Back in the Game . . . tRPGs and the Like

Recreation Fun & Games
1

Inspired by the Warhammer thread and Rachel’s webpage on gaming in Taiwan, we went to the Magic Zone on Roosevelt Road in search of Chinese editions of the AD&D books for my daughter and the son of a friend only to find the place much less well stocked than we remember it from its heyday.

There were a few books but not many (both English and Chinese) but they didn’t have exactly what we wanted - only one copy of the Player’s Handbook and they are selling the books at full price while others sell it for less. When I chatted with the guys behind the counter, it’s clear that they don’t actually do much non-Magic-the-Gathering business (a little GURPS and Gundam playing but the vast majority of the business they do is MtG . . . despite Sharp Point bailing out of the MtG Shop liscense - the shop is now unofficial and fan run).

They said they didn’t know where the D&D players had vanished to but were under the impression the game was dying in Taipei.

We did some random searching elsewhere as we’d promised the books to the kids for Christmas (we have the English but the kids find it easier to read and understand the Chinese texts and all their friends don’t really read much English).

We stumbled on to Fantasy Toys World which is on section 3, alley or lane 94, number 10, 1st floor across from the Kids Eslite bookstore. F-toys.com

They have the AD&D core books in Chinese and a bunch of Mage Knight figures as well as the Shadowrun heroclix system (huge beautiful figures with polyhedral dice included). The laoban told me that they have a game of D&D in the back game room Saturday nights and that the regular Mage Knight events are on Sunday nights.

Anyone know of other places in Taipei which might have AD&D (English and Chinese variations), Mage Knight, Magic the Gathering, miniatures, and/or polyhedral dice supplies?

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You know about Silex, right? They’re by far the best local supplier of RPG books in general. They even have a book I’ve considered buying (GURPS Steampunk). In addition to all sorts of SF fiction in English.

As for dice, I’ve found a great little place recently. I’m too lazy to retype what I put on my web page:

[quote]Although it’s not otherwise gaming-related, a great place to go for dice is the Flea Market on Roosevelt Road, just north of Heping West Road. They are (as of late December, 2003) selling all sorts of beautiful gaming dice for very cheap – something like NT$10 for three dice. And the dice are high-quality, too! Get 'em while supplies last!

The flea market is across Roosevelt from the Family Mart and Watson’s near the Heping/Hangzhou/Roosevelt intersection. It’s between a Japanese-style $100 store and an internet cafe (Xicco).[/quote]
I was amazed when I finally found it, after hearing rumors on KKCity. It’s great – high-quality dice for very cheap.

As for rumors of D&D gaming dying in Taibei, those who say so are misinformed, I think. If you possibly can, check out KKCity (instructions on how to do so are on my webpage); there are tons of people still talking about their D&D campaigns, GURPS campaigns and lots of other things. If you want to know about the local gaming community, that is seriously the place to go.

3

We used to know a great place for dice . . . it was a manufacturer’s warehouse in Taipei (the factory is down south somewhere) . . . but they closed down. We would get great selections at extremely cheap prices . . . the guy in charge had no idea that you could use them for games. :slight_smile: