Friday, May 20, 2016

The Grognard Cred Test


The other day I was introduced to another gamer by a friend of mine. After the introduction my friend said "Now you two can establish your grognard cred." Both of us laughed and then launched into a series of discussions about various role playing games we have played and owned. That of course was followed by a thorough critiquing of most of the newer systems, On my way home from meeting this individual I thought it would be fun to come up with some kind of grognard cred test, so here it is.

Before I begin the test I suppose I should explain what a grognard is for those who might be going "huh?".

The definition of grognard is: Someone who enjoys playing older war-games or role playing games, or older versions of such games when newer ones are available.

To test your gognard level keep track of your points and consult the table at the end.


If you have hard copies of any of the following games add 5 pts for each book you own.

Have played the Yellow Book Version of Dungeons and Dragons 15 pts.
Have played First Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 10 pts. 
Have played Second Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 3 pts 
Have played the original Gamma World 10 pts 
Have played Star Frontiers 5 pts 
Have played Boot Hill 5 pts 
Have played Space Master 10 pts 
Have played Middle Earth Role Playing System 10 pts 
Have played Palladium Role Playing Game (pre Rifts) 10 pts 

Have played Role Master 10 pts
Have played Ninjas and Superspies 5 pts
Have played Robotech 5 pts 
Have played DC Heros 5 pts
Have played Rifts 5 pts 
Have played TMNT 5 pts (+5 pts if you know what TMNT stands for)
Have played Battletech with Miniatures 15 pts (+15 pts if you still have the rules and miniatures)
Have played Battletech without miniatures 5 pts (seriously playing that game without minitures?)
Have playd Marvel Super Heros 5 pts  (+20 pts if you have all the marvel philes in a binder)
Have played Chill 10 pts
Have played Call of Cthulu (Chaosium) pre 4th edition 5 pts 
Have played Vampire the Masquerade 5 pts 
Have played Werewolf the Apocolypse 5 pts 
Have played Mage the Awakening 5 pts 
Have played Changeling the Dreaming 5 pts
Have played Wraith the Oblivion 10 pts (c'mon, if you played that game at all it's worth 10 points.)
Have played Traveler 10 pts (+20 pts if you had a character die during character creation.) 
Have played Twilight 2000 5 pts (+10 pts if you have played it after the year 2000)
Have played WEG Star Wars +10 (+10 if you know what WEG means)
Have played Shadow Run first edition 5 pts 
Have played Shadow Run second edition 3 pts 



Bonus Points


+5 pts for each game you can name that should be on this list that isn't.
+5 pts if you know what THAC0 means
+5 pts if you know what an RSW save is
+5 points if you have ever stated on a discussion board or other similar place that you refused to ever play anything beyond x edition of the rules.
+5 if you have ever posted on a discussion board or other similar place that the reason for the new edition was a money grab.
+5 if you get irritated that all your friends try to convince you to play the newer editions of your favorite game.
+10 if you have ever tried to use a character from one edition for the new edition without changing how the character was rolled up.



Test Results

0-100 - Pre Grognard
100-150 Baby Grognard
150 -200 Adult Grognard
200-300 Serious Grognard
300+ Master Grognard







31 comments:

  1. Have played the Yellow Book Version of Dungeons and Dragons 15 pts

    Whats the Yellow Book version? Rules Cyclopedia maybe? Are you talking about the little brown books (and box set) of OD&D?

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  2. Argh ultimate brain fart there. I culd have swornd the little brown books were yellow but yeah the OD&D ones.

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    1. Ok. I was wondering. So how many points for play testing a rules set (like call of Cthulhu or Stormbringer)?

      What about writing one or contributing to AD&D or older?

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    2. That would be worth quite a lot... say 100 total? maybe 200?

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    3. Neat. I contributed to Blackmoor Eldritch Wizardry, monster manual, etc and wrote the Expert Set. I'm happy with the points from those and others. :)

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    4. Not to mention my Chaosium playtests for first edition rules. I'm good.

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  3. What if you owned some the games/books but never played them? How many points does that give you?

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  4. well owning them gives you five points, as far as never playing them... call that an additional point I guess... after all that is some hard core commitment.

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  5. 150 -200 Adult Grognard i got 175 points

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  6. 365 points, aided by that "+5 points for every other game you think should be on this list" entry. I surprised myself.

    Man, I am feeling old. I just tallied it and I hit 40 years of roleplaying fun last March. And I am absolutely shocked you didn't even mention GURPS or Champions on this list.

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    1. forty years!? Wow and I think I have a lot of time in with 32 years... good to know I am not the oldest... er I mean most experienced gamer on the planet :)

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  7. Well over 300 points. I guess collecting and holding on to all those books was a good thing? If you included modules and supplements it would have been very close to 1000.

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  8. Bah, they list too much new stuff. They dont list Chivalry and Sorcery, Bunnies and Burrows, Runequest 1st ed, Empire of the Petal Throne, StormBringer, Fantasy Hero,Supergame!, Superhero44, Melee, Villains & Vigilantes, Pendragon, Toon, Paranoia, Metamorphosis Alpha, Arduin,.........I think I am around 325. Pikers.

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  9. Mind you, I wrote some of the earliest material, so....

    (Please take that "Pikers' as said with a smile!)

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  10. Well over 300! It was the "Other" category that put me over the top: Gangbusters, Bushido, Star Trek (FASA), Star Trek (LUG), Man, Myth, and Magic, Timemaster, EPT, GURPS, Hero System, Superworld, Stormbringer, Pendragon, Villains & Vigilantes, Toon, Tunnels & Trolls, Dr. Who (FASA), Indiana Jones, TORG, Dreampark, Masterbook, d6 System, Powers & Perils, Lords of Creation; the list goes on...

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    1. LOL I Know it does I actually intentionally kept the list light.

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  11. What about the UK wing - Dragon Warriors, WFRP, Golden Heroes? Then or course there's getting into the hobby through paperback gamebooks such as Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, way of the Tiger, Sagas of the demonspawn, Grailquest...?

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    1. LOL tell you what, you cna have points for all those based on the current exchange rate of the pound vs. the dollar... right now I think it's in our favor but that changes all the time :)

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  12. "+5 pts for each game you can name that should be on this list that isn't."

    This pumped my score easily over 500.

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  13. 5 points for EACH book you own that's related to at least one of those systems? If I'm reading that correctly, I can see like 150 points worth of AD&D stuff from where I'm sitting without even cracking the numerous boxes in the basement.

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  14. And for free on the internet..

    http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

    Check it out!!

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  15. Almost forgot...isn't that drawing from B1 "In Search of the Unknown"

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    1. I do believe it is, it's the one for the second level of the dungeon, the main room down there with all the pools that do things like make you smarter or kill you etc.

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  16. Games I've played or GM'ed:-

    Bunnies & Burrows
    Tunnels & Trolls
    SPI's DragonQuest
    TimeMasters
    FASA Star Trek
    FASA Doctor Who
    FASA Earthdawn
    Chaosium Superworld
    Chaosium Ringworld
    Ars Magica
    GURPS
    Mage: the Ascension
    Hunter: the Reckoning
    Mummy: the Resurrection
    Demon: the Fallen
    Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition
    Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition
    Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
    The World of Darkness
    The Chronicles of Darkness
    Vampire: the Requiem
    Vampire: the Requiem Second Edition
    Werewolf: the Forsaken
    Werewolf: the Forsaken Second Edition
    Mage the Awakening Second Edition
    Promethean: the Created
    Changeling: the Lost
    Hunter: the Vigil
    Mummy: the Curse
    Geist: the Sin-Eaters
    Demon: the Descent
    Beast: the Primordial
    Mongoose Traveller
    Mongoose Traveller Second Edition
    Runequest 1
    Runequest 2
    Runequest 3
    Mongoose Runequest
    Runequest 6
    Mongoose Legend
    FATE
    The Dresden Files
    Delta Green
    Over The Edge
    R Talsorian's Cyberpunk
    R Talsorian's Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.
    R Talsorian's Cyberpunk 203X (once)
    R Talsorian's Cybergeneration
    Cyberpunk Night's Edge
    Firefly
    Serenity
    Stargate SG-1
    Harnmaster
    Chariot: Fantasy Roleplaying In The Age Of Miracles

    That's going to be 270 for those alone. Add 98 for the rest of the quiz, plus 60 for hard copies of books from the top list, plus a further 155 for so many of the books in my list which I own as hardbacks ...

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    1. You're putting games less than 5 years old on a list for Groggy games? I'd kill everything listed from Vampire 20th through Beast. Those *are* the new versions people are resistant to playing. I mean NWOD or CoD if you're using the new stuff, isn't even old enough to stay home by itself without a babysitter yet.

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  17. I'm giving myself 500 pts for creating a role playing system out of every other role playing system that existed at the time (and many since) and running and playing in it with basically the same people for over 35 years.

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  18. Anyone who actually PLAYED Chivalry & Sorcery should get an bonus 50+.

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  19. Unless you were already playing wargames like Chainmail, Tractics, or DGUTS when D&D appeared, you are not a grognard and will never be one. But thanks for playing.

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  20. Man, no GURPS Love, no Top Secret (SI or otherwise), and no Toon joy? I'm quite sad.

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