Fifteen games in fifteen minutes: If everyone else can do it, so can I. They're not all pen & paper RPGs, but they have all influenced me in some way.
1. D&D, 2nd Edition - This is what I cut my teeth on, like many others, and it will always hold a special place in my heart, even if alot of the rules still don't make sense.
2. Star Wars, West End Games (D6) - I wore out two copies of this rule book. We played this game, ALOT. The mechanics were so simple, and we loved being able to play Jedi.
3. Robotech RPG - Robotech taught me how stories should be told. I didn't care that Palladium rules were stupid - the chance to live in that universe provided years of enjoyment.
4. Vampire: The Masquerade - The first game I played with my then-girlfriend now-wife. It was such a different game, and appealed so deeply to my sad-sack teenage goth outlook.
5. Final Fantasy II (IV) - I still maintain this is the greatest video game RPG ever made.
6. Magic the Gathering - Taught me so much about balance and game design. I'm still not very good at it, but I like it all the same.
7. A Game of Thrones, Fantasy Flight Games - My favourite board game of all time, not just because I'm a diehard fan of George RR Martin. The system is brilliant and elegant.
8. Call of Cthulu - Creepy and frustrating, it also had a skill system I've loved to this day.
9. Marvel Super Heroes - We never played this properly, but being able to play superheroes was the coolest thing ever. The highest death toll of any game I've ever played.
10. Settlers of Catan - Like many others, my first introduction to Euro-style gaming.
11. Aces & Eights - My favourite game I've never played, the book and setting are beautiful.
12. Rifts - I hated this game (still do), not just because of my distaste for Palladium's rules but because it was so unwieldy and cumbersome as a setting. My friends loved it, however, so it got played a ton, which greatly influenced me on how not to play Role-playing games.
13. Axis & Allies - So many little plastic tanks, so little time.
14. Star Wars CCG (Decipher) - I bought so many of these cards, not just because I loved Star Wars but because the game was so much more involved and interesting than MtG.
15. Wing Commander - The video games are the benchmark to what all sci-fi space combat movies/games should be measured. I think that's why I loved the new Battlestar Gallactica - it reminded me of Wing Commander in many ways.
