Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="nedjer" data-source="post: 5817801" data-attributes="member: 83796">The first generation of clones may have been about reproducing rule sets, but they've evolved/ developed a lot since then. For some that's been about offering variant mechanics, but for others it's about adding content. In the case of Swords & Wizardry the rules have filled-out to form a 'full' system, while significant chunks of content have been added, e.g. Tome of Horrors. That in turn forms a necessary platform for 3rd party/ homemade scenarios and campaigns.The ACKS THAC0 example above shows part of what this brings to the party, as the designer has clearly thought at length and experimented with an alternative. The designer's freedom to do that without having to answer to any corporate chain of command or fixed legacy seems quite valuable for RPGs if we're to have fresh ideas circulating and appearing in the wild as tangible products.The reasons for making rule sets rather than supplements may be down to a perceived benefit/ improvement which a designer/ s can't demonstrate or model for use without showing how it works alongside/ fits into the lexicon/ language of the original game.Can't speak for others, but my clone offerings needed a rule set 'to work'. I.e. a S&W engine plus what's necessary to model steps which should make it easier for young adults/ complete newbies to sit down and just play.  Would it have been be more practical to make a supplement for OSRIC, S&W, Labyrinth Lord. Perhaps, but a supplement wouldn't serve as a one-stop boot camp for trying to help a complete novice pick-up and go as a GM.Equally, it would have been impractical to make a chunky teenage <a href="http://thistlegames.com/thistle/corruption/" target="_blank">dark comic version/ module</a> and a family-friendly <a href="http://thistlegames.com/thistle/2012/02/03/we-want-a-rpg-for-kids-and-we-want-it-now/" target="_blank">8-12 year old version</a> with the same scaffolding of play - under very different themes - without working from a rule set designed for scaffolding play.So, imo the modest sum for an ACKS PDF can have value as a system you play, but also might have ideas, fluff, or adapted mechanics which result from exploring options in the new school meets old school area that hasn't been covered/ cloned as much as old, old school.</blockquote>

Verification