Module Prime - Beta, Gamma, Delta.... ?

[domingojs23]

Dear Friends,

Are there any plans in the short / medium term for a second issue of "Module Prime" ?

Thanks !

Gary

[Jean]

My plans:

Get out PD Feds.

Re-edit and get out PD20M Romulans.

Get out a new "flavor" of PD -- D6, Hero, Savage Worlds, Mongoose Traveller -- depending upon the authors.

I cannot absorb a PD magazine into my time at this point. When I retire, I hope to do so.

[Sweeper]

A Prime Directive version of the Communique would be nice. But with all the different versions of the game, it'd be a little obnoxius to try to fit all that in.

[Steve Cole]

After Jean gets here (in 1d6 years) she might do that.

[ericphillips]

A Prime Directive version of the Communique would be nice. But with all the different versions of the game, it'd be a little obnoxius to try to fit all that in.

I know its d6 years off, but:

The best way would be to make adventures and seeds either system agnostic, and have conversions at the end (or online).

So, the scene might have a Lock to get by, with a difficulty Hard (hard). Then there is a table of difficulties and the modifier for each system. NPCs could be described and then they are fully in an appendix. Better yet, make an NPC book for each system. Each new NPC is done up in the varios systems, then cataloged in an NPC PDF so thety may be called on again without rewriting everything.

For instance, say I wrote a short adventure with a set of Klingon Postmen who's mail the Prime Team needs to intercept. I'd make it for GURPS, d20, and whatever other system, and it would go into the NPC book.

A year later, someone writes another adventure with Klingon Postmen. All he has to do is say "see NPC pdf." Essentially, it would become similar to Traveller's 1,001 Characters, with GMs using the NPCs as well in their own adventures.

All that would need stats would be new items, etc. But adventures, maps, etc, are all pretty universal.

Of course, new items and so on would need stats for each game in it (but only one description).

[domingojs23]

A Prime Directive version of the Communique would be nice. But with all the different versions of the game, it'd be a little obnoxius to try to fit all that in.

I know its d6 years off, but:

The best way would be to make adventures and seeds either system agnostic, and have conversions at the end (or online).

Dear Sweeper and Eric,

Hear hear ! Great ideas. I think a regular PD-specific Communique would be great, and PD product system agnosticism is something I have been advocating !!!

Cheers,

Gary

[Steve Cole]

I don't think that system-agnostic books are marketable. Players I have talked to want THEIR data right there, on the spot, not in an appendix, not in a download, and not cluttered with a bunch of other systems.

[ericphillips]

I agree on sourcebooks, but it seems more difficult with a magazine in print. PDFs can easily be distributed in their own system versions, so a PDF dowmloadable mag is easy. But would stores want multiple mags?

[domingojs23]

Dear SVC and Friends,

Well, the customer is always right !

It is frustrating though that we have a proliferation of different RPG systems, so the advancement of new PD line titles is slowed as ADB needs to produce any given title in multiple system formats.

Cheers,

Gary

[Steve Cole]

It's not really slowed at all. Once you actually have the data (the game-specific stats) which you'd need for a genericbook (with an annex or a downloadable supplement) we can have the new book in a day.

The stores want what sells, and the players have told the stores they don't want generic books, but books for THEIR system.

[domingojs23]

Oh ok ! I had the impression, maybe mistaken then, that a reason for the delay in the release of the PD Federation Sourcebook was the uneven pace of the system-specific data for the book.

[Jean]

The slowness in PD Feds is that I must have time to do it. I have small windows of time when we are not producing something for SFB, FC, or F&E during which I can work on PD Feds. I also have to have SVC free as he is doing layout.

Players and stores don't want to have to purchase two products to be able to play the game. In addition, there is text that is game specific that would be cumbersome to read. Take this: "At this point [TL8 (GURPS), PL7 (PD20M), Y172 (SW), TL C (ABC System)] ..." That is just purely ugly to read.

[Sweeper]

Hmm.... A Legend/Roseta Stone might be in order. As each version of PD defines things like Tech Levels, distance, and others pretty much the same. So using that commonality would be key when definine most things that would be in a Prime Dispatch (Hey, I like that).


For example, a world could be defined in straight-forward terms recognizable by everyone.

Example world:

"Gavara (Betelgues IV) [WARNING!!! Pre-Warp Culture. Prime Directive is in effect. Do not contact!!!]

Size: 15945.1 KM in diameter (roughly 25% larger than Earth)

Gravity 1.2 G

Tech: Late Nuclear Age

Government: Primarily Democratic/Caste System

Forth planet in the solar system orbiting the Betelgues star, Gavara is home to a Centauroid race called the Gavar. The world has 3 large contients, two in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere, and is dotted by nuemerous Archapeligo formations (It is speculated that they are what remains of 2 other contients that sank due to techtonic activity in the area).

The Gavar evolved from a Plains Dewling herd animal and their society reflects much of that. To a Gavar, everything needs to be a group effort. From Agriculture all the way up to Global Policy, everything is done in a group. This has caused both huge leaps in Culture and Technology, but has caused major setbacks and disasters when the Leader Castes become divided as few things happen without unanimous consent of the group. The most common exceptions to this are the Defender Castes (which encompases Military and Law Enforcement), and Outcasts who reject the societial norms.

Reguardless of the Caste they're born from, all Gavar children are tested and schooled together. As they grow older, they are encouraged to study professions they test highly in. As they grow older, they are slowly divided into smaller groups, with each group having a broad based area of study. By the time they finish advanced schooling, they go on to the caste they studied for."

Now, the completed version of this could be dropped into a Dispatch and be used by any PD system. The only thing that would have to made 'System Specific' would be the template for a Gavar, not that that would be difficult to buld.

My 50 cents

[Jean]

Guys, this isn't going to happen until I retire. That looks to be 2013. By then, we may have moved to a model of some sort of e-zine.

I won't have a clue how my time will shake out until I am in Amarillo. Until I am there and have a good workflow feel, I will not promise you something I do not know I can produce. Broken promises are no way to run a business.

So, no, I won't commit my time or the company to doing this magazine/newsletter right now. I will say that it is something I want to explore doing and if it can be done well, then you will see it in the future.

[mojo_billbo]

...

The stores want what sells, and the players have told the stores they don't want generic books, but books for THEIR system.

I'll double agree with that... I purchase a lot of "compatible" with GURPS adventures out there that are cluttered up with non GURPS "stuff"... They really well written, however, it drives me nuts that they aren't printed with just GURPS info in them.

Last one I messed with, I finally photocopied it and blacked out the non GURPS "stuff" so it looked like FOIA document from the U.S. Government... it's ugly.

so I'll second the "I would like it in THE SYSTEM" I'm using, please.

Please!