Dawning Star: A Love Story
Posted 30th September 2009 at 07:36 AM by pawsplay
I had the great privilege of being both within the genesis of Dawning Star for d20 Future, and outside it. I was brought on as a technical advisor. Primary, my job was to nitpick. You know how when you are watching a sci-fi show or movie, every once in a while, they drop a real howler? My role was basically to be that audience and halt any silliness before it saw print. While my opinions were sometimes felt in the final version of things, I did not write Operation Quick Launch. In fact, I mainly served as a second set of eyes for the editor, lasering in on scientific inaccuracies and occasionally making observations about campaign design or my impression of a game mechanic. The whole process was, as I often imagine RPG design work to be, collaborative, and it was in various email conversations that ideas about the game backstory were hammered out, hammered on, and ultimately put into words by the writers. For all that I participated in the discussions, Dawning Star was simply enough, not my baby.
Despite that, I take a great deal of pride in the final form it took. Apart from the joy of seeing a great team in action, I took my limited role seriously, and I think the game it became owed a lot to the care taken by Justin to uphold the highest standards. Thus a pinch hit by a rambling, semi-pro RPG columnist and occasional writer gave the game a little extra in the science department. While my comments may not have transformed the product in a dramatic way, I helped put a little polish on a fine product.
Ultimately, I think we all became pretty invested in the success of the project. Blue Devil Games put out a product that exceeded the production values of many games by bigger companies with bigger staffs. The product remains a notable success in the fairly barren and dismal d20 Modern sector. The game was not simply liked, but also admired, and acquired a loyal following of fans. In many cases, people hungered for answers to questions about the setting that had not actually been answered, even in design discussions.
d20 Modern dried up and blew away. Really, it never received the resources, development, or attention it needed to evolve. While D&D 3e became D&D 3.5, d20 Modern languished in developmental limbo. The d20 license was targeted for termination by WotC, and ultimately, WotC abandoned open gaming and the OGL itself. And yet, every so often, someone will ask...
What is going on with Dawning Star these days?
And I, personally, do not know. Maybe something. Maybe nothing. I know that the game mattered a lot more to me than d20 Modern itself ever did. There are not too many d20 settings you could point to and say, "This would work great as a GURPS game" or as a Hero System game or whatever. But I think Dawning Star has that level of interest built into it. The quality of writing and setting development, the engaged approach to using the d20 rules, the attention to basic scientific detail, the awareness of different action-adventure genres, the sense of fun, and even the distinctive and breathtaking visual style of the graphics all came together to create something that really sparked the imagination.
Despite that, I take a great deal of pride in the final form it took. Apart from the joy of seeing a great team in action, I took my limited role seriously, and I think the game it became owed a lot to the care taken by Justin to uphold the highest standards. Thus a pinch hit by a rambling, semi-pro RPG columnist and occasional writer gave the game a little extra in the science department. While my comments may not have transformed the product in a dramatic way, I helped put a little polish on a fine product.
Ultimately, I think we all became pretty invested in the success of the project. Blue Devil Games put out a product that exceeded the production values of many games by bigger companies with bigger staffs. The product remains a notable success in the fairly barren and dismal d20 Modern sector. The game was not simply liked, but also admired, and acquired a loyal following of fans. In many cases, people hungered for answers to questions about the setting that had not actually been answered, even in design discussions.
d20 Modern dried up and blew away. Really, it never received the resources, development, or attention it needed to evolve. While D&D 3e became D&D 3.5, d20 Modern languished in developmental limbo. The d20 license was targeted for termination by WotC, and ultimately, WotC abandoned open gaming and the OGL itself. And yet, every so often, someone will ask...
What is going on with Dawning Star these days?
And I, personally, do not know. Maybe something. Maybe nothing. I know that the game mattered a lot more to me than d20 Modern itself ever did. There are not too many d20 settings you could point to and say, "This would work great as a GURPS game" or as a Hero System game or whatever. But I think Dawning Star has that level of interest built into it. The quality of writing and setting development, the engaged approach to using the d20 rules, the attention to basic scientific detail, the awareness of different action-adventure genres, the sense of fun, and even the distinctive and breathtaking visual style of the graphics all came together to create something that really sparked the imagination.
Total Comments 0
Comments
Total Trackbacks 0
And yet another word from our sponsors
