2nd edition

Barbara

Mongoose
Have just read article in Signs & portents.
Can see a lot of people giving their characters mental hernias with the new telepath abilities rules. (They'll learn that there are advantages and major disadvantages to having a high p-rating. Ads -Your registering body is interested in you. Disads- your registering body is interested in you - staying with them and behaving yourself.)
Any changes to the save DC's or a mental flatfooted?
 
Barbara said:
Have just read article in Signs & portents.
Can see a lot of people giving their characters mental hernias with the new telepath abilities rules. (They'll learn that there are advantages and major disadvantages to having a high p-rating. Ads -Your registering body is interested in you. Disads- your registering body is interested in you - staying with them and behaving yourself.)

How's that changed? That was always the case.

Still, no mention of how you generate a blip though (Telepath as a class doesn't cut it...).
 
If it's d20 I though you'd need the PHB.

It would be cool to have it use the D20 modern rules IMHO.

Mike
 
qstor said:
If it's d20 I though you'd need the PHB.

It would be cool to have it use the D20 modern rules IMHO.

It's not D20 - it's going OGL so the full rules will be in the rule book (Huzzah!). Presumably this means we'll get B5 specific examples for combat just in time to coincide with the new 28mm miniatures :)
 
frobisher said:
qstor said:
If it's d20 I though you'd need the PHB.

It would be cool to have it use the D20 modern rules IMHO.

It's not D20 - it's going OGL so the full rules will be in the rule book (Huzzah!). Presumably this means we'll get B5 specific examples for combat just in time to coincide with the new 28mm miniatures :)

Whats "OGL?"
 
Shadow Queen said:
frobisher said:
qstor said:
If it's d20 I though you'd need the PHB.

It would be cool to have it use the D20 modern rules IMHO.

It's not D20 - it's going OGL so the full rules will be in the rule book (Huzzah!). Presumably this means we'll get B5 specific examples for combat just in time to coincide with the new 28mm miniatures :)

Whats "OGL?"

Open Gaming License

There isnt a massive amount of difference between a D20 product and an OGL one by and large.. simply certain things arent used in order that other rules etc..can be implemented. It is however still a d20 system even if it isnt a D20 product if that makes sense..

lots of folks bandy those two terms about as if they are two completely different rulesets and that isnt the case.. an OGL product is still the D20 system it just doesnt adhere to certain restrictions, which in turn allow certain freedoms rule change wise.. at the cost of not being able to carry the D20 logo.

Main Differences being..
1 - Page number referencing is specifically disallowed under d20STL, but chapter/section reference is allowed. There is no provision either way for OGL only, but standard copyright law would most likely apply
2 - You cannot use beholders or mind-flayers or other certain terms, phrases and closed content in an OGL or d20 product, because they are not open content in any source (SRD or otherwise)
3 - Random generation seems to be allowable under OGL, where it is not under d20.
 
Babylon 5 Aide said:
Thanks to Barbara - I didn't know you could get free copies now! Thanks!

S&P #26 onwards is split into 2 issues (Wargamer and Roleplayer) and is abailable for free download from the Mongoose webiste and www.wargamingonline.com

LBH
 
Heh Barbara beat ya to it LBH :) but thanks. Very nice I'm glad to finally have access to it - college sallary doesn't pay for nifty stuff like that. I am already forcasting for B5 2ed
lol
 
For a while, it seemed like the d20 logo was a good way to get a foot in the door to be sold in stores... Not just game stores, but the tiny gaming section of Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc.

I don't think that's a very big deal anymore...
 
The popularity of the d20 logo has waned since most people don't want to have to buy the PHB to play a game completel unrelated to D&D. I mean why would you need a D&D book to play Stargate?

That, along with greater understanding of how the OGL can be used to produce stand alone 'd20 in all but name' nooks has led to the uptake of OGL books andd the downturn in d20 releases. B5 was the last d20 release of Mongoose's that I can tink of. every new game since has been OGL.

LBH
 
I think the notion of making B5 OGL is good, but the rules changes concern me. How much rules information from the previous accessories are going to become obsolete? I really hope I don't have to repurchase the entire line to be 2E compatible. Now the 2006 product line does look like they are continuing to go forward with the line rather than backwards, so maybe that means the changes won't invalidate the books I already have.

Edit: Nevermind, just saw this:

msprange said:
Hi guys,

Just a quick note - first off, yes, we were going to make this one OGL.

Second, we have _no_ plans to invalidate the past supplements. As much as we can, we will make them all compatible with the next edition.. . .
 
Baraendur said:
I think the notion of making B5 OGL is good, but the rules changes concern me. How much rules information from the previous accessories are going to become obsolete? I really hope I don't have to repurchase the entire line to be 2E compatible. Now the 2006 product line does look like they are continuing to go forward with the line rather than backwards, so maybe that means the changes won't invalidate the books I already have.

Well Matt has already stated as much over at the ENBoards and here that it wouldn't make existing source obsolete.
And I as someone who playtested 2e can also confirm that the second edition doesnt make ANYTHING.. obsolete.

The biggest changes are by far to the Telepaths and to the Ships and starship combat system.

2e contains full details on how to convert things from existing source to 2e where it is needed and it is not something that requires masses of time or effort for any GM.

However I think everyone will agree when they see the book that all the changes made were positive ones.. as it was largely the folks here and on other forums asking for these changes that brought them about I believe :)
 
Baraendur said:
I think the notion of making B5 OGL is good, but the rules changes concern me. How much rules information from the previous accessories are going to become obsolete? I really hope I don't have to repurchase the entire line to be 2E compatible. Now the 2006 product line does look like they are continuing to go forward with the line rather than backwards, so maybe that means the changes won't invalidate the books I already have.

Edit: Nevermind, just saw this:

msprange said:
Hi guys,

Just a quick note - first off, yes, we were going to make this one OGL.

Second, we have _no_ plans to invalidate the past supplements. As much as we can, we will make them all compatible with the next edition.. . .

Plus, the change to OGL does not mean any of the rules need to be changed, apart from the XP and Character creation rules, I think the B5 books pretty much only used OGL sections of the PHB, but it saved on printing.

Of course I suspect that Mongoose will be moving to the 3.5 SRD for B5 2E, and making some changes along the way, but as Msprange has said, as you noticed, they will be making as much of the existing stuff as possible compatible.

Remember peeps, this is Mongoose, they are the good guys, that and Matthew knows if he messed with B5 too much I would personally arrange to habve Morden's agents stick his head on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations of games publishers that some new editions come at too high a price :lol:

LBH
 
Most of the changes sound OK, but the idea of changing the ship combat system to a narrative one does not seem like such a good idea to me. The first edition of Star Wars had a narrative system, and nobody liked it at all, so in 2E, they switched over to tactical system. Using A Call to Arms might be a preferred solution because it is an easy system and it covers most of the ships I would be interested in using, so that's an option, but I think it would be best to keep a tactical system in the core roleplaying game. I also think hit points are lowballed a bit right now, so I would have liked to see those increased a bit (but not to the point where they're at in standard D20 games).

I'll probably get the 2nd edition, but I may keep using the system in the original game if the narrative ship combat system is what I think it will be.
 
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