Role call: Who's doing new systems?

[Kerrick]

I've already set up the Global Homebrewers Alliance just for this purpose.

Sweet. I'll sign up.

Hey Kerrick!

Yeah, as I alluded to in an earlier post, I've been SLOWLY grinding away on my own "3.75".

After a lot of crunching (in my head), I have settled (for the time being) on a Saga-ized DnD 3.x....that's Star Wars....not Dragonlance...

I am incorporating elements from 4e...my group and I opted for.....NOT....4e. But there are many great refinements that port right over, or at least the idea...just like 3.5 was.

Later

Cool. I'm not really familiar with SWSE, but I keep hearing it had a lot of good things in it. Some of those were adapted for 4E, too.

 

[ChampionoftheTriad]

Yes, it does have much to offer. In fact, it is a refined combination of D20 Modern, and the first two Star Wars D20 versions. I even started doing a "Saga" conversion of the SRD way back in the summer of 2007, but I was derailed when WotC announced 4E......I wish I had kept going.

As you say, some elements are incorcorated into 4E, namely skills and combat...kind of. But, rather than being "adapted for 4E", this was actually the mid-point of development for 4E and, as I see it, Saga is really a covert playtest of some elements. Or else, just a cheap way of coming out with a fresh SW in the midst of deep R&D on 4E.

So much the better....they should have stopped there, and just refined what they had conceived. Anyway, I honestly don't know if I would contribute much to a "group", but I am willing to check it out. Let me know if you start one....I dig using other peoples brains for crunching....crunch.

 

[Kerrick]

I've already set up the Global Homebrewers Alliance just for this purpose.

Actually, after looking over the forum, it seems to be more for folks building their own worlds. I'm aiming more for generic "I want to/am doing a 3.75ish thing". I know there's a good bit of overlap, so if you don't mind those folks dropping in, that's cool. If not, I can create a second forum.

Yes, it does have much to offer. In fact, it is a refined combination of D20 Modern, and the first two Star Wars D20 versions. I even started doing a "Saga" conversion of the SRD way back in the summer of 2007, but I was derailed when WotC announced 4E......I wish I had kept going.

Yeah, I started working on Project Phoenix in March, after I saw that 4E wasn't for me.

As you say, some elements are incorcorated into 4E, namely skills and combat...kind of. But, rather than being "adapted for 4E", this was actually the mid-point of development for 4E and, as I see it, Saga is really a covert playtest of some elements. Or else, just a cheap way of coming out with a fresh SW in the midst of deep R&D on 4E.

I think they actually said that at one point - that Saga was a way to playtest some of the rules they were working on. So was MMV.

So much the better....they should have stopped there, and just refined what they had conceived. Anyway, I honestly don't know if I would contribute much to a "group", but I am willing to check it out. Let me know if you start one....I dig using other peoples brains for crunching....crunch.

My aim is really to just get a bunch of folks with similar interests together so they can bounce ideas around, feed off each other, and generally benefit from other people doing similar things, usually for their own projects. It's not intended to be "everyone working toward the same end", just a free-form, "if you still do 3.5 design, we've got someplace you can go".

 

[StormingMarcus]

This is my first post, i'm a total noob
I would like to create an alternative 3.5 system (going further than pathfinder, that is eliminating the retro-compatibility clause).
ATM i'm trying to create a new system, based on the d20. It is called Heart20 (H20, never had a knack for good names), and the project is hosted here. Altough there is the problem for the most of you... The site is italian, but i can translate the basic ideas for you if you are interested.

 

[Kerrick]

Okay, I've started a new group, The Society of 3.5 Revisionists. I'll toss out some invites and see what happens.

 

[jdrakeh]

I was doing this for years, then realized "Hey! There are hundreds of RPG systems already out there!" which was quickly followed by "Hey! Why design my own system, when I can pick one of those and actually get busy playing games?" and, finally, "Screw this! I'm going to go play some games!"

 

[Kerrick]

I was doing this for years, then realized "Hey! There are hundreds of RPG systems already out there!" which was quickly followed by "Hey! Why design my own system, when I can pick one of those and actually get busy playing games?" and, finally, "Screw this! I'm going to go play some games!"

Yeah, I know... but I'm a compulsive tinkerer. If I didn't have something to work on, I'd go nuts. Besides, someone's got to design all those games you play!

 

[StormingMarcus]

Yeah, I know... but I'm a compulsive tinkerer. If I didn't have something to work on, I'd go nuts. Besides, someone's got to design all those games you play!

Yes, i have to quote you!

 

[jedavis]

I was doing this for years, then realized "Hey! There are hundreds of RPG systems already out there!" which was quickly followed by "Hey! Why design my own system, when I can pick one of those and actually get busy playing games?" and, finally, "Screw this! I'm going to go play some games!"

Hmmm... I'm still in the designing phase. It's the questing perfectionist mentality, I think; "there must be a better system/version/method/way... and if I can't find it, I'll just have to create it."

Of course, this same mentality leads me to powergame, and probably contributed to the destruction of my gaming group ("Hey guys, let's try a new system!" "Another one?!"). So, since I can't play alone, I guess I'll just have to design some more. Hooray infinite loop! Maybe one of these days I'll come up with something worth publishing... presently working on a classless scifi system (though I imagine 'twould be easy to port to fantasy).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Hmmm... I'm still in the designing phase. It's the questing perfectionist mentality, I think; "there must be a better system/version/method/way... and if I can't find it, I'll just have to create it."

Of course, this same mentality leads me to powergame, and probably contributed to the destruction of my gaming group ("Hey guys, let's try a new system!" "Another one?!"). So, since I can't play alone, I guess I'll just have to design some more. Hooray infinite loop! Maybe one of these days I'll come up with something worth publishing... presently working on a classless scifi system (though I imagine 'twould be easy to port to fantasy).

Of course, there's a big risk here: You _must_ play the game. The original 3E design team remarked a few times (for example, Monte Cook) that they were surprised to learn that many TSR designers didn't actually play that much, and that this was not an uncommon attitude among designers at that time.

I fear that too many home-brewers, tinkereres and self-designers are forgetting that someone has to actually play their game, and that they are losing usability, playability or player and DM motivatations out of sight while striving for the perfect game system. It can be quite annoying having to find a system that makes the designer, the DM and the players happy. And the worst thing is - you probably always end with compromises and things that make someone a little unhappy. Maybe by not playing and just designing you find the perfect system for yourself, but what about other players? And at what point do you "call it a day" and decide "this is the ruleset I am gonna try?"

Of course, there is no need to really come up with something will be actually played, or be played by more then you and a handful of friends or groups.

And it's not my business to worry about the headaches of others. And it's not as if all my fears come true (contrary to several nightmares, I still haven't figured out that I actually still have to make a final course to actually get my diploma in computer sciences, and stuff like that ). But just keep an eye out for this to happen.