Era II: Part 8, The Decade Quietly Ends?

The latest batch of things that I missed!

Fringeworthy RPG by Tri Tac Games in 1982 & 1984. This was a alternate history / alien worlds gateway styled game. It originally used a custom, highly detailed combat / rule system, allowing player to import any weapon found in such works at Jane’s Defense Weekly (making magazines into ‘supplements’).

Spacemaster by Iron Crown Enterprises was released in 1985. It used the Rolemaster system, and allowed for a variety of SF environments, from black near-future to high-tech exploration, to post-fall far-distant future ruins. It has a default setting of a human-based Imperium setting with mega corporations, unexplored space, and various noble houses.

Doctor Who by FASA was released in 1985. Play a doctor-esque roll, or one of the companions working for the Celestial Intervention Agency. It provided a lot of details about the era of the Fourth Doctor, although earlier and later elements were included. It used a ‘custom’ system, which was identical to the Star Trek RPG.

Kara-Tur by TSR was released in 1986. This was a fantasy world set in the Oriental Adventures rulebook. In 1987, Kara-Tur was relocated into the Forgotten Realms setting.

OK. Back to 1989…

Welcome to the beginning of post-Cold War Americanization! This year is the setting for Red Dawn, Jurassic Park, and Night of the Living Dead. The World Wide Web is first conceived by Tim Berners-Lee. This is also the first (unofficial) time a text message is sent. The City of Greyhawk boxed set is released, although not the Gygax / Kuntz city, but a new design from previously published material. Also this year, AD&D produces its second edition material.

DragonQuest 3e by TSR. Similar to the 1982 version, this limited edition release was produced to maintain the trademark rights.

Ars Magica by Lion Rampant is released as a second edition.

Prince Valiant: The Story-Telling Game by Chaosium. Based upon Hal Foster’s comic using a simplified system of half-page character sheets and coin tosses for combat. A well received game, considered by many to be the BEST in the underground / unknown RPGs.

Dungeoneer, using the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system, by Puffin Books. Considered to be a ‘kid-leveled’ game, but set in a gritty, evocative fantasy world.

Champions by  Hero Games / ICE. This is the core game system that ultimately kicked off the Hero System. This version encompasses editions 1-3.

DC Heroes 2e by Mayfair games. This boxed set refined the rule set and included the Crisis on Infinite Earths reshaping of the DC world.

Batman RPG by  Mayfair Games. Released to capitalize on the Tim Burton film, this game provides reams of detail for Gotham City, and is considered a somewhat ‘broken’ system that used DC Heroes 2 rules.

HERO System by Hero Games becomes its own entity in response to the popularity of Steve Jackson’s GURPS system. It is a custom, point-based system for character generation, and uses only D6. Although it eased game balance, the complexity due to an overwhelming number of options required a great deal of time.

Risus: The Generic Universal Comedy System was yet another response to GURPS, was produced by Cumberland Games and Diversions. Although it was humorous in nature, and using a cliché system of character classes, the influence of this game has spawned over 30 fan-authored websites devoted to elements of the game.

Ghostbusters RPG by West End Games box set game in its second edition.

Teenagers from Outer Space, the 2^nd edition by R. Talsorian Games, set in a comedic, sci-fi setting.

Shadowrun by FASA Corp. Magic has returned to the world in 2050. Mega corporations and cyberware are the backdrop to this RPG of shadowrunners.

Cyberspace by ICE came out using a modified version of the Spacemaster rules. Set in the urban sprawl of San Francisco in 2090, this cyberpunk game is considered to be content-rich, but too similar to other games of the genre.

THQ opens its doors, beginning their part of electronic Role-playing games. In the cyberworld of online chat, Jarkko got his IRC friends at two other universities to use the IRC program, and by mid-1989, the program had over 40 servers worldwide. The program soon spread to new countries, and America was the first country to pick the program out of Finland. IRC became part of the websites for both Oregon State University and the University of Denver. The chat rooms that were created for University purposes morphed into rooms for general conversation as people became dependant on the companionship and socialization they had access to in these public venues. These 'walls' became a place that you could have open conversations of any sort, and topics of discussion such as online gaming and books reviews were created. The year and decade ends with the series premiere of The Simpsons: Roasting on an Open Fire.