Zack Parsons and Steve “Malak” Sumner over at SomethingAwful love nothing more than to sit down with an archaic adventure module from one of the early editions of Dungeons and Dragons and nitpick their way through it, cracking wise all the way. In addition to old-school D&D, the guys also tackle some of the more modern RPG sourcebooks, including my favourite RPG from my junior high school years: Rifts! Here’s a sample from their lampooning of the Rifts core manual:
Zack: I have heard of Rifts, but it came out right as my nerdiness was diminishing very slightly. I know it’s a similar system to all of Palladium’s other games, but maybe you can explain it in twenty words or less.
Steve: Uh, 20 words? Okay. It’s a totally awesome game about everything, in the future, after an apocalypse, with magic.
Zack: That doesn’t help.
Steve: Well you set those parameters! This is freaking Rifts, dude! Way too complicated for 20 words or less. You might as well ask, “What is TV about?”
Zack: TV is a marketing vector for stuffed crust pizza and the prescription drugs you have to take so that it doesn’t blow out your heart by age 30.
I highly recommend reading through at least one of their forays into the world of the messed-up, trippy RPGs of yesteryear! Click here to check out WTF D&D!