Monday, January 25, 2010

Lords Of Creation RPG: How Did I Miss This?

I was mentioning earlier that I am a big fan of Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers series. It informed my early conception of D&D. I am also a big fan of Avalon Hill Games. So I'm wondering how this game slipped under my radar? Lords of Creation is authored by Tom Moldvay, the same guy who edited that much beloved D&D Basic Red Box ruleset.

Published in 1984, by Avalon Hill, Lords of Creation is a role-playing game where the players travel from one pocket-dimension to another, with each dimension having it's own physics and theme. The characters travel through inter-dimensional gates, and, as the characters increase in level, they ultimately unlock their own super-powers. Apparently, one of the early sample adventures is the search for a special horn that will allow the players unfettered access to myriad pocket dimensions.

I am sitting here, blown away. First, how did I miss this game? As as fan of Avalon Hill, I thought I kept myself up-to-date on what they were publishing. Obviously not.

Second, i'm thinking to myself, this game has got to be a role-playing game, based on the Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers series!

I go hunting for a review of this game, and I come across a couple:

A review on RPGNet

A review on Jeff's Gameblog

Andy Collins' review

No mention of Philip Jose Farmer. No mention of The World of Tiers.

Am I seeing something that isn't there?

6 comments:

christian said...

I bought a copy a few months back. I am saddened that I may never play it. The crazy thing is that I'm not sure HOW to play it. It seems almost entirely without structure or guidelines. eh, maybe that's a good thing!

Chad Thorson said...

I bought a copy back in the late eighties, unfortunately the box didn't make it. It was a decent game but I think it covered such a broad area that a lot of people were turned off by it.

Flynn said...

Man, that sounds so much like the World of Tiers, it isn't even funny! I love that series. If this game turns out to be anything along those lines, I've GOT to find me a copy of it.

Thanks for the heads up,
Flynn

Rick said...

I have had a copy since '84 and have played many campaigns with my old gaming group. They worked out to be something like sliders meets tales from the darkside/crypt. Yet I've never heard of the World of Tiers series. It that was an overt influence on the game then they hid it very well indeed.

JDJarvis said...

The game was fair. Lot's of neato whacky weird fantaays/sci-fi creatures. One of the coolest parts of the game was PC's were ultimately adventuring to become a GM and be a Lord of Creation for their own dimensions.

Jay said...

Sounds like it would make a better source book than a ruleset, yes?