Era III: 1993’s Big Theatric Extravaganza!

Big year for the game industry. LOTS of research on this year. Publishers and creators begin a buy-sell-buy-back cycle of intellectual properties. But first, trot out the lawsuits. Mayfair Games is sued by TSR for trademark violations due to similarities with the Role Aids publications. I think Madonna said something to the effect that “any press is GOOD press” around this time period. The Amazing Engine system used within TSR’s minimalist generic rules for the campaign settings of Bughunters, For Faerie Queen and Country, The Galactos Barrier, Kromosome, Magitech, Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega, Once and Future King, and Tabloid! is shut down.

Live Action Role Playing (LARP) had been around since Dagorhir (1977), focusing on fantasy battles. It evolved into the International Fantasy Gaming Society (IFGS) in 1981, then the Society for Interactive Literature (1982). The first recorded LARP was Treasure Trap. However, White Wolf Publishing releases Mind’s Eye Theatre in this year, beginning the run of the most commercially successful LARP. Also in this year, the FarEast Amusement Resarch (F.E.A.R.) is created. With this company is also developed the Standard RPG System based upon 6-sided dice.

 

With all of that, on to this years core rules!

Minds Eye Theatre is published by White Wolf. This LARP is played in the World of Darkness / Storyteller System game environments.

Mage: The Ascension is published as part of the Storyteller System.

Theatrix RPG by Backstage Press. This is a now-defunct near-diceless RPG using cinematic concepts, plot points, and ‘Distributed Directing’ role-play.

Millennium’s End by  Chameleon Eclectic Entertainment. The second edition of the system first released in 1991. Play a BlackEagle agent to work through techno thriller adventures set in 1999.

Underground by Mayfair Exponential Game System (variant). In the year 2020, genetically-engineered vets return home as social outcasts. They band together to become vigilantes…

DC Heroes 3e RPG by Mayfair Games and included the four variants of the Superman character!

The Whispering Vault by Pariah Press. A horror game, where once-normal humans are now ‘stalkers’ with supernatural abilities.

SLA Industries, by Nightfall Games. A game set in the far-flung future world of Mort, where “Mr. Slayer” runs his dystopian, Eurasia-sized city of Mort. Cannibals live outside in the blasted and ecologically ruined ‘sectors’.

Shatterzone by West End Games. This is a space opera that is very similar to WEG’s Star Wars.

Prime Directive RPG released by Amarillo Design Bureau Inc (formerly Task Force Games in 1993). Based upon the Star Fleet Battles wargame, this version allows players to adventure in an alternative Star Trek universe.

Macross II by Palladium Books. Transforming robots and spacecraft from the anime series Super Dimensional Fortress Macross.

Buck Rogers Adventure Game by TSR. This boxed game set allows players to adventure in the 25^th Century that took place in the newspaper comics.

Elric! (Stormbringer) by Chaosium. A complete rebuild of the Young Kingdoms, but still a dark fantasy RPG. Considered to be the most polished of the versions.

Earthdawn, by FASA. This is the Age of Legend, where only heroes can stand against the astral Horrors set loose upon the Earth.

RuneQuest 3^rd ed., by Avalon Hill, Publishing. The third, and accepted ‘final’ edition of adventures based in the world of Glorantha.

The Dark Eye / Het Oog des Meesters where you get to adventure in the fantasy world of Aventuria!

Risus: The Anything RPG is a rules light generic system. It is named for the Latin word for ‘laughter’, and is based upon the earlier GUCS: The Generic Universal Comedy System. It is officially re-released in 2001 as a 1.5 edition.

3D&T system, called Defensores de Toquio (Defenders of Tokyo) was a satire based upon the D&D system, produced in Brazil. It had a superhero flair.

From the depths of Steve Jackson Games rise…

GURPS 3: Aztecs by SJG.

GURPS 3: Atomic Horror by SJG.
GURPS 3: Arabian Nights by SJG.
GURPS 3: Creatures of the Night by SJG.
GURPS 3: Lensman by SJG.
GURPS 3: Operation Endgame by SJG.
GURPS 3: Vehicles by SJG.
GURPS 3: War Against the Chtorr by SJG.
GURPS 3: Werewolf: The Apocalypse by SJG.

Magic: The Gathering is released, and the CCG explosion begins…

The Fates of Twinion debuts as a graphical online RPG as part of the Shadow of Yserbius MUD. The seeds of blogging are found in web browser buttons and other such Internet forum sofrware, such as Genie, Usenet, BiX, Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), and CompuServe.