The GSL is up! What’s the future of the OGL?

Finally, the folks at WotC have made the GSL and related documents available online.

It was only a formality but a cursory reading confirms what I thought all along: Chromatic can’t be done under the GSL. I never held much hope because WotC would have had to be extra-dumb not to tighten licensing but I had to wait and make sure. Just in case another overgenerous Dancey-type had been put in charge.

It is pretty clear that my early prediction that the original d20 license as well as the OGL would not prove beneficial to WotC was correct. I had also said on TheRPGsite that WotC would not be interested in releasing a 4th edition license but would have no choice but to do so. I suspected an airtight, restrictive license that would be just enough to not create a massive uprise, while attempting to kill the open movement.

Phase B, probably in 2013-2014, will be to release a 5th edition that will be closed.

Reading the license, I maintain most of my predictions will come true. What remains to be seen is what will happen to the open movement. I expected a few companies to band together and raise their own unified banner but instead, what we have seen here is that all the main second players have pussied out and gone their separate ways.

I think a grouping of 3-6 companies, preferably headed by a banding of Paizo and Green Ronin, would have given the OGL a longer life expectancy and a certain potency. It remains to be seen if that is going to happen now that the extremely restrictive license is up or if each company is going to pick up the scraps and fend for themselves as best as they can.

And now comes the time for me to check out other options. I now know for a fact Chromatic cannot be viable under the GSL, nor the soon-to-expire old d20 license. That leaves me the OGL or going in a new direction with proprietary mechanics. Or to simply put this project in the drawer for now and design something else.

While the discussion in the next couple of weeks is going to focus on the GSL, what’s going to be really interesting next will be the future of the OGL. Will the OGL be abandoned? With it slowly decline? Will it stay the same? Or against all odds, will the GSL prove the driving force that makes 3rd party publishers rally around the OGL? The OGL is forever, but there’s a window here. And it’s closing fast if we don’t see some exciting releases and plans soon. The OGL’s value is in decline as its network diminishes.

Looking at another project: d20 Rethought (Part Deux)

I’m continuing the review of entries on Dagda’s blog.

In the next entry, Dagda outlines a possible classless D&D. Looks versatile but a little complicated to me. Fortunately, he ends by telling people he’s not going this route. So next, he tells us about his approach to classes. Classes will determine basic stuff such as vitality points but the meat of a class is Feats, Talents and Unique Class Features.

Talents seem to be stuff that bores me to death in d20. They’ll be like chains of feats granting you passive bonuses. I think this is where you see the greatest differences between Chromatic and d20 Rethought. He’s going for an extra layer of detail I never want to deal with, ever again.

Feats look to be more dynamic and allow the tactical crunch in d20 Rethought to come alive. He mentions “The Book of Nine Swords” and I think I get where he is going, after having read about the combat fundamentals previously.

Finally, it looks like Unique Class Features could be the Cadillac of features. Very defining and special stuff.

Personally, I think it looks like there will be a lot of detail to a character. Perhaps too much for my tastes. But Dagda seems to aim for a coherent design where you are rewarded for the detail you put.

We learn a bit about gaining the three sorts of features as you gain levels and we see how the differeces might be highlighted. For instance, a Wizardwill focus more on feats while a Sorcerer will be fueled mainly by talents. I interesting. The question becomes, is there really a point to differentiate between feats and talents? I suppose knowing more at this point would help answer.

When explaining magic, Dagda says “d20 Rethought uses skill-based magic, where you must make a check to successfully cast a spell against a difficulty that increases based on the spell’s level. I’m dead certain I’m not the first to come up with this idea“. And he is dead right. Magic as skills (in fact, almost everything as skills” was a feature that was prevalent back in the days, especially in the 80s and growing concerns over “realism”, “verisimilitude” or “simulation”. He also explains that resolve (which is a resource just like vitality, but mental) may be used to fuel spells. By the same token, vitality can add extra “oomph” to physical actions. Where it gets complicated is that magic seems to be in the form of effects. I can’t quite grasp if an effect is a complete spell, or more something along the lines of magic in Talislanta, Ars Magica or Mage: The Ascension but it does look complicated. Plus, it’s skilled-based but feats and talents do interact with the system.

Next we get to know about the balance of magic. It’s a difficult concept and the more I read, the more this reminds me of stuff like GURPS and the Hero System. Has Dagda played them? The concept of spell failure, pushing a magician to cast great spells at a risk is there. My problem is that this new system seems to suck a bit of randomness out of D&D. Spells would end up more along the lines of Rolemaster, if I understand the concept right.

The very last blog entry on d20 Rethought dates from May. We learn that d20 Rethought is fine right now. The concepts, core mechanics are worked out. And we are told the next entries will show a lot more about how the system works.

So what are my thoughts? First, I think d20 Rethought looks a lot like a 3.75 edition. Mentions of Barbarians, Monks, Bards, etc… give you an impression that Dagda wants to build on top of d20 as seen in D&D3.x and expand further. In many ways, could have developed his concept in Paizo’s upcoming Pathfinder RPG and felt right at home. I prefer many of his ideas over Jason Buhlman’s as of now anyway. Where I think d20 Rethought has an advantage over Pathfinder is that Paizo have made backward compatibility with 3.x a priority, a design goal. Dagda has no such limitations, which is for the better. But it still adheres to D&D 3.x in many ways.

I’m also seeing other things here. Without ever telling it this way, I think Dagda shows a lot of concern for “simulationism”. Pushing D&D even further as an engine of its own reality. There are also layers upon layers of crunch and details which merit at least a second look. For instance, I understand the underlying concept of a complex magic system that is balanced and versatile, but is it worth it building a class system with a Sorcerer class (which implies natural abilities) and a wizard class (which implies learned abilities) if on top of that you need for your sorcerer to learn talents (which again, implies innate abilities) and your wizard to learn feats (which implies perfecting knowledge)?

Doesn’t the very fact you are a fighter should imply you can do most combat maneuvers without having to take feats in them? When is it too much details?

I hope what follows doesn’t sound condescending because it is not meant to be but I have been there, done that and I’m not entirely sure whether it’s even worth it to go that way. At the very least, I hope Dagda is familiar with other systems than d20. Personal recommendations would be first to quench the thirst of simulation that is there by trying out GURPS and/or Hero. It might help push stuff (like Vitality/Wounds, skill based magic, tactical combat) in new directions.

Then reading and playing some looser games (perhaps some Unisystem, like All Flesh Must Be Eaten) or even whacky stuff like The Story Engine or Cold City.

As far as d20/OGL, one game not mentioned in the blg (unless I am mistaken) would be Mutants & Masterminds. Worth a look to pillage. for ideas.

d20 Rethought is shaping up to be an ambitious, fully detailed game which might be in the vein of Artesia and Pathfinder. One area not addressed after all this time is reward, both after the game and in-game, which I feel is very important and further leads me to believe this is mostly a tactical, simulation engine.

This is just my opinion but this looks like brilliant stuff, coming mostly from a d20 background. Now, it is possible that Dagda was exposed to other games. But most games making an impact today were designed by people who have played, read, designed plenty of other games. Heck, the whole staff at WotC plays them.

I feel that Dagda really needs to take other games into account to channel even more of his brilliance into d20 Rethought. But I do think the end result has the potential to be a great game. Just too much detail for my tastes.

Looking at another project: d20 Rethought

A fellow blogger and amateur designer is working on a project similar to mine, called d20 Rethought. I’ve had a link to Dagda for a while on my blogroll and he has kindly reviewed Chromatic, asking pertinent questions and offering suggestions and comments along the way.

I’m paying him the favor back because (no disrespect to the many d20 efforts on the net) I think d20 Rethought seems like the most promising effort from my standpoint. Plus, as Dagda mentioned in his Chromatic review, it is particularly interesting that we come from vastly different backgrounds. He was introduced to D&D just as 3.5 was released, while I was introduced to it almost 30 years ago. Our perspectives on D&D, what it means/can mean are thus different. I value his input on Chromatic but also try to mine his blog, desperately waiting for more d20 Rethought material.

Unfortunately, just like my blog, d20 Rethought is not fully explain at this point. I’ve had to fill the blanks in several areas. But here are random thoughts about it. Hopefully they are useful for Dagda and will also incite some of my readers to check this effort. It does look very promising and it’s well worth spending some time.

First things first: the author seems to be an American college student and particularly fond of d20. Particularly, as far as I can tell, WotC’s offerings D&D and d20 Modern. He has tackled a variety of projects and settings, many of which are interesting and dynamic. d20 Rethought is not the only thing on his plate. Some entries as far as August 07 show some tinkering with the system. An entry that I find particularly interesting early is “his philosophy of game design”. Now, I don’t know much more about Dagda, nor whether he posts on forums and where, but I see similarities between he and I in that he is interested in game theory at large. How and why people play games. And I can see hints that he is trying to reconcile several point of views, such as verisimilitude, having fun playing and how to “connect” fluff to all this. I don’t know if Dagda has checked out GNS theory, if he knows about the older (and for my money better) GDS theory, if he knows about the Forge or if he frequents Story-Games (link on my blog) but I see he shares some concerns I have and he concerns that I use to have at some points as well. And I really like the way he addresses these things. Anyway, that’s it for the author. Now on to the game.

As far as I can tell, the first entry for d20 Rethought dates to January of this year. In it, Dagda redefines abilities. This is a bold step that most d20 and OGL games do not dare to make. I’ve often been tempted myself but decided to refrain (I do leave the room to change my mind in the future, though) from due to familiarity for users and perhaps, plain laziness. Dagda keeps a six-ability scheme but renames all of them. As written, they do look good but I notice the absence of an ability in any way similar to classic Charisma. Ways to interact with NPCs and the like. I do sense some overlaps in theory but in design, it remains to be seen!

Next, we learn that Dagda has borrowed (and tweaked) the Vitality/Wound system. This part I question. When the V/W system was first introduced in the first edition of the Star Wars d20 roleplaying game, I was thrilled. But several individuals, including the infamous Justin Bacon, made a convincing argument that HPs, coupled with a tweaked version of the massive damage system detailed in D&D 3.0, could achieve more elegant results.

When I first read the Brawn description, I thought perhaps Dagda would tackle it that way, or perhaps have damage saves, like Mutants & Masterminds. Still, having two tacks of HPs (Vitality and Wounds) allows all sorts of cool design bits. Dagda gives as example the way critical hits work. This makes for a dramatic and flexible system where combat will be less linear, more tensed, than regular D&D3.x.

In another entry, Dagda sketches another “damage” system, this time related to the mind/courage/morale. This is like Call of Chthulu meets V/W system. You basically have “life tracks” for your mind. I don’t know what exposure Dagda has to older games like Chaosium’s CoC (or WotC’s d20 version written by Monte Cook and the amazing John Tynes, but he does mention that this is NOT a sanity system. My opinion here is mixed. On one hand, I love that Dagda is putting in place systems for non-combat situations. On the other hand, that’s a LOT of tracks and bits to fiddle with. At this point, I already want to se what a character sheet looks like. What about NPCs or enemies?

In another entry, Dagda explains that he will borrow the skill system found in Star Wars saga. Don’t we all? Frankly, at this point I’m of the mind that this system (or a variation of it) is almost a must for ANY d20 game. It’s just solid design. Dagda goes for combat skills. I like this very much but this is where it gets interesting! d20 Rethought from this point describes very specific combat skills in details and makes me think it is a very, very detailed game. It does look even more intimidating than Spycraft 2.0 but fortunately, more elegant as well so far. Lots of specificness where I would abstract. Where I am content with melee and ranged (I’m even dropping hand-to-hand!) Dagda goes for a complex maneuver system. I think it kicks ass and is an improvement over 3.x but it’s a shift in a direction that is opposite of mine.

The base bonuses entry is interesting. In retrospect, it seems the 4e design team and Dagda were working along similar lines because this system looks a bit like 4e (the entry very much predates 4e leaks). We’re also seeing attention to details, like making all 6 stats valuable. I was first confused by the way Spirit works but I’m warming up to it.

The two next entries concern combat fundamentals. Cool! Reflex defense! Great decision, clean and sensible! I wonder how the brawn ability will handle bigass creatures like giants, dragons and the like? Will the V/W system break under huge creatures or will it shine? I hate to guesstimate so I trust Dagda on this.

Crits are cool. They become a sort of mini-game on their own because they involve choices. You maximize safely your normal damage or you gamble for more. As if this didn’t kick enough ass, he manages to throw a sort of called shot system in there AND make use of action points. Truly, Dagda is kicking ass in this blog entry. This is just amazing, clean design. Lots of options while remaining elegant!

In the same entry, Dagda explains how he handles “flurry of blows”, sorts of multiple attacks. The system is cool and clean, but just complicated enough that I would probably refrain from it. But it does kick ass and remind me of cool anime action, Final Fantasy and would shine in a d20 version of the Exalted RPG. I had a similar concept which I called “chaining” and that I took from the wonderful video game “Vagrant Story”. I dropped it after playtesting. Stances and swift actions will make for a rich, tactical system but will they bog down play? I’d have to see more.

We get to Combat Fundamentals part 2 and I start to learn more. And the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know much. The system starts to make sense here. Like the various combat options you have, the guard skill against your reflex defense and so on. There are bits that I am uneasy about. I’ve probably read over 200 roleplaying games in my life and I doubt I’ve ever seen a satisfactory way to make shields work. I’m not too sure about shields in d20 Rethought. Sounds like a chain shirt is a much better option. Still, it’s pretty fund stuff overall. More options and a bit more streamlined. I do worry about what high level fighters would look like, though. How much time would it take to create two 10th level fighters? How different would they be? What would a combat look like?

This is turning up to be a long review where I address each of Dagda’s blog entries one at a time so I will stop for now. Hope it is useful to Dagda and gets people interested. My initial impression so far is that this is shaping up to be a valid alternative to D&D3.x, with lots of influence from mainstream hits like Spycraft, Star Wars and d20 Modern.

More later, if it proves helpful.

Some bling…

Hot damn…

I’ve been inspired by this amazing (if cheesy) DM screen and decided I need some ‘oomph” for my gaming:

The DM’s side is even more impressive and shows some utilitarian aspects I could really enjoy:

I want my own custom screen but with an eye more toward functionality rather than flashiness. I’m also thinking about card decks (for monsters and magical items) as well as coinage. I want (and need) functional things to smoothen game play further.

Another thing I want is new tokens or miniatures. I am repulsed by the D&D collectible scheme and refuse to buy huge piles of them and trade with wankers. This thread over at Story-Games features some inspiring stuff by the awesome John Harper. Along with figures, I might as well get some mats.

Last but not least I’m looking for ways to track stuff like intiative or HPs. Magnetic pads and stuff.

We’re June 6th and WotC still has not released the GSL. I used to think of WotC as one of the most reliable company out there but lately, I’m confused by what’s going on over there. We’re past 7PM (EST) and no GSL in sight. No explanation for the delay either.

Some things I like about 4e…

This is a quick post to serve as a reminder of things I like in 4e and might have to adapt to Chromatic in one way or another. This should be pretty chaotic but I might reference it later:

Bloodied

I don’t like the name, I don’t think the effects are all that cool either. But I think it definitely has potential! HPs have always been an abstraction. Other systems have added various injury systems that are more detailed but bug down play and aren’t really fun or dramatic. While the bloodied condition isn’t an injury system, it could serve as one on top of providing cool effects. Must explore further.

Power Sources

Right now, all classes have powers. Each class draws the energy required to sustain their powers from a specific power source. That seems mostly to be fluff as written in the core books. It’s pretty useless right now but there’s a great ideas here. What if a single class has a mix of powers drawing from different sources? What if those sources do more than provide color?

Defenses

So Will, Reflex, Fortitude are now passive defenses. And they are grouped with AC and work the same way. Less rolling, possibly more efficiency. It’s a pity they didn’t rework the wonky AC system that makes specific combat situations confusing. But it’s a step forward. The new defenses are a clean and cool concept and can be expanded further. I think they make AC redundant. We can do without it.

New multi-classing

I’m not too sure yet. I was against it at first. I’m warming up to it. Only way to truly see the potential is through character growth.

Rituals VS Powers

Differentiating between spells and powers is really interesting. Granted, I think most powers don’t make much se4nse and are uninspired and I think the rituals are sorely underdeveloped and lack a great deal of flavor. But there’s something really cool here. A basic framework that will allow D&D to cover more flavors of fantasy, to be more customizable.

Rules streamlining and keywords

They are eight years late but WotC is finally harnessing all the savoir-faire they have acquired through the Magic: The Gathering card game. Say what you will about the actual game, it has a gigantic network of players and people tinkering it. It’s got extremely clean mechanics that have been refined and it makes a much better use of symbols, repetitive keywords and management of gameplay. 4th edition is a gigantic leap forward in this respect. This also makes the game more important than any roleplaying game ever developed before because this is something that game designers at large have neglected and/or struggled with for the entire existance of the hobby. Keywords should be an important part of any roleplaying game, whether it’s an artsy, indie thing, a traditional super-detailed game or a mainstream hit.

Skill challenges

Oh my, talk about one of the most promising but underdeveloped part of this RPG. There is a lot that can be accomplished here. Need more possibilities. Expanding on possible challenge types, expanding on success and failure of each roll and on the overallchallenge would be mighty cool.

There are other little things that are cool, such as streamlined monsters, racial feats, quest cards and implements but off the top of my head, the items listed above hold the most potential. Also, I’m starting to find “4e converts” so I am hoping I get to play a session or two very soon. For now, I can’t wait to see the GSL document, which will apparently be available June 6th, same as the books.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition thoughts

D&D 4e confirms many of my suspicions.

One of those is an (admittedly outrageous) opinion I have held for over two years now: 5th edition D&D (which should hopefully be released by 2014) will probably be the definitive edition of the game and make most roleplaying designs futile and irrelevant. I know this proclamation will probably have several people burst in laughter but I had to get this out of my system. On to talking about 4e now.

The changes from 3rd edition are many and focus mostly on streamlining some things and optimizing for what D&D does best: dungeon-crawling. More things are based on what happens in a session of play. The way you recharge “powers” and your “life track”. The duration of effects. The way every archetype retains a measure of effectiveness in intense situations. The emphasis on “fun”, even though the designers are sometimes a little narrow-minded in their definition. There seems to be a conscious move away from verisimilitude and toward playability. Sometimes, however, you simply get the impression they made the move in an awkward way.

A lot of veteran gamers will lament the huge loss of classic flavor. The wizard class is an easy example. Once Once a haven for the creative player, it is now little more than a walking arcane artillery specialist. Everything seems built with “the encounter” in mind and how to beat it.

Certainly I applaud the way the consciously strip the various components of a roleplaying experience. Story, flavor and all that stuff is completely separated from specific challenges. But the flavor, fluff, background and story are sorely neglected. Fans and designers of indie games will applaud D&D’s greater focus and I don’t think they are entirely wrong. D&D is more effective now than it used to be. But I think they threw the baby with the bathwater as far as “non-challenge color” is concerned and as far as to what can constitute a challenge, or in indie parlance, a conflict.

So what’s going to happen next: lots of people are going to play 4e. Already, the new edition has excited many crowds and many skeptics. It even has many people who aren’t much interested in this particular experience (such as me) admit that it looks like a very solid design. People are going to play it and then various shortcomings (many who will be only minors) will be exposed. This is not to say the game will be deemed “broken” or even poor. On the contrary, I would expect the game to hold up to scrutiny and become one of the greatest achievement in roleplaying history. The importance of people already sold to it should not be dismissed. Forums like ENworld are where a lot of actual game progress happen. Because actual, passionate users are even more important than fringe designers in actual roleplaying progress.

What will happen after people have played a lot of 4e? Well, in about a year (give or take), we’ll start seeing new progress, in many forms. First, new supplements to support 4e may introduce new ideas, in the same way Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords did. Some of these ideas will come from WotC and others from 3rd party publishers.

It’s a little early to predict how designers are going to use the GSL but it’s safe to say we may also see other games related to 4e but covering their own genres and worlds. Think Spycraft and Star Wars here.

And then there’s the OGL. 4e is not being released under the OGL but the OGL is forever. And most of what is being done in 4e can be adapted or even lifted from 4e in various ways. We’ll get totally new games. Some will have a “mainstream vibe” big book, big production values and a somewhat traditional take but with the increased interest of communities such as Story-Games, you can bet your ass we will see all sorts of weird takes again on 4e but also D&D and dungeon-crawling.

What about cool sub-systems and add-ons? What Ryan Stoughton did with E6 and Raising the Stakes, you can expect (much) more of that from a variety of creative individuals.

Then there are the various D&D clones and “back to basics” games, such as Castles & Crusades, OSRIC and so on. You can expect more intiatives like that, and you can expect some of these games to put some 4e innovations in there.

Two years from now, 4e should be thriving and we should have a vast palette of “D&D options” at our disposal. What enthused me particularly is that more and more, the lines are being blurred and various “factions” on the net all seem curious and interested in 4e. 4e is reportedly selling (pre-orders) like hot cakes. Indie gamers want to play it. People who liked 3rd edition want to try it. People who hated 3rd edition also want to try it. Heck, lots of people who do not feel like 4e looks all that great still want to try it! Again, I’m one of them. WotC are already printing a second batch and it looks like it will be a great success for this industry.

And now that 4th edition has cleaned up the math, it’s pretty clear what the next step would be in 5th edition. Re-think D&D the same way 3rd edition did. Let go of the d20 system. Really think about what gaming is about and what are the difficulties of the medium. Expand in new directions. Sometimes I feel privileged to have live through the early years of roleplaying and witnessed most of the major changes but I can’t help but feel a little jealous of newcomers.

By the time 5th edition comes out, unless WotC fucks up big time, we’ll have the greatest achievement ever realized in gaming and it will be difficult to even justify a 6th edition. Meanwhile, the consolation prize is I get to live in interesting times.

I’m reading as much as I can on 4e and will take a decision soon on Chromatic. I apologize for the delay but again, I have to make sure about the future of the OGL, GSL and D&D itself and see if the project truly has a raison d’être. I’m seeing wonderful things in 4e that I wanted to implement in Chromatic without knowing how to do so. There’s a mountain of questionable design decisions but also some inspiring bits.

The new date for new is July 6th. One month after the release, I should know for sure whether I can continue with Chromatic or not. Meanwhile, it’s possible I may update this blog with other roleplaying content but it will be of a more general nature.

Take care,

FFHFKFKFJ

OGL, d20, the GSL and Chromatic

My last entry was titled “To d20 or not to d20″. This one is pretty much a continuation of that.

People may have noticed I have reticences and it’s time to explain them more in depth. First of all, from day one Ryan Dancey and WotC pimped d20 and the OGL, I knew it was a colossal mistake. Let’s be clear: the d20 license was not restrictive enough and non-sensical from a corporate point of view. The OGL was even worse. A major clusterfuck, a can of worms that might not easily be closed. But of course, all of this is from WotC’s perspective. For the gamer, 3rd party publisher or amateur designer like myself, the OGL is golden.

I have made no secret of what I was trying to do but never wrote it clearly. Chromatic is supposed to be my ultimate version of D&D. I’m utilizing the SRD in part, drawing from good d20 mechanics. Then my goal was to release this game as OGL, but without the d20 logo. On top of the SRD, I was also planning to draw from various sources:

Various iterations of D&D (from basic D&D all the way to the upcoming 4th edition).
Various roleplaying games totally unrelated to D&D (from weird games like Everway to detailed games like CORPS).
My own design ideas.

But amidst all this, new information has surfaced indicating that WotC is tightening the new license and trying to kill the OGL. They’re also pulling the plug on d20. There’s been indications that 3rd edition-inspired products are not selling well. Add to that the fact there are dozens of D&D inspired fantasy games in the work and I’m starting to wonder if my project is even relevant. That’s not even mentioning that I have trouble reconciling certain of my design goals with traditional D&D mechanics.

All this to say, I don’t know if Chromatic is needed, if it’s relevant and if it is a good idea to design it publicly. For now, I’m thinking the wisest course of action is to wait until the GSL is released and see where it’s going. I really, really want to design a roleplaying game in English and release it for the general public. It’s a personal goal of mine. But I don’t know anymore if Chromatic can or will be that game.

If I have to pull the plug on Chromatic, I’d rather do it sooner than later in the design process, to avoid the heartache. So I’m stopping now and will take a decision following the release of the GSL. If Chromatic should be put to rest, I have plenty more design ideas, including another fantasy game I hold dear to heart.

I’ll take this opportunity to share my thoughts on 4th edition at this point: the game looks a lot like it will not meet my requirements for a good D&D game. It looks very much like a dumbed down roleplaying game with extreme emphasis on miniatures to drive play and minimizing differences between what characters of different classes can effectively do. They all have special attacks, special transportation rules and so on.

I know a lot of people love Mike Mearls but I want to say this: I’ve never appreciated a single Mearls product, or any of his interventions on various game forums. I am effectively at odds with his general philosophy on gaming and his aversion for things such as genre-emulation. His products are devoid of any heart or soul and much like Monte Cook, rely overly on inelegantly stacking crunch on top of crunch to instill a semblance of flavor. Needless to say, it doesn’t work for me. And this 4th edition has Mike Mearls’ stamp all over it.

I’m going to say it: I think this 4th edition is a step backward for roleplaying. But it might actually be a step forward for the hobby. Because it might actually force more writers and designers to go outside the d20 paradigm.

Depending on the shape the GSL takes and what the interest in OGL games will be, I might just be one of those designers.

So until the GSL, I’m going to enjoy the NHL playoffs and try to write the Dreamwalker review I promised to Peter.

Take care!

To d20 or not to d20…

I’ve been awfully quiet lately.

Work and personal life have taken a toll. Still, I started this blog in part to get feedback and in part to put myself under the spotlight. It’s working so far. The blog makes it kind of hard to just give up. And I’m definitly getting awesome feedback.

I’ve added two new links to the blogroll. The Consummate DM is a new blog with some thoughts on roleplaying in general but seems particularly D&D-oriented. The second blog is Dagda’s Workroom and is particularly interesting to me because it tackles a project similar to mine; the making of a d20 fantasy game. As Dagda said himself on my blog, he addresses some of the design issues very differently than I would. And that’s a good thing for me, as it’s a great alternative and will challenge my own views on how to do things. Each entry of “d20 Rethought” has a thorough explanation regarding design decisions. So visit it for another take on d20 fantasy. It’s one of the most interesting one around, along with Eero Tuovinen’s Fantasy Adventure.

At this point in time, I’m very undecided on the direction I will take. There is a surprising amount of enthusiasm for d20 fantasy games. More than I thought possible. But I’m awfully tempted to just destroy every trace of the d20 engine and just make my own engine. Yet deep down inside, I know that one day I’ll have this urge for old school gaming and nothing but a close relative of D&D with scratch that itch. So for now, I’ll continue to explore my d20 options.  And doing that, I know I want to include classes but I’m still undecided as to their exact nature.

I’m going to be extremely busy this week-end. And adding to various responsibilities and social activities will be following the NHL playoffs, which have just started. For those who have always been intrigued by hockey and contemplate giving it a shot, now might be a good time because the quest for the Stanley Cup is certainly an intense affair. Great games, great drama.

So here’s the goal for my blog: I want to write a solid Chromatic entry before Tuesday. I’m most probably going to think about class implementations this week-end and write something Monday afternoon if all goes well. I’d like to do revisit my basic D&D box set Sunday, just to remind myself that I need to keep things simple. The product was imperfect but a breeze to play. It can be made even more elegant and accessible, IMO. Designing a game means being constantly tempted to complicate things. To add options on top of each others instead of refining mechanics. Reading an old game that was terribly effective should prove to be a remedy to my temptations.

Lots of feedback

Today, I resume work on Chromatic after a few days of “messing around”. I’ve been fortunate enough to get some feedback online and off line on Chromatic, old school D&D, d20 and roleplaying ideas in general. Many of these discussions make me reconsider how I’m going to put it together exactly but the outline remains pretty much the same. One of the things that thrill me most is that I have connected with passionate gamers, many of them with strong opinions and really cool takes on gaming.

I’ve also had over a week now to look at the blog and I conclude I am not satisfied yet. I don’t think it’s going to give the casual gamer any incentive to stay around. I don’t think it’s a good calling card, nor is it intuitive once you do get the general idea. But right now I’d prefer to continue using this blog as a diary for my design ideas and see about the promotion of this labor of love later.

I’ve written down some ideas for feats and classes. Nothing definitive yet. I have a pretty good idea of what a main character could look like but NPCs and monsters are a little less defined as of now. That’s going to be a key to achieve stated goals of easy prep and quickly “filling blanks” during play. There are also elements of the games that have remained totally undefined as of yet. Magic and spellcasting come to mind. I have no idea how I am going to handle that and am still considering vastly different implementations.

I also plan on checking out Spycraft 2.0 and True Sorcery and mine them for ideas. My schedule is pretty light until April 11th so I plan to have several updates and make significant progress.

There’s more than Chromatic…

I’m filling this blog with stuff about Chromatic but there’s more going on. It’s insane right now and I wanted to give props and pointers to fellow gamers that might be interested.

First of all, John Wick’s new game, House of the Blooded, is coming. He sent me the 48-page chapbook today and it looks really freaking good. Awesome mechanics and setting elements abound. John has done great games in the past but I think this one will leave all the others in the dust. It’s got trademark “Wickism” in it but this time, cranked to eleven yet more solid and elegant than ever. I think it’s a perfect blend of traditional and modern design trends. It will be a contender for best RPG of the year and I hope that there is a fanbase for such an original take on fantasy.

Peter C. Spahn is giving everyone a chance to evaluate the full version of Dreamwalker Revised for free. Pete is a solid author and a great guy. And Dreamwalker Revised is growing on me with its potential for various uses. Some of the concepts in this d20 modern supplement are quite difficult to wrap your head around at first but it becomes clearer as you read and I guarantee you will think of campaign ideas and plot hooks in no time. I plan to review the game soon at theRPGsite.

Of course, I’m also following the developments regarding D&D 4th edition. I’m seeing more and more indications that this game may not be for me, unfortunately. Yet there have been some improvements that I plan to implement in Chromatic. The thing I was most inspired by was static saves and the idea AC is really just another save. I’m going to build on this and make it cool. They’re also streamlining monster stat blocks which looks cool.

Speaking of 4th edition. Wizards of the Coast have failed to ready the new license terms in time and Paizo, once a powerful ally, have now decided to release their own successor to D&D 3rd. They’re calling it Pathfinder and the Alpha release is totally open to playtesting by all, which is really ballsy and cool of them. They’ve set up message boards dedicated to feedback and it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest publicly discussed playtest of all times. Their board is already buzzing with suggestions and feedback. Most of it is lame but there are a few gems there by long time users of 3e. Paizo are aiming at what they call a 3.75 edition but that’s really just misguided bullshit. The truth is, they’re working on their follow-up to 3rd edition just like WotC but they have their own ideas on what it should be, which is cool.

So on top of my designing work, all these things excite me and I’ve been following the news as much as I can. I think it’s going to be a kickass year for gaming and specially fantasy RPGs. I expect an abundance of supplemental material to be available in the second half of 2008, most of which will be d20/4th edition and thus, easy to convert and use with Chromatic.

2008 will be an even better year if/when Green Ronin wakes from their torpor and release information on the upcoming Song of Ice and Fire RPG they are working on.