Clark Peterson wrote:
> For example, the spell system in Ars Magica is just
> wonderful. It captures the feel of the game. Combat
> gets short shrift and poor rules, but the magic. Oh
> man. d20 cant duplicate that.
Sure it can. In fact, a D20 Ars Magica book would have one huge
advantage: It would also have solid combat rules over here in the PHB.
I could easily see a D20 Ars Magica product that includes a completely
new spell system (identical to the one in Ars Magica), new race
templates, new classes geared to the Ars Magica mythos, and background
info on Mythic Earth.
That would be a kickass product.
> Or the cinematic chase
> rules from the Indiana Jones game, or the comic book
> feel of the Marvel Superheroes combat system.
I'm not familiar with the IJ chase rules -- but I'd be surprised if you
couldn't plug a similar set of rules into the D20 framework.
Superheroes are always tough. I haven't seen THE FOUNDATION, yet, but I
don't think a class/race basis (which I understand they took) is the way
to go (if anyone wants to send me a review copy, though, I would quickly
find out if they made it work or not).
But adding a power system and supporting modifications to the combat
system would probably be less difficult than creating a power system, a
combat system, and the rest of the RPG system from scratch.
> Maybe the best example is the character creation in
> Traveller. You spend hours on your character before
> you play and there is almost no character growth after
> that. A class/level system such as d20/D&D can never
> capture that.
Ditch levels, work strictly with classes. Probably bump up the number of
skills and skill points.
> I could envision a day when there was complete
> seperation of rules from setting. For example, you
> could have several core rule sets: a gritty, realistic
> skill based set of rules (a la GURPS), a more flexible
> default set of rules dealing with percentages (a la
> Chaosium, which by the way is my favorite), a
> high-adventure set of rules (a la d20/D&D which allows
> for mega characters and extraordinary powers).
I fully support this idea. If I had infinite time and money I would have
long since written and published INFIN -- which would have been a
generic set of rules which would allow you to scale and modify from a
given toolset every component of the game system (giving you,
essentially, this same effect).
I think D20 could easily become this -- particularly if someone at WotC
is on the ball enough to make it happen. The long delays with getting
the SRD to come together, however, make me somewhat skeptical that this
person exists. A key suggestion for whoever's doing this: Boil the
essential rule system out entirely. This will look nothing like D&D.
Then come back in and modify that essential rule system with the
modifications which make it look like D&D (while carefully avoiding all
the PI problems you're having now). Not only will you be able to
actually get the job done this way, you'll also be giving yourself and
your licensors a far more valuable toolset.
Justin Bacon
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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