Campaign Setting or Variant D20 System?

[The Levitator]

I didn't want to derail the character sheet thread, so I thought I'd ask in more detail here. My biggest concern about Feudal Lords is that it will be a big departure from standard D20, like Iron Heroes. Don't get me wrong, I love Iron Heroes and in fact I purchased it with the hopes of converting our group to it. The problem I have is that I use DM Genie and no matter how awesome a new setting or variant system is, I just won't DM without being able to use DM Genie. I've been using DM Genie for several years now and it's like an extension of my arm. It has made During exponentially easier and our games are much more fast paced (especially combat) than pencil and paper games.

So, my question is; is Feudal Lords going to be a campaign setting like Forgotten Realms and Oberon, or is it going to be a fully independent variant game system like Iron Heroes? As long as the major mechanics are intact, there won't be a problem with things like races, feats, skills, classes, etc., as DM Genie easily handles that stuff. My concern is mostly in regards to the big mechanics like combat, AC (although I'm currently using an Armor as DR system), magic and psionic systems.

I have a feeling that this campaign setting would be very enticing to many of my online DM Genie cohorts, especially if it's primarily a campaign setting like Forgotten Realms and not a variant game system like Iron Heroes.

The second part of my question would be, if this is going to be a variant gaming system, will there be support for DM Genie users?

[Jraynack]

Sounds like you need to talk to a councilor about signing up for some DM Genie Anyonomous group . All kidding aside, though I am not familiar with DM Genie, I don't see a problem. There are some changes to the cleric core class, but if it can handle d20 Modern mechanics such as reputation (which is used similar to Piety and Heraldry bonuses, excpet with extended rules), action points, and allegiances, then things should be fine.

Feudal Lords is not a variant d20 system. It is completely compatible with the rest of the d20 game system and the various sources that exist. One of the things about the Feudal Lords campaign is that it is being designed so that not every corner of the world is detailed, leaving plenty of room for experienced DMs to draw from other sources and make the world completely their own.

And in order to accomplish that, we knew that other sourcebooks from other companies would sneek into the campaign. We definitely do not want DMs throwing out or having their old books collect dust because they aren't compatible with the Feudal Lords system.

[The Levitator]

Originally Posted by Jraynack

I am not familiar with DM Genie....

What?!? You've never heard of DM Genie? (clutches chest and gives brief soliloquy to Elizabeth....)

Originally Posted by Jraynack

Sounds like you need to talk to a councilor about signing up for some DM Genie Anyonomous group .

I can never make the meetings because they fall on the same night as my gaming sessions.

I'm a huge fan of DM Genie because it has made gaming so much easier for me. The best part about it is its customization and it has a huge community of contributors on several different Yahoo groups. It's the best tool I've ever found for managing both campaigns and games. Here's the link if you wanted to take a peek: DM Genie Janik, the developer, offeres a 60 day fully operational trial.

Originally Posted by Jraynack

There are some changes to the cleric core class, but if it can handle d20 Modern mechanics such as reputation (which is used similar to Piety and Heraldry bonuses, excpet with extended rules), action points, and allegiances, then things should be fine.

I do believe that there are quite a few DM's who have modified DM Genie to run D20 Modern so it should be easy to implement reputation. We have used action points in the past and they are easily handled manually (especially since my group rarely used them). I'm going to pick up the Knight's book as I think I read somewhere that it goes into more detail about Piety and Heraldry and Allegiances.

Originally Posted by Jraynack

Feudal Lords is not a variant d20 system. It is completely compatible with the rest of the d20 game system and the various sources that exist. One of the things about the Feudal Lords campaign is that it is being designed so that not every corner of the world is detailed, leaving plenty of room for experienced DMs to draw from other sources and make the world completely their own.

And in order to accomplish that, we knew that other sourcebooks from other companies would sneek into the campaign. We definitely do not want DMs throwing out or having their old books collect dust because they aren't compatible with the Feudal Lords system.

That's very encouraging!! I've been using Forgotten Realms since converting to 3.5 and I have 9 sourcebooks for it. There are many aspects I would like to incorporate and it sounds like this will be very easy to do.

I'm very much looking forward to converting my main group to Feudal Lords.

[Jraynack]

Originally Posted by The Levitator

I'm going to pick up the Knight's book as I think I read somewhere that it goes into more detail about Piety and Heraldry and Allegiances.

Just to be clear, because we have several knightly products - but the Household Knight has the rules on allegiances and Heraldry. Piety is very similiar to Heraldry but with a few minor changes. All these rules, including the household knight will be in the campaign guide.

As for the genie - I would definitely like to try it - I have seen it before. When I get some downtime I will take a look.