Microlite20 : the smallest thing in gaming

[Bretbo]

Hey Wulf, anything I can do to add content to the Modern side of the table, just let me know. 'bout time you got a few copper pieces for this baby, heck if for no other reason than inspiring us to be creative and inspiring us all to game, well, small!

Oh, maybe Microlite Menace Manual...hmmm.

 

[greywulf]

Oh, maybe Microlite Menace Manual...hmmm.

Bretbo, you're on! I hereby appoint you Microlite Menace Manual Maestro. If you're in the mood for pulling Monsters from the Modern Srd and dropping them into a pdf, I'll gladly take it off your hands.

Pilnserquest, lol! Never trust a gamer who rolls a natural 20 you cannot see. I've played a game using a stopwatch before where the players hit stop and read the milisecond digits as a d100 roll. That's fun.

Kensanata, adventures! Gimme adventures! I love what you're doing with your setting, and I'm eager as ever to see more. I've unlocked the Macropedia index page if you want to add more content.

I'm gaming tonight (d20 Modern) and will be running a one-shot adventure set in The Scarlet Sea. I'm thinking about making the "default" settings for M20, or at least one part of a world map.

Thoughts?

 

[Ry]

Any interest in a Rank20 Ultralite Shackled City Adventure Path conversion? The conversion would also be ultralite (i.e., condensed).

 

[greywulf]

Any interest in a Rank20 Ultralite Shackled City Adventure Path conversion? The conversion would also be ultralite (i.e., condensed).

I considered running Life's Bazaar, the first part of Shackled City, in Microlite20 straight from the pages of Dungeon with no conversion but decided to go with full D&D from the start as the series gets too complex later on. Devils and beholders have too many special abilities that just don't suit ultralite gaming. That was my thoughts, anyhow.

If you can pull it off, good luck to you

 

[kensanata]

Hah, M20 to the end! I usually just fudge spells & monster feats…

Anyway, I created Kami Magic and Rune Magic in the Macropedia; those are the systems two of my players use. The third magic user basically just uses a very small list of Necromancer spells from the PHB.

As for a default setting, Scarlet Sea is as suggestive a name as any other. And I like pirates! Before settling on my Japanesque Campaign, I considered playing a strong pirates + voodoo scenario with powerful exiled Chinese magicians arriving by ship… So I'm all in favor.

I don't really think we need a default setting, however. Do you think it will encourage more people to write adventures? Or that it will encourage more people to write adventures that can be used by other M20 gamers? Those would be the only good reasons to pick a default setting, I think.

If, on the other hand, DMs will just be contributing what they are playing anyway, then picking a default setting will make no difference to the material contributed. Then why do it? Being the skeptic that I am, I have but myself to extrapolate from… And I need an active game before writing any material.

 

[greywulf]

I don't really think we need a default setting, however. Do you think it will encourage more people to write adventures? Or that it will encourage more people to write adventures that can be used by other M20 gamers? Those would be the only good reasons to pick a default setting, I think.

Yes, and yes.

Maybe "default setting" was the wrong choice of words.

I'm thinking about offering something like the Keep on the Borlderlands or Threshold, a starting setting that can be used (or not) by anyone. As there's no OGL setting available (why?!), now is as good a time as any to start one. Keep it simple and vague with enough locations promising of funky ruins and towns for folks to populate and make their own (or populate using Dungeon magazine). Other companies could place their adventures there too, detail what's to the West or whatever. Heck, they could put the Microlite20 core rules in the Appendix to the adventure and make it a competely stand-alone adventure. Now, wouldn't that be cool?

 

[Darrell]

Yes, and yes.

Maybe "default setting" was the wrong choice of words.

I'm thinking about offering something like the Keep on the Borlderlands or Threshold, a starting setting that can be used (or not) by anyone. As there's no OGL setting available (why?!), now is as good a time as any to start one. Keep it simple and vague with enough locations promising of funky ruins and towns for folks to populate and make their own (or populate using Dungeon magazine). Other companies could place their adventures there too, detail what's to the West or whatever. Heck, they could put the Microlite20 core rules in the Appendix to the adventure and make it a competely stand-alone adventure. Now, wouldn't that be cool?

Actually, 'wulf, I've been working on something like this for a little while now. A small coastal barony, basic settled areas, possible adventuring locales, a bit of history, gods, etc.; that sort of thing. I should have it ready to go in a week or so. I've had a little trouble converting from one map (that I'd cribbed off the 'net a good while back) to another (of my own devising...no copyright issues), and am having a bit of trouble with placing everything. I'll post it here when I'm done.

Regards,
Darrell King

 

[Bretbo]

Bretbo, you're on! I hereby appoint you Microlite Menace Manual Maestro. If you're in the mood for pulling Monsters from the Modern Srd and dropping them into a pdf, I'll gladly take it off your hands.

Heh, you got it cheif!

As for the setting idea, I'm all for it. A little bit of extra goodness to go along with adventures is rarely a bad thing. Of course, it can get out of hand and suddenly the simplisity of a lite system is buried under the weight of added rules, options ect.; but I don't think that is the issue here.

Sounds like Darrell has got a possibility, look forward to seeing it.

 

[Ry]

I considered running Life's Bazaar, the first part of Shackled City, in Microlite20 straight from the pages of Dungeon with no conversion but decided to go with full D&D from the start as the series gets too complex later on. Devils and beholders have too many special abilities that just don't suit ultralite gaming. That was my thoughts, anyhow.

Yeah, I'm going to take some serious liberties when I do the conversion. You may see creatures like a Tyrannical Eyelord.

As far as ultralite goes for spells, how would you convert damage from a spell like fireball into "hits"? I prefer the hits mechanic because of the reserve mechanic I use, but I see the appeal of plugging in spells from D&D.

 

[kensanata]

@Darrell: My offer to draw maps of anything that you have a little textual description of still stands! (examples)

Maybe I should draw some maps first, and let people interested in writing up adventures use them? Would that work better for "you" – meaning those people that would love seeing some OGL maps available but with enough ideas of their own to write the actual adventures?

I decided to give it a try. This Coastal Hellgate Map took me 30 minutes to draw, and 20 minutes to scan, post-process and upload to Flickr. Any takers?

If it works for you and you write up a little OGL campaign outline involving the hellgate, I can detail areas on the map for individual adventures, one piece at a time.