What Game Rules should be my alternate for WotC products?

[ColonelHardisson]

If you're just boycotting Wizards, you may as well just buy some of the wealth of d20 products out there. You can even use your existing PHB - Wizards isn't getting subscription fees off it .

Yeah, I mean, really, the d20/OGL publishers get short shrift. They produce material for and support D&D pretty strongly, so if one love the game, there's no reason to switch even if one boycotts WotC.

 

[Imaro]

If you still want d20 I would say go with Castles and Crusades, it's slowly becoming the only d20 game I will play and is the only one I enjoy running.

If not you should check out, Quin: The Warring States, this game rocks. It's a wuxia rpg, but low powered(think the movie Hero(it's actually set during this time period) or Crounching Tiger Hidden Dragon for mid to top-end power. It's pseudo historical but with both magic and monsters added(which you can downplay or up play as much as you see fit). The book is beautiful and the rules are easy and very fast in play.

Finally, don't know if you're into "indie games" but I really like Mortal Coil and have enjoyed Dogs in the Vineyard as well.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

One problem with general D20 stuff, is that ultimately it lends support to WotC/Hasbro. I want my dollar to go elsewhere... and I think that I am due for change of pace in general.

Not if you ban Wizards books at your table! It's not like publishers pay for the license, you know.

EDIT: Also, if you're uncomfortable with people drawing on the PHB (and potentially buying a copy), you could use a d20-based OGL game that has its own core rulebook.

 

[Jdvn1]

So, any suggestions for an alternate rules system as I contemplate a WotC personal boycott?

You already own the WotC books, just don't buy any more adventures or supplements. Buy 3rd party d20 material for your D&D games. There's tons of affordable stuff online.

You can't take away the support you've already given, just stick with a game you love.

 

[HellHound]

As I said in the other thread, I've gone back to CyberPunk 2020 and Star Frontiers.

I would add Top Secret to the list, but my wife hates that game.

 

[Treebore]

Hmm.

If you like old-school:
Castles & Crusades

If you're more new school:
True20

Other possibilities:
Savage Worlds
Lejendary Adventure (small fan-base, though)

Pretty much covers it. The biggest reason I would put C&C on top is becuase it allows for material from every edition of D&D to be used together iin one campaign.


Otherwise there are good things to say about all of them, and other games, some pdf only. Like Basic Fantasy Roleplay, Microlite D20, OSRIC, and others. I especially like the one being done by CSPerkins.

 

[Treebore]

You already own the WotC books, just don't buy any more adventures or supplements. Buy 3rd party d20 material for your D&D games. There's tons of affordable stuff online.

You can't take away the support you've already given, just stick with a game you love.

This is solid advice too.

 

[GMSkarka]

Another (admittedly self-interested) plug for third-party d20 products. There are a ton of people, producing really good stuff, and purchases from them do not enrich WOTC in any way -- you've already got the core books, after all.

It would be a damn-near-Renaissance for the entire game industry if people took their anger at WOTC for cancelling the magazines and for the first time actually considered non-official d20 Fantasy products. There is a significant part of the market that has never looked outside of the official sources, and if even half of them bought third-party products as a result of this, it would represent a measurable increase in revenues for the rest of the industry....which would be a good thing.

 

[Psion]

A combination of burnout and malaise is leading me to try more and more third party d20 variants that I haven't played near enough of.

Spycraft 2.0 tops the list. Grim Tales, Darwin's World, Spellslinger, and others are also things I'm liking to try.

 

[Jdvn1]

There is a significant part of the market that has never looked outside of the official sources, and if even half of them bought third-party products as a result of this, it would represent a measurable increase in revenues for the rest of the industry....which would be a good thing.

Though, when I first started playing D&D, I didn't know there were third-party products. Then I learned of a couple print ones, like Mongoose (which I disliked).

Even still, most D&D players I know aren't aware of the vast array of 3rd party materials available to them. I may post a lot here, but my D&D friends are barely aware that EN World (much less other online entities) even exists.