DnDNext, Modular Games, and Setting

When a new edition of the world's most popular role playing game is announced, people react. Boy, do they react...

I'm uninterested in stoking the fires of the edition wars with this post. If you're looking for flaming of a given edition or play-style, you're going to be disappointed. I was curious about another aspect of releasing a "modular" game system.

To be sure, the concept of a modular role playing game system is not a new idea. Take a look at Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying core rulebook, any edition of Steve Jackson Games' venerable GURPS, Hero Games' HERO System, Green Ronin's True20, or Savage Worlds. Each of these are useful and entertaining games.

My question: Should a core rulebook for a game include a default setting?

Several of these previously-mentioned games do not have settings included in their core books. (I think HERO might be the exception there.) Would a modular RPG benefit from having a solid, well-defined setting in their core rules books?

I feel that, given DnD's tremendous popularity, it will need somewhere solid into which the casual tabletop gamer can drop their spell-slinging mystics and thugs with axes. DnD4e's default setting was the Nentir Vale (borrowing heavily from previous editions' settings later in their development). DnD3x's default setting was Greyhawk, but it seemed to suffer from an editorial push to be generic enough that it didn't outshine the rules the game presented in the three core books.

Regardless, I'm curious about the kind of balance that authors feel should be created between a system and setting in a "generic" or "modular" game.

All the best games integrate elements of the setting into their rules. The things on your character sheet should mean something in the world your character lands in. An Orlanthi shaman won't have spells to summon fire elementals. The Knights of the Blue Rose will be expected to arbitrate disputes in the outlying areas of the kingdom, regardless of their arcane or martial abilities (or even their ability to speak the local language). You can tell how successful an Investigator in Call of Cthulhu is by comparing their number of encounters with the Mythos and their Sanity score.

To get this level of detail, in a potentially "generic" rule set, could be an editorial challenge. Done well, the integration of these two parts of game-craft should show inventive / creative types how to apply the core rules to their own settings.

At least that's what I'm hoping for.

To Greyhawk or Not To Greyhawk?

Every few years, I look at the current state of the table-top roleplaying culture and I wonder where I should be running my games. Not whose house to gather at, not which room to take over and strew books around in, but what setting to use?

Let's face facts: I don't have the same amount of time to devote to writing material to use for game. Work is more and more invasive on my time, real life takes its toll. So, how do I spend my time prepping for the sessions I run? So far, it's been about taking established Greyhawk material and translating it to Pathfinder rules. That, or creating whole-cloth the stuff that I need for my specific game. Greyhawk is awesome, and there are no more books being released there.

Golarion, on the other hand, has new material being released from both professional and amateur sources. (This is, of course, the default setting for the Pathfinder RPG. And more than just quantity, the quality of the Golarion releases is quite high. Personally, I haven't seen the kind of layers and detail that are being wrought for Golarion since 80's-era Glorantha. Detailed local shrines which actually have effects on the characters who attend them, personalities and politics in every corner of the world, well-balanced NPCs who genuinely need the player-characters as either their foils or their allies.

Also, have I mentioned that this is already in the system my players prefer to use?

Greyhawk was my first setting. I'm profoundly affectionate for it. However, I might need to swap over to a different setting for the games I'm running in my limited time. Yup. I'm thinking it might be time to set Greyhawk aside for a little while (at least until I get done with my writing for it).

Opinions? Confessions?

Let me know!

[Pathfinder] Sirrian's Tome of Changes

Sirrian Lightchaser’s Tome of Changes

Description- The Tome of Changes is a square, approximately three hand-spans on a side. Polished darkwood covers bind together one hundred and twenty pages of thin, strong paper. The covers of the Tome lay flat against its pages, with a strong set of metallic cords penetrating the darkwood and pages in a regular pattern creating the hinge which opens the book. Both the cording and the paper of the pages are unique, with each owner of the Tome researching their potential origin without success.

The Tome of Changes is unusual in that it appears to have started out as a working field-notebook, then evolved into a more serious record of Sirrian's development as a mage. Reflecting this, there are three distinct sections to the book. Each section is detailed below.

[Pathfinder] Ursht - 2nd Level

History

The Ebon Six have been busy. Guided by visions from his sire, Ursht has helped them secure positions within the political landscape of the Yeomanry. After careful vetting of candidates to find those of weak will and corruptable mein, Ursht would be brought in (cloaked and masked) to mesmerize by leading special séances to speak with the ancestors of the attendees. These rituals were devised to give victims visions of political success, and the cult more information about what motivates their targets.

[Pathfinder] Ursht - New Character

A vile demon-worshiping cult has wormed its way into the noble Houses of the Yeomanry of the Flanaess. What began as a fashionable séance-enacting occult society evolved into The Ebon Six, a coven which venerates Graz'zt and holds ties to the warlord Iuz. To cement the cult's power and prove their faith to the Dark Prince, the cabal's leader Heneras gave Graz'zt his eldest unmarried daughter. Surulla disappeared in a flash during the ritual but was found several days later walking back towards the capital, babblingly insane.

[Pathfinder] New Weapon Enchantment - Wrack

Wrack: When a wrack weapon inflicts any damage against the specified type of foe, the target must make a Fortitude save DC 15. If the victim fails the save, he is Staggered for 1d3 rounds as waves of pain course through him. Against the designated enemy type, the weapon's enhancement bonus is +1 better than its actual bonus.

[Wanderer] Introduction begun

Got a little writing done last night for Wanderer. Using the original LBBs as a template, I'm writing the Introduction and "What is role playing" sections.

To be honest, strict discipline is the only thing keeping me to this old-school standard. I was one of those people whose first exposure to role playing was sitting at a table and watching a group work their way through the end of Slave Pits of the Undercity. Getting to actually see the ebb and flow of the game brought the experience home much more solidly than any "what is roleplaying" section I've ever read. My gaming group includes people who had to rely on these chapters during their formative gaming years, and I cannot imagine having to climb that hill on my own...


So, writing is beginning on the Wanderer project. Huzzah! I'm really enjoying it.


In other news, the default setting for Wanderer will be vague and allow for Referees to build what they want of their world. The initial premise is that progenitor civilizations blasted each other to bits hundreds of years ago, and currently heroes are beginning to protect their tribes and build new kingdoms. This will allow for the "randomly generated" aspects of the Traveller rules to be implemented in Wanderer without too much handwavium. Randomly generated entities will include; kingdoms, ruins (of the progenitor kingdoms), and beasts / monsters.


Generating random monsters to wander through the PCs' settlements ties into the previous collapse of civilization; magical experimentation led to their downfall. Generating random ruins and kingdoms provides the opportunity for solitary play. I don't want to use the term "dungeon", but it's a hard habit to break when it fits so well.


Modern role playing games have the concept of a Referee as default; original Traveller was brilliant in that it allowed for solitary play through the use of the randomly-generated creatures, star systems, planets, and cargoes. Ergo, Wanderer shall fit this paradigm as well. It's going to be an interesting experiment.


Can't wait until the end of the month! Work is keeping me hopping until the end of June. Wanderer development should rocket along swiftly after the first week of July.