dragonspawnlair

Conan for Savage Worlds Canceled.

2009-10-02T19:34:16Z

The news has just broken on the Mongoose forums, so I can say a few words about this now.

As stated on the Mongoose forums, there was a RuneQuest and Savage Worlds versions of Conan in development, but have now been canceled by the license holder.

I personally was one of the lead writers on the Savage Worlds version of Conan, and have put a lot of work into its development.

For me this project was a dream come true. Sadly, now that work will likely never see the light of day. Now, I knew the risks of working on a licensed property going into the project, but it is still a huge disappointment.

Masters of Science completed!

2009-07-03T18:48:11Z

Today my official transcript and diploma for my Masters degree arrived in the mail.

I figure, if folks with a doctorate are referred to as "doctor," my M.S. allows me to demand everyone address me as "master."

Muah-ha-ha-ha!!!

Google Wave: Looks like Google might beat Wizards to building an effective virtual tabletop

2009-06-11T17:08:54Z

I just watched this video preview for Google Wave.

I must say I am highly impressed. While I don't think this will necessarily replace e-mail, I think it could easily gain widespread use as an alternative to both e-mail and social networking applications (like instant messaging) and websites (like message boards, MySpace and FaceBook).

This could also be a powerful tool for playing tabletop RPGs online. All you would need to add is a dice roller and some basic image editing similar to what you can do in Powerpoint. Then the GM can upload gridded maps and everyone could move icons representing characters and monsters around on the map.

I think there are already good dice roller apps out there which you can imbed in other media, and the image modification is a feature that may well get added to Google Wave to allow group editing of visual media similar to the group editing of text that Wave alrerady allows.

Aaron Sullivan and I talk Warriors and Warlocks on d20 Radio's Meanwhile... The Super Gaming Podcast

2009-06-11T14:34:52Z

In case anyone is wondering, yes, I am still alive.

I had the distinguished pleasure of being interviewed along with Warriors and Warlocks co-author Aaron Sullivan on episode 16 of the most excellent Meanwhile... The Super Gaming Podcast.

Unfortunately I had been sick with a really nasty cold and was a bit hopped up on Dayquil at the time of the interview and running on five non-consecutive hours of sleep. Some spicy Thai food helped keep me from sounding all stuffed up, but I managed to make a few blunders worthy of Nerdom's Hall of Shame (TM), including referring to "Joseph Campbell" as "George Campbell" and accidentally calling my childhood favorite show "Thundercats" by the name "Wildcats," which, while being the name of an Image comic I used to read, has nothing to do with the Thundercats TV show and associated comics.

Anyhow, I think it is an interesting listen despite my blunders. Aaron gives some good insight into what went into his contributions to Warriors and Warlocks and he and I talk shop about using Mutants and Masterminds for a Sword and Sorcery comicbook style game.

A big thanks goes out to MostlyJoe for having us on the podcast. Despite feeling a bit under the weather, the podcast was a lot of fun to record.

True20 Update: Book of Bones released & Warrior's Handbook in Stores

2008-11-21T19:24:31Z

Reality Deviant Publications has just released the Book of Bones, their main monster book for the True20 system and the Blood Throne setting. This book was a real pleasure to work with David Jarvis on. Blood Throne is a rich setting with a very dark and gritty vibe, sort of like Midnight, Ravenloft and a little Dark Sun all rolled into one. If you love True20 and you love monsters, you will find all sorts of evil tidbits in this book for your True20 game.

Here is the cover and add copy:

Here they come again boys!” Loren called out as he readied his musket. The horde of creatures strode out of the sorcerous pale green mist, clambering over the wreck and ruin littering the valley below the great bulwark. Gasps were heard as the grey men lining the bulwark caught sight of their enemy for the first time. Malefic, red glowing eyes stared out of the walking carcasses. Lined with jagged leather stitches, their pallid flesh was a gruesome patchwork of body parts. Some of the deathless monstrosities appeared to have been made in part from animals and fell beasts. A foul stench preceded their approach, wafting up the great wall where more than a few of the men began to retch. Loren stared out at the horrors for a long moment before taking aim with his long barreled musket.
“Mother of the gods, that’s something new,” he swore, and then fired into the undead throng.

The war-torn world of Simarra is filled with many horrors. Some are creatures who have plagued the inhabitants of this world for countless centuries, others nightmares unleashed upon this world with the invasion of the Keza-Drak. Tainted beasts - once locked in the threshold realm - have found their way into the world through the stone gates. In addition, the dead lands have opened once more, unleashing hordes of undead into the world. Not all of the strange and horrific creatures that can be found in this world are otherworldly in nature, however.

Indeed, the Sundaari perform vile experiments upon unfortunate souls brought to Thel-Kaza, transforming them into mutated horrors for use in their ongoing war against the free people of the world. Thankfully, many of these nightmare creations don’t survive to be turned against their brethren. They live painfully short lives. Some, driven insane by unimaginable torment, kill themselves rather than face servitude as shock troops in Agärazôn’s armies. Others simply don’t survive the experiments and are cast away, offered up as sacrifices or even fed to other monstrosities.
Foul gretchlaw, once the plague of the deep earth, have come into the light of day, spreading their pestilence to any trespassers on their domains. Cyclopean Baasi-Gholú prey on unwary travelers and refugees who settle in the Northern arm of the Shield wall Mountains. Fearsome monstrosities such as the mazruk and the waste scorpion inhabit the Vaskraall Wastes. These are but a sampling of the horrors you will find in this, the book of bones.

Written by Mathew Kaiser and David Jarvis, the book of bones is 69 pages of new creatures and templates for your True20 Game! While all fo these creatures are set in the war-torn world of Simarra, they can easily be used in your own amazing campaign worlds!

Grab your copy today!

Also... the True20 Warrior's Handbook is now in stores. I just got my author comp copies, and they look great. I hope True20 fans have as much fun using this book as I had writing it.

Voting

2008-11-04T17:06:42Z

Well I just got done exercising my constitutional right to vote today. If you are a US citizen of any stripe and have not already done so, I would encourage you to go out and vote as well. I won't try to sway your oppinion as to whom you vote for, just think it over carfully and go make your own choice. This is a big election and your voice deserves to be heard in the political sphere.

Me? I'll be here watching coverage on "Indecision 08."

Warriors and Warlocks Cover Art

2008-10-26T03:22:47Z

For those of you who missed it, back in late September there was a Supervision article on the Mutants and Masterminds web page detailing the concept art and final cover for Warriors and Warlocks, written in part by yours truly.

This Mutants and Masterminds supplement covers the genre of comic book fantasy, with particular focus on Sword and Sorcery comics such as Conan, Warlord and Red Sonja. I am absolutely loving the cover art, and it is great to finally see my name on a Mutants and Masterminds book.

True20 Warrior's Handbook now available in PDF

2008-09-08T14:45:45Z

True20 Warrior’s Handbook is now available in PDF format from our Green Ronin Online Store.

The final sourcebook spotlighting the three heroic roles of True20 Adventure Roleplaying, the Warrior’s Handbook is all about combat, from brutal hand-to-hand fighting with primitive weapons to shootouts with modern or futuristic armaments and mass warfare with entire armies. This sourcebook provides options and enhancements for the True20 combat rules, new skill and feat options for warrior heroes, and expansions like mass combat.

Link: http://greenronin.com/store/grr1713e/

True20 Warrior's Handbook
Author: Matthew E. Kaiser
Cover Artist: Chris Moeller
Format: 64 pages, softback
ISBN-10: 1-934547-15-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-934547-15-1

The final sourcebook spotlighting the three heroic roles of True20 Adventure Roleplaying, the Warrior's Handbook is all about combat, from brutal hand-to-hand fighting with primitive weapons to shootouts with modern or futuristic armaments and mass warfare with entire armies. This sourcebook provides options and enhancements for the True20 combat rules, new skill and feat options for warrior heroes, and expansions like mass combat. Take your heroes and your adventures to the next level with the True20 Warrior's Handbook.

True20 Companion Wins Gold in the ENnies!!!

2008-08-16T02:29:54Z

WOW...

I just found out that the True20 Companion won the gold ENnie for "Best Supplement" at Gen Con Indy.

I am truly honored to share this award with Green Ronin and my co-author's Erica Balsley, Dave Jarvis, Steve Kenson and Sean Preston, and want to thank them all for the respective parts they played in putting this amazing little book together. Thank you to all you voters as well.

I also want to congratulate the other nominees. It was a truly great showing this year.

Privateer Press says Iron Kingdoms is NOT going to convert to D&D 4E

2008-08-13T02:41:27Z

In this post on the Privateer Press message boards, Doug of Privateer Press states that Iron Kingdoms will not be converted to D&D 4E.

He does not state the exact reason, but since he gives no mention of the GSL, or WotC's recent promise to revise it in a favorable manner, I wonder if they made their decision based on the GSL, or based on feeling the D&D 4E rules set just wasn't a good fit for the Iron Kingdoms.

Either way, that is one more RPG industry giant who is not interested in publishing 4e material under the GSL.

Unless WotC's revision really turns things around, we won't be seeing anything 4e from Green Ronin, Necromancer Games, Paizo OR Privateer, with Adamant and Kenzer publishing 4E material but not under the GSL.

Meanwhile, all has been quiet from Fantasy Flight games ever since their open call for 4e freelancers (which came before the GSL went public). Since they have not issued any press releases of 4E product announcements, I'm going to guess that they have decided to give 4E a pass as well.

White Wolf has also been silent, and will probably not support 4E like they did 3E.

So things are looking pretty bleak for 3rd party support for 4E.

Fortunately for 4E fans, Goodman Games, Redbrick and Mongoose Publishing will be doing 4E material under the GSL.

Also keep in mind, at the dawn of D&D 3E, a lot of publishers came out of nowhere and went on to become industry leaders. I don't think that history will repeat itself, and that under the GSL we will see fewer new publishers. However, you never know just who is going to pop out of the woodwork next and take the industry by storm.

WotC is Revising the GSL and SRD Due to Third Party Publisher "Feedback."

2008-08-11T20:46:30Z

Well it looks like WotC is revising the GSL:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080811

Quote:

"Wizards of the Coast announces a forthcoming revision to the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Game System License (GSL) and System Reference Document (SRD).

“We recognize the important role third party publishing support plays in the success of the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. We have listened to the community and our valued colleagues and have taken their concerns and recommendations to heart. Our commitment to the health of the industry and hobby gaming lifestyle is reflected in the revisions to the Game System License.”
--Linae Foster D&D Licensing Manager

While the delivery date is not yet firmly established, the revised documents will be available in the very near future.

The new fan site policy, to be made public at a later date, will be posted upon completion."

...

Well this is good news to me. A less restrictive GSL could make for a more vibrant hobby industry. Of course we will need to wait until the revised GSL is out to see just how much has changed. That and WotC hasn't exactly been punctual on their GSL updates in the past. We shall see.

Tragedy Strikes WOTC & X-Box

2008-08-05T11:28:21Z

I just saw a news article about the recent murder-suicide and I'm still a bit in shock.

I don't know if this tragedy has anyhing to do with Gleemax, but I am certain that it has been a very traumatic and disrupting event for both WOTC employees and Microsoft's X-box division. My heart goes out to everyone who has been impacted by this horrendous event, particularly the families and close friends of the deceased.

Necromancer Games Rejects the GSL

2008-08-01T02:30:55Z

So according to this post, Necromancer Games is refusing to sign the GSL or otherwise support D&D 4e unless significant revisions are made to the GSL.

Now that Necromancer Games is joining other publishers like Kenzer, Adamant and Green Ronin in refusing to sign the GSL is in danger of turning into another failure along with Gleemax. However, with quality game companies like Red Brick and Goodman Games embracing the GSL, it is far too early to write the GSL off just yet.

Gleemax Shuts Down

2008-07-28T19:01:45Z

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1067123

Aparently Wizards is discontinuing Gleemax. I was very excited about the potential for such a sight, but the implementation has been so shoddy that I think it is for the best.

At least it looks like D&D insider is still with us, and doing well.

The GSL Rebellion: Imagine a World Where Any Publisher Could Support Any Game.

2008-07-12T15:39:58Z

Since Kingdoms of Kalamar was released, everyone has been talking about the "GSL Rebellion." Many are focusing only on what it means for 4E, but it could have broader implications.

If copyright law allows 3rd party publishers to produce compatible game material for D&D 4E, there is nothing preventing them from doing the same with ANY OTHER GAME SYSTEM. All games are subject to the same copyright laws. So if any publisher can support 4E, than they could also produce compatible material for Vampire or GURPS. It could happen, the question is, will it?

Back before the days of the OGL, several companies, including Kenzer, Mayfair Games and Judges Guild, produced game material compatible with 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons without any kind of licensing deal back when TSR protected its IP with copious legal action (earning them the monikers "T$R" and "They Sue Regularly"). So the "GSL Rebellion" is really history repeating itself in a time when WOTC is trying to tighten control of its intellectual property.

This brings to light the sheer brilliance of Ryan Dancey and the OGL. I would try to explain it here, but Ryan Dancey does it better than I could:

" I have always maintained that one of the major objectives of the OGL was to remove the gray area from the issue of copyright and roleplaying games.

If you read the caselaw in depth you will soon come to realize that copyright law is an infinitely flexible, extensible and revisable system which changes year after year to reflect evolving standards. Over the past 30 years, that evolution has been towards increasing the rights of copyright holders to limit the ability of others to use and re-use the works they have produced. This is driven in part by the recognition that the 21st century economy is based on intellectual, rather than real property.

It is without question that you can create content that will "work with" a roleplaying game. But that is a black & white theoretical proposition that doesn't hold much value in the real world. Because in the real world, there's a line, a place along a continuum where "works with" becomes "derived from", and at that point, you lose. Where that point is, for RPGs, is undefined. The only way to define it is through a series of court rulings that will establish precedent. So far, we don't have any of those rulings, so we are forced to use analogy to similar industries -- of which there are unfortunately few who have also gone down the route of establishing litigation histories.

The OGL was designed to just bypass this issue entirely and create a safe harbor, where the rights of all parties were clearly enumerated, and everyone would know what was OK, what was not OK, and how to determine the difference.

(The GSL, by the way, fails at this almost completely. It is a trademark license with a copyright license tacked onto it, which was an approach that failed when we tried to do this the first time. Copyright licenses are special things - they have their own section of law, and mingling a copyright & a trademark license into one agreement has risks I'm not really sure the people who wrote it comprehend. Plus it is not viral, and thus has no provision for 3rd party re-use. It is a hub-and-spoke license, which means Publisher A and Publisher B can't use each other's works unless Wizards gives them a 2nd license to do so...)

I wish Kenzer well. It's about time someone put their money where their mouths are in this argument and decided to fight a battle in court. Getting some caselaw written on this subject will be greatly illuminating to everyone. I just hope that it doesn't end up snapping back on them painfully.

RyanD

So the OGL was designed to prevent this sort of thing from happening, but the GSL is returning us to the days of unlicensed support for D&D. My question is, will anyone try this with other game systems? Unlicensed products have been made for D&D in the past, and Judges Guild made unlicensed products for at least one other game system that I am aware of (Dragon Quest). When publishers start doing unlicensed support material for D&D again, I wonder what other game systems they might find it worth while to provide unlicensed support products for. I would think that many of the White Wolf game lines would be prime candidates at the very least.

"

2008 ENnies

2008-07-10T21:44:42Z

Wow. I am pleasantly surprised to find that not just one, but two of my 2008 projects have been nominated for ENnies!

True20 Companion has been nominated for "best supplement."

Roma Imperious True20 has been nominated for both "Best Setting" and "Best d20/OGL supplement."

I wrote two of the five chapters in the True20 companion, and I did the True20 conversion of Roma Imperious (so I can't really take any credit for the setting itself, which was done by Bill Corrie, but I was involved with the True20 rules portion of the setting book).

Kingdoms of Kalamar released for D&D 4E... WITHOUT the GSL

2008-07-09T12:01:47Z

So apparently Kingdoms of Kalamar has been released for D&D 4th edition without using the restrictive game system license (GSL).

By way of explanation David Kenzer wrote this post:

"David Kenzer

Correct, we no longer have an agreement with Wizards. Why? Is there some "magic" restriction in IP law that restricts people from making new creative material that doesn't use any TMs, patents or copyrights of another company?

Oh, perhaps it's the magical FUD rule that you're referring to?

By-the-by, KoK first appeared in 1994 and we had no formal relationship with TSR."

So assuming that what Kenzer is doing is perfectly legal under fair use/nominative use (I am not a lawyer, so I won’t try to pick that issue apart), what is the advantage to going with the GSL? They are clearly indicating compatibility with D&D 4E on their cover, which was supposed to be the main advantage of the GSL. Sure they are using text to do so rather than the official GSL logo, but that seems the only difference I can see. Meanwhile they will not have to suffer the many restrictions that the GSL brings with it.

This will be one to keep an eye on. If Kenzer doesn’t get their pants sued off for this, we may well see other companies doing likewise and supporting 4E without the GSL. This will be a trend to watch closely.

Atomic Array interviews Richard Iorio about Colonial Gothic

2008-07-07T14:37:48Z

Ed Healy and Rone Barton have started up a new podcast called "Atomic Array" and for their premier July 4th episode they interviewed Richard Iorio of Rogue Games about the Colonial Gothic setting.

Their timing couldn't be better for myself and Reality Deviants, since we just released a licensed True20 version of the Colonial Gothic setting.

Celebrate July 4th with Colonial Gothic

2008-07-04T16:30:09Z

Here is another product I have been working on that has just become available on PDF. Colonial Gothic is an alternate history version of the American colonial period around the time of the American Revolution. Here is the ad copy for those of you who may be interested in a little patriotic roleplaying fun with supernatural and horror elements:

It is the eve of the American Revolution; colonial life is on the verge of drastic change. To some degree, many parts of the world shun folklore and Witchcraft in favor of so called rational thinking. Magic, in many people’s minds, is supposedly as dangerous as a child’s imagination. However, tucked between soldiers, trackers, and pioneers, there are those who believe they know the Truth. Magic, along with monsters, demons and other creatures, is real.

In Colonial Gothic you play a Hero who knows that Magic is real and the horrors that it can create in the form of monsters. These monsters could be anywhere. They could be witches cursing a settlement, vampires that followed European immigrants to the New World, or angry spirits terrorizing a Cherokee tribe. Whether you’re fighting in the frontier or you’re fending off a supernatural disease like Curse from the Grave you, along with others like you, will wage a hidden war because there is no one else brave enough to face the Devil’s minions, fight them and win?

Heroes, be warned: something waits for you in the dark.

And it is hungry.

Written by Richard Iorio, Monica Valenrinelli, Matt McElroy, James Maliszewski and Mathew Kaiser, this 130 page True20 conversion of the popular RPG published by Rogue Games takes you deep into the heart of Colonial America and provides you with everything you need to run a supernatural campaign series during the American Revolution. Painstakingly researched, Colonial Gothic also makes it possible for you to fight the war for independence and take part in the events which shaped the birth of the nation.

Inside you will find:

An in-depth look into life in Colonial America.

Information about each of the colonies

Detailed information on the native tribes of the region

New Backgrounds

Rules for Rituals and Sanity

New Creatures and suggestions for using existing horrors such as ghouls, spirits and werewolves.

The Revolution has begun, will you join the fight?

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Adept's Handbook is out in print

2008-07-01T13:59:30Z

After delays caused by the unexpected selling out of True20's first print run and the subsequent production of True20 Adventure Roleplaying Revised, the Adept's Handbook is finally in print and in stores! This book was a pleasure to work on, and I learned quite a bit about the supernatural world myself while researching material for this publication. I can only hope others find the same joy in it that I have.

"The second in the series of sourcebooks spotlighting the three primary roles of True20 Adventure Roleplaying, the Adept's Handbook expands on the role of supernatural powers in the game, looking at alternate ways of handling them and how to customize power-sets to suit different types of adepts, from fantasy sorcerers and priests to sci-fi psionics and modern day psychics and more. It also provides expanded feats, skills, and powers for the adept role. Take your heroes and your adventures to the next level with the True20 Adept's Handbook."

My Biography... Now in French!

2008-06-22T18:52:37Z

Aparently a French website called GROG “Guide du Rôliste Galactique” which translates to "Roleplayer’s Guide to the Galaxy" now has my biography posted online in French, along with those of many other folks from the RPG industry.

GROG aims to be the world's most complete encyclopedia of roleplaying games and the people who make them. So far it looks like they have over 700 games, 7,000 gaming products and over 1,000 creators listed.

It looks like a really interesting site, which makes me really wish I could read French! (if for no other reason than to make sure I know what the translation of my biography really says). At any rate, it is fun to get unexpected recognition from another country, particularly one with a vibrant RPG scene of its own that has brought us games like Qin, Agone and Cadwallon.

Dispelling some of the Myths about D&D 4E

2008-06-20T20:44:33Z

I ran my first D&D 4E game session last night after switching my current campaign from 3.x to 4E by unanimous request by my players, and I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

It also helped dispel (at least for me) a lot of myths I have been hearing about 4E.

Myth #1: "It isn't an RPG"
This one is just silly. It felt every bit like I was playing an RPG and not like Descent or Heroscape. Sure you COULD play it as a tactical miniatures game by purposefully removing any and all roleplay elements, but it is every bit as much an RPG as any previous iteration of D&D.

Myth #2: "It isn't D&D"
Yes there are some changes. 3.x to 4E is much more like the change from 2e to 3.x than from 1e to 2e or from 3.0 to 3.5. The big thing is that in addition to rules changes there are a number of minor changes to the default setting/world, but these are easy to incorporate or ignore on an individual basis as you see fit. Other than those changes and a slightly different rules set, it still played much like D&D has always played for my group. Of course your mileage may vary depending on how you define the "feel" of D&D, but personally I was surprised at how little the feel of the game had changed for me.

Myth #3: "Everyone has superpowers"
In play the badly named "powers" played out like slightly more powerful feats which occasionally had limited use. We had a fighter, a rogue and a warlord and none of their "powers" felt superpowered or even magical.

Myth #4: "4E throws versimilitude out the window"
This one is what I was most worried about, so I told my players that they had to describe their power use in a way that made sense in order to use a power. As a result, we got some of the most descriptive combat I have seen in an RPG. We never ran into issues of powers whose effects we couldn't imagine happening in the story with relative ease.

Per encounter powers were easy to describe as tricks you could try once, but your foes wouldn't be caught off guard in the same way twice. Dailies were more like pulling off that rare maneuver that requires conditions to be just right. It felt very Conan-esque, which surprised me. It also reminded me a bit of Iron Heroes.

Myth #5: "Players will only use their best at-will power over and over, or will be limited each round to using a power and not come up with creative actions."
If anything, having special powers helped my players think outside the "I just stand there and swing my sword at him" box. Powers encouraged both teamwork and movement around the battlefield. The players used their powers to great effect, but they also surprised me by trying lots of improvised things not in their power list. There were plenty of Grabs, trip attempts, jumping off of walls and other stunts performed which had nothing to do with a character's selected powers. I found myself referencing the section in the DMG about "actions the rules don't cover" which reminded me a lot of the stunt system from Forward to Adventure and/or Iron Heroes, and it was surprisingly easy to cover a wide variety of actions on the fly by assigning a +2 bonus for a favorable condition a -2 penalty for an unfavorable condition and selecting the skill or attribute to roll against one of the four defenses (AC, Reflex, Fortitude or Will).

As for being minis centric, I don't see it being much harder to play without minis than 3.x was. Slightly harder, maybe, but not much. This doesn't bother me since my group has used miniatures and a battle mat since Basic D&D/2e, but I can see how it might be annoying for those who havent been using one.

Wired.com Goes True20

2008-06-09T15:13:22Z

Wired.com has a new article on True20 which specifically mentions the Roma Imperious True20 setting that I had the pleasure of working on with HinterWelt Enterprises. The article also covers the history of True20 and its relationship to d20 and Blue Rose.

Underappreciated Game Designers: Editors

2008-06-04T18:38:51Z

In today's installment of Underappreciated Game Designers, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the hard working editors of the RPG industry.

Editing, particularly in RPGs, is a thankless job. If a book does well, all credit often goes to the writer(s), artist(s), and/or the publisher. Editors seem to go largely un-noticed until a mistake, misspelling or grammatical error sneaks past their well trained eyes. When an editor does a great job, nobody notices because good editing is effectively invisible unless you take the time to notice a lack of errors or mistakes, something few readers do. When an editor does get noticed by the fans, it is almost always because they slipped up and didn’t catch an error that was probably made by the writer in the first place (though editors can and sometimed do make mistakes as well, just like the rest of us).

True, there are some bad or sloppy editors out there, just as there are people who perform at a sub-par level in any profession, but this one goes out to all the hardworking and dedicated editors out there in the RPG industry who put in a lot of work that is likely to go largely unrecognized.

I specifically want to recognize the hard-working editors I have had the pleasure of working with in the past, including:

Erica Balsley

Joanna G. Hurley

Michelle Lyons

Linda Corrie

Rone Barton

Ed Healy

(I sincerely apologize if I missed anyone)

However this recognition also goes out to all the RPG editors who ever took a rush job or put in the extra time to put the extra polish on a product that really made it shine. You know who you are! Thanks guys, the RPG hobby would not be where it is today without all of you.

RPG Theory: The Tyranny of Fun

2008-05-29T12:24:11Z

The following quote was originally written by Melan on 26-7-2006 on ENworld, though I first read about it on this thread at theRPGsite. I find that it summarizes many of my concerns regarding 4E.

"Interesting. This has been on my mind for a long time - that for the sake of balance, the game designers at Wizards are sacrificing imagination and the whimsical attitude that once permeated the game.

<snip long stuff and example>

It is ironic that the same thing Gary Gygax was demonised for in the early 1980s is today held up by message board participants as the epitome of good design; even as infallible dogma. Gary could never have dreamed of succeeding in his attempt to make AD&D campaigns conform to a strict standard - and definitely not succeeding to this extent.

This begs the question: why does the Wizards of the Coast R&D team strive for so strict a balance and why does it intend to strip away out-of-box options from you? I call this phenomenon the tyranny of fun. A ludicrous name for a ludicrous concept, but there you have it. The WotC designers are not bad people. I am sure, for example, that the folks working there don’t hate the game or anything, maybe they don’t even kick puppies on their way home. Maybe they help old ladies across the street. They want you to have fun. Good, yes? Yes? No. The idea went wrong long ago and it shows no signs of getting better. When dealing with game philosophy, Wizards R&D doesn’t concentrate on thinking up stuff that makes playing fun anymore. That’s 1970s TSR thinking. Moreover, fun is inherently subjective and hard to quantify - all we can have is meaningless truisms like „the game is about killing critters and taking their stuff”, „getting loot and powering up”, „playing my character” or „sitting around and eating chips”. That’s not very helpful - it is all true, of course, but it doesn’t really tell you what to do to emphasise this in the game. So instead, they try to remove things from the game which are not fun. What isn’t fun? The things the fans complain about. But who complains?

In short, the kind of people older rulebooks (and pardon my edition snobbery, but that’s just how I see it) warned us about. People whose characters got their swords destroyed by a rust monster and who threw a hissy fit over it. People whose characters died to a hold person spell and who wrote angry letters to Dragon magazine. People who didn’t have fun, whose entertainment was destroyed by this monster or that spell. Meet WotC’s focus groups, meet the people who are the target audience for future releases. The people 4e will be designed to accommodate.

Oh, I don’t have high hopes that these changes can be or will ever be „stopped”. ENWorld is ample proof of that. There comes a change like destroying the creative concept behind the rust monster, and there is a chorus of approving posts praising this decision as if it was the second coming of Our Lord Sliced Bread. Because, after all, D&D before „it was evolved” was a horribly designed, bad, bad game people didn’t have fun with and which didn’t sell, right? Right? According to WotC R&D (heh, R&D... I wonder if EGG ever had an „R&D” department), people who didn’t like D&D before are the people D&D should be designed for in the future, because that’s smart business. I am not making this up either.

There is, of course, the inevitable counter-reaction from reactionaries who don’t appreciate the changes and dare to suggest that hey, it was good the way it used to be, and there is no overwhelming need to „re-design it to be proper at last”. These rose-coloured glass-wearing fools even suggest that the design shouldn’t be used. Naive thinking. In fact, they will accomplish very little. The debate will flow back and forth for a while, and in the end, the sides will agree to meet halfway. And gee, you just conceded your position, dice-boy. You were suckered into accepting that maybe they are right. Maybe it really was bad design all along and it were your pleasant experiences that were false.

The final response is always going to be to remove any edge, any colour, to remove randomness and introduce standardised fair play into the game which started out as highly arbitrary and whimsical - in short, fantastic and open to creative interpretation.

This response is the symptom of a design culture which would never be capable of designing a game like Dungeons &Dragons.

And that is a pity."

My thoughts:
I am uncertain to what extent this may apply to 4E just yet since I am still waiting for the books I pre-ordered from my FLGS, but I fear that this phenomenon has taken its toll. Standardizing things has its uses, but taken too far it can kill creativity. Bilbo can no longer find the one ring because it is an artifact far too high a level for his charactr to find. Where rust monsters once put the heroes in tough situations and maybe forced them to find replacement weapons, they now pose much less of a threat because they have been declaired "un-fun." I thought that the whole point of D&D and stories in general was to put the characters in tough positions and see how they deal with it, not to make sure they never encounter a challenge that they cannot overcome with relative ease without having to think outside the box or use anything not on a short list of pre-scripted powers.