An old cave filled with thoughts on old school fantasy RPGS and their simulacrum like Dungeons and Dragons and Labyrinth Lord.
FREE as in FREEDOM RPG's
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15 Feb 2009 10:16:44
Category: RPGs
Lately I have been getting back to my gaming roots. DnD was how I rolled through my growing up years. I can remember playing as early as 4th grade. I played until my Junior Year. I've even repurchased most of the DnD books I owned when I was a kid.
I've been away from gaming for more years than I played RPG's. So in coming back, I discovered that a 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons had been released! So I checked it out only to be disappointed. It turns out that the game I grew up with is gone. In fact, the only thing that the 4th Edition has in common with what they now call 1E (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) is the brand name.
Burned!
My game was assualted not by the community of players who love it, but by the greed of corporations whose profit motive has trumped the game and its players. So, I'd rather not be burned again. Why would a game that grew out of the ideas of its members (see Fiend Folio for example) be turned into a MMO on paper?
It turns out there is a solution. I discovered that there is a GNU licensed RPG under development (several infact) as well as a game system to compete with the proprietary D20 system. The system is called "YAGS is Another Game System". And there are several derivatives. One game that is highly developed is called Gods And Monsters. It looks very promising. It's free as in freedom.
Since I started gaming again, I've been playing mostly play-by-post. I have not been around a table for a real game for sometime. I've been pondering creating my own play-by-post online software. Forums are banefully inadequate! I've created the base schema for the game system. But I've been stuck on what kind of game I should code the system for. I think a game based on YAGS would be a perfect candidate! So I'm going to continue to investigate this interesting world of FREE RPG's. I'll keep you posted on what I learn.
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