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As I realize more and more that my gaming group will not be putting down Pathfinder in favor of Next, I decided that if I want to DM ever again, I’ll have to start twisting and shaping PF to what I want to play.  

I’ve always been in favor of low magic worlds, and hate games that follow Dancy’s character advancement scale of gritty-fantasy hero-wuxa-super hero. I decided to check out E6 and the more I read about halting character advancement at 6^th level… the more I realized that E6 really is what I want to be running… but a problem… so far no game is really giving me the cinematic/tactical combat that I enjoy even at higher levels.

Once you start asking people about low magic E6… inevitably they start talking about Iron Heroes.  I was completely unfamiliar with the game but once I heard that it was designed by both Mearls and Cook I really started taking an interest.

I can’t say I love the game, it’s entirely too crunchy, there is little balance between classes magic classes are interesting but greatly flawed… It isn’t really a finished game as far as I’m concerned but I did like some aspects of the combat and resolution systems… in particular…

Iron Heroes has a wonderful stunt and challenge system, similar to what I have seen in other story telling systems where you can use skills to delay or effect combats. I also liked the synergy of some of the classes… just the way that doing what they were designed to do leads to bigger and bigger combat advantages (tokens).

All of this led me to wonder…

Monte Cook left D&D Next due to disagreements with the company but not the other designers… (I still wanna know what all that was about) and was a complete surprise to Mearls… what would have happened if Cook didn’t leave?

Might D&D Next have looked a little more like Iron Heroes?  Would we have the stunt/challenge system included?

I heard that now Cook is working on Numenera, (new men era?) the follow up to planescape. I went to the website and read a little news… the art is pretty amazing, they claim they have been playtesting for several months (Hummm… disagreements or better offers including a way in to the MMO market?) I think when Next comes out, I'll get it and see who did a better job... Cook with his design team of two or Next with all of WotC's resources... should be and interesting comparison...

numenera.com

Pretty much sums it up, yup.

Oh, and I've heard it whispered that Monte left because the art department refused his repeated requests for more leather straps and buckles. Seriously, whoever said that needs to raise their hand and be recognized.

Um, but seriously... I think Cook left due to better offers from another corner. Sad in some respects, a boon in others. While Cook is very much one of my favorite idea men in the industry (he comes up with great, great setting material), his actual work on system design can be, at times, a little... sketchy.

At this point in the game, I think D&DN needs guys that know how to build systems, not worlds. Mathematicians, not story tellers.

EDIT: Also, Numenera looks like a really, really cool concept.

I will definately check out 13th Age, so yeah for tatical combat with a slider on the WUXA scale, it was hero games for me, but again.... the core books alone weigh like 25lbs, thats a lot o reading and new gamers really have trouble with it... its like game overload for most folks.

reciently checked into Runequest, I really like the way they handle combat with the combat manuvers and I plan to implement something like that into any game I play... if your not familiar, there are attack and defense rolls, if there is a great difference between the two your character will get extra defensive manuvers or offensive manuvers like an attempt to disarm a foe... I plan to work this out for a d20 system based on the difference between your last attack roll, and your oponents attack roll (so if you hit by a lot and they nearly fumble you get the same sort of chance at a bonus attack.) just kind of in the early stages now, will also incorporate some kind of combination between top half of hp and endurance/martial skill I figure this will allow a kind of snowball effect, if a peon gets lucky and stays lucky he may be able to take out or at least hurt a higher skilled/leveled foe, something I'm not seeing in PF now.

Thats the way it felt to me, every class had magical powers, we had d-dooring fey/tieflings at 1st level. I was playing a paladin who was almost pathetic in comparison with a spellsword who seemed to be a jedi using a light saber that fired 31 flavors of magic crap. no thank you, thats not heroic fantasy, thats super-hero fantasy.



I want low magic, steel on steel with the occasional nuke em spell caster. by cinematic combat I dont mean "I use power no 7 because he is using power no 6", I want the players to actually have to think tatically about what their opponents have done, what they can do, and how they can use the environment, etc. and preferably not something that must be written on a card or an abilities list to be possible. (what do you mean I cant try and throw sand in his eyes because thats a 4th level rogue ability? are you saying I have to be a rogue to fling sand?)

I played a lot of 1e and didnt like the flavor/art/feel of the world... I know thats sort of a cop out on judgement of a system but kind of hard to divorce warhammer fantasy from the world its in... and yeah I'd say d20 is a must more so because of the players in my group as opposed to personal preference.