15 Games in 15 minutes Meme

Taking a cue from Jeff Grubb, here are fifteen games, in no particular order, that influenced the hell out of me and will always be with me:

1. D&D in all its various incarnations
2. Gamma World
3. Metamorphosis Alpha
4. Diablo I & II
5. Skyrealms of Jorune
6. Empire of the Petal Throne
7. Traveller
8. Twilight 2000
9. Call of Cthulhu
10. Aftermath!
11. The Mechanoid Invasion
12. Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness
14. Wizardry
15. Top Secret

Although this list is oriented towards pen & paper RPGs, I definitely count myself a video game enthusiast. (I would have stuck Ultima II & III on the list if I had more room. The same goes for The Morrow Project.)

RPG Art: Tegel Manor

Lately, I've been sprucing up the Calific office, hanging things that inspire me. One of my favorite haunted ruins from yesteryear is Judges Guild's Tegel Manor. There are so many things that I love about this product. Whatever you may think about Judges Guild, they definitely had a major impact on the hobby.

Recently, Bob Bledsaw's original map of Tegel Manor was reproduced and sold through Cafe Press by none other than Bob, Jr. I picked one up and had it framed. The result just came in and it's quite nice looking.

Whenever I see this I will definitely gravitate towards thinking about complex arrangements of rooms, rich detail, and color. What really piques my interest about this map is the quantity of information packed into it. Aside from the room labels, themselves, there are suggestive images, written details of sounds and other dressing, use of various colors, and so forth. It would be an interesting experiment to eschew the key and run the whole adventure from just the map (with a suitable collection of beasties, of course).