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Message: <blockquote data-quote="martinlochsen" data-source="post: 8885353" data-attributes="member: 6789094">Wall of text warning:I still think what we need is a ruleset that everyone can get behind. Everybody knee-jerking their own SRDs won't help. We already have many of those. We need an Omni-srd with support from the large majority of companies in the OGL-sphere.To achieve a game like this, it would have to be based on community feedback. The final product would be free of any single designer's personal vision and instead be an amalgam of the most supported mechanics in the community. This would result (at least that is the hope) in a game that is perfect for none, but acceptable to all.Use existing games as a starting point, and send out surveys where people vote on different mechanical elements, like «four or six attributes?», «advantage/disadvantage or modifiers?» and so on. The designers job would then be to piece together a working game from these elements.Also, everyone participating would have to pull together to increase the visibility of the product. It would have to be a complete game, not just a barebones chassis. It would need a cool name, logo, preferably artwork and so on, at least as much of this as possible. In short, a sellable, marketable product.Why do this? Well, the main idea is defracturing the non-dnd market, which would have several positive effects. There is a lot of talk about how dnd drives the entire rpg market. A strong dnd is good for everyone and so on. The new game would serve a similar purpose for the secondary market as dnd serves for the total market, being a figurehead for non-dnd products and a driving force.It would serve as the clear an obvious alternative for anyone disgruntled with dnd for whatever reason. It’s main selling point wouldn’t be the system in itself, but better support and a larger player base. I think the absence of a clear alternative is a hurdle for many people who want to try something new. You either get lost in the jungle of alternatives or perhaps never find the game that is exactly right, and so end up staying with the default.The theory here is that with the omnigame handling recruitment, business would trickle down to all of the existing 3pp games already out there as well. Having burst the dnd-bubble, trying something else feel less daunting than before. Perhaps in time, the IP would be strong enough to also recruit infant players as well, who knows.The omnigame through its OGL would provide a common non-dnd-derived terminolgy that could be used by all other games to avoid legal troubles with WotC. This would solve part of the problem with accessibility of games for new players. If we can’t use the word saving throw for example, the second best thing is that everybody uses the same alternative.Of course, the omnigame would also provide a market for adventures, mechanical expansions, setting books and so on that would be a lot smaller than the one for dnd-compatible products, but still larger than the one for each of the individual smaller games.The more I think about this, the more I am convinced that it is actually a good idea.</blockquote>

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