I don’t think was the rampant plague […]
I don’t honestly have much context for Buck Rogers. My experience with the property is primarily through the schlocky TV space opera and, dimly, the other TSR Buck Rogers RPG, both of which are set in the far future. This game, The Buck Rogers Adventure Game (1993) was born out of the ashes of the […]
This is the Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game (1988). Yes, this is a real RPG that exists. The cheerful orange box is packed with doo-dads — spinners for resolution, big fold-up character cards, novelty diplomas as rewards for winning (from Wossamotta U for heroes and the Ukranian Safe-Cracking Academy of Pottsylvania for villains) and […]