Old-School Revival(OSR) for Solitaire Microgames?

a Community-Driven RPG starting on March 1, 2019 by 9 AM EST

Barbarian Prince - a Community-Driven RPG by A.E. Jackson
_{Image source}

We will kick off the First Turn on March 1, 2019 by 9 AM EST.

What's the Old-School Revival(OSR)

An Old-School Revival(OSR) is well underway in the roleplay gaming community. And, I for one, can't get enough. Websites devoted to the resurgence of classic games in print and play, or publisher reprints released through Kickstarter are just the start.

Thanks to Wizards of the Coast releasing an Open Gaming License in 2000 the Old-School Revival was born. The license effectively allowed the free and unapproved use of vast amounts of materials - like creative and rule mechanics - from the famous Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.

It is time to bring the OSR to the Blockchain! On March 1, 2019 the Steemit Gamers will have the opportunity to play a Community-Driven RPG version of the popular solitaire game Barbarian Prince.

We will kick off the First Turn on March 1, 2019 by 9 AM EST.

Blackgate Solitaire Gaming Dwarfstar Games Haul

The Editor's Blog post titled 'The Priceless Treasures of the Barbarian Prince' published in late-2018 sees John O'Neill reminisce about playing microgames. He recalls the days when Dwarfstar, Metagaming, Steve Jackson, and Task Force Games all produced full catalogs of games aimed at budget concious and younger players. The going rate for a bagged or boxed microgame hovered between $3 and $4 USD. But he quickly hones in on Dwarfstar games in particular.

Blackgate Editor John O'Neill criticizes Dwarfstar games for their one major weakness: not building games that last. The games entered mythical reputation among collectors because so few copies still exist today. The product was produced in paper-thin boxes and shipped with flimsy components which kept costs down. However, it also cut down their lifespan.

As a zealous collector who keeps his games in mint condition, O'Neill admits even his copies of Barbarian Prince are beaten up. Which leads to one inevitable result - the few scant copies which collectors can find in good condition are now quite expensive!

He reports that a recent eBay Auction ended with the sale of a battered and incomplete Barbaran Prince for $51 USD in August 2018. The gamer purchased an unplayable copy without a map! However, the set did include the metalic barbarian miniature, which, John admits, is the only reason he was bidding in the first place.

We will kick off the First Turn on March 1, 2019 by 9 AM EST.

Fantasy Trip is Just the Tip!

Way back in 1977, Steve Jackson set to work designing his first roleplaying game called The Fantasy Trip. The game was published by Metagaming, and for a small window of time The Fantasy Trip rivaled Dungeons & Dragons for popularity. First published as microgames in a series, the game was later expanded into full-size books.

Let's time travel together to 2017, when Steve Jackson regained rights to his impressive body of work! A Legacy Edition is now in the works, which is what The Fantasy Trip should have been when it originially published over forty years ago.

The Fantasy Trip exhibits all the traits of an Old-school RPG. There is easy character design, realistic tactical combat, and a huge emphasis on the story experienced by players. The game is a dungeon crawl, filled with arena battles. For introducing your friends to roleplaying - there's nothing better.

Recently, Steve Jackson Games took The Fantasy Trip to the Kickstarter Community where 3,379 backers pledged $314,572 of the $20,000 goal to help bring the project to life. The completed game ships in March 2019!

When do we begin?

In order to give the Steemit Community time to discover and explore all that the game Barbarian Prince has to offer - this announcement post is simply a primer.

We will kick off the First Turn on March 1, 2019 by 9 AM EST.

PLEASE Resteem this informative article, and Invite Friends to play along. The more the merrier - everything Cal Arath does is determined by YOU, the Steemit Community!

Turns will continue once per day until the Kingdom is Reclaimed, time runs out to stop the Usurper, or Cal Arath is dead. Please, do not let it come to that!