If I ran an RPG company I would make_________.

[Jürgen Hubert]

I would get
Urbis - A World of Cities into print. And if it was financially feasible, I'd do a whole range of supplements as well, including regional sourcebooks (starting with the Flannish Cities, adventures, and the "Urban" series, dealing with specific details of the setting:

- "Urban Conspiracies": Details various groups that pull the strings from the shadows - or at least, plan to do so.
- "Urban crime": Examines crime both organized and disorganized in the world of Urbis, and how it can florish despite the many magical countermeasures.
- Urban Faiths: The religion & clerics sourcebook. Less a stat book for deities like "Faiths and Pantheons" or "Deities and Demigods", but an examination of religious practice and how it integrates into urban society.
- "Urban Locations": Plans of typical buildings found in the world of Urbis, complete with game stats for the most important inhabitants and lots of adventure seeds.
- "Urban Encounters": Generic NPCs you might encounter in the world of Urbis - people you might need for encounters, but spend too much time to stat out.
- "Urban Mysteries": Examines arcane magics in the setting, starting with the Nexus Towers (too bad "Urban Arcana" is already taken as a title... ).
- "Urban Myths": Various urban legends in the setting, and various interpretations of the "truths" behind them - in a similar vein as the old "Tales of Terror" for Call of Cthulhu.
- "Urban Species": Examines the various non-standard species of Urbis, and how they can be used as player characters. Similar to "Savage Species" in goal, but focuses more on culture and how they fit into urban society than on game stats.
- "Urban Societies": Expands on the various public NGOs in the setting, such as the Astromantic Society, and introducing lots of new ones.
- "Urban Trade": The sourcebook on economy and business in the world of Urbis, including advice on how to run an interesting campaign as traders. Think of the old "Dune Trader" for Dark Sun.
- "Urban Threats": The "bad guys" sourcebook for Urbis, focussing on magical or monstrous threats, or dangerous organisations with unique resources.
- "Urban Warfare": Examines what the application of D&D magic would really mean to the battlefield. Think of what a modern special ops team could make with magical support, and create viable military operations with that in mind. Possibly includes a condensed version of one of the OGL mass combat rules customized for Urbis.
- "Urban Archaeology": An overview of various mysterious ruins across the world of Urbis, various organisations that explore them and the past of the world, as well as suggestions on running a campaign in Indiana Jones mode.
- "Urban Cryptozoology": Far more than a simple "creature companion", this book focuses on rare and legendary beasts that are hard to find and even harder to catch and/or slay.
- "Transurban Space": The sourcebook for the other worlds of the solar system of Rothea, and the various human colonies on them (but I might have to come up with another title - while this one is cool, it might just be a bit too derivative... )
- "Urban Cosmology": The "Outer Planes" sourcebook for Urbis, expanding on the structure of metaphysical space and what it means in daily practice.
- "Urban Epics": The high-level sourcebook for Urbis. Less focused on game stats, but rather a guide on how to create epic-level adventures - how to be challenging while still being believeable.

Of course, all this presumes that I had enough start-up money to hire lots of freelancers...

 

[Darrin Drader]

I have long wanted to see a non-planescapy (use the planes, but not the planescape weirdness) adventure set in Hell. It could be part sourcebook, part monster manual, part adventure, providing everything you need for a lengthy campaign. It would be great if the thing involved all sorts of nasty devils, new monsters, and at the end of it, a massive battle with one of the Arch devils.

Oh crap, that sounds like Diablo.

Oh well, it succeeded as a CRPG, why wouldn't it do well as its own RPG?...OK, don't remind me, but if done right, it could be good.


OK, another idea, and a strange one at that. Get the rights to the artwork for the original AD&D. Maybe not the first covers, but the second set - the one with the wizard on the PHB, the monk opening the doors on the DMG and the unicorn and dragon fight on the monster manual. Then use the SRD to make your own version of 3E with a more old school feel. See if you can get some of the original B&W art, and then add some new art to the mix as long as it has that old style to it. There are times when I wish I could play this game with those books. I even miss the way they smelled.

A new campaign world that is large and open ended like the Forgotten Realms, except with cultures that are not as closely modeled after the ones from Earth. Large fold out maps that fit together, several large stories going on in different regions.

Adventures that have the same scope as the original Temple of Elemental Evil, or Desert of Desolatiom. In short - the new classics.

 

[Corinthi]

Supplements for Mutants and Masterminds along the lines of the various Hero System Supplements.

Books full of pregenerated Heroes, Villians, Teams, and other things that Gamemasters can weave into thier own games without too much work.

Setting books devoted to the various thematic designs you could use for your supers game. Golden Age, Grim and Gritty, Mystical Adventures, '40s Pulp, High Fantasy, etc.

One of the problems I've had with a the SuperUnicorn releases is that while the fluff is great, the mechanics are poorly implemented. The number of errors in stat blocks and character writeups just irks me. In a perfect world, I could concentrate on the mechanics and let those guys write the flavor.

Delta Green built on the Spycraft Engine. I know DG D20 is supposedly coming, but I want it now, and I want it for Spycraft. Pagan Publishes wonderful stuff, they just take so long doing it.

A Skills and Feats Psionics System. I've /never/ liked D&D Psionics, but I can understand the appeal. I'd like to see a Psionics systems that was different than the magic system. Something any character could develop for a cost, but with classes for the truly devoted.

Prebuilt campaigns for Nobilis. I love Nobilis, but the work for setting up a campaign can be daunting. I'd like to see 64 pg supplements that are sketched out campaigns with NPCs, plot hooks, interesting locals, etc.

Oh, and I'd probably release most of it via PDF. I know most of my ideas would be in low demand, so why try to fight for shelf space with the big boys? Let the people who want the products get them for cheap and rely on my 9-5 for living money.

 

[ConnorSB]

I would make location based adventures with maps... full sized 1 inch = 5 feet maps, the whole dungeon on 20 pages.

Pages that either come in individual sheets or folding posters of 3x4 or 2x2 sheets.

Or even better if each room was modular, and made of one solid sheet (not 4 sheets glued together), so that they could be reused later.

Oh, and all of them printed on either durable cardstock or cool glossy paper, or maybe cool durrable glossy cardstock. Oh, and all in color, with non-repeating tile patterns (IE, unique cracks and stains).

And all the rooms and corridors lining up with the gridlines, of course

No matter how nice the dungeon may look in the book's little illustration, it never ever looks as good when you map it out with pen on battlemat. So it should come with a fullsized map, to make its glory complete.

In fact, while we are making the whole map, why not throw in a few cardstock pages of perforated (easy to remove) counters while we're at it. One or two for each monster encountered.

And make The Banewarrens #1 on the list of dungeons that should be so glorified.

For this, I would pay mucho dinero.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Adventures for D20 Modern
Adventures for Oriental Adventures (hard, I know, as that stuff isn't in the SRD)

There's a glut of standard adventures, but a dearth of adventures for non-standard d20 games.

Yup.

Also, and I've said this a million times over the years, I'd make a big book of nothing but stat blocks. Stat blocks of not just monsters, but of archetypal NPCs (city guards, adventurers, merchants, etc.). No background flavor, no plot hooks, no nothin' besides the stat blocks. Well-formatted stat blocks sans any extraneous material make my job as a DM so much easier. It seems, though, that just about everyone who has done an NPC book simply cannot resist giving us fluff.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Yup.

Also, and I've said this a million times over the years, I'd make a big book of nothing but stat blocks. Stat blocks of not just monsters, but of archetypal NPCs (city guards, adventurers, merchants, etc.). No background flavor, no plot hooks, no nothin' besides the stat blocks. Well-formatted stat blocks sans any extraneous material make my job as a DM so much easier. It seems, though, that just about everyone who has done an NPC book simply cannot resist giving us fluff.

Yes, that would be a DMs dream. Do stat blocks for 3 different characters for each class for each level from 1 to 20. Then, do the same for prestige classes. That would be very cool and very useful.

 

[Krug]

The Quintessial Pimp.

 

[The_Gneech]

Wing Commander d20, complete with dogfighting rules and Heroclix-esque prepainted plastic spaceship miniatures ... which could double as Crimson Skies d20 and dovetail with products Wizkids is already making, without ever actually saying so.

Oh, and a proper d20 martial arts system.

Oh, and E-Tools 3.5e. Just 'cause I'm so tired of waiting! And while I was at it, E-Tools Modern.

And maybe BESM d20 E-Tools, while I'm at it!

-The Gneech

 

[Psion]

A good book for divine spellcasters.

There are good arcane books and good fighter books, but to my satisfaction, I have not seen a real good book for divine spellcasters.

 

[diaglo]

The Complete Idiots Guide to Roleplaying.

what the Herobuilder's guidebook should've been.

tips for new and old players.

i'm still waiting for something useful by any company that would bring flavo(u)r to the genre. that was built around roleplay.