rpg

The original Dungeons & Dragons is a masala of many fantasy settings, but the one it stole from the most heavily was J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth which is probably why this retelling of the story as a D&D adventure is highly amusing to anyone who's played the game.

D&D has come a long way from its humble origins. If you are curious to know what the original rulebook looks like, here's an online facsimile for you to peruse. I dare you to run a campaign with it!

The original game was more of a miniatures game than it is today, but there are still people who paint figurines of their characters and the creatures they encounter. Not only that, but there are still new games coming out that rely on miniatures. One that sounds like a blast is called War Rocket and it uses these ultra-cool figurines from Hydra Miniatures.

When it comes to science fiction role-playing games, I always had a soft spot for TSR Gamma World universe. That post-apocalyptic setting was perfect for those of us who grew up during the Cold War. There is a similar game available as a free download called Mutant Future that might interest you if you were also a fan of GW.

A similar-sounding game is Forgotten Futures, but it is actually a steampunk game. The creator of that game. The creator of the game recently auctioned off for charity the naming rights for four characters in an upcoming adventure based on the writing of Stanley G. Weinbaum.

Still, I wonder if all of those dice and paper are only for the old-timers. The kids of today are doing their role-playing online like on Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I was sad to hear the news today that one of the creators of the Dungeons & Dragons game, Gary Gygax, has died at the age of 69. I loved D&D as a kid and have some great memories of that time. Even today, I enjoy a good gaming session and have Gygax to thank.

D&D still thrives, although I don't think it is the cultural phenomenon it once was. The fourth edition of the game is in the works and details about the latest incarnation have been leaking online.

The designers of the new edition have answered some questions from fans of the game over on Slashdot that make for interesting reading for anyone who still cares about D&D and role-playing games in general.

Gygax has also authored some fantasy novels, although I've never read any of them. When a writer dies I find myself curious about what I missed when he was alive. I guess I'll have to see if I can dig any of his books out of my collection. Any recommendations?

Looking for a little LARP zombie action? Here are the rules for the Zombies vs. Humans game. It reminds me of the classic Steve Jackson offering, Killer.

To help you get in the mood for the game, here are the basic zombie food groups. Needless to say, the most important part of your diet should be brains.

If you want to avoid zombies, this instructional video will teach you how to survive a zombie attack.

Finally, for the kids, or just for the young at heart, check out My Pet Zombies.

If you've played role-playing games for any length of time you know how clichéd the scenarios can become. To make the adventures more palatable, try the RPG Cliché Game.

A lot of paper-and-dice gamers are moving to the online world to get their RPG fix and one of the newst kids on the block is the Lord of the Rings Game. Can it possibly make a dent into World of Warcraft's dominance in the online game space?

The transition from paper to online games was bridged by the solo computer game and the grandaddy of all of them were the Ultima games. If you remember playing them, you may be amused by one gamer's attempts to complete the entire series and live to blog about it.

While fantasy dominates as the setting for most video games, science fiction isn't far off, but, oddly, many of them don't actually take place in outer space. Here are a few games that do.

One science fiction game that's garnering a lot of attention is Mass Effect. One hyperbolic review from Wired says it will do for games what Star Wars did for movies.

If all of that's too much for you and all you want to do is shoot things, then here are some Flash-based zombie games you can play online when you have a bit of time to waste.