Weirdest RPG Ever?

"Red Aegis" by The James Brothers.

Printed and Distributed by Vorpal Games.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9982809-0-5 - Hardcover - 316 Pages.

People occasionally ask me what the strangest role playing game I ever saw was.

"Red Aegis" wins this award hands down.

At the start of your adventure for the session, you create a hero who gains followers and begins to form a clan, then to forge a dynasty, and perhaps form an empire. They go to fields of battle and possibly conquer part of the world, and then die. This is the whole first session of the game.

The next time you meet, you are running a descendant of your original hero. From the primeval world, and on to the next age.

These are:

01 - The Age of Blood and Bronze

02 - The Metal Rebellion

03 - The Age of Silent Thunder

04 - The Days of Righteous Irony

05 - The Time of Inward Knives

06 - The Age of Tranquil Concordance

07 - The Age of Shock Media Insurgeants

08 - The Age of Frozen Tears

09 - The Sentience

Over ten sessions, you progress from the Caveman era all the way past the Space Age. Each of these is a new character, a descendant of your original character eventually going back nine generations. I'm not kidding - your primary character =dies= at the end of every session.

I've tried this the game's way (one session = one character) but based on the =many= comments on what happened, I ran it again with =four= sessions per character - Youth, Adulthood, Middle-Age, and Old Age. My players liked this idea a lot more, but virtually everyone agreed that we would not play this game again.

However, the best way to use this book is in the eventual evolution of your game world. Who says that it has to be a medieval fantasy forever? I've carried player characters from a pretty standard medieval fantasy to a Steampunk type of campaign with lots of support.

I can't recommend this game to everyone, but as a resource, it's pretty good.

The Best Book of Familiars?

"Mystical Companions" by Various.

Printed and Distributed by Troll Lord Games.

ISBN-13: 1978-1-944135-44-7 -- Hardcover -- 192 Pages.

I had an unusual way of getting this book, and I bought one despite having two other older copies of "The Book of Familiars", which this book replaces.

First let me say this: If there was ever a supplement to any game that made me want to play and/or GM a game, it was this one!

Generally, this book is about familiars and animal companions. One of the nice parts about this is that =every= class can now have the opportunity to have a familiar and/or an animal companion! Barbarians, Bards, Clerics, Druids, Fighters, Monks, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, Illusionists, and, of course, Wizards.

Separate chapters for each of the above detail exactly what kinds of creatures are acceptable as Animal Companions or Familiars - with many that I had never seen used! These chapters make playing one of the standard classes even more interesting, as now, almost everyone can have one!

There's an Appendix covering animals, another covering monsters (believe it or not), another covering new Spells, another covering new Magic Items, and then my favorite chapter - becoming a Dragon Rider!

Be prepared to have players complain about how hard it is to become a Dragon Rider! This is =not= a task for the faint-of-heart! Assuming the dragon in question doesn't just eat you and get it over with, it is a very long and painstaking ordeal! You have to =earn= the right to ride a Dragon! Then, the Dragon has the chance to reject your advances and simply fly away. Even if your initial proposal is acceptable, there are still many steps to go through to becoming a full Dragon Rider!

The only suggestion I would make is - if the Dragon accepts you as a rider, then your normal lifespan should be extended to be the same as the Dragon's remaining lifespan. This might be =hundreds= of years!

Although it is early in 2021, it's going to take one heck of a book to beat this one in My Humble Opinion. If you use "Castles and Crusades" as a CK (Game Master) this book should be on your 'must purchase' list. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.