Games with "terrible" follow-up editions

[Mezuka]

Got rid of all the bad words ( hell etc).
Lowered % chance to cast on already very very low % spells.
Utterly abandoned then the IP of my first n fav RPG

Our GM was very upset with the TSR, as I recall.

WOTC owns the IP now. I wonder if they will eventually do something with it. Maybe it's too close to D&D and they want to avoid competing with themselves.

I was reading the rules for Arena of Death, the intro mini-game for Dragonquest, not long ago. Fun game. I want to try it out in 2022.

 

[Retreater]

Since calling something "a terrible follow-up" is largely subjective, my hot-take is that WEG d6 Star Wars is better than d20 Star Wars. But Saga edition is better than d20 Star Wars. And then the FFG version is the worst of the lot - for my tastes.
Also going to say that FASERIP Marvel Superheroes is the best RPG based off the Marvel characters we've seen.

 

[John R Davis]

Our GM was very upset with the TSR, as I recall.

WOTC owns the IP now. I wonder if they will eventually do something with it. Maybe it's too close to D&D and they want to avoid competing with themselves.

I was reading the rules for Arena of Death, the intro mini-game for Dragonquest, not long ago. Fun game. I want to try it out in 2022.

I still run DQ in a weekly game ( in Stormbringer setting). No one I run to was alive in 1980 when the game was released. They are finding very different, but enjoying it immensely. I think!

 

[James Gasik]

Since calling something "a terrible follow-up" is largely subjective, my hot-take is that WEG d6 Star Wars is better than d20 Star Wars. But Saga edition is better than d20 Star Wars. And then the FFG version is the worst of the lot - for my tastes.
Also going to say that FASERIP Marvel Superheroes is the best RPG based off the Marvel characters we've seen.

Oh man, I forgot about D20 Star Wars. I bought that game and it was a total waste of money. When the marquee characters like Darth Vader don't even function by your game's rules, you got problems.

It reminds me of when Kevin Sembieda admitted that you can't legally create the Ninja Turtles using the character creation rules for TMNT- but nobody cared because TMNT and other strangeness was a fun game.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Since calling something "a terrible follow-up" is largely subjective, my hot-take is that WEG d6 Star Wars is better than d20 Star Wars. But Saga edition is better than d20 Star Wars. And then the FFG version is the worst of the lot - for my tastes.
Also going to say that FASERIP Marvel Superheroes is the best RPG based off the Marvel characters we've seen.

For me it's WEG Star Wars>SAGA Star Wars>Gensys Star Wars>D20 Star Wars. D20 was just such a bad fit for that game.

 

[GreyLord]

Oh man, I forgot about D20 Star Wars. I bought that game and it was a total waste of money. When the marquee characters like Darth Vader don't even function by your game's rules, you got problems.

It reminds me of when Kevin Sembieda admitted that you can't legally create the Ninja Turtles using the character creation rules for TMNT- but nobody cared because TMNT and other strangeness was a fun game.

I never got into straight D20 Star Wars, but did get Star Wars Saga Edition. Fun little game. I also loved D20's implementation in Knights of the Old Republic (computer game), which had it's own book in Saga Edition.

For controversial editions though, the most controversial I've seen has to do with White Wolf's reboot/end game late last century and early this century.

Another controversial one is the precursor to the Gensys system FFG uses now. Replacing everything about the game system for Warhammer in their WHFRPG 3e was VERY controversial. Add in that it was almost double what the books were previously, and required special dice and you got those that were fervent believers and those that absolutely despised what they had done.

Going full circle, they use a similar idea to that with their Star Wars Edge of Empire RPG books (and ensuing Age of Rebellion, Force and Destiny). There isn't as much pushback against it though, for several reasons. I think that first, there were those that did not enjoy D20 Star Wars and were wanting something, anything, different from it. Secondly, it's more clear that this Star Wars RPG has NO connections to prior Star Wars RPGs (unlike WHFRPG 3e which was explicitly connected to earlier WHFRPG editions). Because it is a different and unconnected RPG, it's okay that it's a more narrative RPG vs. the other ones that came previously.

I've played them all.

 

[heks]

To try to drag this back into non edition war territory - the various editions of Ars Magica had a variety of negative reactions around them over the years. IIRC - and I might be misremembering - Fourth was especially contentious.

'ars magica' 4e was one of the most confoundingly messy rules sustems i've ever seen (i do quite like 5e, though.)

 

[Blue]

@aramis erak , I have no stake in Traveler editions (I used to play mids 80s, and one campaign that petered out mid 90s), but that was still a fascinating read. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

 

[Blue]

Since calling something "a terrible follow-up" is largely subjective, my hot-take is that WEG d6 Star Wars is better than d20 Star Wars. But Saga edition is better than d20 Star Wars. And then the FFG version is the worst of the lot - for my tastes.

But have you seen the fan-made and somehow not C&Ds Star Wars 5e?

Star Wars 5e

sw5e.com

 

[Retreater]

But have you seen the fan-made and somehow not C&Ds Star Wars 5e?

Star Wars 5e

sw5e.com

One of my coworkers told me about this, but I haven't looked at it yet. Maybe if I ever get around to running something like this I'll look more closely.