I have a question - a request, perhaps - for all Character Optimisers. But first, a short perspective. It's possibly more of a rant. Please bear with me.
D&D, in it's current form, is fundamentally flawed. It is flawed, not due to the D20 mechanic (which I actually think is quite good), nor specifically due to Vancian magic, nor specifically due to any one mechanic, for that matter.
It is flawed due to the nature of the commercial beast, a beast which requires, as it's business model, to create a new system, then churn out as many books as possible then collapse the system and repeat the process. It means that, since the system is not designed holistically, then there are entire layers added to what should be (ideally) a gaming mechanic, a rules set, which is set from the word go, rather than a splat-book power creep that requires continual band-aiding.
What I would like is a game system that has everything at the beginning, written by one (team of) authors, with everything available from the outset. Nothing added later (such as skill tricks, maneuvres, etc). D&D 3.5 is complete, now - there's nothing WotC-supported coming out for it, any more - so here's my question:
Is there enough community interest - that is, are you interested - in creating a public work that essentially recreates 3.5, but with every loophole closed, every flawed mechanic fixed?There are lots of folks out there - I mention Frank Trollman and K as being at the forefront in this area, but there are certainly others, on this board and many others - that have done excellent work in fixing many of these problems.
Is it worthwhile to even try to get a consensus on what the best system would be? Or, simply, am I trying to, for want of a better phrase,
herd cats?
I was thinking of creating a wiki, to create "D&D 3.Albatross", or whatever system it would be named, but I shan't bother if there isn't a fairly strong bit of support.
So, there it is - would you be interested?
And secondly - would you recognise it, even if it created rules that you didn't agree with?
Explanatory Requests & Notes:
1. Please don't turn this thread into a debate over the WotC business model.
2. I recognise the inherent irony in turning to the Optimisation Boards first, being as this board is the one most likely to
enjoy a poorly designed rule. I come here because (1) it's the board I visit the most; and (2) I honestly believe that the greatest concentration of rules knowledge is right here. This is where the people who know game mechanics live, in my opinion (which is why it isn;t posted elsewhere - it potentially will be, soon).
3. I believe that I am adequate in recognising good and bad game design. From the outset, I claim to be
competent, but
not an expert.
4. The reason why I think that we should use 3.5 as our basis, rather than creating from whole cloth, is to recognise a fan base, and to allow for a transfer of gameplay and game mechanics, rather than potentially alienating players. I very much recognise that there are a
lot of very well designed games, and I would be more than willing to steal whatever mechanic they use, but just using 3.5 as a base. So, please, don't turn this thread into a "You should just ditch the whole d20 system and use [X] system - it's so much better". The aim would be to evolve, not to start a whole new species.
5. Those who have already done (mostly excellent) work on variants would be very welcome to join - I am just after expressions of interest in a more formal series of rules, albeit something that WotC would never recognise.
6. I have deliberately not placed a lot of detail here - the idea is for an expression of interest and how realistic such an objective
is.
What do you think?
C.