The Quest for Against the Darkmaster

I know it is in the garage somewhere.

Against the Darkmaster. The hardcover. The one with the critical tables that still make me wince in a good way, the high-fantasy, Rolemaster-adjacent game that felt written for people who already knew why a percentile system and a well-designed critical hit can carry more weight than a dozen class features. I bought it, read it, nodded at the design choices, set it on a shelf for “later,” and then somehow it migrated to the garage with the rest of the overflow.

Now I need it, and the garage is not cooperating.

This is how it always goes. The books that earn their keep stay out. Palladium Fantasy is still on the reachable shelf because I keep opening it. Rolemaster has its own stack because the criticals are still the best in the business when you want one fight to matter. Basic Roleplaying, Mythras, RuneQuest, Legend, Call of Cthulhu—they all have permanent addresses. Against the Darkmaster was the one filed under “I will get back to this when I have a free weekend,” garage code for “the boxes will eventually claim it.”

So the quest began.

First pass was the obvious shelves. Nothing. Second pass was the plastic bins labeled “RPG overflow” in my handwriting from three years ago. I found three different printings of RuneQuest, a stack of OpenQuest PDFs I had printed and forgotten, and a Rolemaster Companion I didn't remember owning. No Darkmaster. The third pass involved moving a box of old minis I hadn't opened since I last told myself I'd paint them. Still nothing.

At one point I stood in the middle of the garage with a flashlight, muttering the same thing I say every time this happens: “I put it somewhere logical.” The garage has never been logical. It is a memory palace designed by someone in a hurry who figured future-me would just remember.

Future-me never does.

A particular kind of frustration only tabletop people understand. You are not looking for a lost phone or a missing tool. You are looking for a book that still does what newer games stopped doing - gives you a percentile skill list, meaningful criticals, and a high-fantasy framework that doesn't feel like it was focus-grouped into brightness. Against the Darkmaster sits in that same family as Rolemaster and the better d100 games. It is not light. It is not trying to be. That is why I want it back on the shelf instead of buried under a tarp next to the Christmas lights.

I will find it. The garage has not won yet. When I do, it is coming inside, getting a permanent spot next to the other percentile books, and staying there until I actually run it. Or at least until I convince myself the garage is a reasonable place to store anything I might want again.

Until then, the quest continues. If anyone needs me, I will be behind the lawnmower, checking one more box.