Roleplaying since the 80s and I'm really tired!

[Nellisir]

Yeah, don't intimidate the newbie. You don't throw the frog into boiling water. You place the frog in water, and slowly turn up the heat until cooked.

So, you're saying DON'T lead off with the Tomb of Horrors??

 

[Nellisir]

In 1988, when 2nd Edition came out, my PC was a half-orc assassin.

Remind me never to stand near you in a lightning storm. Or use the same lottery numbers.

 

[Aeolius]

I get the appeal of half-elves, but they are pretty milquetoast. I mean, they're basically elf-lite. The half-orc makes some sense; it's the big bad brute icon.

It would be interesting to see half-elves and half-orcs put in the MM as templates. After all, in the 1e MM the half-orc could be half-human or half-goblin. But then again I like templates and the like. I still have not had the chance to play Glaucus, my spellstitched swarm-shifter dread necromancer emancipated spawn half-scrag sea kin lacedon with abothe grafts.

 

[D'karr]

So, you're saying DON'T lead off with the Tomb of Horrors??

Only if you follow it with the Forest Oracle. First kill them, then confuse the living crap out of them, and the DM.

A group of seven men approaches. They are following the road east, and are making good time, neither tarrying nor running. Their faces are expressionless. One is dressed as a cleric of some sort, and another is dressed as a traveling drummer. The others could be peasants or serfs going from one location to another for the harvest season. Each carries some sort of weapon. It is plain that they are not soldiers by their haphazard way of walking. They do not seem to be joking loudly or singing as they advance.​

 

[Aeolius]

So, you're saying DON'T lead off with the Tomb of Horrors??

First you begin at 0-level, in the Womb of Horrors.

 

[Nellisir]

It would be interesting to see half-elves and half-orcs put in the MM as templates. After all, in the 1e MM the half-orc could be half-human or half-goblin. But then again I like templates and the like. I still have not had the chance to play Glaucus, my spellstitched swarm-shifter dread necromancer emancipated spawn half-scrag sea kin lacedon with abothe grafts.

I like templates too, but pretty much the last thing I did before quitting 3e & D&D for about 5 years was start trying to stat up Joukahainen, the 10th-level fighter relentless arcane servitor frost giant. That pushed me over the edge.

 

[TwoSix]

I still have not had the chance to play Glaucus, my spellstitched swarm-shifter dread necromancer emancipated spawn half-scrag sea kin lacedon with abothe grafts.

Fortunately, he has a great personality.

 

[nedjer]

I want a simple system of rules in one place that will let me play the basic, fundamental game at its basic level. I want it to have components and mechanics that enhance the game and make it fun to play the way it is presented. Modifications, expansions, and continued play should be added later as options for different styles or flavors of play. Players should be able to make enjoyable characters with choices that are neither cumbersome nor convoluted, both during character conceptualization and regular game play.

Expansions should mainly comprise of more "playable" materials (i.e. adventures and toolbox/components for running adventures) than rules. Campaign settings should offer their own lines for different "flavors" of the game. These, IMO, should be carried by more than a single publisher to support the core game and open the market for publishers AND buyers. License, if you must. Stop trying to do everything yourselves when you obviously do not have the resources (or commitment) to give a real effort!

And this is just stuff off the top of my head. I know I'm probably better off trying to do this myself, but maybe someone in out there will listen and make something happen before I get around to it. We all dream, don't we?

I had a bit of a dream along some of those lines. Then I set to work. The version of the Original Game part is not exactly like your dream - they never are - but this one has a copy that edits in a wp. Much of the content is on view from the free stuff page and the editable option means a GM can shape 'the dream' any way the GM likes. Free Downloads.

There are quite a few Indie designers who experiment, but there's no easy way to gain exposure/ market and also concentrate on design. Should small publishers stop doing everything themselves. Relatively few I've come across cover lots of areas out of choice - however as well as the cost there's what any input does to the design and to what extent you remain the designer as more of the work gets outsourced.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

My guess is that you've been active on message boards too long, my friend. I don't participate as much as I once did, largely because I find myself more productive (and happier) doing other things. I will browse to gather news, information, and even insight through different perspectives. But for the most part, I avoid getting drawn in unless I *really* need to get something off my chest.

One of the keys to sanity nowadays I think. We're about the same age. Plus, frankly, when it comes to RPG's I don't care that much what a bunch of people on the internet think about a particular RPG or facet of an RPG or some new supplement - I mainly care what my players think of it and that's where the main discussion takes place.

Great systems like Alternity come out and then die on the vine, because they lack adventure support for the aging likes of us. Many gaming systems are published and have absolutely NO support for anything, other than the basic game rules. There are many games out there that we'd like to try, but we simply don't have any spare amounts of that precious commodity to use.

While I agree with you in general about the less-time-now-than-before thing, I am not so sure about the adventure support problem. Alternity was 15 years ago. Games that come out now tend to have more PDF support, something that was not a factor back then. From big games like Pathfinder and 4E, to small games like ICONS, there is quite a bit of PDF support, from adventures to adversaries, for a lot of games. Head over to something like DriveThruRPG and take a look and you might be surprised.

 

[haakon1]

It has gotten to the point where we can no longer spend many hours on world development and adventure creation, and so must rely upon authors to do these things for us.
...
I think that there's one basic truth, that is largely being ignored by many companies; the demographic is changing. Younger gamers are playing on consoles and computers. It's older gamers who are tending to drive the RPG market. There are certain things to consider, when you realize that truth.

So create all of the splat books, world books, and expansions that you want to but, if there simply isn't the time to create what is used WITH them, they're going to stay on the shelf.

Amen, Brother Ryujin.