What 5e spinoffs would you like to see?

[Laurefindel]

Although it would require adaptation, D&D's race+class+levels and the possibility of of playing magic-as-fantasy tech/weird science would work superbly for a Girl Genius RPG.

Girl Genius is a web comic by Phil Foglio (who drew strips for the Dragon magazine back then) described as "gas-lamp fantasy"; kind of a pre-victorian, Napoleonic/Habsbourg empire steam-punk alternate Europe with mad scientists (known as sparks). There are humans of course, but also Jaggers (mutated warriors), contructs (Frankeinstein-type creatures), clanks (robot-like automatons), and all sort of unique experimental beings from mad sparks. The comic's setting is surprisingly well developed and certainly inspirational.

 

[Mistwell]

How well do comics map to a zero-to-hero leveling system?

While I can see some supers genres were the PCs grow in strength from barely heroes to Omega level, I'm having a hard time reconciling that with the Marvel comic feel where you start at whatever power and growth is more plot (and writer) driven and not usually f the meteoric change that a leveling system brings.

Mutants and Masterminds did a superb job (in my opinion) of advancement for superheroes. And I'd say frequently Marvel superheroes grow in their abilities over time. The cause of this growth might be new writers in the comics over the years, but in-setting the characters are able to do new and more useful things. Take the Fantastic Four: Reed Richards builds a new handy device. Sue Storm can expand her shield and grows in martial prowess. Johnny Storm can form his fire into more shapes and control fires near him and melt bullets that come close to him, all over time. The Thing can lift more, gains higher endurance and resistance to damage, and eventually can change his shape back to human or Thing form at will.

It's not how we think of Marvel heroes because it takes years for these changes to happen in the comics (as a generalization). But I don't think that's unusual for RPGs. The power curve in D&D is also best explained as happening over a larger period of time. A Wizard might grow from casting sleep once a day to casting Wish once a day in-game over a single campaign, but if one were to write a story about it you'd probably spread that story out over a much longer period of time.

Regardless, the Marvel Superheros Game that TSR published was incredibly fun, and was loosely based on D&D Basic. You started around level 10 roughly (though that's very rough in estimate - it's not really the equivalent level 10 in D&D). Experience Points were in the form of Karma, and could be spent sort-of like Inspiration (though really more like old Hero points), and also on increasing attributes and powers. It also had a tie-in to the alignment system (kill someone and you lose Karma points).

I think a good RPG creator could adapt the 5e rules, roughly speaking, to a new Marvel Superhero Game. And, I think given the popuilarity of both D&D and the Marvel universe in movies right now, this may well be the right time to try such a game. But, it should be through WOTC and not a third party. I love Green Ronin's products and I think they did an amazing job with M&M, but I'd like to see WOTC tackle superheroes again, like TSR did before them.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Okay, I should have done my homework. I had a looong gap in plaing TTRPGs between 1e AD&D and 5e. I always remembered that I played 1st edition Gamma world, but now that I read up on Gamma World history, I was probably playing 3rd edition, considering that I played it in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Yeah, that'd've been the one that used the same utterly-un-D&D-like column-shifting FASE-RIP system as TSR's Marvel Super Heroes. I picked it up, disliked it as totally unlike the prior two eds of GW, and never really played or followed it much, so can't comment beyond that.
The 1st ed was D&D-like in using 6 attributes (substituting Mental Strength for Wisdom), d20 attack rolls, matrixes and the like. It was different in level having less of an impact, lacking classes entirely, and much less access to healing. 2nd was similar.

I'm curious, did you play the 7th edition? How do you think it compares to the d20 editions (5th and 6th editions)?

Yes, I have (someone ran it at our FLGS the other week, in fact). Gamma World has ranged from comparatively serious to completely whacky over the years, generally erring on the side of the latter. The 7th ed was about as far as it's ever gotten on the beer & pretzels whacky end of the spectrum, it was a lot of fun, character generation was lightning-fast, yet characters comparatively balanced with eachother relative to other editions (which might not be saying much), and play was reasonably simple, with no daily resources to track (you just regained all your hps and any expended mutations (which could also 'flux' and change on you in the middle of combat) at the end of each encounter) and ammo & artifacts just kinda coming and going at random...

The problem with the d20 editions is that you needed the core d20 rules to play the game. But since the 5th and 6th editions are basically just campaign settings, perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult to apply 5e rules to it.

The 5th ed used the Alternity system that TSR was pushing at the time. 4th pre-dated d20, but was actually decidedly d20-like, possibly it influenced d20. The nominal '6th' ed of Gamma World used d20 Modern, and it was probably the most 'serious' edition, trying to be all plausibly futurist, it featured firearms, rogue AIs and killer industrial nanites instead of old-school robots, rayguns, and mutants - it was done by Sword & Sorcery Studios (WWGS spin-off that did d20 games instead of Storyteller), however, and recent recountings of the game's history by WotC omit it (rightly so, IMHO), and substitute 'Omega World,' which appeared in a Dungeon Magazine, and used the d20 system to good effect.
Something like Omega World could be published using the d20 system, and few 5e-isms, like Adv/Dis & BA - actually, Omega World used a clunky healing sub-system called 'Reserves,' and 5e style HD (using the old-school GW convention of getting 1 HD per point of CON), could work quite smoothly for that.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Seems like there's an a real market for 5e ogl systems.

Given how well Adventures in Middle-Earth is selling I'm surprised there aren't more 5e OGL games for sale, or at least in the works. But maybe I just don't have my ear to the ground in the right places.

I think there are some other big(ish) IPs that could hop on the 5e OGL and sell well. There quite a few book series or video games that have (or had) a TTRPG that probably would see a boost in sales if offered as an OGL product.

I mean The One Ring is a great game already and that's a big contributor to the success of AiME because Cubicle 7 had already done it once before. Its a pattern that could be repeated.

Maybe other great games like The Dresden Files, or defunct ones like Game of Thrones could see a boost or new life in the same fashion. Or the Warcraft RPGs from White Wolf. I'll admit to a love of Warcraft even if I've outgrown WoW, and would pay money for a not having to adapt the system to 5e or homebrew up everything myself.

 

[Satyrn]

Mutants and Masterminds did a superb job (in my opinion) of advancement for superheroes. And I'd say frequently Marvel superheroes grow in their abilities over time. The cause of this growth might be new writers in the comics over the years, but in-setting the characters are able to do new and more useful things. Take the Fantastic Four: Reed Richards builds a new handy device. Sue Storm can expand her shield and grows in martial prowess. Johnny Storm can form his fire into more shapes and control fires near him and melt bullets that come close to him, all over time. The Thing can lift more, gains higher endurance and resistance to damage, and eventually can change his shape back to human or Thing form at will.

It's not how we think of Marvel heroes because it takes years for these changes to happen in the comics (as a generalization). But I don't think that's unusual for RPGs. The power curve in D&D is also best explained as happening over a larger period of time. A Wizard might grow from casting sleep once a day to casting Wish once a day in-game over a single campaign, but if one were to write a story about it you'd probably spread that story out over a much longer period of time.

Regardless, the Marvel Superheros Game that TSR published was incredibly fun, and was loosely based on D&D Basic. You started around level 10 roughly (though that's very rough in estimate - it's not really the equivalent level 10 in D&D). Experience Points were in the form of Karma, and could be spent sort-of like Inspiration (though really more like old Hero points), and also on increasing attributes and powers. It also had a tie-in to the alignment system (kill someone and you lose Karma points).

I think a good RPG creator could adapt the 5e rules, roughly speaking, to a new Marvel Superhero Game. And, I think given the popuilarity of both D&D and the Marvel universe in movies right now, this may well be the right time to try such a game. But, it should be through WOTC and not a third party. I love Green Ronin's products and I think they did an amazing job with M&M, but I'd like to see WOTC tackle superheroes again, like TSR did before them.

Superman is an excellent example of that. Dude clearly went from level 1 in Action Comics #1 to like whatever level he had was when he turned back time in the movie.

And Smallville showed a zero to hero advancement, too.

 

[Oofta]

A few of the items on my wish list have already been mentioned but mine would be

Victorian era Steampunk-like setting, with optional rules for more of a "Wild Wild West" feel. Allow for things from cowboys and orcs to exploring the deep dark jungles with dinosaurs and spell-casting shamans.

Modern fantasy similar to The Dresden Files. Modern world with a supernatural twist. This could be also used for more of a horror movie twist.

A science fiction setting would be fun, but science fantasy (Star Wars) seems to be a better fit.

A post-apocalypse setting, with options to not use some of the silliness of Gamma World.

 

[Steve Rahmoeller]

I'd like to see variants where we could play in IPs already owned by Hasbro/Wizards. Examples would be G.I.Joe, Transformers, or Axis and Allies.

I personally would love to be able to create my own Joe or Autobot.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I'd like to see variants where we could play in IPs already owned by Hasbro/Wizards. Examples would be G.I.Joe, Transformers, or Axis and Allies.

I personally would love to be able to create my own Joe or Autobot.

That does sound pretty cool.

 

[GlassJaw]

I'd like to see a fantasy/sword & sorcery setting with an actual low-magic casting system.

Bounded accuracy makes 5E's core translate very well to low-magic settings. I was hoping for variant magic systems in Thule and AiME but no such luck.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'd like to see a fantasy/sword & sorcery setting with an actual low-magic casting system.

Bounded accuracy makes 5E's core translate very well to low-magic settings. I was hoping for variant magic systems in Thule and AiME but no such luck.

I've been toying with an idea.

The core of it is that you're not just trying to keep your character alive, but to retain control of it: madness, addiction, obsession, possession, and the like can cause you to loose control of your character even if it doesn't die. Aside from a CoC style sanity score, and rules for highly-addictive 'healing potions' or 'black lotus' that might do in any character, casters could face a particular danger in that line:

Warlock: I'll take the low-hanging fruit, first. Obviously, a Warlock imperils his soul by making an infernal pact, make use of infernal powers carry that risk, mechanically, the more you use spells & even Eldritch blast, the greater the risk your Patron takes over. Star Warlocks could 'just' be risking their sanity.

Sorcerer: Taking a page from the playtest sorcerer, you have magical power from a supernatural ancestry, as you embrace and develop that power you start to take on ancestral traits - if that transformation progresses too far, you become that type of monster, losing the character (which may become something the surviving party must deal with).

Wizards: Harkening back to the early days of the game, and to it's Vancian inspiration, then ratcheting it a bit further: mastering wizardry takes decades of study and devotion, to succeed in becoming a wizard you not only have to be intelligent, you have to be dedicated and determined to the point of obsession. Each spell you master deepens that obsession with arcane knowledge and power, when you cross that final line, you simply no longer have any interest in adventuring or anything else... you engage in arcane study & experiment to the exclusion of all else, eventually dying (perhaps of hunger/thirst/neglect) and becoming a lich without even realizing it...


Clerics/Paladins: If the gods aren't so nice or are very demanding of their worshippers' obedience, Cleric might not even be a playable class. Or, rather than clerical magic carrying with it a risk of losing the character, every little act of free will or deviation from dogma or crisis of faith involving the use of divine magic could risk losing that power forever.

Druids could risk losing their connection to civilization and humanity, wandering off into the wilderness, never to return, or getting 'lost' in an assumed shape and staying becoming that animal for the rest of their lives.