Lost Worlds

This entry is part of the PBM List.

Costs: Free
Email: redbeardsroughwriters@gmail.com
Frequency: Twice A Month
Type: Science Fantasy
Last-Update: 2022Feb14
Keywords: free, open-ended, email, human, fantasy, space, rpg

Description

The Play by email (PBEM) role-playing game (RPG) opens with YOU the player awakening out of deep hibernation to find that the world you knew is gone. You were undergoing an experimental treatment for a terminal illness. Upon awakening, a recorded voice from a PAX member informs you of the following:

"The world was dying from pollution, politics, religious wars, and overpopulation. Then the governments of the world were caught off guard by a suddenly appearing meteor shower! It would bombard the world to near extinction level. No one could explain why these meteors were not detected before it was too late to do anything to prevent it, or prepare for them. We are sending this PAX space station on a long orbit that will take you on a trip beyond the known solar system that will take hundreds of years around the sun before returning. Upon returning to Earth, you are given the primary mission to make your way back to PAX headquarters and revive a handful of scientists that remain. These are young people who have vowed to rebuild what has been destroyed. This is their achievement: PAX is a storehouse of scientific knowledge, that will be manned by this highly trained crew of people. Their mission: to bring the hope of a new future to mankind. If you do not revive them, they will sleep forever. Welcome to the 30th century!"

Having little more than clothing, you will discover a planet where humans have become uncivilized, losing law, order, and technology. People are oppressed by the strong, sex, bloodlines, religions, and politics. Regions of overlords, monarchies, and chiefs control and fight one another as they see fit. It is earth, but undergoing its second dark age, and is now known as Titan. Much has changed, even the continents themselves. History, it has been stated, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (American philosopher George Santayana). The people of this world are indeed repeating much of the past. It could not be any more alien of a world if you would have traveled to another star system, or back through time itself.

Welcome to "Lost Worlds" PBEM RPG!

The Lost Worlds is steeped in a great deal of mythology, borrowing from Greek, Egyptian and Norse cultures, as well as Cthulhuian legends. Inspired by the likes of Lovecraft, Howard, Smith, Serling, Roddenberry, Gygax, and others. Lost Worlds PBEM RPG transcended the genre standard RPG label and became pretty popular with other players over the years. Although the Lost Worlds PBEM was mainly of the `monster of the week' (month in reality) variety, the background story arc and the utter creepiness of the PBEM RPG kept players entertained. Yes, there is a big boss, who is pulling all the strings behind the scenes, who will certainly need confronting. Learning who, what, when, where, and why they are will be a challenge. It follows players could go traveling through time to parallel and alternate versions of Earth to gain more information and at last defeat this big boss villain.

Lost Worlds is a science fantasy RPG, using 2d6 dice and primarily using the Fighting Fantasy RPG rules by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The house rules will be sent to your email for those joining the Lost Worlds PBEM RPG. Within will be everything you need to start. Lost Worlds is only played once or twice a month to a small number of players since it is all hand moderated. You can bring a real-world friend with you, or role-play by yourself. You play with what is called an avatar. This avatar can be yourself, or some other person you create. They must be human.

RESPONDING TO YOUR ACTION. The Game Master sends out what is called an "ACTION" to you. These will be numbered with a title. Within, you will find text, possible picture, or pictures and there may be at times even a link to a sound file to add some atmosphere or provide a better understanding of what is going on. You then respond with the heading, "RETURN". Since you are returning your reaction to the "action". You also number the RETURN with whatever the ACTION number is currently. If it says, ACTION 1 you respond with, RETURN 1. Then next you will receive ACTION 2, and you respond with RETURN 2 and so on. When an adventure is completed, failed, or successful, the next ACTION will be a 1 with a new title.

About me If you are wondering who I am. I began running RPG back in the late 1970s. I spoke at length with Gary Gygax, and Lou Zocchi. And held reasonable conversations with Mark Miller, and Ken St. Andre. Most of what I learned I learned from them and grateful for the quest they sent me on to learn more. I then ran my own PBM game (before email) from 1986 to 1996 for an income. I was a member of CARPga when Paul Cardwell was the editor (1990s). Today I run PBEM RPG to keep sane. This is since I am an essential employee who works 12 - 16 hour days 5 days a week since this COVID-19 began, or for better than a year and a half now!

Good Luck!

      


Played the game? You can send me comments to be placed on this page by writing lindahl@pbm.com. But don't write me attempting to join the game -- write the GM, whose address is above.


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Greg Lindahl