New Unearthed Arcana info

[JoeGKushner]

Does anyone know if this will include Action Points and Occupations? Those two things, in official d&d, would alone make this product one I must have.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Oh, and, in case anyone is unconvinced by the above: there is also a legal 100% OGC VP/WP system that some guy did up before Star Wars D20 hit the streets, and without having ever seen a copy of it. I'd have to dig a bit to find it, but it's probably floating around online somewhere, too.

Like mine on display here? http://www.bookshelf.mcmail.com/vdnd/index.htm

These were the D&D variant "wound and hit point" rules I devised back in the eighties and published on the net in 1998.

(I know other people also worked on similar things as soon as 3e appeared. Cyberzombie was probably one of them)

I did a revised version for 3e, and then revised it once more after Star Wars came out, so my current 3e version does refer to Star Wars... hence my link to the original older version instead of my newer stuff (in my .sig link).

I wonder how many of my other house rules might find their way into Unearthed Arcana, eh?

Cheers

 

[F5]

Hey, Woodelf, any idea when your "D&D done right" supplement is going to be finished? Is there any chance it will hit the streets before UA? I imagine you're right, and you'll go a lot further from Core than Wizards will, but it would be nice for you if it could go public before UA comes out.

 

[woodelf]

Hey, Woodelf, any idea when your "D&D done right" supplement is going to be finished? Is there any chance it will hit the streets before UA? I imagine you're right, and you'll go a lot further from Core than Wizards will, but it would be nice for you if it could go public before UA comes out.

Current schedule (rough):
1: finish pretty, organized, formatted D20SRD (revised)--1week+
2: tighten up social-centric D20 rules (i.e., i've ripped all the combat/physical stuff out of the core, replacing it with detailed social/mental stuff, while physical stuff ends up in the peripheral elements, like skills), polish them, and throw them on the website--1-2weeks
3: "D&D Done Right"--4-6weeks

Those times are highly variable, depending on how much time i'm devoting to potentially-paying RPG stuff, how much i need to work to pay the bills, and how elaborate this year's Halloween costume ends up being. Oh, and how job hunting goes. It also depends on my interest level, and whether or not i get distracted by some other project that matters more to me (i don't have room in my schedule to run another game, and i'm not going to switch from my current homebrew rules for the game i am running any time soon, so new D20 rulesets are pretty low on the priority pole). However, i'd say that i'll easily beat Unearthed Arcana to "press", and might very well have them out in early-mid November.

 

[Green Knight]

I am the person who asked Andy those questions and about the damage save. Andy's reply to me about the damage save was that it is too early to say if it was or wasn't. So, I am still hoping it is

Agreed. I was absolutely enamored of that Damage Save rule from Mutants & Masterminds the instant I read it. I'd love to integrate that into a D&D game. Hopefully that's one of the alternate damage systems they'll have in this.

I'm also looking forward to the rules for armor providing DR, magic cast with spell points, and other info. Every tidbit of information I've heard so far I've found interesting. This book definitely sounds like it'll be a worthwhile buy. Can't wait til it comes out.

 

[Darrin Drader]

(Darrin, I will get BoED. )

LOL!

Serioiusly, I haven't yet seen UA, but if half the things I've been told about it (that I can't talk about) are true, then it will be an invaluable resource. I am personally very excited about it.

 

[ES2]

The thing that would make this book a real must buy if they release it all, or even some of it, as OGC. I think that would get everybody back into their good graces after the recent fallout of angry gamers due to their d20STL changes.

 

[JoeGKushner]

The thing that would make this book a real must buy if they release it all, or even some of it, as OGC. I think that would get everybody back into their good graces after the recent fallout of angry gamers due to their d20STL changes.

I disagree.

Most gamers don't give a damn about d20STL.

Some of those here who think they know what's going on are concerned but that's about it. Even at Games Plus, a pretty hip store, many people there have never heard of EN World, RPG.net or know the real differences between d20 and D&D.

You and others like you are pretty much in the minority I'm thinking. It'd be nice to be proven wrong, but WoTC hasn't been crying the blues about the lack of sales from the 3.5 books which several people swore up and down they weren't buying so evidence indicates 'Sale'.

For me, if they include alternative things like defense that goes up, occupations, and other window dressings from d20 Modern, like Action Points, in an official way, I'm all over this.

 

[woodelf]

Agreed. I was absolutely enamored of that Damage Save rule from Mutants & Masterminds the instant I read it. I'd love to integrate that into a D&D game. Hopefully that's one of the alternate damage systems they'll have in this.

I'm also looking forward to the rules for armor providing DR, magic cast with spell points, and other info. Every tidbit of information I've heard so far I've found interesting. This book definitely sounds like it'll be a worthwhile buy. Can't wait til it comes out.

OK, i've seen several posts now talking about the new rules in Unearthed Arcana that people are looking forward to, and there's one common thread that has me a bit puzzled: aren't all these rules already out? Is it really that much better if they're in a WotC book? You love the damage save from M&MM--so use it! Why do you need WotC to do the (rather minimal, in this case) conversion work for you? Now, i can see the appeal of having all these cool rules in one place, so if that's the appeal, i guess i see it. And, of course, there are likely going to be some new rules in there. But mostly people seem to be talking about ports of existing subsystems--why is armor-as-DR in Unearthed Arcana so much better than armor-as-DR in Spycraft? What am i missing?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

OK, i've seen several posts now talking about the new rules in Unearthed Arcana that people are looking forward to, and there's one common thread that has me a bit puzzled: aren't all these rules already out? Is it really that much better if they're in a WotC book? You love the damage save from M&MM--so use it! Why do you need WotC to do the (rather minimal, in this case) conversion work for you? Now, i can see the appeal of having all these cool rules in one place, so if that's the appeal, i guess i see it. And, of course, there are likely going to be some new rules in there. But mostly people seem to be talking about ports of existing subsystems--why is armor-as-DR in Unearthed Arcana so much better than armor-as-DR in Spycraft? What am i missing?

The thing is, none of those rules are in D&D. They are all in OTHER systems. It would take a good amount of work to put most of them in...and UA seems to be exactly that. The work we don't want to do....which is essentialy what ANY book put out by ANY company is.