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News Digest: New D&D Licensed Products, Steve Jackson Games Annual Report and New Products, Internat
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<blockquote data-quote="Lord Rasputin" data-source="post: 7735560" data-attributes="member: 8410"><p>Uh, yeah. That was the point. It was to make a new fantasy RPG based on <strong><em>GURPS</em></strong>, which means it has to include the material from the <strong><em>Basic Set</em></strong> and <strong><em>Magic</em></strong>. The basic structure was always going to be this, and SJG was pretty up-front about it:</p><p></p><p></p><p>That pretty much means that Kromm is paring down the <strong><em>Basic Set</em></strong> and <strong><em>Magic</em></strong> and adding some of the <strong><em>Dungeon Fantasy</em></strong> PDFs.</p><p></p><p></p><p>How much does having published adventures matter? I don't know the answer to that question. I did want something more of a megadungeon in the boxed set, as a megadungeon has replay value; <strong><em>I Smell a Rat</em></strong> is basically one-and-done, and kinda railroady. Having a second megadungeon for sale would be good for demonstration games. But how many <strong><em>D&D</em></strong> and <strong><em>Pathfinder</em></strong> players are playing published adventures? For all the chatter here, I gather the number is much lower than folks realize, especially for <strong><em>D&D</em></strong> (<strong><em>Pathfinder</em></strong> was made to run the adventure paths). This is much more so in the <strong><em>GURPS</em></strong> community. Granted, part of the idea was to break beyond that community, but I'm not sure how great the incentive is to do it with a bunch of published adventures.</p><p></p><p>Personally, my criticisms of the boxed set are:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><em>I Smell a Rat</em></strong> didn't have much replay value. I would have wanted a multilevel dungeon, something like a smaller <strong><em>Caverns of Thracia</em></strong>. Some folks are just going to use the boxed set and nothing else, and this would accommodate them.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kromm doesn't like gear loadouts, but having them would speed up character creation. The platonic ideal here is for someone to get a boxed set under the Christmas tree, then bring it over to grandma's house where s/he can play a game with his/her siblings and cousins that afternoon while waiting for ham and potatoes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Likewise, I was hoping for something like "Pointless Slaying and Looting" from <em>Pyramid #3/72</em>, which would have also sped up character creation. I have fond memories of the Mentzer Red Box.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Monsters needed more artwork, and more artwork of the unique monsters. I think we all know how dragons, earth elementals, giant rats, giant spiders, scorpion swarms, and zombies all look. By contrast, many of the unique monsters lack pictures here. I doubt this affected sales at all, but it does make the game easier to play. All of the monsters that originally appeared in <strong><em>Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1</em></strong> do have artwork there that SJG could have repurposed. Many of the monsters from <strong><em>Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons</em></strong> lack artwork, and frankly need it, like the mindwarper or the toxifer.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">While this couldn't be done in the boxed set without raising costs, I'd like Cardboard Heroes of all the monsters in Monsters. That would make a great support product.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lord Rasputin, post: 7735560, member: 8410"] Uh, yeah. That was the point. It was to make a new fantasy RPG based on [B][I]GURPS[/I][/B], which means it has to include the material from the [B][I]Basic Set[/I][/B] and [B][I]Magic[/I][/B]. The basic structure was always going to be this, and SJG was pretty up-front about it: That pretty much means that Kromm is paring down the [B][I]Basic Set[/I][/B] and [B][I]Magic[/I][/B] and adding some of the [B][I]Dungeon Fantasy[/I][/B] PDFs. How much does having published adventures matter? I don't know the answer to that question. I did want something more of a megadungeon in the boxed set, as a megadungeon has replay value; [B][I]I Smell a Rat[/I][/B] is basically one-and-done, and kinda railroady. Having a second megadungeon for sale would be good for demonstration games. But how many [B][I]D&D[/I][/B] and [B][I]Pathfinder[/I][/B] players are playing published adventures? For all the chatter here, I gather the number is much lower than folks realize, especially for [B][I]D&D[/I][/B] ([B][I]Pathfinder[/I][/B] was made to run the adventure paths). This is much more so in the [B][I]GURPS[/I][/B] community. Granted, part of the idea was to break beyond that community, but I'm not sure how great the incentive is to do it with a bunch of published adventures. Personally, my criticisms of the boxed set are: [LIST] [*][B][I]I Smell a Rat[/I][/B] didn't have much replay value. I would have wanted a multilevel dungeon, something like a smaller [B][I]Caverns of Thracia[/I][/B]. Some folks are just going to use the boxed set and nothing else, and this would accommodate them. [*]Kromm doesn't like gear loadouts, but having them would speed up character creation. The platonic ideal here is for someone to get a boxed set under the Christmas tree, then bring it over to grandma's house where s/he can play a game with his/her siblings and cousins that afternoon while waiting for ham and potatoes. [*]Likewise, I was hoping for something like "Pointless Slaying and Looting" from [I]Pyramid #3/72[/I], which would have also sped up character creation. I have fond memories of the Mentzer Red Box. [*]Monsters needed more artwork, and more artwork of the unique monsters. I think we all know how dragons, earth elementals, giant rats, giant spiders, scorpion swarms, and zombies all look. By contrast, many of the unique monsters lack pictures here. I doubt this affected sales at all, but it does make the game easier to play. All of the monsters that originally appeared in [B][I]Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1[/I][/B] do have artwork there that SJG could have repurposed. Many of the monsters from [B][I]Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons[/I][/B] lack artwork, and frankly need it, like the mindwarper or the toxifer. [*]While this couldn't be done in the boxed set without raising costs, I'd like Cardboard Heroes of all the monsters in Monsters. That would make a great support product. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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