Stargate-themed homebrew - should I wait for 5e?

[Herobizkit]

I've been mulling about designing an Eberron game themed around the classic Stargate TV series, in that the heroes will be a select group of soldiers sent to explore/initiate first contact with various D&D settings(Dark Sun being the first likely arc).

I started mulling about what "class" to make the initial NPCs, then wondered... should I wait for 5e to do this?

Time isn't a factor; our current DM is running his own campaign AND side-campaign. Thing is, I kind of started the hype before I had much of it planned out, so now I'm under an onus to either produce or let it fall unrealized to the wayside.

I often think of running the game under Pathfinder rules as well, given I'm more familiar with the 3.x family, but the DM and one of the players has another PF game on the run and they don't seem to be enjoying it.

I also understand that 4e's "fights are the story" design would work well with such an action/adventure theme. I really want to clobber them with a lot of secondary 'rules' that our DM doesn't focus on - setting/terrain features, traps, weather as a hazard and the like.

Getting started is the hardest part of a game, because If find that if I don't start strong, I don't stay strong.

Based on this info (as light as it is), should I wait for 5e to launch a game, or stick with what I know?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

You're the DM and - let's face it - it's much easier to design for 4E than 5E (arguably), 3.xE, or Pathfinder. On that basis I would go with 4E. Plus, with 4E you know what you are getting: 5E is still a moving feast.

(snip) I also understand that 4e's "fights are the story" design would work well with such an action/adventure theme. I really want to clobber them with a lot of secondary 'rules' that our DM doesn't focus on - setting/terrain features, traps, weather as a hazard and the like. (snip)

4E's version of Dark Sun showed that it handles those "secondary rules" as you call them rather well.

Those positive comments about 4E aside: what ruleset would your group prefer?

 

[Kinak]

I'd probably go for 4e or Pathfinder, based on group preferences.

4e would work very well for the sort of squad-based combat you'll get and the skill challenge mechanic can be twisted around to handle environment and political issues well enough.

Pathfinder would also do well for squad-based combat, but the other stuff might make some more work. For example, you'll want to do something about the create water orison on Dark Sun. So it might be a bit more work, but if you have players that don't like 4e, it's less work than fighting through that.

I wouldn't trust having enough tools to do what you need in 5th for a while... at least late this year when the DMG comes out, possibly later. So you'd still be homebrewing, but with a brand new system.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I'd go with 4e or Fate. If you want very different classes, I'd go with Fate (which is technically classless).

But you said Stargate-themed. An artificer (either 3e, 4e or Pathfinder) could fill in for the scientist role, if the gates are magitek.

Note that in Stargate, many "NPCs" would be monsters.

 

[Neonchameleon]

4e works pretty well for an episodic adventure series as long as melee combat is at least as effective as ranged. The one thing I would do is say that you can only take extended rests on this side of the Stargate (or whatever you are using), making resource management when you cross the gate a pretty important thing.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When I'm looking for a system to run a game in, I consider:

1) what do I feel familiar with; what do I feel I can run the campaign in?

2) which sytems or kinds of systems do my players enjoy?

3) can the systems that qualify under 1 or 2 above do a good job of modeling the campaign I have in mind, or would another system do a better job?

For the most part, I'm going to favor systems that fall into 1 or 2 unless a different system offers substantial advantages.

 

[Herobizkit]

Yeah, looks as though I'm going to stick with 4e for this game...

The characters (so far, assuming no one changes their mind):

• A Changeling Feyblade with a Mark of Warding (not canon, of course, but 4e's all about options) who is also a masked hero by night;
• A Dwarven Knight who also has a Mark of Warding [he made his character first] and is part of a Royal family to boot;
• A Drow Witch who was 'captured' and raised from birth by Humans in one of the universities and has a clockwork dog as a familiar.

Looks like the Fighter, Mage, Rogue paradigm is relatively covered. I'm going to NPC a Companion Warpriest to round out the team to 4 and possibly give him a pet to "round" it to 5. My head is fixated on a Ranger with a Beast companion, but he's not very Leader-y.

 

[haakon1]

D20 Stargate

FYI, you know there was a D20 Stargate game, right?

http://www.amazon.com/Stargate-SG-1-Role-Playing-Game/dp/1887953957

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I think you can pull this off with any rules set, so go with what you know!

 

[tojek]

I'm with Olgar. Plus an anecdote!

In short: My experience has me agreeing with Olgar. If you like, here's how my gaming group's idiosyncrasies have influenced my role as DM.

My tabletop RPG group has dabbled in several rules systems over the years, from multiple editions of D&D to indie DM-less systems. Before each session we vote on setting, system, and DM.

The group's culture poses an interesting challenge for the DM. I have to first get my thoughts down in a campaign setting (my favorite part), and it must be system-agnostic. Then come the high-level narratives (plot lines?), also agnostic. We meet every few weeks on average, so I have that much lead time to generate a system-specific adventure.

Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising nailed it: "Story trumps rules." You'll do fine no matter the system.