The news that many of us expected was coming down (well, I expected it at least) finally arrived: The Star Wars Expanded Universe is essentially null and void. I completely understand and respect the decision. After all, vast swaths of the Expanded Universe material was less than stellar (although I did enjoy much of it...a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine) and why tie down the new movies to canon of questionable quality. However, I hope that this doesn't mean that we'll never see Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, the young Skywalker and Solo kids, and the characters from the EU that were bright spots. Supposedly, the novels and such will continue, but the current timeline of the novels are a different "what if" reality of Star Wars and not the real thing. (You can read the official announcement here.)
Also in geek news today, Marvel has announced that they are going to kill Wolverine. That's right, the big kahuna of the Marvel Universes is going to bite the big one. Although I have some major doubts that Marvel will kill off one of, if not the, most popular character in their universe with the intent of Wolvie staying dead for longer than 4-year old's attention span lasts, I do hope that Wolverine will stay dead longer than Superman. After all, if you're going to have the brass cajones to kill off one of the big dogs, have the same level of cajones to keep 'em dead long enough for rigor mortis to set in. Not sure how I feel about this one, but Marvel has made it quite a habit of having grand, far-affecting, events and then retconning them a month or two later, so I doubt that one of my favorites will be gone for very long.
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Friday, April 25, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Weekend Roundup: New Rogue Space Rules and Big Changes in Store for Star Wars
First off is the new edition of the excellent indie Sci-Fi game, Rogue Space is out now! Go pick up a copy here. I picked up the pdf edition myself and hope tear into it tonight and tomorrow and get my thoughts posted on it in a few days.
The second bit of news is actually a few days old. Disney has appointed a committee to go through the Star Wars timeline and determine what is and is not official canon for the Star Wars universe. (Read the article here.) Seeing as how they are going to be making movies that take place after Return of the Jedi, I'd say it's a safe bet that most, if not all, of the post-RotJ novels and comics will be declared as non-official. I'm not certain how I feel about this. It's no secret that the quality of many of the novels isn't spectacular, but I've never considered SW novels to be any worse (or better) than most other shared universe genre fiction from Star Trek to Forgotten Realms. If most of the Expanded Universe is declared invalid, I hope they don't totally scrap many of the characters. I'd hate to never see Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker, Anakin Solo, Jacen and Jaina Solo again. Plus there's the scenes of Anakin appearing to Leia, and her eventual forgiveness of her father. Still, at the same time, I do trust Disney to treat Star Wars right. They've done a fantastic job with the Marvel franchise (X-Men Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding), and I hope to see that same level of creativity and care taken with my beloved Star Wars.
Speaking of Star Wars and Marvel, Dark Horse comics, who has been publishing Star Wars comics since 1991, is losing the license to do so after this year to Marvel. (Read about it here.) Seeing as how Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, this move has likely been in the works not long after the ink dried on the sale bill for Star Wars. I have no doubt that Dark Horse will do fine without Star Wars, but I will miss their take on the SW universe, which has been fantastic, especially the last few years. Really, some of my favorite EU stories have come out of the various Dark Horse SW lines. Still, some of my all time favorite Star Wars stories came from the campy and oftentimes downright silly, Marvel series from the early 80's. Marvel is slated to start publishing Star Wars comics in 2015.
The second bit of news is actually a few days old. Disney has appointed a committee to go through the Star Wars timeline and determine what is and is not official canon for the Star Wars universe. (Read the article here.) Seeing as how they are going to be making movies that take place after Return of the Jedi, I'd say it's a safe bet that most, if not all, of the post-RotJ novels and comics will be declared as non-official. I'm not certain how I feel about this. It's no secret that the quality of many of the novels isn't spectacular, but I've never considered SW novels to be any worse (or better) than most other shared universe genre fiction from Star Trek to Forgotten Realms. If most of the Expanded Universe is declared invalid, I hope they don't totally scrap many of the characters. I'd hate to never see Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker, Anakin Solo, Jacen and Jaina Solo again. Plus there's the scenes of Anakin appearing to Leia, and her eventual forgiveness of her father. Still, at the same time, I do trust Disney to treat Star Wars right. They've done a fantastic job with the Marvel franchise (X-Men Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding), and I hope to see that same level of creativity and care taken with my beloved Star Wars.
Speaking of Star Wars and Marvel, Dark Horse comics, who has been publishing Star Wars comics since 1991, is losing the license to do so after this year to Marvel. (Read about it here.) Seeing as how Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, this move has likely been in the works not long after the ink dried on the sale bill for Star Wars. I have no doubt that Dark Horse will do fine without Star Wars, but I will miss their take on the SW universe, which has been fantastic, especially the last few years. Really, some of my favorite EU stories have come out of the various Dark Horse SW lines. Still, some of my all time favorite Star Wars stories came from the campy and oftentimes downright silly, Marvel series from the early 80's. Marvel is slated to start publishing Star Wars comics in 2015.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
The "Perfect" System...
I’ve spent a lot of time recently reading through various sci-fi RPG’s trying to find the one that hits my personal “sweet-spot,” which has turned into quite the daunting task. I’ve never had this much trouble landing on a fantasy rpg. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent so much time during my gaming history on fantasy games that when I found the right one (Swords & Wizardry) it instantly leapt out at me? I really think it’s more of a case of a lot of fantasy RPG’s spring up from the same roots: Lord of the Rings, whereas sci-fi is all over the place. There’s cyberpunk, post apocalyptic, dystopian, Star Wars-style sci-fantasy, Star Trek-style space opera, hard sci-fi, post humanist, and on and on each with a different system that claims to scratch a different itch. Even more generic systems still have a slant to a particular genre that’s fairly easy to ascertain. You can go with a particular genre and find a system that is tailored to evoke that feel, but then you start getting into the system itself: it’s too heavy, it’s far too light. This is compounded even further for guys like me that like pieces and parts of various genres. You may find a system that’s feels right, but there’s nothing there for cybernetics or mutations, or the rule for robot or starship creation are either not sufficient or simply non-existent.
I’ve asked myself many times over the last 20+ years: “what would my ‘perfect’ system look like?” The question is great for any gamer that feel stuck. I’ve found, while you may be playing and enjoying one system, asking yourself this question may have surprising results and may lead you to a system or to options that you may not have considered otherwise. So, what would my “perfect” system look like?
I’d start off with a simple D20 base. The system would have ascending AC, simple Saving Throws (only 3-4 categories at most, and I’m not strictly adherent to Fort/Reflex/Will, though that does work for me in a lot of cases).
The class structure would be simple 3-4 classes at most that will allow for a wide variety of character types by way of Background packages.
Races will be clear and concise without 1001 modifiers for every conceivable skill usage contingency. No stat minimums to play a particular race, in lieu of stat bonuses and penalties (typically ever more than a +/-2 in most cases with +/-1 being the norm).
Skills would be somewhat similar to those found in Star Wars Saga. Slight bonus to all class skills, with a few being tagged as “Trained” that get a bigger bonus, but characters would be able to tag non-class skills if they wish to use them as class skills, but with a smaller trained bonus. This would allow a Soldier character to have Medical skills, where such skills would normally fall under the Expert class.
Cybernetics would be handled in the same manner as Stars Without Number: Each piece of cybergear costs System Strain. A character cannot go beyond their Constitution score in System Strain. However, I would add in the option of the creation of total conversion cyborgs, but such characters are more like robots with organic brains than cyborgs that are more flesh and blood than metal. Not sure how I would handle that just yet.
Psionics would be handled much like Star Wars Saga’s Force powers. Psionic characters would start with few powers, they would only be usable once per combat, but refresh in a variety of ways. Every so many levels, they can make a Psicraft check to see if they can learn a new power, but the more powers a character has, the harder it will be to learn a new one. When the character wants to use a power, he/she makes a Psicraft check and the result of that check determines success or failure and to what degree when using some powers. Not sure that I’d have a dedicated Psion class or not, but I likely would due to the number of powers that a psion could possibly have.
Mutations would be handled in the same manner as found in Other Dust. That system allows for some oddities, but is also built in a way that’s not too ridiculous.
Weapons and Armor would have a wide variety of options. I like specific models of weapons and armor rather than generic varieties that cover various classes of weapons. It’s one of those ways to mechanically make the character different than others of the same class/race combination.
Starship and Robot creation systems found in Stars Without Number are excellent. I would use them as is.
I like SWN’s simple creature/NPC statblocks. The only thing I would change would be the removal of Morale. I’ve never liked Morale as a stat. I’ve always felt that such actions should totally be left up to the GM based on the creature/NPC descriptions and GM fiat based on the situation.
Tech Levels would be like those found in D20 Future. It allows for more subtle differences than the four levels found in SWN.
Sector creation would be a combination of those found in SWN, Starships & Spacemen, and Bandits & Battlecruisers. That would allow for both the realistic and a touch of the weird as well. SWN’s charts for the creation of societies and governments are great, but they are largely human-centric, which fits with the SWN setting of a shattered human empire, with few aliens.
There you have it, that what my “perfect” system would look like. Would I ever actually get it written up? Probably not, or at least not in a state that I would be completely happy with. After all, the devil is in the details as I have found out during the times that I have attempted to do such things.
I’ve asked myself many times over the last 20+ years: “what would my ‘perfect’ system look like?” The question is great for any gamer that feel stuck. I’ve found, while you may be playing and enjoying one system, asking yourself this question may have surprising results and may lead you to a system or to options that you may not have considered otherwise. So, what would my “perfect” system look like?
I’d start off with a simple D20 base. The system would have ascending AC, simple Saving Throws (only 3-4 categories at most, and I’m not strictly adherent to Fort/Reflex/Will, though that does work for me in a lot of cases).
The class structure would be simple 3-4 classes at most that will allow for a wide variety of character types by way of Background packages.
Races will be clear and concise without 1001 modifiers for every conceivable skill usage contingency. No stat minimums to play a particular race, in lieu of stat bonuses and penalties (typically ever more than a +/-2 in most cases with +/-1 being the norm).
Skills would be somewhat similar to those found in Star Wars Saga. Slight bonus to all class skills, with a few being tagged as “Trained” that get a bigger bonus, but characters would be able to tag non-class skills if they wish to use them as class skills, but with a smaller trained bonus. This would allow a Soldier character to have Medical skills, where such skills would normally fall under the Expert class.
Cybernetics would be handled in the same manner as Stars Without Number: Each piece of cybergear costs System Strain. A character cannot go beyond their Constitution score in System Strain. However, I would add in the option of the creation of total conversion cyborgs, but such characters are more like robots with organic brains than cyborgs that are more flesh and blood than metal. Not sure how I would handle that just yet.
Psionics would be handled much like Star Wars Saga’s Force powers. Psionic characters would start with few powers, they would only be usable once per combat, but refresh in a variety of ways. Every so many levels, they can make a Psicraft check to see if they can learn a new power, but the more powers a character has, the harder it will be to learn a new one. When the character wants to use a power, he/she makes a Psicraft check and the result of that check determines success or failure and to what degree when using some powers. Not sure that I’d have a dedicated Psion class or not, but I likely would due to the number of powers that a psion could possibly have.
Mutations would be handled in the same manner as found in Other Dust. That system allows for some oddities, but is also built in a way that’s not too ridiculous.
Weapons and Armor would have a wide variety of options. I like specific models of weapons and armor rather than generic varieties that cover various classes of weapons. It’s one of those ways to mechanically make the character different than others of the same class/race combination.
Starship and Robot creation systems found in Stars Without Number are excellent. I would use them as is.
I like SWN’s simple creature/NPC statblocks. The only thing I would change would be the removal of Morale. I’ve never liked Morale as a stat. I’ve always felt that such actions should totally be left up to the GM based on the creature/NPC descriptions and GM fiat based on the situation.
Tech Levels would be like those found in D20 Future. It allows for more subtle differences than the four levels found in SWN.
Sector creation would be a combination of those found in SWN, Starships & Spacemen, and Bandits & Battlecruisers. That would allow for both the realistic and a touch of the weird as well. SWN’s charts for the creation of societies and governments are great, but they are largely human-centric, which fits with the SWN setting of a shattered human empire, with few aliens.
There you have it, that what my “perfect” system would look like. Would I ever actually get it written up? Probably not, or at least not in a state that I would be completely happy with. After all, the devil is in the details as I have found out during the times that I have attempted to do such things.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Space Lords...or something like that...
I've started a new Wiki to deposit ideas for my "Star Wars without Star Wars" setting I was mulling over a couple posts ago. It's at http://spacelords.wikispaces.com/. No, I don't play to stick with "Space Lords" as a title, because, well, that's a bit too cheesy, but I'm tired and it's the only thing that came to mind.
I just created the wiki, so there's nothing there yet, but there will be soon. I'll try to keep everyone updated here about anything exciting going on there.
Up Next: I rolled up two new random creatures (both are actually kinda gross) that I'll get finalized and posted before pouring my free time into playing Heavy Rain on the PS3.
I just created the wiki, so there's nothing there yet, but there will be soon. I'll try to keep everyone updated here about anything exciting going on there.
Up Next: I rolled up two new random creatures (both are actually kinda gross) that I'll get finalized and posted before pouring my free time into playing Heavy Rain on the PS3.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Brainstorming: Star Wars without Star Wars
I finished my first playthrough of Mass Effect 2 the other night. If you haven't checked it out, do so. It's among one of the best CRPG's I've ever played. Hell, it's one of the best video games I've ever played. Period. It's just simply brilliant. It got me thinking about wanting to play a sci-fi game. For those that haven't tried it out, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition is a spectactular system. Not only is it a great Star Wars system, but it's also my favorite D20 system game as well. Even though I love Star Wars and I love playing in the setting since I think it's a great place for games of a space opera/sci-fantasy bent, I've been wanting to play something that's not really tied to the Star Wars universe. I still want the Force. I still want some of the species. I still want the feel. I just don't want the baggage of it being a "long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" because my players know what to expect. There are certain pre-conceived notions that come with playing Star Wars based on the era the game is taking place in. Even though there is enough leeway to be able to run any number of adventures in any era, players still come in knowing more about the setting than I've come to want them to know. Plus, by using the Saga system there's every little I'd have to add to the game mechanically to get the proper feel I'm looking for.
I've been batting around some ideas in my head, but haven't written anything down (until now). I want to craft my own setting that still feels like Star Wars, but doesn't have all the Jedi/Sith stuff; travelling across the galaxy isn't as easy as simply having a hyperdrive; and never has there ever been a Jar-Jar Binks. The Force is easily handled as psionics. However, I don't want the distinctly Light vs Dark spilt that is a given in the SW universe. There is simply this source of power, and while some may be more inherently good or evil the true distinction is how they are used by the individual. I haven't decided how I will handle the Force powers that deal with specific lightsaber training. There almost needs to be an order like the Jedi that is devoted to using the Force to weild a lightsaber to block blaster bolts, but I don't want anything as strict as the Jedi Order. I want the Force/psionics to be looked upon as being feared and dangerous. Those that weild this power are looked up with fear in most cases. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet.
As far as space travel goes, I think I'm going to go with something akin to Mass Effect Relays. These will allow nearly instantaneous travel to other relays in the galaxy, and possibly beyond, but while there are many of them found in the galaxy, and like many more yet to be found, there is still vast areas of the galaxy that can take long periods of time to get to. However, Mass Effect Drives allow travel faster than the speed of light, but they are nowhere close to instantaneous. Travel from a system that is home to a Relay to a nearby system using a Mass Effect drive can take days or even a month or more. The Star Wars universe has always hand-waved the travel requirements in lieu of telling a great pulpy story. However, it's made the SW setting feel much smaller than I've come to like for a somewhat "harder" sci-fi setting.
As far as species go, I'll likely use the massive tome of species I mentioned in an earlier post. However, I'll give the players a list of the major species that can easily be found throughout the galaxy. They can still play as a really strange and rare species of creature, but if they want something that is going to be more easily found they'll have the list. Plus, I want mutations. There are several sources for mutations in the various D20 system games. Those found in Darwin's World will likely fit the bill pretty well, and likely won't take too much change to fit them into the Saga system. Beyond that, most everything else that players will need to create their character are already a part of the Saga rules from bionics to cybernetics.
That's it for now. Future posting will get into more of the details like organizations and threats.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Some random thoughts
I'm working on a few things right now. The first is the ever constant work on building my book of species for Star Wars. The book draws from not only Star Wars sources, but from Star Trek, Babylon 5, Farscape, Fading Suns, various D20 franchises (D&D, Iron Kingdoms, D20 Modern, etc...), Rifts, HERO, and so on. I've got 804 species in the monster 272 page tome right now. Why? Mostly for the fun of it. Star Wars for me is the perfect setting. You can literally fit anything into it. Plus, I don't tend to stick to canon in my SW games, so having a group of heroes consisting of a Twi'lek, High Elf, Turian, and a Vulcan is just simply cool to me. Plus it's an interesting creative exercise as well, since I add a blurb with each species on how they fit into the SW universe. Sadly, this book is going to stay just to my group since there's a LOT of unlicensed IP in it.
I mentioned Dungeonslayers in my last post. It's a free download fantasy game that tries to capture that old school dungeon crawling feel without rehashing old school dice mechanics. The complete game is 10 pages long, but is easily added onto. I've played a few test encounters just to get the feel of the game, and it's pretty slick. I'm planning on trying it out with the group at our next game day. Hopefully they'll like it as much as I do.
The last game I'm working on that will headline our next game day (I tend to run most of the games) is Mutant Future, another free to download game. It's essentially Gamma World 1E with all the IP filed off. I really like it. I started out with Gamma World with 3E, which was based on the color coded chart system featured in other games like Marvel Super Heroes. Being a big fan of cartoons like Thundarr the Barbarian, and movies like The Road Warrior and The Omega Man, getting into Gamma World was a lock. I only got a chance to play 1st edition Gamma World a couple times, which is based off the 1st edition AD&D rules. Anyway, I'm hooked on Mutant Future and want to get a game going, so I'm working feverishly to get everything ready to roll for the next game day.
Gamepro this month has an interesting article about the supposed downfall of Japanese style computer RPG's. I haven't read the entire article yet, but I'll post my opinions when I'm done. Being a long-time fan of games like the Final Fantasy series, Lost Odyssey, and Wild A.R.M.S., the subject matter is very intriguing to me.
That's it for now, I'm going back to working on my Mutant Future game.
I mentioned Dungeonslayers in my last post. It's a free download fantasy game that tries to capture that old school dungeon crawling feel without rehashing old school dice mechanics. The complete game is 10 pages long, but is easily added onto. I've played a few test encounters just to get the feel of the game, and it's pretty slick. I'm planning on trying it out with the group at our next game day. Hopefully they'll like it as much as I do.
The last game I'm working on that will headline our next game day (I tend to run most of the games) is Mutant Future, another free to download game. It's essentially Gamma World 1E with all the IP filed off. I really like it. I started out with Gamma World with 3E, which was based on the color coded chart system featured in other games like Marvel Super Heroes. Being a big fan of cartoons like Thundarr the Barbarian, and movies like The Road Warrior and The Omega Man, getting into Gamma World was a lock. I only got a chance to play 1st edition Gamma World a couple times, which is based off the 1st edition AD&D rules. Anyway, I'm hooked on Mutant Future and want to get a game going, so I'm working feverishly to get everything ready to roll for the next game day.
Gamepro this month has an interesting article about the supposed downfall of Japanese style computer RPG's. I haven't read the entire article yet, but I'll post my opinions when I'm done. Being a long-time fan of games like the Final Fantasy series, Lost Odyssey, and Wild A.R.M.S., the subject matter is very intriguing to me.
That's it for now, I'm going back to working on my Mutant Future game.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Bittersweet Rebirth
I've ignored this blog for a while, but I've been wanting to start writing my thoughts about games, gaming, and other forms of geekery. It just so happens that two big things came to my attention today about two franchises very dear to me: Star Wars and Gamma World.
First off, Wizards of the Coast announced today that they are going to cancel the Star Wars miniatures and RPG lines. There are still one more minis set and another book coming out in April, but they're done after that. This, well, sucks. The Star Wars minis have been getting better with each set as far as the variety of figures and species covered (the quality of the paint jobs and the sculpts have dropped off for both the SW and D&D minis of late, however). The Star Wars Saga Edition was simply the finest Star Wars RPG I've ever had the pleasure of playing (and I've played them all). It wasn't just a good Star Wars game, but the best derivative D20 system I've played. It's what D&D 4th Edition should have been. It's a damn shame to see the lines die.
I do want to send out a heartfelt thanks to the folks at WotC for their excellent work on SAGA. Thanks to Owen KC Stephens, Rodney Thompson, Christopher Perkins, and everyone else that helped bring the Star Wars universe to life in RPG form in the best way possible. I look forward to getting my hands on The Unknown Regions as soon as it comes out.
The second bit of news that got me excited and then got just as quickly destroyed was the announcement that Gamma World would be returning. For those that don't know, Gamma World came about back when D&D was owned by TSR. It was a wild and wacky game dealing with mutants and survivors in a post-apocalyptic setting. I first got into GW with the 3rd edition of the game back in college when I rolled up a mutant cactus gunslinger by the name of "Prickly Bill." GW was part Mad Max, part Island of Doctor Moreau, and part Thundarr the Barbarian. You had mutant raiders, survivors delving into ruins looking for lost technology on par with stuff seen in Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, and so on. It was a lot of fun.
Anyway, it was discovered on Amazon that a new edition of GW (which was being called the 5th edition, but 5th edition of GW was the one made for the Alternity system, but I digress) was coming out in October. Great! Even if it's just GW draped over the D&D 4th Edition system, it could still work. I'd at least give it a look. Surely it couldn't be worse than the abortion of the D20 edition of GW that was put out by Sword and Sorcery Studios (6th Edition).
Yes. It can.
Info came out today stating that (in a Tweet by Dave Chalker of criticalhits.com): "Gamma World. Uses D&D rules. Complete game experience in box. 160 rulebook included. Rooted in d&d. Chargen, how to GM, monsters. 10 encounters, poster map, tokens. New card mechanics. Character will be mutant. "part cockroach, part yeti" In GW starter box, item cards and mutation cards that come up randomly. Some powerful, some silly. GW will have booster cards for players. GW booster packs will be random, only found in hobby stores (not bookstore) Will also have game day."
They are turning Gamma World into a damn collectible card game. What the hell? Why? I know there's overlap in the RPG and CCG markets, but the two arenas only shared themes and customers, not system components. That just took the elation of having new Gamma World to read and play and shot it in the head. I'm not even going to touch on the "Character will be mutant." or the cockroach/yeti stuff. This sounds like a product aimed not at both the old guard of GW fans and possible new players, but solely at the damn Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh crowd.
I understand that WotC wants to get a product out there that will keep people coming back to buy more and more and not just once a month, like usually happens with D&D, but at any time. I get that, I really do. After the 5th and 6th editions of GW that didn't even attempt to get what GW was all about, they go into uncharted water into an arena sure as hellfire to piss off the RPG crowd: collectible RPG's. Sure, we bought into the damn plastic crack that is the minis lines, but those weren't necessary game components (unless you played the actual minis games, that is). I could just as easily play without the minis as I could with them. This sounds like if you want the really cool mutations, and that's all that GW was about: mutants (that was sarcasm, BTW), then you need to buy packs of power cards until you get that super uber L33T chromium Duality card! Bullshit.
I've avoided most of the collectible gaming hobby. I got into the minis because I wanted cheap (relatively) figures that I didn't have to spend a lot of time on assembling, priming, and painting when all I want to do is play. I wasn't after every rare or very rare figure, just something that accurately and adequately portrayed the characters and monsters that I fielded on the game table. I never got sucked into Magic: The Gathering or World of Warcraft (the care game at least) or Pokemon, or any of the other myriad of CCG's on the market, and I'm sure as shit am not getting sucked into it to play GW. I'll stick to the excellent Mutant Future rules instead.
To top it off I fear this is the kind of thing they wanted to do with D&D 4E. Now they're digging up the corpse of Gamma World and creating a monster to test the water. I don't wish any of the designers as WotC any ill will, and I hope this hybrid of RPG and CCG does well for them, but I'm not getting in. My interest level is in the negative on this one. Count me the hell out.
There you have it. Other than the occasional pack of minis, WotC has in the span of literally hours ensured that they won't be getting anymore of my money. While I still kinda like 4E, I'm burned out on it (more on that later), and haven't picked up anything since the Eberron Player's Guide. Star Wars and the odd minis pack was what was keeping me a WotC customer, but no more Star Wars, minis that aren't nearly as good as they were a couple years ago, and now this news about a Gamma World that once again doesn't even try to get it are forcing me out.
Adios, Wizards, at least you're saving me money.
First off, Wizards of the Coast announced today that they are going to cancel the Star Wars miniatures and RPG lines. There are still one more minis set and another book coming out in April, but they're done after that. This, well, sucks. The Star Wars minis have been getting better with each set as far as the variety of figures and species covered (the quality of the paint jobs and the sculpts have dropped off for both the SW and D&D minis of late, however). The Star Wars Saga Edition was simply the finest Star Wars RPG I've ever had the pleasure of playing (and I've played them all). It wasn't just a good Star Wars game, but the best derivative D20 system I've played. It's what D&D 4th Edition should have been. It's a damn shame to see the lines die.
I do want to send out a heartfelt thanks to the folks at WotC for their excellent work on SAGA. Thanks to Owen KC Stephens, Rodney Thompson, Christopher Perkins, and everyone else that helped bring the Star Wars universe to life in RPG form in the best way possible. I look forward to getting my hands on The Unknown Regions as soon as it comes out.
The second bit of news that got me excited and then got just as quickly destroyed was the announcement that Gamma World would be returning. For those that don't know, Gamma World came about back when D&D was owned by TSR. It was a wild and wacky game dealing with mutants and survivors in a post-apocalyptic setting. I first got into GW with the 3rd edition of the game back in college when I rolled up a mutant cactus gunslinger by the name of "Prickly Bill." GW was part Mad Max, part Island of Doctor Moreau, and part Thundarr the Barbarian. You had mutant raiders, survivors delving into ruins looking for lost technology on par with stuff seen in Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, and so on. It was a lot of fun.
Anyway, it was discovered on Amazon that a new edition of GW (which was being called the 5th edition, but 5th edition of GW was the one made for the Alternity system, but I digress) was coming out in October. Great! Even if it's just GW draped over the D&D 4th Edition system, it could still work. I'd at least give it a look. Surely it couldn't be worse than the abortion of the D20 edition of GW that was put out by Sword and Sorcery Studios (6th Edition).
Yes. It can.
Info came out today stating that (in a Tweet by Dave Chalker of criticalhits.com): "Gamma World. Uses D&D rules. Complete game experience in box. 160 rulebook included. Rooted in d&d. Chargen, how to GM, monsters. 10 encounters, poster map, tokens. New card mechanics. Character will be mutant. "part cockroach, part yeti" In GW starter box, item cards and mutation cards that come up randomly. Some powerful, some silly. GW will have booster cards for players. GW booster packs will be random, only found in hobby stores (not bookstore) Will also have game day."
They are turning Gamma World into a damn collectible card game. What the hell? Why? I know there's overlap in the RPG and CCG markets, but the two arenas only shared themes and customers, not system components. That just took the elation of having new Gamma World to read and play and shot it in the head. I'm not even going to touch on the "Character will be mutant." or the cockroach/yeti stuff. This sounds like a product aimed not at both the old guard of GW fans and possible new players, but solely at the damn Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh crowd.
I understand that WotC wants to get a product out there that will keep people coming back to buy more and more and not just once a month, like usually happens with D&D, but at any time. I get that, I really do. After the 5th and 6th editions of GW that didn't even attempt to get what GW was all about, they go into uncharted water into an arena sure as hellfire to piss off the RPG crowd: collectible RPG's. Sure, we bought into the damn plastic crack that is the minis lines, but those weren't necessary game components (unless you played the actual minis games, that is). I could just as easily play without the minis as I could with them. This sounds like if you want the really cool mutations, and that's all that GW was about: mutants (that was sarcasm, BTW), then you need to buy packs of power cards until you get that super uber L33T chromium Duality card! Bullshit.
I've avoided most of the collectible gaming hobby. I got into the minis because I wanted cheap (relatively) figures that I didn't have to spend a lot of time on assembling, priming, and painting when all I want to do is play. I wasn't after every rare or very rare figure, just something that accurately and adequately portrayed the characters and monsters that I fielded on the game table. I never got sucked into Magic: The Gathering or World of Warcraft (the care game at least) or Pokemon, or any of the other myriad of CCG's on the market, and I'm sure as shit am not getting sucked into it to play GW. I'll stick to the excellent Mutant Future rules instead.
To top it off I fear this is the kind of thing they wanted to do with D&D 4E. Now they're digging up the corpse of Gamma World and creating a monster to test the water. I don't wish any of the designers as WotC any ill will, and I hope this hybrid of RPG and CCG does well for them, but I'm not getting in. My interest level is in the negative on this one. Count me the hell out.
There you have it. Other than the occasional pack of minis, WotC has in the span of literally hours ensured that they won't be getting anymore of my money. While I still kinda like 4E, I'm burned out on it (more on that later), and haven't picked up anything since the Eberron Player's Guide. Star Wars and the odd minis pack was what was keeping me a WotC customer, but no more Star Wars, minis that aren't nearly as good as they were a couple years ago, and now this news about a Gamma World that once again doesn't even try to get it are forcing me out.
Adios, Wizards, at least you're saving me money.
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