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Rules Questions
Question: Many of my players are
coming from a D&D 3.5 , OGL d20 or 4th ed. only gaming
history, and are curious if Outland Arts will publish a
d20-Outland conversion guide, to allow us to translate
your game mechanic into d20, or visa versa. Also, why
not publish products in dual stats? And what can I tell
my group regarding why Outland has to use its own
system?
Answer: We have nothing against
OGL d20, 3.5, 4e or Pathfinder and think they are all
fine systems, just not for us. At one point, back in 3rd
edition d20 our team debated going fully d20, but that
idea was quickly dropped when we saw the limitations and
regulations and legal texts. Also, d20 seems to have
made itself quite complicated for new GMs and players to
get up to speed. The game mechanic seems to have become
more complex since first edition, and when those of us
who played third Edition tried to teach it to new
players, it was a bit frustrating. It seemed to us that
the d20 rules were always in the way, instead of the
adventure itself. I know that other game systems are far
more complex, such as the Action! system and whatnot,
and that for some people that is appealing, but we
wanted a game system which could be taught to a newbie
in a short time, and that the game mechanic operated
‘off-stage’ with the GM required to know the crux of it
while the players just had to know which dice was which,
and how to strike opponents, and to concentrate on
role-playing and adventure.
We do want to create a pdf
clarifying how to turn d20 characters into Outland
System characters, as well as creature conversions, but
we have so far been toying with a way to translate the
level system of d20 into the Rank system of Outland.
Ranks, as you probably know, are not the same massive
leap in hit points and power that one gets in a d20
game. Ranks are more gradual. for example, in D&D, going
from 1st level to 2nd level is a
massive jump, with the potential for a character to
suddenly wake up one morning with twice as many hit
points, while the next level, going to third, it is less
gradual suddenly, for no apparent reason. In the Outland
mechanic, one does gain 5 or so more endurance points as
he or she goes up in rank, but the main increase is in
skills, and for mutants, the potential for increases in
either range or usage of aberrations. We wanted to make
sure that a person was more powerful as he or she became
more experienced due to learning more skills, becoming
somewhat more fit or wiser, and so too, those PCs who
survive, end up with relics which are the most potent
survival aides going.
Dual Stat blocks for every
character or creature, trap or barrier, relic and
whatnot would bloat the game products, and since our
products are, mainly purchased via pdf, we didn’t want
to have to force Outland system users to waste ink on
d20 statistic blocks. I think that the glut of d20
products out there makes it unnecessary for d20 players
to even want Outland Press publications. Still, whatever
the players want, we will consider carefully.
Question: Why play a pure stock at
all when you can play a Ghost Mutant who shares all the
same benefits, who can go into the Holy Purist Empire or
the Republic of Aberratia, use all relics, and still
give’em hell with some sort of wicked mental mutation?
Answer: Depending on the GM and
his or her setting specific outline, a player may have
no choice but to play the character(s) he or she was
born as, should the GM decree that player’s type is
randomly generated. Pure stock characters have several
advantages, especially when outfitting is concerned at
character generation, since they get two rolls on the
Pure Stock Human Bonus Rolls table, Table TME-1-11 plus
each pure stock gets 10 trait points to allot to his or
her character as the player sees fit, either all lumped
to one trait or divided about to gain the maximum trait
potential. In social, setting based terms, many ‘old
kind’ have come from far better families and might even
start game play with an assault rifle or handgun,
likewise, they have been better educated prior to game
play and have skills, and in this game, ones’ skills are
easily as important as one’s brute strength or
endurance, or even the mutations. In addition, while a
ghost mutant might be able to wear Shell class armor, he
or she might still be considered a aberration as far as
a DNA scanner readout is concerned. Many purist Rangers
and advanced corporate holdover states rely on DNA
scanners to evaluate if a stranger is indeed a mutant or
not.
Ghost Mutants are rare, but
are often a good starting point for a new player who
wants to commence playing more complex characters with
mutations. Furthermore, a GM might want a group of
players to all play ghost mutants, living deep within a
purist nation, and must work together to hide their
identity as well as escape into more mutant friendly
lands. If you haven’t read The Chrysalides by John
Wyman, then do so. It’s a small boo but a incredibly
valuable resource for players an GM’s alike. I read it
in junior high school as part of a class assignment and
would be lying if I said it hasn’t seriously influenced
The Mutant Epoch game.
Question: Why in the hub rules, do
the Experience Factors EF’s vary for the same relic.
What I mean is, relics found through ‘adventuresome
exploits’, net 10% of their silver pieces value as EF’s,
but the value rolled, say for an assault rifle can range
from 2001 to 3000 silver coins (2000+d1000sp), or 20 to
30 experience factors. Why would the value change the
EF’s?
Answer: Good question. The value
range is the sale value in currency, and reflects the
price a relic dealer will give the character for the
artifact. While the EF’s can vary, the range is not
extreme and tends to even out if a large haul of relics
is uncovered. A GM can decide to allot the EF’s based on
the mid value of a relic. For example, the assault rifle
value is 2000+d1000sp, so, take the d1000 or any dice
roll, and find the half way point, in this case it is
500, so for experience factors at least, let’s say the
gun is worth 2500sp or 25 EF’s. This should solve any
concerns about randomness in experience allotment.
Question: Why the Outland System™
game mechanic™? Why Not go OGL?
Answer: Again, the current
incarnation of The Mutant Epoch™ is the end evolution of
two earlier games which were played for over a decade
but never published. The system now called the ‘Outland
System™’ was spawned in these primordial times,
improved, re-written, play-tested for countless hours…
and well, a tried and true system which uses d100 as its
main combat resolution roll, yet calls upon all dice for
weapon damages and other random outcomes.
D20 and the OGL simply didn’t
exist when we started to seriously build this game
system, and while we have nothing against OGL,
Pathfinder 3.5 and 4e, and wish the best for WOtC and
those who publish materials for it, as we ourselves
might, the Open Gaming License did not satisfy our need
to be ground up game designers. The limitations of
character generation and some of the rules didn’t fit
our vision for The Mutant Epoch or the upcoming Fantasy
RPG. Character advancement, called ranks in the Outland
System™, is handled differently than the d20 level
system, as are rules on death, spells, rounds and time
sequences. Character traits in the OGL system were also
firm, and didn’t offer the same gaming demands our
players and writers required.
Many of our gamers, from
experienced old school veterans like myself and newbies,
all played Basic, Expert and AD&D in some form or
another at one time, and it is a great, well written,
well supplied system. We are planning to produce some
OGL fantasy products, which will be on the Outland Arts
site under their own section, but many of these will be
duplicated into Outland System products as well.
Question: Do you plan to make an OGL
or 4e version of the Mutant Epoch™?
Answer: We get this asked a lot so
thought, even though it's related to the above
questions, better answer it.
No, we don’t
plan to make an OGL version of The Mutant Epoch, but
never say never. The Mutant Epoch™ character generation
system, with its different traits, as well as the rank
system, do not mutate well into a OGL, 4e or Pathfinder
system translation. We feel that to design a game
without any sort of license agreements, censorship, or
outside controls will produce a pure product, a product
which flows where the in-game story narrative need to
go, into situations and circumstances that might not
always be suitable for every gamer. We don’t want to
apologize for the content our writers create, and if an
adventure has pg-13 or needs an Adult Content
Advisory sticker on it because of the art or written
descriptions, then so be it. We don’t feel that
the OGL will stay in its current form forever, that it
is likely censorship will reign in free thinking
publishers.
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