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There’s more to OGL than d20 (Part 1)
7July 29, 2009
A couple of years back, when Wizards of the Coast released 3rd Edition of D&D, they not only updated the famous franchise, but they also gave us the Open Gaming License. For the first time, you could create new games, adventures, supplements based on the d20 System without special approval from the creators of D&D.
In a way this helped resurrect the RPG industry. A lot of new companies appeared and produced products using the d20 System back then and over the following years more companies jumped the OGL bandwagon by releasing their game rules under the OGL.
So, what other games are currently available under the OGL? In the last days I had done some research, since I initially planned to use an OGL game for my Ad Astra campaign before I settled for Savage Worlds instead.
Here’s what I’ve found:
D&D 3.5 (as Revised 3.5 SRD)
Of course not everything contained in the D&D 3.5 rulebooks is open content, but the majority of the rules, classes, monsters and spells is included in the Revised 3.5 SRD (SRD stands for System Reference Document).
The SRD is actually still available from the WotC website in RTF format. My favorite version of this document is the website “The Hypertext d20 SRD“.
d20 Modern (as SRD Modern)
D20 Modern was a pretty cool game, in many part IMHO even better than D&D itself. Alas WotC treated d20 Modern a bit like an unwanted stepchild and support stopped a few years ago, with no updated version in sight.
The d20 Modern SRD can still be downloaded from the WoTC site in RTF format. There are also a couple of PDF versions floating around the net, including the very good looking Modern d20 Core Kit from RPGObjects.
FUDGE
FUDGE always had a pretty open license even back in 1995, long before the OGL. Pretty recently Grey Ghost Press decided to release FUDGE under the OGL, too. So, what kind of game is FUDGE? If you ask me, it’s not a game at all but more like a toolbox for creating your own RPG.
You get a pretty simple basic mechanic using Fudge dice (six-sided dice with two blank sides, two sides with “-” and two sides with “+” on it) and a lot of optional rules. You can even easily introduce concepts from other games to FUDGE. The FUDGE SRD is available as RTF from Grey Ghost Press here.
FATE
Perhaps you’ve already read about “Spirit of the Century“, the pulp RPG by Evil Hat Productions that has been praised by gamers and critics alike. SotC is based on the FATE RPG which itself was based on FUDGE. So, when FUDGE was released under the OGL, Evil Hat jumped the bandwagon and made FATE 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition (which is used for SotC and the upcoming Dresden Files RPG) available under the OGL, too.
If you are interested in learning more about FATE (at least the 2nd Edition), check out my review. You can download the FATE 2nd Edition rules and the SotC SRD on the official FATE website.
The Action! System
The Action! system is Gold Rush Games‘ version of the FUZION system that was as far as I know one of the first free systems on the internet. FUZION is a combination of the Interlock and the HERO system. The Action! system that is available under the OGL is supposedly 95% compatible to the FUZION system. Alas the Gold Rush Games’ site is more or less down and a couple of links on the official Action System site are dead as well. But I could find a HTML version of the SRD (which also removed all trademarked content) here.
BESM d20 (as Anime d20 SRD)
Big Eyes Small Mouth was the anime-inpired roleplaying game created by Guardian of Order. BESM d20 was their try to tap into the d20 market. Although I prefer the Tri-Stat version of BESM, the d20 variant has its charm. One of the highlights is the fact that GoO reverse-engineered the standard d20 classes and by doing so created a point-based system to create custom classes. Even if you don’t care for anime, this aspect of BESM d20 makes it very interesting. Alas GoO is out of business and as far as I know there was no support for BESM d20 aside from a Slayers setting. But you can still get the Anime d20 SRD here.
This concludes part 1 of my look at the different games released under the OGL. There are still a few more systems to write about in my next post of this series. So, what are your thoughts about the games I mentioned so far? As always I am very interested in your comments!
Skyfall
0July 9, 2009
Today I stumbled upon Skyfall, an article by Rob Donoghue that allows playing Final Fantasy-inspired games using the “Spirit of the Century” rules. Actually he never uses the “Final Fantasy” name but the inclusion of classic FF tropes like Dragoons (the high-jumping variety), Chocobos and elemental spells for Black Mages (including the -ga spells) makes it pretty clear that Rob’s main inpiration was the FF series.
The 19-page PDF document also includes a complete campaign setting. The file can be downloaded for free from the FATE RPG Yahoo Group (under Files > Rules and Settings).
Please note that you need a copy of the “Spirit of the Century” roles to make use of this document, but it may be possible that the SRD (available here) does suffice.
Nevertheless this is a special treat for any fan of Japanese console RPGs and Evil Hat’s FATE RPG!
Update: Rob has allowed me to mirror the PDF on my site, so you can download it from here, too! Enjoy!
Quick & Dirty Games website launched
1June 24, 2009
Today the website of the new roleplaying game publisher and design studio Quick & Dirty Games launched. Q&D Games is the brain-child of Michael Garcia, who some of you probably know from his work on several ICE products. He also set up the Dungeonslayers wiki (by the way, we still need some help translating some of the Dungeonslayer stuff from German to English, so if you are interested make sure to check the wiki out !).
Michael Garcia is currently working on a fantasy RPG using Chad Underkoffler’s PDQ rules. This yet unnamed game is planned to be released as a 64-page print book. But he also intends to release some stuff for free (like his awesome FATE/FUDGE character sheet).
For more information on Quick & Dirty Games, you should check out the official website! By the way, I helped Michael with the website and logo, and we are going to release a free game I have written soon. So stay tuned!
So, you want to play a pulp genre game?
6February 24, 2009
One of the genres that have seen quite a lot of renewed interest in recent times is the pulp genre. That statement is true and not true at the same time. Why? It’s true because you hear a lot more talk about pulp games or games with pulp elements but if you look a bit closer, you notice that there has always been a strong pulp influence in gaming even if you didn’t call it that way.
So, what is Pulp anyway?
Pulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines that were widely published from the 1920s through the 1950s. Pulp magazines featured stories from many genres including fantasy/sword and sorcery, science fiction, detective/mystery, horror/occult, western and many more. Noteable writers that have written “pulp stories” include Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Mark Twain and H. G. Wells.
So the pulp genre is much bigger than most of us would believe. I think most people cringe when authors like Isaac Asimov or Mark Twain are called ”pulp authors”, including me, but that’s what they wrote. And the pulp genre is probably defined more by its format and not the quality of writing. A recurring element were brightly colored covers with motives that more often than not featured a scantily clad damsel in distress.
Pulp in roleplaying
When we look at the list of authors that wrote pulp stories, we notice that a lot of games could be called pulp genre games. But usually we limit the pulp genre to games inspired by the more blatant features of this broad genre. Usually pulp genre games copy the artwork style from magazines like Amazing Stores or Phantom Detective even down to the price tag. The classic pulp genre roleplaying game focusses on fantastic stories, two-fisted no-nonsense characters and epic vistas. Especially Exile Game Studio’s Hollow World Expedition and Evil Hat Productions’ Spirit of the Century come to mind. So why seems there be a heightened interest in this genre recently?
For one the pulp genre was always one of the favorite gaming genres even when we didn’t call it that way. Even D&D or Traveller have been strongly influenced by pulp magazines. Since H.P. Lovecraft’s stories appeared in pulp magazines, too, even horror games like Call of Cthulhu are in fact pulp games although almost all features I listed before are missing. Another factor is the internet. In earlier times most people just didn’t know what was out there. I know groups who played D&D ad infinitum without ever knowing that there were other games, other worlds, other genres out there. The internet changed a lot of that. And people are getting tired of the same old game again and again.
And it seems the old pulp stories are old enough now to feel fresh and vibrant again!
So, what are your favorite pulp games? As always I love to read your comments, so please speak your mind using the comment section below!
Boardgames and Roleplaying
4There are quite a few boardgames or miniature skirmish games with elaborate background stories that almost beg to turned into a roleplaying game. In some cases the developers of these games came up with their own roleplaying game. And some games like Heavy Gear or Savage Worlds can be used as either a miniatures game or a roleplaying game.
Recently a friend of mine proposed we could play some Battletech again. Battletech is a tactical board game where you control one or several huge mecha called Battlemechs. The game was initially created by the now defunct FASA Corporation. His idea was to use the rules from Mechwarrior (we decided to use the 2nd Edition rules) to create some mechwarriors that are in charge of their own unit of mercenaries fighting in the wars of the 31st century. We will use standard battletech rules for the mech-vs-mech fights and the roleplaying game for all other encounters. When everything turns out as planned, we all will have a great time.
But this made me thinking. There are a lot of games that would work great as a combat system for roleplaying games. Take some miniatures skirmish game like Games Workshop’s Necromunda for example. In that game each player controls a gang in the Underhive of a huge 41st millenium megacity. The combat rules are very detailed and there are even rules for campaigns and improving the stats and skills of the gangers. So, why not turn it into a fully-fledged roleplaying game? You can of course write up you own rules but it’s much easier to keep the combat rules of the skirmish game intact and add some other rules for the non-combat parts.
This is easy to do with a roleplaying game like FUDGE. FUDGE allows the GM to choose the attributes and skills he needs for his campaign. So just use Necromundas Stats and Abilities as detailed in the rules of the skirmish game and you’re done. You just have make sure that the fighting skills for the combat part of the game can easily be represented using FUDGE. Necromunda like all GW tabletop miniature games uses WS (Weapon Skill) and BS (Ballistic Skill) for combat checks. All stats including WS and BS can usually range from 1 to 10. FUDGE normally uses skills and attributes ranked from Terrible to Superb with 5 steps in between. For normal gangers you can set Terrible=2, Poor=3 etc. until Superb=8 and you’re mostly done. You can now easily convert between both systems. That could work for other GW games as well.
Another game that comes in mind, when thinking about boardgames that would make a great background for a roleplaying games is Crimson Skies. Crimson Skies is a tactical boardgame much like Battletech (it was created by FASA too), but this time you control fighter planes in an alternative early 20th century. The background is pretty detailed and gives a lot of opportunities for adventures outside the cockpit. For a fitting roleplaying game for Crimson Skies I would just take Spirit of the Century since it’s close enough to FUDGE to being easily adaptable and it’s already the right genre. Just use the standard Crimson Skies rules for air combat and you’re done.
What are your thoughts on that matter? Have you already used a boardgame as part of the roleplaying experience? As always, feel free to post your thought into the comment section below!
FATE review
5December 1, 2008
“Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment” or FATE for short is a free roleplaying game by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue. In many ways FATE is different from classic roleplaying games like D&D for example. In a way FATE is also more of a GM’s toolbox than a complete RPG much like FUDGE, the game FATE is based on. My review is based on the FATE 2.0 rules freely available on the FATE website. The creators of FATE are currently working on the “Dresden Files RPG” and have recently released “Spirit of the Century”. Both games use an updated version of the rules, which will be released as FATE 3.0 shortly after the “Dresden Files RPG” is out.
Funky dice
FATE uses FUGDE dice for task resolution. Fudge dice are six-sided dice with plus (+), minus (-) and blank sides. You usually roll four dice and add the results. You can generate results from -4 to +4 in that way.
FATE also allows you to use different dice as well, when you don’t want to buy a set of special dice, but the Fudge dice are recommended.
No attributes
The biggest difference between FATE and classic roleplaying games is the lack of attributes. Usually RPGs have attributes like strength, charisma etc. to describe a character’s abilities. In FATE is it assumed that usually most characters have average attributes. To describe what makes characters special, aspects come into play. An aspect is always something what differentiates a character from his fellow men. And since FATE is story-oriented fancy aspects like “Strong like an ox” are preferrable to simply “Strong”. In situations where a character’s aspect could play a role in the game, the player make “invoke” his aspect, which allows him to reroll dice or change a roll’s result. An aspect like “Member of Thieves guild” for example might be used to influence botched pickpocketing tests or help the character find a branch of his guild in a city he just travelled to.
The GM may also invoke aspects to force players to act in certain ways. Take the example with the “Member of Thieves guild” again. The GM may use this to let a NPC call in a favor from the player character or ask the player to act upon his guild’s codex. If the player acts on that request he is rewarded FATE points, he can use to improve roll results or reduce wounds (“It’s just a flesh wound!”) or he can pay FATE points when he doesn’t want to act out his aspect.
Aspects can also be bought in ranks. A character with two ranks in the “Strange Luck” aspect may invoke this aspect twice before it resets. That can be daily, every session, after an extended rest or whatever suits the GM style of play.
Skills
Skills in FATE are pretty standard. The GM decides what skills he wants to use for his campaign. FATE gives several examples on skills and there are three levels of detail the GM may use for his campaign. The more detailed the different skills are (in contrast to broader skill groups) the more points the player may distribute among his skills. FATE also makes use of a “skill pyramid” that is meant to discourage unbalanced characters. Skill levels in FATE are described by adjectives instead of number values, so you can use everyday terms to describe your character’s abilities like in “My character is a Fair swordsman”.
Toolbox
FATE shows it’s toolbox character in every aspect of the rules. There is no fixed set of skills, the GM is entitled to make a list fitting his game, aspects are discussed between player and GM during character creation and there are three different combat rule systems and several magic systems available in the 84 pages of the rulebook. There is not even an implied setting like in D&D 4th Edition, so if you want to use FATE, you have to bring your own setting or convert an existing one.
Conclusion
FATE is a great roleplaying game for an experienced gaming group interested in story-heavy gaming. Although the rules can be quite “crunchy” at times, the focus of the rules is always the characters and the story and never number-crunching. Especially the aspect system sounds very interesting, although it can be quite hard to get your head around sometimes.
Pros:
- It’s free. You can’t get a cheaper roleplaying game
- It’s a game designer’s toolbox. If you like designing your own world, game, etc., then FATE is perfect!
- It’s only 84 pages long, but filled with designer notes and examples. That’s a big plus in my book, since I don’t have so much time reading hundreds of pages. I want to play, dammit!
Cons:
- It uses fudge dice! Although the fudge dice work great, it’s always a hurdle if you need to get non-standard dice.
- No setting. If you are looking for a game to pickup and play, FATE is not the right RPG for you.
Please note that this review is based on the 2nd edition of FATE (available here) and I haven’t been able to actually playtest the game. So please bear with me. As always comments are more than welcome!
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