FFG apparently coming out with class books....

[JoeGKushner]

I gotta agree with some other statements about crunchy bits. They can go into any world. The Iron Kingdoms is another settings that has some things you can yank for your world, but unless your using the IK setting itself, there remains a lot of dross.

I have nothing against campaigns. I own Erde, Arcanis, Scarred Lands, and other books, but I actually play in Karathis, the Fiery Dragon setting, because it's only vaguely detailed and I can plot down almost any thing I want into it. New material from the Quintessential Rogue? No problem. New material from Armies of the Abyss? No problem. In someone else's campaign setting, they will almost never take advantage of the d20 OGC material out there and will create their own versions of things already out there. If more companies were to utilize the material out there and incorporate it into their own settings, I'd be less likely to protest settings versus crunchy bits, but if I'm going to get crunchy bits, I'd rather have everything to go instead of having to pick and choose crunch from setting stuff.

 

[Wolfen Priest]

I agree with uv23. The 3e game has only been around a couple of years now, and it already feels bogged down with wieghty optional rules.

The game is only enjoyable to me when the story, plot and character development are interesting; adding new prestige classes, feats, skills or other rules variants is starting to just bore me, in part because I usually opt to "not use" the optional rules, as they nearly always seem to rend game balance apart completely.

I for one am far more interested in story-like products being released; NOT novels, but story-related products that take into account the d20 rules (which novels do not). I' running a Scarred Lands campaign, and I can't get enough of their supplements, rich with super-creative, inspiring and idea-generating material.

On the other hand, of all the "crunchy" crap out there, like all the WotC class books, I honestly consider 85% of it to be game-breaking, time-wasting garbage. If you want D&D to be that munchkiny, play a videogame. Roleplaying is about story.

 

[Blacksad]

Way of the Sword - (fighters, barbarians, monks, rangers)
Way of Magic - (wizards, sorcerers, bards)
Way of Faith - (paladins, clerics, druids)
Way of Shadow - (rogues, ninja, and special surprises)
[snip]
Chris

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but don't you fear some confusion with AEG established way of ... books?
(the samourai, the ninja, the ratling, the naga, the shugenja, the wolf, the crab, the crane, the phoenix, the dragon, the unicorn, the scorpion, the lion, shadow, the shadowland, the minor clans, shinsei, way of the clans being the name of the serie)

edit: to come back more or less on topic, I feel that the market can support many things (ie horror, fantasy, modern, sci-fi, asian, conspiracy, superspy, cyber-punk, super, monster, and mix).

But I'm not sure that they can be all supported in hardcover full color book (like an asian horror cyber-punk mix), or that 8 setting of the same kind could be supported unless they have a good fan base (dragonlance, wheel of time, forgotten realms, etc... in the fantasy brand).

And on the crunchy bits side, if it is only feats/skills/prestige classes... no thanks I have librum equitis and books of eldricht might for that, much cheaper, and they allow me to copy and print what I need.

On the other hand, mass-combat rules, nautical rules or anything that requires a big book for correct coverage, I like.

 

[BairnFley]

FFG never on time with books...

Of course, FFG is not the only culprit of this, and I understand some delays are impossibile to avoid, however, when books come out so late, Mystic Races, Dragonstar (still waiting guys...) it kinda starts to turn the 'Can't wait to get my hands on it!" to a "A couple months later", to "Wait and see if it even sees the light of day." to never even bothering to pick up the book. The web sites of FFG and D20 Odyssey (Book of Beasts) never have correct info or why the delays, or status of the book, and when they do list that information, a few weeks later (if lucky), you find out the previous message was wrong, we're still waiting. The products are good, and I know I and my group want them, but we can't rely on having the information when we were looking for it, or when we need it, and that's disappointing. So I do not know where to place this news, as a greedy smile rubbing hands, or sigh of not again.


Bairn Fley

 

[drnuncheon]

I agree with uv23. The 3e game has only been around a couple of years now, and it already feels bogged down with wieghty optional rules.

How can it be "bogged down" if they are optional? Surely that means that they are easy to jettison if they are slowing things up.

On the other hand, of all the "crunchy" crap out there, like all the WotC class books, I honestly consider 85% of it to be game-breaking, time-wasting garbage. If you want D&D to be that munchkiny, play a videogame. Roleplaying is about story.

Sure it is. But it's about my story, not someone else's...so I'm more likely overall to pay money for tools that help me tell my story, than books about someone else's story.

It's just a different philosophy of gaming.

J

 

[murlynd]

Hey all,

Brian Patterson here and I too must chime in on the saturation of d20 stuff.

We live in times where the gaming industry is booming and there is just too much to keep up with. Personally, I just take it one product at a time. In the beginning I tried to pick up a little bit of everything, trying to support as many of the d20 companies as I could. That's right, I bought 3 days to kill at GenCon the year 3e hit, I just wish I could have supported more of d20 companies.

I must admit though, it makes me as giddy as a kid in a candy store to see the gaming industry in the swing it is in. If choosing between good products is the kind of torture that I have to look forward too, then I say great. A few good examples are Spycraft and the new Call of Cthulu, what a pair of great looking books.

Brian Patterson

P.S. I would like to send my personal condolences to Erik Mona on his purchase of The Foundation.