True20
It was not too long ago that Green Ronin officially declared True20
A recent conversation gave me a new perspective on games like this. It was stated that because of PDFs games cannot die. As long as someone is passionate about a game and there are people playing it, it's not dead. I like that idea. I guess this is the essence of the retro-clone movement. Still, there is something about new products coming out for the game you love.
And actually, there are new products for True20- of sorts. paNik Productions have recently released two adventures that are compatible with three RPG systems, and True20 is one of those. The Deadly Seven (which actually has an R rating!) and Caravan. So, technically, True20 still lives. Of course I'd love to see more. I won't complain about a little.
A minor thing that I really appreciate about the core products is the art direction. Green Ronin's art choice doesn't insult my intelligence like other and bigger RPG products. The art is not tits and ass and it isn't heavy with anime. For that small thing, I'm grateful.
While we're on the subject, I'll take this moment to shamelessly promote an old project- the True20 Wiki.
I think the last piece of the puzzle we need is a reliable, affordable color e-ink for guys like me who can't concentrate on an LCD screen. Also,I could stop killing trees. :)
ReplyDeleteAbout that 7th Sea scene: two or three of us have a small 7th Sea library picked up when AEG left the game for dead*, which gets passed around a lot. The late comers pick up the PDFs they need, and years later we're still running in this crazy world they made with this quirky little system (I cannot say 7th Sea is without some significant flaws, but you can work around them, and you break more stuff in NotEurope without amateur historians getting up in arms.)
Since I'm going to a con in the next few weeks, what books *should* I be looking for if I wanted to get a taste of True 20?
*Yes, I guess I am still bitter. Someone else can pick up the True20 torch without legal troubles. I still haven't seen a swashbuckling game capture the hobby's imagination like 7th Sea did, and yet it was ignored after a jump on the d20 bandwagon dove headlong into the 3.5 Crash.
There were 5 important rules books. The two most important were the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary.
ReplyDeleteThe secondary books were- one resource book for each of the three Roles (or Classes, if you will)- Expert's Handbook, Adept's Handbook, Warrior's Handbook.
And the True20 Companion is a very worthy resource. But here's the thing about that book. The Core rulebook was re-released in paperback with some minor corrections and where the last several pages had contained five or so settings, the settings were replaced with what was presented in the True20 Companion.
So be careful not to duplicate if you come across the core rules in paperback AND the Companion. Those two books are a bit redundant.
Also worth mentioning, if you find any of the three Blue Rose books- they are True20. And really nice settings to boot. Blue Rose is the game that True20 came from, actually. Blue Rose, The Blue Rose Companion, The World of Aldea.
Let me know if you have any other questions!