Red Dwarf RPG – Potentially lost books?

[Marpzilla]

Hiya, hope you don’t mind the fresh meat posting, there’s just something that’s been on my mind for quite a while in regards to something which probably doesn’t deserve it to be honest. I’m a big fan of RPGs and Red Dwarf, have to be if I’m on here, so I kinda enjoy the RPG as a guilty pleasure at least.

What I find odd though, is that outside of the Core Rulebook preserved both in part on Imgur and in full on Scribd, there doesn’t seem to be much of a scrap on the other two things released as a part of it, the AI Screen + accompanying Extra Bits Booklet and the Series Sourcebook outside of one lil snippet on TOS from the time it came out. (http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2004/02/06/free-rpg-add-on/)

If anyone happens to know about or even, godforbid, have the flippin’ things, could they please scan it or post it online? As it stands, I feel like these two books might just be lost to the sands of time, probably the only Dwarf books that ever have in this case.

[Seb Patrick]

I’ve got them, but, er, I’m probably not the person to ask about scanning and distributing copies of RD materials.

[si]

I’ve found a copy of the AI screen online.
But it’s a bit, ah…costly.

[Ben Paddon]

I have physical copies of everything, but I’ve never scanned them. Honestly, I was always worried about doing damage to the books.

That being said, my Bits and Bobs bookelt appears to have gone missing. I wonder if I misplaced it during one of my many moves?

[Ian Symes]

Welcome, Marpzilla! You’re right, it’s very weird how the RPG seems to be in the process of being forgotten about, considering how relatively recent it is compared to other, more well known Dwarf ephemera. I’ve been doing some research recently for a thing, and I’ve found it difficult to even get reliable release dates for all the various bits.

[Dax101]

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[Marpzilla]

Wow, surprising to hear there’s a few people that do have the books, maybe cause I was only just born when they came out, haha. Would it be rude of me to ask that someone be able to scan in and publish the books online so they can be read or even played for archival purposes? Much more recent RPGs are archived on places like The Tome so I doubt there’d really be much of a fuss for these to be posted.

[si]

I was only just born when they came out

No, I didn’t want to feel absolutely fucking ancient, why do you ask?

[GlenTokyo]

Has anyone actually played a game?

I’ve had a flick through the main book and then put it on a shelf, I’ve never played it.

[GlenTokyo]

Is it good?

[si]

I created a mechanoid character, who I hilariously named Kretyn. Think I’ve maybe played it about twice. Which is surprising because I have no friends, and I don’t know who I could have played it with.

Maybe we could try and do some kind of online game while we’re all stuck indoors?
(Although I’m no RPG-er at all, so don’t ask me how it works.)

[Ridley]

I’d certainly listen to and potentially watch a G&T session.

[Ben Paddon]

Shock! I actually just found my Extra Bits book going through some boxes I haven’t opened since moving about a decade ago. It’s in pristine condition, and is probably the easiest of the four pieces (CRB, Sourcebook, AI screen and Extra Bits) to scan. So if I can get access to a scanner I might well be doing that.

[Plastic Percy]

I remember briefly playing it with a few friends at university. We had a Waxdroid of Jerry Springer and a creature descended from the ship’s parrot (imaginatively named Parry).

[Renegade Rob]

I have all the Red Dwarf RPG books, and have even scanned them for my own use so I don’t have to lug the books everywhere, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable distributing licensed Red Dwarf material.

The Red Dwarf RPG was actually my first foray into tabletop roleplaying and is still one of my favorite systems. I’ve run/played numerous games on it and had a blast, and it’s a simple system that keeps things moving, which I love, as I think more complex systems take the wind out of their own sails.

The books are all great and strike the perfect tone, and they’re all incredibly well-written and continue to make me laugh to this day.

My BFF and I both have copies of the core book, and it’s actually something back in the day we’ve both pulled out on the fly at hangouts and house party get-togethers with fellow nerds, as it really is a cinch to make a character and play a game, so it’s great for parties.

The 2D6 system is very, very simple but that’s fine. It works well with Red Dwarf’s relatively hard sci-fi setting, and you can actually gauge how skilled someone is, as opposed to the stats and levels in D&D which get a little too abstract. Additionally, sometimes when I’m working on a creative project, I’ll make character sheets of my characters and run a “simulation” to see how things might turn out, and the RDRPG is one of my go-to’s for that purpose.

In summation, the RDRPG is fun and I love it. I got the core book as a gift years ago but the rest I ordered on Amazon easily and would recommend you do the same. Even if it’s defunct, I’m all for the old adage: “Support your game!”

[Marpzilla]

It’s great to hear it’s scanned at least somehow! I wouldn’t want to be the sort of slimey cheapskate that begs for free scans of a licensed series of rpg books, even if the idea of paying hundreds of pounds for them make me wince. If it does make you uncomfortable, I completely understand, I’m just some loser on the internet.

[Marpzilla]

Just thought I’d say that I really don’t think there’s anything wrong considering there is pretty much no way that Deep7 is making any money considering their license to sell the game expired at least a decade ago. These days, it wouldn’t really be piracy so much as archival, as if you were to pay money for the game, the only people it would actually go to would most likely be the people selling it considering its age.

[Offline]

I roll a 6 and a 2, I proceed to get violated by low-dimension Rimmer.

Pity.

[Marpzilla]

I’ll be honest, I’d be interested in GMing (AIng?) Or even playing if someone else is willing to take turns? I dunno, I’m in a big RPG phase at the moment.

[Author]

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