Ultimate Game Designer's Campanion

[drnuncheon]

I'm not doubting John Four's talents, but the UGDC is credited to Matthew Sprange (of Mongoose), not John Four.

It's Johnn with two n's, isn't it? He wasn't saying that JF wrote the UGDC, he's saying that if JF wrote a single book containing all his GMing tips, it would be even better than LUYPS.

J

 

[Joseph Elric Smith]

Well this sounds like it could be an interesting tool, or another book to sit on my shelf and gather dust. have to wait and see.
Ken

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

The best Mongoose stuff, mechanics-wise, is written by mearls.

I inferred from the description that this was essentially a hardbound version of the SRD with a few extra things tacked on. I think the online description would do well to have a few more examples of what you're paying for over and above the SRD than the fire spread example.

Wulf

 

[storyguide3]

Re: Re: Ultimate Game Designer's Campanion

Emphasis is my own.

So if all the rules are done for you, how does is this help game designers , who would obstensibly be coming up with their own rules.

This book doesn't seem that useful to game designers except those who only play d20 and don't want to do much in their own game design. What's up with that??

Ah, well since this is a d20 book, I would assume that it is aimed at those using d20. One of the strengths of d20 is that game designers don't have to reinvent the wheel for every part of their game. They can reuse material from other sources and concentrate on developing new materials only for those parts of their game concept that actually require something new.

What Mongoose is doing is to provide a set of rules "plug-ins" to cover items that are not covered in the SRD, but that are generic enough for use is other d20 products. Its a toolkit to allow those designing d20 games to concentrate on their unique material, thereby reducing design time.

 

[Psion]

Re: Re: Ultimate Game Designer's Campanion

So if all the rules are done for you, how does is this help game designers , who would obstensibly be coming up with their own rules.

Says who? If you are using the d20 STL and OGL, part of the point is that you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. Further, I think you give game designers a lot more credit for uniqueness than they deserve. They use other people's rules, too.

This book doesn't seem that useful to game designers except those who only play d20 and don't want to do much in their own game design. What's up with that??

You have an extremely limited definition of game design. It is about game design, not system design. Is spycraft not a game? T20? Mutants & Mastermind?