Everquest OGL

[Magius del Cotto]

First off, let me say that for sheer cost/page it's worth getting. This thing costs as much as any other standard D20 hardcover rulebook: about 30$. What do you get for that money? 400 pages of information, 170 of which is on songs and spells.
Before I go on, would you please pick your jaw up off the floor? Thank you.
From what I've looked at (which isn't much, I admit) and what I know of EQ (again, not much since I stopped playing a few years ago), it seems to do a reasonable job of translating Everquest over to the D20 system, even if they don't include the logo on it (a decision, I think, may have been due to their mistaken belief that they changed so much stuff it simply wouldn't fit in).
Thank you for your time.

 

[Tsyr]

From what I've looked at (which isn't much, I admit) and what I know of EQ (again, not much since I stopped playing a few years ago), it seems to do a reasonable job of translating Everquest over to the D20 system, even if they don't include the logo on it (a decision, I think, may have been due to their mistaken belief that they changed so much stuff it simply wouldn't fit in).
Thank you for your time.

No. It's because it's not exactly core D20... they tampered with a few non-ogl mechanics, such as the 30-level core classes. Or at least, that's what was said a while back.

 

[Erifnogard]

You cannot explain character advancement and creation in a d20 product (due to the license) and thus cannot provide a complete game ( you are actually required to reference the D&D PHB for those topics). By only using the OGL license, you have more freedom to alter the system to fit your needs and also you can provide a complete game in your own products. In this case, I imagine it was the need to explain the different advancement system and non-standard character creation that EQ uses in place of the d20 systems for those things that kept them from using the d20 license/logo. Of course EQ has such high brand recognition that few would be buying it because it was d20 before they would buy it because it is EQ. It just happens to be a bonus that it is largely compatible with d20.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Problem my buddy has with it is that it's very incomplete in terms of what can be done with it. He likes some of the concepts, like the xp penalty for races and some of the races themselves but isn't too crazy about some of the way spells and levels in general work. I think he mentioned that the xp neede to go up levels was higher too.

 

[HellHound]

Yes, the XP per level is higher than in 3E. I think this is because EQ on line doesn't use a scaling XP mechanic like 3E does. Of course, we won't see how it works until the EQ GMG is released which will have the XP tables and rules.

I like how the characters gain "points" as they go up levels, which can be cashed in for skill points, feats or stat boosts. It's an elegant way to dodge the mechanic of gaining 1 feat every 3 levels and 1 stat point every 4 levels.

 

[EarthsShadow]

xp scaling

I think the xp scaling is there, but its just doubled from standard d20 xp. for EQ, you need 2000, then 6000, then 12000 instead of 1000, 3000, and 6000, etc.

 

[Winterthorn]

EQ XP = D&D 3E XP times 2

That's correct. I bought the new EQ PH last weekend, just for fun as the price was worth the gamble, and lo the XP required to level up is exactly double what's needed in D&D 3E!

IIRC the D&D 3E XP progression is proprietary in the SRD (one must adhere to the d20 rule system and require the purchase of the D&D 3E PH). Thus S&SS seems to have neatly side-stepped the legal contraints by a simple factor of 2.

As our beloved vulcan friend of another genre would say:

"Fascinating."

-W.

 

[hong]

Although I've never played EQ online, the whole thing does feel very video-gamish, with spells being extremely limited to what is possible in a video game instead of a pen and paper RPG. (Teleports specific to a single map location, 75% of the spells are combat related, Illusions are limited to changing the caster into a single, specific race, etc) Although it is a nice book appearance-wise, and some of the ideas are worth stealing, it really is basically used for roleplaying CHARACTERS IN A COMPUTER GAME, not characters in an RPG...

Where does it say that RPGs can't have spells that work like what's in EQ?

Heck, I'll bet money that the most common nerf in high-level D&D modules is "teleport doesn't work in this dungeon".

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Where does it say that RPGs can't have spells that work like what's in EQ?

Heck, I'll bet money that the most common nerf in high-level D&D modules is "teleport doesn't work in this dungeon".

Strangley enough I prefer the everquest spells. I was getting sick of spellcasters having a spell for every occasion past level 10. If I run this the palyers might actually have to think to solve some problems, instead of just saying yo god give us a clue here, I detect his thoughts, I conjure the exact thing we need etc.

 

[Phoenix_Knightwind]

Has anyone looked at what happens to the classes vs. core classes when the same advancement is used?

Are they more, less or about the same in power level?

If you look at the sample creatures online, the CR system seems about the same, so EQ either has a different award system for CR or advancement is just half as fast. If the latter is true, then the classes would be much easier to port over.