Very little in the Fantasy RPG genre tickles my interest anymore, especially when it comes from the Johnny-Come-Lately mentality. No matter if it's 5e, OSR, or something in the middle of the F20 strata, the demand for $20+ books that I would barely look at if they were cardstock and typeset, and one-fifth the price boggles my mind.
But when you throw in the name Frank Mentzer into the mix.
Frank's World of Empyrea Kickstarter looks like a sure thing. A long-running campaign with some Greyhawk roots, but the serial numbers filed off. A veritable "super-team" of writers and support staff to flesh out this massive boxed set. Heck even the maps have that Greyhawk feel, with a little Known World influence.
But I realize that the market has changed. If Frank had somehow gotten this printed in the days between Gary's removal from TSR and the Rise of 3rd Edition, it would have been a generic setting without stats and we would have eaten it up. Now, they have to cater to the diluted masses, including statting out for TEN game systems.
1) D&D 5E
2) Pathfinder
3) Runequest
4) Savage Worlds
5) Dungeon Crawl Classics
6) Castles & Crusades
7) Swords & Wizardry
8) Hackmaster
9) D&D BECMI
10) D&D 1E/2E
I've already expressed displeasure with the system dispersion with Talislanta: The Savage Lands, which was reaffirmed by their recent announcement to drop two of the five systems from their production schedule.
This is somewhat different, as the systems will be built into the boxed set, rather than separate printings. And to make a comparison to cars, most would not only be GM products, but just different Chevy models. Sure, Runequest is Peugeot, Savage Worlds is Kia, and Hackmaster is a relaunch of the Saturn line, but the rest were pretty easy to convert between the others. Heck, some are essentially the same model, the only difference is an Oldsmobile or Buick logo.
As much as I jumped with glee with the early announcement of this Kickstarter, I have a library full of material that I've barely scratched the surface on, so a $70 investment in a campaign world I probably won't use (much), doesn't seem practical. My game worlds will never be professionally published, but they are mine, and that's all that matters.
Company website http://worldsofempyrea.com/
But when you throw in the name Frank Mentzer into the mix.
Frank's World of Empyrea Kickstarter looks like a sure thing. A long-running campaign with some Greyhawk roots, but the serial numbers filed off. A veritable "super-team" of writers and support staff to flesh out this massive boxed set. Heck even the maps have that Greyhawk feel, with a little Known World influence.
1) D&D 5E
2) Pathfinder
3) Runequest
4) Savage Worlds
5) Dungeon Crawl Classics
6) Castles & Crusades
7) Swords & Wizardry
8) Hackmaster
9) D&D BECMI
10) D&D 1E/2E
I've already expressed displeasure with the system dispersion with Talislanta: The Savage Lands, which was reaffirmed by their recent announcement to drop two of the five systems from their production schedule.
This is somewhat different, as the systems will be built into the boxed set, rather than separate printings. And to make a comparison to cars, most would not only be GM products, but just different Chevy models. Sure, Runequest is Peugeot, Savage Worlds is Kia, and Hackmaster is a relaunch of the Saturn line, but the rest were pretty easy to convert between the others. Heck, some are essentially the same model, the only difference is an Oldsmobile or Buick logo.
As much as I jumped with glee with the early announcement of this Kickstarter, I have a library full of material that I've barely scratched the surface on, so a $70 investment in a campaign world I probably won't use (much), doesn't seem practical. My game worlds will never be professionally published, but they are mine, and that's all that matters.
Company website http://worldsofempyrea.com/
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