Monster Manuals no more

[Pale]

I know kidding about the cards, but I know nothing of the new Saga system.

I also wouldn't put it past Wizards/Hasbro to make 4E completely mini-centric so the possibility seems within reason for the Saga system. (Which would kill the game for me, but I have more than enough 3/3.5 material to play for years on end)

 

[JustKim]

Thanks. Wizards put out a Map Folio 3D with just that sort of "build-ability" though I have yet to actually buy it to see if it's any good.

I have it and I've put all the pieces together. It's not any good. I could tell you why if you want to know, but I think the fact that you can still find copies in book stores years later and WotC has said they won't do another one speaks to its popularity.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

The Saga Edition of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game appears to assume, in the text itself, that you will use miniatures.

Of course . . . that doesn't actually mean that the game requires you to use miniatures. I've run Third Edition D&D with a hand-sketched map, using pencil scribbles to denote character position. Not exactly hard.

 

[RedFox]

The Saga Edition of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game appears to assume, in the text itself, that you will use miniatures.

Of course . . . that doesn't actually mean that the game requires you to use miniatures. I've run Third Edition D&D with a hand-sketched map, using pencil scribbles to denote character position. Not exactly hard.

It doesn't "seem to assume." It states explicitly in the required materials to play section that you need Star Wars collectible miniatures.

Sure, you can play without them. But that's not RAW.

(and while my tongue was firmly in cheek in my last post, I only wish I was kidding about this.)

 

[Dykstrav]

Actually, that's not as far out as you might think...

Imagine if all monsters were printed on cards with empty spaces next to each of their stats. Then you get a clear "template" card to overlay, that tells you the template's bonuses/penalties to each stat. Bam. Instant template.

There's a CCG called Hecatomb that functions like this. You literally stack cards one atop another to create critters. Each card has transparent parts for what it doesn't change.

Never actually played it myself but it looked neat.

 

[Pale]

Heh, one can also say that you could play Warhammer without minis, too.

Ain't gonna happen, though.

Ah well, time to look for some WEG SW on EBay...

 

[Aeric]

Oh, man. I can't believe I'm about to say this.

If I was given the option of purchasing all the critters in the Monster Manual (or any of the sequels) on good quality, glossy cardstock with good art, I'd jump at the chance. I'm thinking something like an oversized deck of M:tG cards (5x7?), with all the important info on them.

There are so many times that, as DM, I want to have multiple monsters open in front of me and/or don't want the players to see that I'm looking in the Monster Manual (for, say, stealthy critters) that I can't even begin to count.

I'm not sure this is a totally feasible idea (dragons?), but it'd be cool if it worked. I'd still want a hardbound MM, though.

Maybe Paizo will do monster decks, like the critical hit deck and the equipment deck. I would buy that in a heartbeat. Beats spending hours transcribing the stats to index cards by hand, or wasting ink printing them off your computer.

 

[pawsplay]

I liked the AD&D monster cards. They were awesome. You could just hold up a picture of the mosnter, and you could spread them out in a fight to have the stats for various creatures all at your fingertips.

 

[Asmor]

There's a CCG called Hecatomb that functions like this. You literally stack cards one atop another to create critters. Each card has transparent parts for what it doesn't change.

Never actually played it myself but it looked neat.

It seems there was a short-lived fad not too long ago with clear cards... I own two non-collectible card games (Gloom and Ziggity), as well as a deck of Bicycle playing cards, which are all clear... Ziggity uses the clarity as more of a gimmick than anything else (you sometimes have to "complete the puzzle" by getting cards with each of three different puzzle pieces, but that could just have easily been "get an A, B and C"), while Gloom actually uses the clarity to good effect by having you stack cards with modifiers on top of characters, where the modifiers can be in 3 different spots and only the top-most (i.e. visible) modifier applies in any given spot.

It's also worth noting that these clear plastic cards are universally wonderful to shuffle, having perfect springiness and resistance.

 

[fusangite]

I had a seriously disturbing thought....

As part of the 4e marketing strategy, WoTC does away with monster manuals, instead printing only cards as part of a collectable monster series?

The market is in selling things that make your characters more powerful not more challenged.