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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1542480" data-attributes="member: 2013">Didn't want to toot my own horn, but since Henry did it for me... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />This sounds very much like my Basic Player's Guide.I pared everything down as far as I could for the Basic Player's Guide (hereafter BPG) while still keeping (I hoped) the feel of the game.  I tried to do this by setting myself a goal... present everything required to play in 64 pages (9 point font) or less.I cut races down to four: human, elf, dwarf, halfling (since LotR is en vogue, I figured these would be familiar to most readers).  Each gets a page.I cut the classes down to four: Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard.  Each one is kind of a showcase of a different portion of the game - clerics get healing and undead destruction, fighters are combat, rogues are skills, and wizards are "blast magic."I chopped out things that make the "standard" game complicated... Attacks of Opportunity, Critical Hits, Spell Components (except costly ones), etc.Keeping the thing to 64 pages meant paring down feats, spells, and so forth.  In fact, the amount of space spells take up forced me to put a cap on the spell levels offered - I could offer a nice variety of 0th, 1st, and 2nd level spells and stay under 64 pages, but adding 3rd level spells added an extra 8-10 pages.  So spells stayed 2nd level and under, which capped PC levels at 4th.  This wasn't all bad; it keeps iterative attacks out of the mix (I eliminated ALL multiple-attacks-per-round options to pare combat down to "move plus attack" - or "move plus spell" or whatever).  Everyone gets a capstone to their advancement at 4th level with an extra ability score point.  Fighters get Weapon Specialization.Skills got reduced to "assume you always max ranks of skills" - basically you choose your skills at character creation and that's it, you never gain new ones (not the most flexible of options, but you have to sacrifice some flexibility to maintain simplicity).I cut down tremendously on the range of weapons and armors and equipment offered, while still offering (I hope) enough variety to keep things interesting.    More info can be found in this thread here: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=87467" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=87467</a>Much of it is reprinting OGC from the SRD, but you'll find that the "work" you're paying for is the strategic "cutting" of elements that make the system complex.I do have plans to knock out a 64-page companion volume, a Basic GM's Guide, this summer if possible.  Treasure, NPCs, Monsters, encounters, and basic GM skills would be in that work.  A short dungeon, too, if it will fit.While I know this won't get the market penetration of a print product, my hope is that this series can be used as graded stepping stones to get a player from "intro" to the full set of "core" rules in baby steps.  I simply don't have the financial wherewithal to make this a print product (seriously) outside of POD (which I plan to do some time in June).I see this almost as an "evangelical tract" for existing players familiar with the  system.  This isn't something you read for your benefit, it's something you use to "convert newbies to the RPG gospel." <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />If the BPG (and the GM's guide, when I write it) is well-received, I may work on an "Intermediate Player's Guide" and then an "Expert Player's Guide" (and GM's guides) - such that by the end of the "Expert Player's Guide" the players are just a small step away from the Core Rules.  Thus far, however, interest has been lukewarm - I'm hoping a review or two - or a thread like this - will get the discussion started and the ball rolling.Please shoot more questions my way if you're interested.  I hope to have a lot more products coming down the pipe this summer (when I'll have some time to write), so stay tuned! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />--The Sigil</blockquote>

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