Choosing the system for a new setting

[Polgarus_Jason]

Hi everyone,

I'm posting this in several forums so I can get the most feedback. I apologize in advance if you've seen this message elsewhere.

I'm looking at releasing a new setting (sort of "cyberpunkish" in style, where civilization has reached a peak and is now in decline), and I'm wondering what rules system I should release it under?

I have to say right away that the material is still in the writing stage, not play test, so I have total freedom as far as choosing the system is concerned.

The three obvious options that I see I have are:

a) D20 Modern
b) Some other free to use system (Action!, EABA, Fudge, etc)
c) The system I use in my own group for whatever setting we happen to play (a melding of D6 Adventure and Over the Edge)

At first glance it would seem D20 Modern would be the way to go, as I would be tapping into an existing market. And the ePublishers Guide suggests that D20 Modern products tend to sell twice as many copies as products using other systems.

(I realize settings sell a lot less than generic products)

But many publishers are saying that all D20 sales are slowing down. Plus there will always be a group of people who will refuse to buy it just because it has the D20 logo on the front.

I think I'd prefer to use an already existing system over my own home system, as I've never taken the effort to write out the home system properly. Plus that way I'm still tapping into an existing market.

Some final notes, if they help.

* The product will be released as PDF and print on demand
* After the main setting book is out, I intend releasing mini PDFs containing extra info for the setting (compiling them into a big PDF and POD products later on). Some of these extra PDFs could probably be used in other settings.

Any suggestions or advice people have would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Jason

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jason,

Welcome to the Forge! I hope you're interested in dialogue here, and in recognizing that this site is very different from most others, in its goals. Please check out the Site Discussion sticky posts for some guidelines.

One thing that you might consider is that your question is unanswerable. There is only one person who can answer it: you. What do you want? To publish a D20 compatible setting? Then do it. Or whatever it is you want.

So the only thing we can help you with is logistics. For example, many people here understand the D20 and OGL licenses very well and can help you figure out what you get from them, if you'd like. Or others can help you consider what choices are necessary in fitting an original system for a given setting.

So let us know what you want to do, and then we'll chime in to help. But polling the Forge for what other people would do is a bad idea. We don't do surveys here, at least not in the general forums.

Best,
Ron

[Polgarus_Jason]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've been reading the Forge for a while (mainly the "Actual Play" section), and I really enjoy what I see here. I certainly agree that the site is very different in its goals from most other sites :-)

I'm sorry if my message came across as a poll. It's not intended to be one (at least, not in the "tick box a, b or c" sense). I was more after general advice from people - points I should consider when making my decision, etc. I probably didn't work my message clearly enough on that point though.

If that's not really appropriate for here, please feel free to lock/delete this thread.

Cheers,
Jason

[Bankuei]

Hi Jason,

The best advice for choosing or creating a system for the game you want to have is to try playing a variety of game systems, so you can know what is possible.  

You've probably played D20, so ask yourself if it provides exactly what you want in terms of play.  Does it do what you want when you imagine folks playing this game?  Does EABA, does Fuzion?  How about playing Dust Devils, Trollbabe, or Inspectres?  How about the Pool?  

The fact is, if most of the games you've played are more or less similar in structure("Hey, we have X stats, Y skills, initiative, roll to hit, roll to dodge, damage, etc.") AND that is how you want to play then pretty much any of those similar systems will do the job.  

If you've tried out some really different systems, then you know that setting alone does not a different game make, and system will be such an important question to you that asking others simply won't make any sense.  At least, any more sense than, "What should my favorite flavor of ice cream be?"  

Once you figure out how you want play to be, then you can either take a system that does that, and deal with the adjustments you need for your setting, which may be minor or involve extensive write-ups of skills, items, and such, or create your own.  But you need to know for yourself what you want and what is possible.  Then folks can help you get there.

Chris

[GregS]

To issue a response that directly ties into the publishing forum, I would strongly encourage you to choose a system that supports the intended style of play, and vice versa.  In my opinion there is nothing worse than pushing a system into a product that doesn't support the flow of story or mood.  As an example you could probably look to the slew of failed D20 Superhero products.