Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The

So what’s the game?

It’s a role-playing game devised by Baron Munchausen, allowing ordinary people to recreate the stories of his extraordinary adventures, or even to create new ones. As you might expect of the Baron, it’s not your average RPG. For a start, it only takes an hour to play, and there’s an actual winner. You can start playing three minutes after starting to read it, it’s so easy to learn. Instead of dice or cards, its system of mechanics uses money and fine wines. And you don’t need a GM.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen is designed to be a pick-up-and-play RPG: the short game you play while you’re waiting for the rest of your gaming group to turn up. It’s fast to play, cheap to buy and a great way of introducing new players to the idea of RPGs without having to plough through a 200-page rulebook first. It’s been praised by games-industry figures such as Allen Varney, Phil Masters and Steffan O’Sullivan, and was nominated for the 1998 Origins Award in the "Best RPG" category. In short, it’s a brilliant new type of RPG. Go on. Give it a try.