 June 17, 2013 - 8:22am | So I'm working on a variant/mutant D20 ruleset for Star Frontiers. Originally it was a Mastercraft/Fantasycraft variant called Frontiercraft but I've since decided it needs to be its own thing. Crafty Games is a small company and while their rules are under the OGL, they've asked that they not be reprinted wholesale. I was dealing with enough differences that I felt I needed to be able to reference or incorporate rules themselves. I currently have 25 pages of material that's going to be reworked into an OGL D20 sci-fi ruleset with a yet to be determined name. I'm hoping to incorporate good ideas from both Mastercraft and Pathfinder along with my own ideas to make a sturdy system. I think this is appropriate subject matter. I would love to have interested people comment and help out which seems more likely here. I know many (most?) aren't fans of D20 but I think it provides a solid base for building once you eliminate the system mastery and caster bias of most D20 systems. For the record, I know there are other D20 conversions but I think I have a different focus. Also, I don't hate the percentile system in SF but I'm really interested in writing my own game and this is my chosen subject. Call it a Sci-Fi heartbreaker RPG if you want. So I see I have the option to start a project. Is that all I need to do or do I need to seek approval before hand? Is it alright if the material is eventually posted somewhere else as well? Are there any licensing issues to worry about? I think I'm overthinking this but I don't want to step on any toes. Thanks in advance and I may be gone most of the week so don't be offended if I don't reply much after today. |
 June 17, 2013 - 8:43am | You are free to start projects as you see fit. Deryn Rys has a D20 variant project for his URS rules. When you set up the project I advise making the settings for membership open for peeps to join and perhaps restrict uploading or changing of documents to project members or even to just yourself if you feel thats neccessary. Several of us join every project just to see whats going on in the extended SF universe even if our initial interest in the project is low. I'm wondering, partly because my slave driving senior editor ;) set me to working on a conversion of a d20 system to SF, if we couldnt use a project called D20 Roundtable where peeps can upload files and discuss D20 conversions. I actually think this might be a good idea. Irrespective of dedicated projects like Deryn Rys '. If no one else starts it I will when I get home later. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 17, 2013 - 8:00pm | Thanks for the quick reply. I'll try to have enough content ready to create a project over the weekend. A Roundtable sounds like a good idea too. There's some commonality and it certainly couldn't hurt to see what everyone else is doing. |
 June 17, 2013 - 11:06pm | Just as a heads up, if you want public discussion, then you would do best to post in the main forums (rather than the project forums) with a link to the project or page under discussion. Projects tend to stagnate without continual public awareness. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
 June 18, 2013 - 1:26pm | The d20 Modern supplement FUTURE already has the Star Frontiers races stats in d20 format. It also contains starship construction rules and mutation rules. You might want to look up those before you go ahead. You will find alote of info under the roll down menus on this forum : http://community.d20moderndb.com/index.php «Language is a virus from outer space» William S. Burroughs |
 June 19, 2013 - 2:12am | There is one flaw with the D20 starship rules. To hit something you get a bonus for size. Unfortunately that bonus is based on man-sized targets so the same bonus is used for the Millenium Falcon, a Star Destroyer and the Death Star. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
June 19, 2013 - 6:17pm | There is one flaw with the D20 starship rules. To hit something you get a bonus for size. Unfortunately that bonus is based on man-sized targets so the same bonus is used for the Millenium Falcon, a Star Destroyer and the Death Star.
As per FUTURE page 110: The Falcon is Light ship so you get +0, Medium ships are at -2, Heavy ship are at -4, and Superheavies are at -8 + the range penalty + the targeting system bonus. «Language is a virus from outer space» William S. Burroughs |
June 19, 2013 - 7:13pm | As I understand it, the d20 Future ship-building system, as-is, has problems, d20 Future Tech fixed some problems, but many remained and it created more as well. But the d20 Mecha book from Dream Pod 9 apparently fixed the problems with a rewrite. (I believe it was later obtained for the BESM system when DP9 went belly up. I think d20 Mecha Compendium also has those rules.) View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
June 20, 2013 - 3:39am | There is also Star Wars Saga ships that could be used. All I'm saying is why start from scratch when there is already stuff out there that can be used to build on. «Language is a virus from outer space» William S. Burroughs |
 June 20, 2013 - 6:55am | @Acsent: Dream Pod 9 has never gone belly up. The company is going strong. Over the last decade they shifted their focus from a mix of RPG and Miniture war gaming to strictly war gaming. The d20 Mecha Compenndium is available in digital format from DriveThruRPG or in hard copy from DP9 own web store. Speaking of Dream Pod 9, using SilCore for game mechanics in Star Fontier would be interesting. |
June 20, 2013 - 7:42pm | Oops. Sorry, not Dream Pod 9. I meant Guardians of Order. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
July 7, 2013 - 9:43am | I'd like to thank everyone who commented. I was offline for a few weeks but I've now started the project. It's called OGL Star Frontiers and I've posted some material already with more coming as I get it into postable shape. |
