I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.

- William Blake

Monday, December 30, 2019

Some RPG plans por 2020

I know, the best-laid plans of mice and men and yadda yadda. I didn't succeed in everything I wanted in 2019, but I wrote some RPG stuff that made me happy.

And 2020 is the year of the double critical, so I'll stay optimistic!

RPG-wise, what I want to do in 2020 is publish a few books. Some are already written, some are just vague ideas at this point, and some are in the middle.

ALL are related to the stuff I write in this blog, mostly because this is the stuff that is on my mind.

Here is what I've got so far.

Dark Fantasy series

I have two more books for my Dark Fantasy series: settings and magic items

I also wrote a book with 100 magic weapons for Dark Fantasy. I like the result. If people like it, I might make a few more (have a few ideas for armor and other magic items).

I am planning to have these three books out before the end of the third trimester.

I'm very, very tempted to write a Dark Fantasy Cyclopedia of sorts. That would include ALL the stuff I have plus a few things from the Teratogenicon (see below). And I want to revise and update a few things from Dark Fantasy Basic. If I do this, I think I'd like to have a print version to use at my table.

This might be lots of work, so maybe I'll leave it for last.

UPDATE [2020]100 magic weapons was made available in January. Dark Fantasy Magic Items and Dark Fantasy Settings are available since February.

Teratogenicon

The Teratogenicon is written. Now I've got some revising to do. The art (by Rick Troula) is not finished yet, but it is looking GREAT so far.

I think we might get this finished before July.

I really like this project, and I want it to be huge. However, I'm not sure if everyone feels like me about monsters. In short: that they should be more varied and interesting, and that this is more important than stat blocks.

Anyway, this is happening regardless. I really hope you like it. If lots of people want it, there might be a print version.

UPDATE [2020]: Teratogenicon is here! And it's beautiful!





Fifth Edition stuff

I have been thinking a lot about 5e lately. I feel I could create an easier, faster version of 5e without losing anything significant. I think I could reduce the relevant parts of 5e to about 100-200 pages. It looks like hard work, but I have the SRD to work with. I dunno. There are a few good books on the market that do that already.

My manual of arms book didn't get much traction, reviews, comments, etc. I'm unsure about making one for armor (and stunts, options, etc.).

There is no date for that so far.

UPDATE [2020]: nope. See here.

Setting stuff

I have a few settings in mind, but nothing is written. Well, some ideas were added to the Teratogenicon and Dark Fantasy Settings, but a have no "setting book" yet. 

I feel a bit silly about inventing names for places, races, people... I don't even USE published settings as written, I added stuff from multiple places, and my books are like that, more suggestions than hard rules, so not sure how useful it would be for other people.

Anyway, I am curious about creating a gonzo, post-apocalyptic setting from this and this. And maybe this and this. In short, my own version of Dark Sun.

There are other ideas too, maybe I'll test the waters a little before I dive in.

There is no date for that so far.

UPDATE [2020]: nope. See here.

Stay tuned!

Here is my idea if you want to keep track of this stuff. I'll update THIS post during the entire year, giving you links as these things come out. See how I wrote "UPDATE [2020]" under each topic? Yeah, I plan to use these blank spaces as soon as I can.

If I fail, well, feel free to call me out in the comments!

Also, I'm writing a second post about my "2020 RPG resolutions" in a couple of days, specifically to ask what would YOU like me to do

Do you want more blogging or more publishing? Do you want OSR, 5e, or both? Lots of arts, lots os writing, or both? Print or PDF? Let me know in the next post... Or, if you can't wait, let me know right here!

13 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Ha, I cannot take credit for that... Think I read it somewhere.

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    2. That's ok, just as long as it spreads...

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  2. I do think some synthesis of your ideas such as Encumbrace, Armour and Weapon Scaling, etc into interconnected system would be neat. I know that's a lot to ask, but I do feel like your simplfied mechanics from the past year(stat mod being score - 10, breaking things down to Ration Unit, Time, and Encumbrance units, etc) are a lot of the way there.
    It would be neat if you have the time for it.

    How much of this will show up in your already planned projects, I obviously don't know.

    Looking forward to what ever you bring in the new year.

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    1. Hey Sean! Thanks for the kind words and suggestions! I'll take that into consideration. I had the idea of making an entire Manual of Arms series, with the next "issue" dealing with encumbrance and armor. Let us see how it goes!

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    2. I see your perspective on releasing supplements like your manual of arms, manual of armours, etc. I just don't know if the small works will get enough traction compared to a larger work. But I am biased from spending time on GitP and the 5e UA releases that seem to kick the most interaction are the larger works.

      In the end, it's probably each to their own.

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    3. Well, this might be s good idea. I will try my hand with larger stuff and see if it works.

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  3. I would love a version of Dark Fantasy that's scaled to 5E's bounded accuracy. Have you read 5 Torches Deep? It seems like most of the components for a "5E Basic" system are out there, but no one's quite got it yet.

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    1. That is a cool idea... Five torches deep looks cool, but I haven't tried it yet.

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    2. 5TD feels more like an extensive homebrew than a complete game, nonetheless is has many great design features including, but not limited to: no dump stats, using both the attribute and mod value, smoothing the power creep & making "weaker" pcs viable, default DC is 11, abstract "supply" resorce, resting in "safe" vs "unsafe" conditions, keeping morale and hirelings in the forefront of the game, simple monster design, compatibility with both 5E and b/x foes, and more. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nT9gixkGRqY

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    3. Whoa, great video, thanks! Looks awesome. My version would be a bit more extensive, I think. I do praise hem for being terse, I really like that in a game.

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  4. I most certainly am looking forward to seeing more of your ideas on armors. While it seems to me that your impressions on how to improve them haven't been as developed as your weapon considerations, if they are anywhere near as good as each other, it would most certainly worth any serious DM/D&D Connoisseur's time to digest them.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your kind words! I'll look into it. I want to make something worthwhile to say before publishing it.

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