d20 Tribe 8...interest?

[Wil]

I'm not sure about Core Command, but the upcoming Mecha Compendium from DP9 will have d20 stats for every published vehicle - Heavy Gear, Gear Krieg and Jovian Chronicles - plus new ones. That might serve as a good guideline should CC lack conversion rules. Along with d20 Modern, you should be able to convert characters alright without conversion rules.

 

[EarthsShadow]

Will the Player's Guide also require the original Tribe 8 book for using it as a d20 game? I don't have the original book and if I need to buy both to use as a d20 game, which is the only reason why I would get them since no one likes the games original system (personally I like it just fine, but you know how d20 fanatics are), it would be more cost effective for some if you do just a d20 version of the game by itself, or else the majority of the d20 gamers won't even realize it. Sure some of us who read this will know, but many stores will probably not.

 

[Wil]

Although Marc or Tiam'at can answer better than I, I would assume that the original T8 book would be very useful, even if you were using d20. But, you might be able to get away with just the Vimary Sourcebook, Horrors of the Z'bri and the various Tribe books for the details you'd be missing from the Silhouette version of the T8 rulebook.

BUT, remember that the Player's Guide is not a rulebook. It's a player's guide. Anything you want for a d20 T8 game would have to be converted from the existing sourcebooks.

And "no one likes the game's original system" is quite an exaggeration - Silhouette has a very solid fanbase. Otherwise, there wouldn't be two Heavy Gear computer games and a Saturday morning Heavy Gear cartoon (for the uninformed, Heavy Gear uses the exact same system as Tribe 8 - as does Jovian Chronicles, Gear Krieg, and the upcoming Core Command).

 

[EarthsShadow]

I will definately not argue with you because I like the system, but for those I know around where I live, I have talked to many others who have looked at it and said NO. Two reasons they give: 1) they don't want to learn a new game system, and 2) its not d20.

I did own tribe 8, but after I realized that I could not get another person to play it, I got rid of it. AFter that, the only gaming store here stopped getting books for the game because no one here was buying it. The store said to me and others that if there is a d20 version of the game, they would pick it up.

I live in a city of 50,000 people, and I don't know everyone here, and there might be people who do play it, and maybe like the system. I won't deny that possibility. But I can only speak within the confines of my own social circle and community, that if it doesn't have the d20 logo on it and its not a full d20 game, it won't sell here period. It's a shame really, because the setting is really awesome, and I won't buy a bunch of books for one book with a conversion in it to attempt to get others to play it.

Now, if it is its own d20 book for the setting, I already know four others who would be willing to ask our store to order it and buy it. It's a shame the power that the d20 market has, but that's the way it is.

 

[Wil]

Well, the only thing I can say is that if you want more d20 products for Tribe 8 - or any other DP9 product - buy the Tribe 8 Player's Guide. They can't print books if they don't make money, and this book is kind of T8's last stand. Solid sales, especially with feedback that many of the players are using it for d20 games, might prompt DP9 to publish more dual-statted books. I think it's safe to assume, however, that NO T8 book will ever be all d20.

 

[Tiama'at]

Will the Player's Guide also require the original Tribe 8 book for using it as a d20 game?

While it would help (especially getting things like the history of the setting and the more detail on the Seven Tribes), I'd say between the setting chapter in the Players Guide (which fills some of the holes left in the broad strokes in the main rulebook), and the information in the d20 chapter, things would be okay without a main rulebook.

For those who don't know the Tribe 8 library is broken down as follows:
- Rulebooks (meaning the Tribe 8 mainrulebook, the Weaver's Screen, and the new players guide)

- Metaplot/Adventure books (aka Chapter Books or Storybooks) and the Books of Legends (non-metaplot generic adventures)

- Setting books (Vimary and Capal: Book of Days, and Into The Outlands which details the wilderness around Vimary)

- Word of... Books which are a focus on various setting elements (Word of the Dancers, for example, focuses on two of the Seven Tribes). They are less mechanical than a real splatbook, they don't include "new" rules or systems, some include a couple of relics (magic items) and aspects (specific magical powers).

For use of d20 (like I mentioned on the RPGnet boards), you can use all the books rather easily since they are not "number crunchy". The storybooks are much more open-ended than a typical D&D module. They also cover longer periods of time - anywhere from 2 weeks for something as short as Warrior Unbound or Vimary Burns, to as long as a year or more of game time (Harvest of Thorns, Children of Lilith, Broken Pact, etc). Even the "Word" books are useful to a d20 player since they go into the rituals and drama of each individual tribe (the Seven Tribes are covered in 3 Word books, which are all out, so no White Wolf style waiting).

Hope that helps

 

[Tiama'at]

I will definately not argue with you because I like the system, but for those I know around where I live, I have talked to many others who have looked at it and said NO. Two reasons they give: 1) they don't want to learn a new game system, and 2) its not d20.

Which is sad, but a common answer.

Of course you could try running demos at your local con/gaming club/even the local gaming store (if they provide space). If existing people won't play Silhouette (or d20 - because there are a few who won't) then you go out and get *new* players.

I did own tribe 8, but after I realized that I could not get another person to play it, I got rid of it. AFter that, the only gaming store here stopped getting books for the game because no one here was buying it. The store said to me and others that if there is a d20 version of the game, they would pick it up.

Then be sure to mention it to them, and order a copy. Get at least one other friend to go in at a different time and order another. If the retailer sees that there is some interest then they will likely order a couple of copies for the shelf. Then get a couple of others to pick it up when it comes out (so that the shelf copies sell and the retailers notice it). And who said basic college psychology is useless in the real world?

Now, if it is its own d20 book for the setting, I already know four others who would be willing to ask our store to order it and buy it. It's a shame the power that the d20 market has, but that's the way it is.

The "way it is" is a very poor way to go about living life (not just talking about rpgs here). If things always remained "the way it is" we wouldn't have rpgs to begin with.

See ya.

- Ma'at

 

[EarthsShadow]

I was wondering so I can refer it to other people around here but what is your website url? With it I can tell some of my friends to look for more information on the game and maybe stir up some more interest around here.

 

[Wil]

http://www.dp9.com/Worlds/t8.htm

 

[EarthsShadow]

Thank you.