Same D&D, Different Themes

[Calico_Jack73]

Hire Erol Otus and the other artists that made 1e great to come back and do a 1e themed 3.5 book. I'd buy it in a second.

 

[thalmin]

Oh, no. Collectable D&D covers, with a new set each year. Gotta get'm all.

 

[mmadsen]

We've received a number of good suggestions:

• Anime
• Pirates/Swashbuckling
• Mythic Greece
• Mythic Egypt
• Arabian Nights (Al-Qadim)
• Gothic Horror (Ravenloft)
• Clockwork/Steam
• Planescape
• Norse Myth

I can think of at least a few more:

• Arthurian
• Swords & Sorcery (Conan)
• Dark Sun
• Tolkien (with fat hobbits, tall elves, etc.)
• Post-Apocalypse (Wizards, Thundarr, etc.)
• Renaissance Italy

To restate the question, what theme would you like to see, and what would a boxed basic set do to convey that theme? What kind of art would be on the cover? Who would the sample characters be? How would the sample gameplay section read?

 

[jarlaxlecq]

Generic. With black text, no art, a big barcode on the front, and a title reading "One (1) Role-Playing Game Rulebook."

You can already do that, Print the SDR, put it into a Plain Binder, Write "One (1) Role-Playing Game Rulebook." and your all set

 

[WizarDru]

We've received a number of good suggestions:

• Anime
• Pirates/Swashbuckling
• Mythic Greece
• Mythic Egypt
• Arabian Nights (Al-Qadim)
• Gothic Horror (Ravenloft)
• Clockwork/Steam
• Planescape
• Norse Myth

I can think of at least a few more:

• Arthurian
• Swords & Sorcery (Conan)
• Dark Sun
• Tolkien (with fat hobbits, tall elves, etc.)
• Post-Apocalypse (Wizards, Thundarr, etc.)
• Renaissance Italy

At least one or more of these are at direct odds with what Tweet was suggesting, which was virtually no change to the rules, and little to no design overhead. He wasn't proposing an alternate version of the rules, just shaving the serial numbers off and changing the presentation, slightly. Fat Hobbits, for example, is a distinct change from the current D&D halfling. There are no half-orcs in Thundarr's future, but there are Moks, which aren't in D&D. The Arthurian wizard is quite different from the D&D mold, with his charms, potions and little direct magic. Dark Sun? 'Nuf said.

The more I think about it, the less likely it sounds that it might work beyond a few genres. I think Anime is a likely candidate, since it embraces D&D's idiosyncracies so well, and lends itself to a different visual feel, while being able to hold to the core rules. Places like Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Japan or Italy during the Rennaissance all entail cultural and very obvious technological differences that would make it difficult to work without being very anachronistic and, I think, jarring. Just consider armor, that mainstay of D&D, and how confusing it would be if the rules ignored such blatant inaccuracies such as plate armor being the most effective in a bronze age society, or for desert warriors along the nile. Trivial changes? Perhaps, but it creates fragmentation, and that wasn't the impression I got from Dancey's mention of the idea.

I think he was more looking at simple art changes, and minor flavor text rewrites. Remember, he mentions a minimum of cost to the company for this. That sounds like changing Krusk to Fafhrd, Greyhawk to Lankhmar and Nebin to the Eyeless One, while updating art and text references. The ones I best see that working for are:

D&D Classic Style (art featuring more simplistic armors and generic characters, ala 1st edition/Basic edition)
Fantasy Specific (adapting characters from a series, like Conan, Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser, Jhereg, the Belgariad, and so forth)
Anime (Generic)
Anime (Specific) - Primarily Lodoss, Beserk! and Sorceror Hunters
Video/Computer Game Specific - Thief, Ultima, Civilization and so on (made sometimes difficult as many genre examples are already done, and would lead to confusion, such as Diablo, Warcraft and Everquest..and are often too different from core D&D)
Specific Art Style - Such as a particular type of comic artist (Kirby/Rude/Timm, Lee/Liefeld, Quitely/Anderson, and so forth)

 

[diaglo]

Generic. With black text, no art, a big barcode on the front, and a title reading "One (1) Role-Playing Game Rulebook."

something similar for me too.

no artwork. no color.

durable stock paper.

 

[Wombat]

Generic. With black text, no art, a big barcode on the front, and a title reading "One (1) Role-Playing Game Rulebook."

In many ways, I'd be as happy with this as anything else.

At least it doesn't "push" an image of what the game is "supposed" to be about

 

[MDSnowman]

I think the problem with a licensed Record of Lodoss War rpg here is that the series has already been made into an rpg in Japan...there may be some major legal hurdels to jump. I've always wondered why Guardians of Order never made a licensed product, then I found out about the other rpg.

As for levels??? I have no idea, Parn and Etoh would start out at 1st level (or mayble 2nd) each, but Parn gets a lot better..really quick.

Yeah by the time Ghim dies and they slay shooting star and move onto the second Story Arc with Spark and the gang Parn would be VERY high level.

 

[WizarDru]

Yeah by the time Ghim dies and they slay shooting star and move onto the second Story Arc with Spark and the gang Parn would be VERY high level.

The big problem is that the OVA series condenses the series, jumping past a bunch of books in literally the blink of an eye. The Lodoss TV series (not Crystania) fills a large part of that gap (and they've already killed two of the great dragons by the point they reach Shooting Star). Parn has probably nearly finished his Prestige Class by that point.

 

[diaglo]

i'm glad i don't know what the heck WizardDru just said.