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Quiz about Role Playing Games  The Earlyish Years
Quiz about Role Playing Games  The Earlyish Years

Role Playing Games - The Early(ish) Years Quiz


Some questions on the earlier years of role-playing, based on my memories of the games I was playing between 1979 - 1989.

A multiple-choice quiz by spaceowl. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
spaceowl
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
345,513
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
219
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Question 1 of 10
1. I can't start this quiz off without a reference to the original - what was the very first published Dungeons and Dragons supplement? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This Science Fiction RPG was minimalist in appearance, lacked blasters and lightsabres but had Newtonian physics, starship combat and a character creation system that could notably kill your character before (s)he had ever been played. What was this RPG's name? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Following very close on the heels of D&D, this game was similar in feel but arguably took itself less seriously. Published by Flying Buffalo, it had spells like 'Poor Baby' and 'Yassa Massa', was translated into at least five languages and is now in its fifth edition. What's it called? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. This was possibly the first science fiction RPG. Set on a giant, dying generation starship, players could be pure humans, mutant humans or mutant animals (or I seem to remember, mutant plants. Now that's a role-playing challenge). The vast decks of the ship offered a range of environments from urban to rural, and a range of foes from cavemen to space rangers. It is named...? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This was the first of Fantasy Games Unlimited's very complex games with (it seemed at the time) a rule for everything. It was a fantasy game set in the High Medieval period and had, among many others, supplements called 'Arden' and 'Destrier' and was called...? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. This one was produced by a well-known company and had a lavish production budget. It was set in a world of glamour and espionage focussing on a very famous spy. It was published between 1984 and 1987 when the licence arrangement for the game's eponymous character lapsed. What game was it? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This early, early fantasy RPG was set on the world of Tekumel, many hundreds of centuries in the future. The players were adventuring on the world of Tekumel, in a society that felt like a mix of ancient India and the Aztecs. Over a dozen alien races shared Tekumel with man against a backdrop of history that went back 50,000 years. Gods were real - there were twenty of them - metal was scarce and riding animals were virtually unknown in which game? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The Red Army has invaded the USA in this VERY Eighties RPG. You played as a member of a band of freedom fighters, taking on the Soviet occupiers in much the same way as the Wolverines did in the (ahem) classic movie 'Red Dawn'.
What was the game called?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This was another fairly early RPG. In mechanics it was almost a complete departure from the D&D model, being percentile based and featuring a detailed campaign background from the start. If I told you the name of the world this game was set in, it would make the quiz too easy, but I will say it gave the world the Dragonewt, the Gorp and the warrior Duck. What was it called? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Finally, this was what I was playing when my chosen decade ended. It was a much-criticised post-apocalypse game, apparently somehow in more dubious taste that any OTHER post-apocalypse game. Players were cast-adrift NATO soldiers, struggling to survive after a failed offensive in WW3 Poland. Among others, which game had supplements called 'Free City of Krakow', 'Pirates of the Vistula' and 'The Black Madonna'? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. I can't start this quiz off without a reference to the original - what was the very first published Dungeons and Dragons supplement?

Answer: World of Greyhawk

I never really caught the D&D bug, but I can remember Greyhawk being circulated around the gamers at my local wargaming club with interest back in 1979. The UK took a little bit longer to catch the RPG bug than the USA.
2. This Science Fiction RPG was minimalist in appearance, lacked blasters and lightsabres but had Newtonian physics, starship combat and a character creation system that could notably kill your character before (s)he had ever been played. What was this RPG's name?

Answer: Traveller

Traveller grew out of Games Designers' Workshop's 'Imperium' game, it's said. People remember the classy black box with the thin red stripe and white writing to this day. The game hasn't really stood the test of time in my opinion, but ahh, the hours I wasted playing it at sixth form...
3. Following very close on the heels of D&D, this game was similar in feel but arguably took itself less seriously. Published by Flying Buffalo, it had spells like 'Poor Baby' and 'Yassa Massa', was translated into at least five languages and is now in its fifth edition. What's it called?

Answer: Tunnels and Trolls

Designed by Ken St.Andre, who went on to write Stormbringer and Starfaring, this was a very early entry to the RPG pantheon. As one of my friends said, 'D&D is Lord of the Rings. This is Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.
It was, and none the worse for that.
4. This was possibly the first science fiction RPG. Set on a giant, dying generation starship, players could be pure humans, mutant humans or mutant animals (or I seem to remember, mutant plants. Now that's a role-playing challenge). The vast decks of the ship offered a range of environments from urban to rural, and a range of foes from cavemen to space rangers. It is named...?

Answer: Metamorphosis Alpha

Metamorphosis Alpha was cursed by the lack of an ultimate goal for its players, but could still shine with a talented referee. It was reprinted at least four times, and there are rumours of a fifth on the way.
5. This was the first of Fantasy Games Unlimited's very complex games with (it seemed at the time) a rule for everything. It was a fantasy game set in the High Medieval period and had, among many others, supplements called 'Arden' and 'Destrier' and was called...?

Answer: Chivalry and Sourcery

I'm sorry to admit I never played a game of C&S, though I did read through some of the rules, whose very denseness scared away a lot of potential players. It was a pity because a lot of thought had gone into the game, and the authors seemed to have a real understanding of the source material.
6. This one was produced by a well-known company and had a lavish production budget. It was set in a world of glamour and espionage focussing on a very famous spy. It was published between 1984 and 1987 when the licence arrangement for the game's eponymous character lapsed. What game was it?

Answer: James Bond 007

It was a very professional-looking package produced by Victory Games, the inheritors of SPI, early giants of the games industry. Despite the pains taken on it, it doesn't seem to have flourished. I can remember buying it again in the early nineties out of a bargain bin in Virgin Games for £1 per book.

It deserved better - some of the mechanics were quite elegant, and the books were superbly produced.
7. This early, early fantasy RPG was set on the world of Tekumel, many hundreds of centuries in the future. The players were adventuring on the world of Tekumel, in a society that felt like a mix of ancient India and the Aztecs. Over a dozen alien races shared Tekumel with man against a backdrop of history that went back 50,000 years. Gods were real - there were twenty of them - metal was scarce and riding animals were virtually unknown in which game?

Answer: Empire of the Petal Throne

EPT was the only example I can think of where a game's background has outlived its rules. There have been four incarnations of the Tekumel background that I know of, but it sadly hasn't thrived in any of them - possibly due to the depth of background knowledge that a player must have before starting the game. Nevertheless, a classic of world-building.
8. The Red Army has invaded the USA in this VERY Eighties RPG. You played as a member of a band of freedom fighters, taking on the Soviet occupiers in much the same way as the Wolverines did in the (ahem) classic movie 'Red Dawn'. What was the game called?

Answer: The Price of Freedom

I can remember young, lefty me being outraged by this one, but when I got over myself it really wasn't that bad a game. I looked at again a few years ago when a copy turned up at a local wargames show and it didn't seem to be any worse than screamingly camp. How times change.
Also, get a load of guy on the box art - he's sporting a mullet, the hairstyle of the gods!
9. This was another fairly early RPG. In mechanics it was almost a complete departure from the D&D model, being percentile based and featuring a detailed campaign background from the start. If I told you the name of the world this game was set in, it would make the quiz too easy, but I will say it gave the world the Dragonewt, the Gorp and the warrior Duck. What was it called?

Answer: Runequest

My favorite fantasy RPG for many years, the detailed yet accessible background of the world of Glorantha, the satisfying-feeling combat system and the approach to character progression seemed streets ahead of the competition.

Good grief, I wasted years on this one, including a mammoth dawn-till-dusk three day session over Christmas 1985 (River of Cradles, if anyone's interested).
10. Finally, this was what I was playing when my chosen decade ended. It was a much-criticised post-apocalypse game, apparently somehow in more dubious taste that any OTHER post-apocalypse game. Players were cast-adrift NATO soldiers, struggling to survive after a failed offensive in WW3 Poland. Among others, which game had supplements called 'Free City of Krakow', 'Pirates of the Vistula' and 'The Black Madonna'?

Answer: Twilight 2000

Another personal favorite, the first RPG I can think of that was overtaken by historical events, despite two or three heroic attempts by its producers, GDW, to try to get under the ball.
Interestingly, it was very hard to kill player characters in the first edition of these rules. To quote a friend whose character had picked up more lead than the average B-17 over Germany, 'Rasputin went down easier than this!'
Source: Author spaceowl

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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