Variant Player's Handbooks -- Who do you want to write one?

[Mark]

I'd rather see them write it using money from Danny Kaye.

Now *that* would be an experience!

Hmmm... Danny Kaye, eh?

The Open Game License (with apologies to Danny Kaye and Tom Lehrer...)

What made me the designer I am today?
The game with huge tails on its coat?
What's the method that made me that way?
The greatest that ever a market did bloat?

One license gets the credit,
One license gets the blame,
and the Open Gaming License that's from Wizards made my game. Oy!
The Open Gaming License...

I am never forget the day I first see the Open Gaming License.
In one word I learned the secret of success in game design: Derivative!

Derivative,
Let no one else's work fall through the seive,
Remember that the license gives and gives,
So go ahead, copy, paste and live,
Be derivative, derivative, derivative,...
Only be sure always to call it please "research".

And ever since I see the license life is not the same,
The Open Gaming License that's from Wizards made my game. Oy!
The Open Gaming License...

I am never forget the day I am given first original source book to design.
It was a fifth party supplement on the sex life undersea creatures,
With a focus on why water is not a lubricant.
Niche Product!
I live nowhere near an ocean,
But then I remember the License and I get idea - haha!

A friend I know writes prose,
Who has a friend that knows,
Designers who,
Write games in lieu,
Of working jobs that blow,
And from section fifteen,
Quite often do they glean,
Mechanics that,
Are ti t for tat,
The things he says he means,

And when his work is done -
Haha! - begins the fun.
From saying he means
To section fifteen
Avoiding his work,
His boss is a jerk,
From designing to prose,
And then no one knows,
With some salt from the sea,
It comes back then to me!

And then I write
By morning, night,
And afternoon,
And pretty soon
My source book compiled in a very short while,
And e-Published it is with no substance or style!

And what made me a big success
And brought me wealth and fame?
The Open Gaming License that's from Wizards made my game. Oy!
The Open Gaming License...

And I am never forget the day my source book finally went to regular print.
Every chapter I had gotten from somewhere else.
Index I copy from the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
This book, this book was sensational!
Psion - ah, Psion - Psion said: (Blah, blah, blah...)
"It stinks!"
But Ken Hite! Ken Hite said: (Blah, blah, blah...)
"It stinks!"
Then Courtney Solomon bought the movie rights for sixty million dollars,
Changing title to 'The Dee & Sea Movie',
With Paris Hilton playing part of hermit crab.

And what deserves the credit?
And what deserves the blame?
The Open Gaming License that's from Wizards made my game!
Oy!

 

[Mouseferatu]

Get to work, then!

Ari - PLEASE write that basic D&D project you mentioned. I recall some comments you have made about it in other threads, and it sounds like and awesome idea (probably because I have a very similar idea, just not the writing chops you have).

Believe me, guys, it's not lack of interest or motivation that's kept me from doing it so far. It is, when push comes to shove, finances. I can't afford to take the time off paid gigs to write an entire alternate rules set (even what would amount to a relatively short one) without a contract. It's too big a project for me to tackle on spec (which means I can't do it as a PDF or print-on-demand), and I've yet to find a company willing to shell out to make it happen.

The instant one of the above factors changes--I either find a company willing to pay for it, or I'm doing well enough that I can afford to take a few months off other gigs--it's at or near the top of my list.

 

[philreed]

The instant one of the above factors changes--I either find a company willing to pay for it, or I'm doing well enough that I can afford to take a few months off other gigs--it's at or near the top of my list.

This sounds like my exact reason as well. We really need to find some sponsors for these bigger (dream) projects.

 

[JimAde]

I'd like to see S. John Ross do something like Uresia: Grave of Heaven, dealing with D&D-like fantasy through the lens of Japanese computer and tabletop role-playing games. Not for BESM (like Uresia) but for more D&D-like d20 rules with the somewhat different archetypes of Japanese RPGs.

You probably know this, but Guardians of Order does produce a Uresia d20. I haven't seen it, but I'm a huge S. John Ross fan, too.

 

[TerraDave]

Mark: that is a creative mountian

 

[John Morrow]

You probably know this, but Guardians of Order does produce a Uresia d20. I haven't seen it, but I'm a huge S. John Ross fan, too.

Yes, but it's not quite at the level of an Alternate Player's Handbook, which is what I'd like to see. I'm not sure how much S. John Ross would like to deal with all that crunch, though...

 

[Nightfall]

So, basically, just an ordinary Saturday night with the wife, in other words?

Uhm...I wouldn't know since I don't involve myself in other people's private affairs.

Biggie,

Hey he said "No more D&D!" This is as far from d20 and D&D as you can get.

 

[The Sigil]

Hmmm... Danny Kaye, eh?

The Open Game License (with apologies to Danny Kaye and Tom Lehrer...)

What made me the designer I am today?
The game with huge tails on its coat?
What's the method that made me that way?
The greatest that ever a market did bloat?

One license gets the credit,
One license gets the blame,
and the Open Gaming License that's from Wizards made my game. Oy!

Holy freakin' crap, Mark, that is the funniest thing I have seen all month. "Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky" (sp?) redone as the Open Gaming License song. Brilliant! I was reading that in Tom Lehrer's affected Russian accent and it was hi-frickin-larious.

--The Sigil

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Hmmm... Danny Kaye, eh?

The Open Game License (with apologies to Danny Kaye and Tom Lehrer...)

*wild applause*

 

[philreed]

Yes, but it's not quite at the level of an Alternate Player's Handbook, which is what I'd like to see. I'm not sure how much S. John Ross would like to deal with all that crunch, though...

Post a thread on www.rpg.net and ask him about the idea.