Midkemia D20

[Aus_Snow]

This is one case where I would be quite happy to buy a complete system/setting package, if there was to be one for Midkemia. Not that I'm opposed to d20 in any way, shape or form. Hardly. But still, maybe the writer is right in his reasoning and/or intuition.

 

[Tharen the Damned]

Well Green Ronin convinced Glen Cook to do the BCCS in the D20 System.
I hope it will be them who do the Midkemia D20. They did fabulus work on the BCCS and Thieves World conversions.
They can do Midkemia too.
I really like to see Pug and Thomas Stats....

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

It'd be very cool, I'd buy it like a shot... was really into those books - inspired my RPGing for years.

 

[Banshee16]

Well Green Ronin convinced Glen Cook to do the BCCS in the D20 System.
I hope it will be them who do the Midkemia D20. They did fabulus work on the BCCS and Thieves World conversions.
They can do Midkemia too.
I really like to see Pug and Thomas Stats....

Well, I e-mailed Midkemia Press to see if this is a dead project, or something they're still talking about. I'll post if I hear anything..

Banshee

 

[Banshee16]

I asked about this on RPGnet several months ago, and got no official response past 'Eh. It's still being considered.' It seems that Feist has a very strong aversion to the d20 System and is considering it only as a last resort, provided that something he likes better doesn't come along. Which means it might be a while until an official Midkemia d20 setting is published (if one is published at all).

Which is funny, given that the world started as a D&D game that diverged away.

I think a Midkemia world would be very similar in some ways to Black Company or A Game of Thrones with respect to lethality. Even high-level veteran characters can die or be injured easily.

Magic could be easily handled by trashing the fire and forget method of spellcasting, and coming up with something new.

I'd be interested in seeing what the Saaur are like, as well as Milamber. And Jimmy the Hand.

Banshee

 

[TheGM]

Which is funny, given that the world started as a D&D game that diverged away.

Why funny? There is no shortage of old-school gamers who dislike D20. Why would this make a difference?

 

[Banshee16]

Why funny? There is no shortage of old-school gamers who dislike D20. Why would this make a difference?

Simply because it used to be a D&D game. That's all...

I don't deny that many old school gamers dislike D&D.

Banshee

 

[jdrakeh]

Which is funny, given that the world started as a D&D game that diverged away.

It's ironic, but understandable - D&D today bears little mechanical resemblance to AD&D/D&D of the early 1980s and some people are still very loathe to forsake their much loved older versions of the game in favor of something new and different (especially if they feel that something new and different may not suit their needs as well).

In the case of Midkemia, it may simply be that the author feels d20 to be a poor fit for the setting mechanically speaking. I know of at least one other author who was approached with an offer for a d20 version of their setting, and they declined on exactly those grounds, so it isn't unheard of. And I think that there may be some merit to that.

I have yet to find a system that works well for everything.

 

[Banshee16]

It's ironic, but understandable - D&D today bears little mechanical resemblance to AD&D/D&D of the early 1980s and some people are still very loathe to forsake their much loved older versions of the game in favor of something new and different (especially if they feel that something new and different may not suit their needs as well).

In the case of Midkemia, it may simply be that the author feels d20 to be a poor fit for the setting mechanically speaking. I know of at least one other author who was approached with an offer for a d20 version of their setting, and they declined on exactly those grounds, so it isn't unheard of. And I think that there may be some merit to that.

I have yet to find a system that works well for everything.

Well, in this case, I don't think the author is familiar with D20 or D&D 3E, because his statements about D20 not being a good system for his world came *before* the release of 3E. He was basing his assumptions from what I understand off of the D&D 2nd. Ed. ruleset...not 3E. Specifically with the fire and forget spell memorization system of D&D 2nd Ed. (and default 3E). Those were the primary concerns. The game has evolved since then, and Green Ronin and others have demonstrated that it does not have to be married to traditional D&D spellcasting.

Hopefully whoever they're talking to is taking the time to educate them on exactly how specific to his world it can be.

I remember this because I used to be on Feist's mailing list, where we could talk directly to the author. He often answered posts etc. This came up at the time, but when he talked about it, it was like back in '97 I think. Unfortunately the hard drive I had those e-mails on died, so I can't access them to find the original e-mail. Since then, I unregistered from the list, so I don't know if it's come up since (aside from the post on Midkemia Press' website).

Banshee

 

[jdrakeh]

Well, in this case, I don't think the author is familiar with D20 or D&D 3E, because his statements about D20 not being a good system for his world came *before* the release of 3E.

This might have been the case back in 1999, but there is nothing to indicate that this is the case now - in fact, between the announcement on their web site mentioned elswhere in this thread, and response received on another forum, there is quite a bit to indicate that this is not the case at the present time.

Note I said that I asked about this recently (within the last nine months) on RPGnet and got an official response that indicated that the author is both familiar with d20 and has looked into using it, but had not comitted to anything at this point in time.