What dead game would you resurrect?

[Reynard]

I was just reading on DTRPG that there was a problem with them delivering on the Kickstarter. I don't know that particulars but that's too bad. I really liked the original and we played it quite a bit for the first few years of the product line. My friend owned most of the books and ran the games. I eventually bought a copy of the Players Handbook and the Game Masters Guide around 2010 but I ended up selling them because I was downsizing and just never played it, wish I had kept them. When D&D 3E and D20 Modern came out we played those pretty exclusively and sadly never played Alternity after that. I would like a revision or reboot but not if it used the 5E game mechanics. I backed the Everyday Heroes Kickstarter and let the same guy who ran our Alternity games borrow it and he said from what he read that it was a pretty confusing and convoluted adaptation of 5E and D20 Modern so I never bothered reading it.

In my opinion, the best part of Alternity is the system so it doesn't make any sense to heavily revise it if you are going to bring it back. But I admit to havinga fondness for the often overly complex and convoluted design ethos of the90s: Shadowrun, Deadlands, Earthdawn, Alternity, etc...

 

[Reynard]

I came in here to say Gamma Qorld, though I would juat like it as a 5E Setting product like Spelljammer or Planescape.

Same with Star Frontiers or Boot Hill, actually.

I was fortunate enough to work on the d20 reboot of Gamma World and I would kill for an opportunity to bring it to 5E, especial if @Autumnal was developing again.

 

[Parmandur]

In my opinion, the best part of Alternity is the system so it doesn't make any sense to heavily revise it if you are going to bring it back. But I admit to havinga fondness for the often overly complex and convoluted design ethos of the90s: Shadowrun, Deadlands, Earthdawn, Alternity, etc...

The name fell out if trademark, but the rules were still under copyright.

 

[Reynard]

The name fell out if trademark, but the rules were still under copyright.

I mean, the ruleBOOKS were probably under copyright still, but the rules themselves could not be (based on my extensive education in IP law during the OGL fiasco of last January). There should not be anything stopping folks from creating a system that works the same way if they write it anew.

 

[Parmandur]

I was fortunate enough to work on the d20 reboot of Gamma World and I would kill for an opportunity to bring it to 5E, especial if @Autumnal was developing again.

It could work very well if given the chance and space.

 

[Parmandur]

I mean, the ruleBOOKS were probably under copyright still, but the rules themselves could not be (based on my extensive education in IP law during the OGL fiasco of last January). There should not be anything stopping folks from creating a system that works the same way if they write it anew.

The extent of how much copyright applies to game rules hasn't been fully tested in the courts, largely because nobody wants to be That Guy and lose. So the new Alternity team made the decision to not be That Guy and lose, and made a new system.

 

[aramis erak]

With either a new edition or just continuation of the line.

For me: revivify Alternity, including Star*Drive, with only minor errata, and move forward with new settings.

Someone's trying to revive the engine, but doesn't have rights to the Star*Drive IP....
Sasquatch basically realized the trademark lapsed, and jumped on it. They don't have rights to the old crunch, but the core mechanic isn't protected.

And they appear to have had significant failure to support it following, and very few positive reviews.

 

[Reynard]

The extent of how much copyright applies to game rules hasn't been fully tested in the courts, largely because nobody wants to be That Guy and lose. So the new Alternity team made the decision to not be That Guy and lose, and made a new system.

Sure. I get that. But it felt like such a lackluster attempt, especially with the default setting.

 

[Parmandur]

Sure. I get that. But it felt like such a lackluster attempt, especially with the default setting.

Well, hindsight being 50/50 it was a company on the last rung it turns out.

But given the lack of a safe harbor, they didn't have much h choice about making a new system. The other project management stuff seems to be what really bit them in the rear.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

The original Ghostbusters by WEG. Also, DC Adventures (by Green Ronin) and Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (yes, the one with the cards)*. I'll also take a new edition of a Marvel game using Icons or Mutants & Masterminds 3e.

*Steve Kenson would be put in charge of MSHAG- fixing up some rules elements using his unofficial Watcher's Option Guide and Ultimate Power sourcebooks along with Tom Costa's roster erratas.

Ghostbusters was great. There's a retroclone by Ewen Cluney called Spooktacular that captures its spirit.