Thanks Sielle that's very helpful, and it's cheaper than I thought. I was browsing D&D stuff on eBay and seeing some of the prices people are paying for 2e rulebooks, I thought I'd have to pay a lot for the newer eds. :)

Oh yea... I'm trying to finish my 2nd Edition collection (both for nostalgia reasons and because the flavor text/setting information was great in those) and they get insane for the prices. For 4e the basic rule of thumb is ~$20 a book if you're getting them online from amazon or the likes. One thing I would do though is if you're going to get the 3 core books, skip the monster manual and get the monster vault book I listed before it. It's better balanced. :)

If you have any other questions about D&D please do ask and I'll help in any way I can. :)

Sure thing thanks a lot!

Lots of great stuff for DnD in this thread but if you're playing with some non-boardgame people, two great titles I found that's more accessible as party games are BANG! and Killer Bunnies. BANG! can easily be turned into an "adult beverage" game too.

If you're playing boardgames with a group of mostly friends of friends, the game "What?" is great for people to get to know one another.

Exactly why I didn't grab either Road to Legend or Sea of Blood. :)

Earth Reborn is a lot of fun. In the beginning, you're just using move and close combat orders. by the end, you're disrupting communications, searching for better weapons, blowing out power lines to stop the other site from generating zombies, creating new 'doors' by smashing through walls, torturing prisoners for information, and so on, and so on. It also has one of the few actually useful box inserts I've come across.

The one drawback : set up time can be a bit much, especially early on when you're still figuring out where things are.

Ooohhh... sounds more complex then what I was thinking. Definitely going to pick it up now (in fact I'll throw it in with an order for the Drizzt board game coming out next week). As for setup time, it can't be any worse than Necromunda or Descent. :)

True enough...if the setup time for Descent doesn't bother me, you'll be fine here.

As there seems to be a lot of interest on RPGs in this thread, I thought I should mention that, along with all the new systems and stuff, there is a vibrant retro movement which is bringing back all the classic rpgs of old in a new format. Of them all, I would recommend these:

http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html (you can download the pdf rulebook for free)

http://www.trolllord.com/cnc/index.html

the best part is that, not only you can use all of your old D&D modules with them, they also have plenty of new adventures just published.

Does anyone have experience with the FATE and Savage Worlds rule sets? I've been hearing some very nice things about them, specifically them being very flexible and quite fast-paced. ATM there are a few games based off FATE that I'm quite interested in.

I won't contribute anything to this thread in terms of tabletop RPGs (since everyone has me beat on this).

Munchkin is something I definitely will have to also endorse along with several of the tabletop RPG rule sets mentioned.

However, I want to throw out a neat board game you might enjoy with your friends:

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12493/twilight-imperium-third-edition

Twilight Imperium was pretty fun for me and my friends back in the day. It is like Axis & Allies, Master of Orion, Civilization and Risk had a hybrid offspring.

There are plenty of strategies to win in the game, the tech system is nice and each of the races have a diverse set of weaknesses and strengths that make the game enjoyable. Plus, you can always alter the game for scenario play, match play (3 vs 3) or of course the popular Free For All with optional treaties and diplomatic options.

I highly recommend it for a board game.

Just wanted to give a big +1 to the previous RPG suggestions of Vampire: The Masquerade and Shadowrun - had many happy years alternating between the two of them with my school gaming group...

Thanks for all the recommendations guys. Also, thanks to those over at the 'Tabletop games like Jagged Alliance' thread. Anyway after much sniffing around on Boardgamegeek and RPGgeek, here's a list of games I want to get:

RPG
Hellas
Parsec
Savage Worlds Deluxe
Pathfinder
Spirit of the Century
Apocalypse World
Savage World of Solomon Kane
Conan GURPS
Gamma World
Shadowrun 20th Anniversary
Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary

Boardgame
Zpocalypse
Arkham Horror
Earth Reborn
Battletech 25th
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Space Hulk
Dust Tactics
Doom
Conflict of Heroes
Super Dungeon Explore
Dust Tactics
Heroscape Master Set: Rise of the Valkyrie
Eclipse
Twilight Imperium
Pandemic
Munchkin
Last Night on Earth

Can you guys look through the list and, based on what's in there, recommend me anything further that you really think I'd like?

Just a warning about Space Hulk: It is not a cheap game these days. Expect to pay over 100€ for it, used.

That being said, can you find it (1st or 3rd edition) for less, then go for it! Space Hulk is an utterly amazing game. The rules are simple, but it is a very deep game, from a tactics point of view.


As for a few pen & paper RPG recommendations:
Blue Planet: Hard sci-fi done right. Solid ruleset, interesting setting.
Fading suns: Sci-fantasy, not the greatest ruleset, but it has my personal favourite setting among all RPGs.
Dark Heresy: Sci-fantasy horror in the 40k setting.

Yeah. I was looking for it on eBay yesterday, and good grief. Cheapest I saw in an auction was around $150 or so.

3rd edition had a relatively small print run, and the game has quite a reputation for being great. 1st edition is old, which explains its price. 2nd edition, while a worthy game on its own, is generally considered to be far inferior to the other editions, and is still fetching a premium price, though it is at least a bit more manageable.
I don't know if I really can recommend it at $150, but don't hesitate to pick it up if you find it closer to its (still high) release price of ~$100 (that is for 3rd edition). That game will probably offer the most intense board game experience of any game, outside of serious tournament play.