Writing a manual for roleplay

[Amanchanamun]

Maybe you are right grimstaff. dnd doesnt have intention to get involved in roleplay things. But what is the solution here ? To leave dnd ? I give a plot about what i want to do for roleplay and send a submission. Lets see what will happen ?

Munstrum understood me well. I dont mean to climb stairs talking people when i tell roleplay. Alignment good is nothing for me. Good man ? I want to tell a old word famous here.

Do not call somebody evil, you can not imagine what good things he is doing, not call anybody good, you can not imagine what bad things he is doing.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

MC1-14 as well.

These are not PHBs or DMGs. New monsters are one thing, but for a PHB to need a second copy is pretty damn silly.




PHBII does not indicate it to be an optional/"splat" book, but a continuation of the PHB. One that should not be needed if the PHB was correct the first time to provide a complete game. So the Martial Powers book, I thought was where would add things like more martial classes, not more stuff for existing martial classes.

You only should need to create a single PHB and DMG, if done right. It worked for 20+ years, so why no longer?

It's the same supplemental materials with new classes, powers, feats, spells and monsters there always was, but this time, it's always presented as PHB, DMG or MM. It's a different way to market your supplements.

You could put all this stuff in just one book. But then we would wait, say still 4 years until 4E comes out, and we would buy a PHB worth 150 $ or so and 1,200 pages. Think that works?

 

[Umbran]

PHBII does not indicate it to be an optional/"splat" book, but a continuation of the PHB. One that should not be needed if the PHB was correct the first time to provide a complete game.

Basic fallacy - that there is ever such a thing as a "compete" RPG. RPGs are as capable of being "complete" as, say, a genre of fiction.

What's in a name? The name PHBII is not to show that is is a necessary continuation, so much as to show that it is another book in the same vein, with similar types of content, intended for player use. As opposed to a MMII or DMGII, which would be intended for the DM.

You only should need to create a single PHB and DMG, if done right. It worked for 20+ years, so why no longer?

But it didn't, really. If you shake off the inappropriate hangup about the name in particular - there were loads of supplements that covered the same territory as the PHB. The original Unearthed Arcana, was just a PHBII by another name. No edition has ever been "complete" in the sense that it couldn't use a supplement or two.

 

[CleverNickName]

A guidebook for roleplaying...interesting idea. The core books (of any edition) have the rules you need for dice mechanics, stats, economy, combat...all of the Math is all there, and it all works, and that's awesome. These books focus on "how to play the game."

If we could add a book that dealt with the "Literature" side of the game (making it completely optional, for those who prefer a less-wordy approach to gaming), I think it would be awesome as well. Such a book could focus on plot creation and development, antagonists and protagonist conflict, (non-mechanical) character development, act/scene story progression, and all of the other elements of creative writing. There could even be a section on acting and direction, for gamers who prefer to play "in character." The focus of this book would be "how to write the story."

We could even go deeper with it, and add a section (or a whole 'nother book) that focuses on "how to build the world." It could have several sections on mythology, and brief summaries of different cultures and their history. Governments, wars, religions, and technology from real-world and fictional sources would be provided in easy-to-digest morsels that allow the DM to cherry-pick what he likes and fill in the gaps, or create something completely new using the data in the book as a guide.

It sounds like a lot of work. It also sounds like the finished product would be well worth it.

 

[The Little Raven]

Did you ever look at vampire games, the game is not looking like a game. It is serious and gives incredible options for role play.

Not only did I look at it, but I played it for well over a decade. I ran multiple tabletop games and LARPs. I was an editor for Ex Libris Nocturnis for a while, and closely followed the lore and news related to the game. I met with developers and writers, conducting interviews and playing games.

It was serious... at times. It was also ridiculous at times, such as with things like Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand and the second edition Clanbook: Malkavian.

It did offer some incredible options for roleplaying, the most basic of which stems from the dilemma invoked by having once been human and having that slowly stripped away from you because of your need for survival.

None of those things made it any less a game than D&D.

i start to write a manual of roleplay which will be more or less 300 pages when it is finished.

I've seen people attempt this. A manual on roleplaying usually turns into "my way or the highway," since people can't agree on what defines good roleplaying.

I am tired of money sucking policies. Adventure vault 1-2-3-4-55-66-99. What is this ?

Yeah, I mean, what kind of money grubbing corporation would want to continue to publish products in order to keep operations? And by doing it by releasing products that players will actually use? The nerve!

 

[Kwalish Kid]

O RLY?

You know, it was just so frackin' cool when I bought that. My copy went AWOL about 15 years ago.

 

[Amanchanamun]

lets think abit ?

I gave vampire example before and let me tell the reasons. Whitewold produced vampire game many years ago, they called it mosquarade. Find book somewhere if you didnt read it for once. It starts with a dialogue which a vampire tells about themselves.

Then story goes. little by little. Its very hard to find the rules since there is no rule that they are pushing into your eyes. After reading you learn about vampirism, clans and many other breathlessly.

They didnt change the game for years until they had a problem about licence. Then they had to change the caine myth which they call vampires come from him and had to change clans other things that they have to cause of licencing.

On the same book there is players handbook. On the same book there is monster manual, on the same book there is dms guide, on the same book there is everything. So.... they dont change it. they dont add new vampires every day. They dont add new vampire powers every month. They dont add everyday something. because book is all alone is enough. If you want to put new taste to your game, they are publising limitless books. But you dont need to buy any.

This doesnt exist at the moment for dnd.

You start to read with how to play the game section. Gives rules perfectly like telling a boy 6 years old. rule system is nice. Settled. But except classes you can play game and rules there isnothing special.

There is a dms guide. We liked it very much. Didnt we ? So try to subjective, what is inside for old dms ? What does it give to me ? Nothing . I bought read from begiining to end. I dont think that i will read again. ıt is again for new young dms.

Monster manual. Nice. no need for a negative comment.

martial arts .. ???? Please tell me .. why ? Why is this book existing. Why didnt they do it before if needed ? Answer is simple for extra money.

Ofcourse money is important , and i like dnd very much. And my all endeavour is to make the game better.

I want not the better, best game that i wont say that "this is missing".

 

[ColonelHardisson]

MC1-14 as well.

These are not PHBs or DMGs. New monsters are one thing, but for a PHB to need a second copy is pretty damn silly.

Unearthed Arcana was a PHB2 (and DMG2, as well) for 1e in everything but name. Gygax, despite misgivings about it that he discussed on these boards and elsewhere, touted it (in his Sorcerer's Scroll column in Dragon magazine) as the official rules expansion (and clarification, in some cases) for AD&D. So the precedent was there.

A guidebook for roleplaying might have an audience - and Robin Laws (among others) has produced such books - but there wasn't much, if anything, that could be construed as a "guide to roleplaying" in OD&D and 1e AD&D, but a lot of us were able to play the game that way anyway. It wasn't all just dungeoncrawling and hack & slay back then.

 

[The Little Raven]

Its very hard to find the rules since there is no rule that they are pushing into your eyes. After reading you learn about vampirism, clans and many other breathlessly.

This is not true. It's easy to find the rules, since they were in chapters like "Systems and Drama."

They didnt change the game for years until they had a problem about licence. Then they had to change the caine myth which they call vampires come from him and had to change clans other things that they have to cause of licencing.

This is also not true. The game changed dramatically over the years. Brujah were just denim jacket wearing punks in the first edition, and over time evolved into a clan of fallen philosopher warriors, whose anger had overtaken their intellect. Vicissitude went from a normal Discipline to a disease to a semi-sentient Umbral creature that infested the blood of the Tzimisce back to being a Discipline. Disciplines were changed in every edition, with Thaumaturgy (the most prolific) receiving the most changes over the years.

The combat system changed dramatically between 1st and 2nd, and again for the revised edition. They rescaled damage values, added a new damage type (bashing) and made a lot of fundamental tweaks to the potency of weapons. Social and mental systems received far more development, and in some cases were worlds apart from their previous edition counterpart. The game changed constantly, because that's what games are supposed to do: evolve.

And your claims about licensing or anything forcing them to make any changes is completely untrue. There is no licensing issue with using elements from the Bible, since it is public domain. They outlined their reasons for dropping oWoD and changing things up with nWoD, and licensing is not one of those reasons.

they dont add new vampires every day. They dont add new vampire powers every month.

This is also false, since after the core books, we were given the Sabbat, with bloodlines like Kiasyd. There were multitudes of new vampire bloodlines and Disciplines throughout the bloodline, to the point where in Revised Edition they actually cut down the number significantly. New splatbooks featured new Discipline powers, bloodlines, Abilities, Merits, and Flaws. It got to the point where people made fansites to put together an index of what powers/merits/flaws/doodads are in which book.

But you dont need to buy any.

No, but if you miss any, then you will be lost because the metaplot advanced in almost every book, so if you missed out on Guide to the Camarilla, you'd be surprised about the Gangrel leaving it, because that wasn't in the core book.

martial arts .. ???? Please tell me .. why ? Why is this book existing. Why didnt they do it before if needed ? Answer is simple for extra money.

Why didn't they do it before what? Before they released the game? Is English a second language for you? A lot of things you're saying make no sense, whether because of language or just inability to coherently express some of your opinions.

 

[Amanchanamun]

Year 2012- january

As a joke i have to make this, i cant hold myself.

Year 2012 january ,

Wizard News

beyond february

PHB 6 , new classes Battlelock, divine barbarian , nature Sorcerer are waiting for you. New races : mind flayer, dragon

DMG 6 , lots of new pages telling how to buy new miniatures and where. You wont worry anymore.