Ghostwind said:
That's fine, Matt. But I am still going to be skeptical and hold off purchasing the Galactic Guide until 2nd edition is released next year. I've been burnt too many times in the past to keep investing money into something only to turn around and find out that everything I just spent is meaningless because of changes with a new edition. Publishers break promises because they sometimes have to and beause it's the nature of the business. I'm going to bide my time and wait before investing anymore into B5.
I understand your skepticism, but not how that would apply to something like the Galactic Guide. I don't have that one yet, but based on other B5 D20 supplements, i don't even see
how a new edition could introduce incompatibilities. We know that the new edition of B5 D20 is still going to be D20 System (whether or not it has any particular logo on the cover). Given that, at a rough estimate, less than 5% of most B5 D20 supplements is even incompatible with The Babylon Project or Primetime Adventures (the two rulesets i use for B5 RPing), i can't imagine that the potential incompatibility with a new edition of B5 D20 is even worth recognition, much less preventing purchases. The first book i grabbed off the shelf (Minbari Federation) probably has less than 20pp of game stats of any kind, never mind what edition, out of 200pp. And most of what is there is general enough to be compatible with DragonStar, Gamma World D20, or T20--let alone a new edition of B5 D20.
Now, sure, something like the Technomages book--
that i could see potentially being invalidated, or needing some conversion work. But the Galactic Guide?
Oh, and on B5 D20 vs. TBP: we are clearly in no danger of running out of haggis. I consider B5 D20 a bland, workmanlike ruleset, that only went halfway in several areas, hobbling itself by sticking closer to D&D3E than was necessary. [Off the top of my head: B5 D20 characters gain too many hps with levels; I think a better representation of the series would've had either zero hp gain with level, or have 10th-12th level character have something like 10% more than a 1st-level, rather than triple or more. There's lots more little details, as well as a couple general design issues.] While one of the ugliest RPG books i've ever seen, and definitely the ugliest licensed RPG book i've ever seen, The Babylon Project is also an excellent ruleset, and a much closer match to the tone of the show.
On buying now or waiting for the new edition: i'd suggest waiting for the new edition for the core rulebook, but buy anything and everything else that appeals right away. And that's specifically so as to have a complete rulebook. In particular, i found the combat chapter of B5 D20 a chore to read, because it assumes you know the combat rules from D&D3E very well [which i don't--my brain is full of a mishmash of Arcana Unearthed, Everquest D20, Nyambe, Iron Heroes, and Grim'n'Gritty when it comes to D20 System rules], and while it explicitly identifies what has changed, it's pretty vague about what's still the same. In fact, were i to actually run it, i think i'd need to sit down with a copy of the relevant bits of the D20SRD and go through with a highlighter and black pen just to figure out what the intended combat rules are.
