If Everyone Loves Generic, Why Aren't Catalyst Books #1?

[JoeGKushner]

I've seen several references to ideas that generic books may be the way to go in the future due to the limits of the new license.

I feel like one of those kids at a carnival going, "Shenanigans!"

System neutral books are not new. Freeport by Green Ronin did not invent them.

And apparently it wasn't worth continuing on as Green Ronin sees a larger market in their own brands of Mutants & Masterminds and their new work on George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire & Ice.

If universal was the way to go, Catalyst products would be on everyone's game table and shelves.

Catalyst

They're on mine but I've own them for longer than I'd care to admit....(Origins award in 83'? Gak! I'm old.)

I like universla materials but I think people talk the talk and then buy the system specific or there would be more all purpose material out there.

 

[drothgery]

Generic books are popular with internet message board posters (though not with me; I want system-specific crunch). This is a very unrepresentative sample.

 

[Oni]

Love reading about interesting settings.

But when it comes to the game table I don't want to have to go to a lot extra work to implement that fluff, I want a product that will save time, generic setting material doesn't really do that.

 

[The Shaman]

I got a lot of use out of my Spacefarers Guide to . . . books when I was running a Traveller game a few years ago - they were published by Phoenix Games in 1979.

So yes, generic books have been around awhile.

Catalyst's Grimtooth's . . . books are very good, as are the city books.

That said, in my experience most game masters prefer plug-and-play to grafting crunch to a generic. I imagine it may be a time-saving thing for some, a lack of interest or confidence in coming up with the stuff themselves for others.

 

[Mark]

If Everyone Loves Generic, Why Aren't Catalyst Books #1?

I've seen several references (. . .)

Several is not everyone. A lot isn't even everyone. Some people do like generic books but sales would seem to indicate that most like their system integrated with their setting material.

 

[Greg K]

One of my players has several of the Catalyst books and, imo, they are are ok. However, the book that I really liked was Cities by Chaosium which, if I recall correctly was also generic and about generating cities. Then, again, my memory may be faulty about it being generic. I have not seen it since my copy was stolen years ago.

 

[Treebore]

Because "system neutral" only works when used in a "simple" system. IF you play a complex game, where you have to add a half dozen or more elements to each item you use in order to make it usable in your complex system, then the generic system becomes too complicated to be worth using. Now if its something where you only need to change 3 or 4 things to turn it into something usable, then it becomes more appealing.

Then again, I seem to remember seeing a surprising number of people saying that doing any kind of changes is too much for them. So who knows?

 

[darjr]

I have a lot of Catalyst games generic stuff. There were a few of them. Some of the later ones I sill want to get.

However, the book that I really liked was Cities by Chaosium which, if I recall correctly was also generic and about generating cities.

This is a great book. It is from their 'Universal Supplement Series' and is a bit more than city generation, though it is about that. Mine says it is the third edition. The two earlier editions being from Midkemia Press.

 

[darjr]

It does occur to me to give them another chance with 4e. The easier way the raw encourages NPC's and monsters would make them more useful, imho.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I love my citybooks. I think the usefulness and utility of the fluff decreases as the complexity of the rules system increases. For old editions of D&D its really easy to jot down stats for an NPC because there isn't really a build process that takes any time.

Detailing the stats for the same NPC's with 3rd Ed crunch means more effort is required to achieve the same amount of usefulness from the product. This is certainly a turnoff for some. Considering how permissive the OGL was with regard to using statblocks in 3rd party products, its no wonder that generic stuff didn't sell well.

Its hard to predict what the generic market will be like for 4E. I guess it will depend on the terms of the GSL and how easy or difficult it will be to include statblocks in the product at all. If the GSL is non-existant or too restrictive then we might see a rise in the popularity of generic products.