Appologies to JohnK for HTMLizing this note, but I wanted to make some emphases clear to make sure I was making my point. (Side note, for those who are interested: we got my entire house full of furniture and books, books, and more books loaded into a 24' long truck, drove it 300 miles, and then unloaded it all into a 10' x 20' storage cubicle. It was amazing to see the truck completely emptied in just 1 hour (literally) with the help of a few friends and family.)
I think the whole question of what this project is and how it will ultimately organize itself is still being worked out, and it is far too early for anyone to bail on the project. (John C, please come back; we need you.)
We are still in the process of forming what this group's goals will be, and I think that we need everyone's input. The intent of this project, I think, is to be as inclusive and as helpful to all current and future players of DQ as we can be, and to that end, if half the group here is feeling that their needs are not being served, then we are not headed in the right direction.
I think (personal opinion) that identifying a 'Core Set' of DQ rules, which is a subset of 2nd Edition DragonQuest, Bantam Printing from which to base all variants, and then being able to add or subtract anything else based on that common starting point is a wonderful long-range goal, but it isn't the most important thing to work on to completion right now. An outline of what is essential core would be useful as a reference document, but I don't think it's what we should all start with. Most people will probably stick with DQ 2nd Ed. as their 'Core Rules,' and that's fine, too. But I think that we can go through the rules and point out what things need to be looked at (and possibly revised at some point), and what we consider to be the essential base.
I agree with John Rauchert's concept (or, more accurately, my own vision of where this project is headed is similar to his) of DQ as a Linux-like entity, with a group of us writing, testing, and revising, and ultimately sanctioning and web-publishing additions to the DQ rules. To take 'Poor Brendan's Almanac' as an example, that is the sort of thing, for the near term, that I envision us producing. But the idea is that it has been playtested by several different groups and that we have come to a general consensus that it is balanced, that it works within the system and that it continues the spirit and flavor of DragonQuest. Rather than all of us piecemeal making our own tweaks and additions, we all get together and work on it collectively. Sure we can all keep on writing stuff for our own campaigns. And we certainly have the right to use what we like and toss the rest. That's how it has been up until now. But as a group, we can pool our efforts, test out rules and report back to the rest, revise and rewrite until we have it right. As the Linux people say, "Many eyes make bugs shallow;" the more of us working together, the clearer and better the rules will be.
If, sometime well down the road, we get to the point where the whole thing takes on its own life, then we see about transforming it into it's own game system or something like that. But that's not now.
What do I see as this group's starting points? Here is a list of a
few things:
- I would like to see the various colleges of magic playtested by
different groups.
- I would like to see a regular 'Arena of Death' that meets on
WebRPG Online to test out new weapons and combat rules.
- I would like to see a list of additional Skills which should be
added to the game (and here I see two debates: the first being what
skills should be added, and the second being how then to write those
skills rules).
- I would like to see discussions that begin with, "Do you think
there should be a rule for X in DQ..."
- I would like to see rules additions, revisions, clarifications
and substitutions written, discussed, tested and eventually produced
for all DQ players' use.
This is just my version of how things should go, however.
What is most important is that we agree on a system we all feel we can contribute to in order to improve on DragonQuest without screwing it up. It's a tall order, but I think we are up to it.
-- Rodger Thorm