Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game Discussion Thread

[HunterS]

Just a quick non-update update (that Phil will probably make a regular update-update), but we have preorder forms for our upcoming GURPS books, Mars Attacks and Discworld Roleplaying Game, ready to print out and give to your local retailer!

Simple print these out, fill them out, and turn it into your FLGS to preorder the games.

Discworld Roleplaying Game: http://bit.ly/DiscWpreorder

GURPS Mars Attacks: http://bit.ly/MApreorder


As you know, our goal in general is to keep producing GURPS printed product, and the Dungeon Fantasy Kickstarter is a great barometer but backing it up with sales from our upcoming books is going to help us a lot in telling retailers that yes, they want to be stocking this because there is a demand.

Thanks for all the support, as always!

[kmunoz]

Originally Posted by HunterS

Simple print these out, fill them out, and turn it into your FLGS to preorder the games.

I wish I had one anywhere near me. South Jersey is like a sand-blasted post-apocalyptic wasteland from the 1970s.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by kmunoz

I wish I had one anywhere near me. South Jersey is like a sand-blasted post-apocalyptic wasteland from the 1970s.

You just described most of Jersey. ;-)

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

Which ones are those?

Off-topic for this thread?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by kmunoz

In particular, in order to use GCA effectively, you have to know to turn off all the default data sets and use only the DFRPG one - otherwise you end up with a garden hose blast of traits and equipment that you have never seen, using point values that may not reflect DFRPG specifics.

GCA does not turn on any data sets by default except Basic Set. The usual problem is more excited new users adding them all at once.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Anders

I don't think so. On his interview with Douglas Cole, Kromm talked about how pregen characters are pretty much a waste of space.

I don't want to see pregens... but I'd love to see some 'iconics'.

However... the iconics I'd want won't be useful for DFRPG. For instance I'd love to see Mrugnak at 250 points... or the starting 250 point group from Peter's Felltower campaign... or even what Kromm or PK think would be an iconic starting group.

Originally Posted by A Ladder

IME Pregens are not useful.

Aw contraire.

Everytime I've started up or been in the start up of a new campaign for a new system someone always wants to "just use a pregen" and someone else always wants to use one with the numbers moved around a bit.

GURPS is the only system I haven't been able to do that in, and that isn't a selling point with those two guys.

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

OK I'll put gca datafile issues a different way round. Using gca is such an enormous boon to designing a character that any setting that doesn't have a reasonably complete set of gca datafiles is at a disadvantage in attracting people to it in my opinion.

Okay I'll put the GCA/no GCA issue in a different light: I hate the GCA and so does most of my group (independently of me).

We all find it far more difficult to use than just pen and paper.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

There are several GURPS books that have been out for years with no gdf yet...

This is true. However, most of those either have marginal new material (maybe a couple modifiers or skills which can easily be created on the fly using the various trait builders built into GCA) or have a marginal fanbase (some of the extra magic systems from the Thaumatology line, for instance). The amount of attention that a book or line of books gets in GCA is directly proportional to the number of fans that are excited about it and that contribute to it.

Originally Posted by Bruno

On the other hand, we already have Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers and the entire Basic Set written up.

This is a big one here. I expect that most of the new DFRPG data file will be rippable directly from the existing files with only marginal changes to point costs or trait names. Frankly, my biggest concern here is with creating different forks of datafiles that must be maintained in parallel (that is, once you start copying traits into multiple datafiles you also have to start maintaining errata in multiple datafiles too.

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Sure, I'm just saying that there's no real evidence that there's much interest in making GDFs in the community.

This is also true. However, as I just said support is generally directly proportional to the number of fans and their excitement with the book or line of books, and generally Dungeon Fantasy has seen a lot of excitement and support from fans. It has been one of my favorite lines, and is one I will likely be working on vigorously.

Originally Posted by Bruno

GCA does not turn on any data sets by default except Basic Set. The usual problem is more excited new users adding them all at once.

And users even refusing to understand why they should not be adding all of them even after being told by the developers to not turn everything on all at once. We've even built warning messages into the program about it, and people still occasionally blunder forward anyways. It's one of those things that is very difficult to get a handle on, because on the one hand you want to keep the flexibility of allowing users to load whatever files they desire (especially to support the books they actually own) but at the same time you don't want them loading everything under the sun every time.

[mlangsdorf]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

However... the iconics I'd want won't be useful for DFRPG. For instance I'd love to see Mrugnak at 250 points

Yeah, as minotaur barbarian, Mrugnak wouldn't be an iconic for DFRPG. Too bad. But there's at least one version of him (Bruno has made dozen of versions of Mrugnak for different games) on the web:
http://westmarchsaga.wikia.com/wiki/Mrugnak_Svartharn

The link to the PDF is dead, but I'll try to fix that tomorrow.

[kmunoz]

Originally Posted by Bruno

GCA does not turn on any data sets by default except Basic Set. The usual problem is more excited new users adding them all at once.

My wording was sloppy. What I meant by that was all the trait categories. But now I'm realizing that a good DFRPG GDF would turn all of those off anyway.

[Kalzazz]

I personally have no real desire to use GCA, I like my own sheets much better

I like pre gens! You can always file the serial numbers off and use as badguys