Really weird RPG's out there.

[L.J.Steele]

I think I still own a copy of _Macho Women with Guns_ and its 2 sequels.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Such as the Dream Park, based on the Niven/Barnes novel of the same name. The novel takes place in an amusement park which includes a really elaborate LARP setup, and the protagonists are participating in the LARP, but one of them is there for industrial espionage and another is undercover security, and there's shenanigans. The game had the ill-advised premise that the players (in the early 90s) sit around a table and make characters from the early 21st century (about now, IIRC). Then they roleplay those characters making characters for their LARP, and roleplay their characters role-playing... it wasn't a big seller.

Their superhero module was very good, even though the "I'm a dude playing another dude playing another dude" element was dispensible.:

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade

The stories may have changed from season to season. But from my perspective, Gilligian's Island had more character consistency than a great number of TV shows.

Mary Ann is the Moon; Mr. Howell is Mercury; Ginger is Venus; the Professor is the Sun; the Skipper is Mars; Mrs. Howell is Jupiter; and Gilligan is Saturn.

[selenite]

The "weirdest" RPG on my shelves would be Hillfolk by Robin Laws. It seems to be a game optimized for the "method actor" and "storyteller" gamer types, with no concessions to the tacticians, power-gamers, or butt-kickers. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Bunnies and Burrows was mentioned above. I was once in a con game with the designer. There were over a dozen players. At one point we were hung up at a stream, with a few players trying to figure out how to knock over a sapling to bridge it, until I declared, "We are rabbits, not beavers. We're going upstream until we can jump it."

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by selenite

The "weirdest" RPG on my shelves would be Hillfolk by Robin Laws. It seems to be a game optimized for the "method actor" and "storyteller" gamer types

I met Robin Laws once at a con. He was running a game he described as "vampire swingers."

, with no concessions to the tacticians, power-gamers, or butt-kickers.

Laws has tactician, power-gamer, and butt-kicker cred too, with his Rune roleplaying game.

The problem you face as a hack & slash player in a conventional roleplaying game is that your Game Master will eventually get bored with the style before you do. Players can have a grand old time undergoing fight after fight, gradually building up the power of their characters, but this style of play pales for most GMs after a while. All they get to do is draw endless maps, play the role of hapless monsters who do little more than attack and get slain, and resolve rules disputes. Sooner or later most of them yearn to introduce interesting supporting characters and grand storylines to justify their presence. If you don’t humor them, they’ll quit, or start playing another game that does something completely un-Viking, like de-emphasize combat. So as you go along, you sit in your chair, spending more and more of the session waiting for the chance to hit something.

Rune solves that problem for you by distributing the GMing duties to multiple runners throughout the course of an evening. You can band together with like-minded gamers to hack and slash to your heart’s content.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

I met Robin Laws once at a con.

I had him watching a game I was running once. He was Guest of Honour at a UK convention in summer 2001, and I ran the recent UK General Election using the Dying Earth system he wrote.

A game whose rules are largely about inflating your own importance and misleading your fellows seemed a natural fit for an election. Robin guest-starred as President George W. Bush making a state visit to the UK. A piece of dialogue:

Very Calm Lord Vetinari: "No, you can't greet President Bush at the Royal Garden Party."
Chuckles The Giant Space Hamster, leader of the Liberal Demoncrats: "Why not?"
Vetinari: "Because! You're! a Giant! Hamster!"

[thrash]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Mary Ann is the Moon; Mr. Howell is Mercury; Ginger is Venus; the Professor is the Sun; the Skipper is Mars; Mrs. Howell is Jupiter; and Gilligan is Saturn.

So, rather than GURPS, you're suggesting The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game would have been more appropriate? That would certainly count as weird.

<whistles innocently>

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by L.J.Steele

I think I still own a copy of _Macho Women with Guns_ and its 2 sequels.

Because of course you do. 😀

[L.J.Steele]

I see a copy of _Diana Warrior Princess_ still on the shelves along with the original boxed version of Lace and Steel.