From: davis@cwis.unomaha.edu (James J Davis)
Subject: Re: Supplements for Multiple Systems
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 05:29:06 GMT

acadams@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Arthur C. Adams) writes:

>Wouldn't it be great if, some day, role-playing supplements
>were released with stats for _all_ of the appropriate systems?

>For instance, TSR comes out with a module. It would be "written"
>for AD&D. But, there would be a an order form included in the package.
>For, say, five dollars, you could order a booklet listing the
>stats for GURPS or Fantasy Hero. 

A few problems with this.  First, who is qualified to write for all
systems of even a single genre.  After all, writing stats for someone
else's work is pretty unethical, if not illegal, so one game company
would have to do it all.  Also, 'all' is a pretty tall order.  I 
don't know if I can list all superhero games, much less write for
them.  And, the economics of all these little pamphlets may be a pain,
due to order sizes and all.  I'm not too sure if this would be a
problem or not.  Finally, I don't think many companies want to, really.
I think they kinda want you playing thier game, and a supplement that
is so good it will draw players (buyers) is a boon.  

>I do know this went on, for a while, in some genres. For a while,
>espionage modules included stats for Mercenaries, Spies and Priavte 
>Eyes, as well as for Danger: International (and a couple of
>others.) One super-hero system did the same, but I can't
>remember which one. :-(

Superworld/Champions were putting out combined stuff.

>I know system conversion rules are included in some
>nulti-genre systems. But, these rules, IMHO, aren't very
>useful, and require a lot of work on the part of the GM. 
>If I wanted to have to come up with that many stats, I'd have
>written my own adventure in the first place.



>After all, imagine what the software industry would be if each
>manufacturer released their code for only one platform. You
>would only be able to get Microsoft Word for the PC, for 
>instance. Wouldn't be anywhere near the industry it is today,
>would it?

I think the software industry has the advantages of people trained
in computer programming.  Keep in mind that many people in the
gaming industry are amateurs.  If the software industry was all
amateurs, would it be as far as it is today?

>Yeah, I know it would mean a loss of sales in system rulebooks.
>But, supplement sales might well boom. Dark Sun, to go back to
>the original example, is a great setting, IMHO. But, how many
>people aren't buying it because the hate AD&D the system?

Hard to say.  I suppose it becomes tricky.  For example, most
people have a budget.  If there are more supplements out there,
it doesn't much matter if I'm still limited by 5-10 bucks a
week tops.

>Yeah, it may be a dream. But, hey, every great thing starts
>out as a dream, doesn't it?

I like to think about this instead: due to my preferances, I like
to work out most of the mechanics on my own.  So how about a work
that is system-less instead of having mechanics for all systems.
This forces writers to come up with good stuff because they cannot
hide behind a bunch of mechanics.  For example, look at G1/2/3 in
AD+D.  If you remove the mechanics, what is really there?  Not 
much.  So, hopefully, if they were systemless then the author would
have realized just how bad they were and never written them.  All
that would be left is the trickier stuff: plot ideas, for example.
Since I view mechanics as the easy part, this type of supplement
would have appeal to me.

Now, here's an even more interesting thought.  First, all of the
base works are systemless.  Then the pamphlets have the stats,
one system per pamphlet.  So you can buy systemless supplement,
or the system of your choosing.  Once again, the problems I had
mentioned earlier may rear their ugly heads tho, but this would
be a powerful set-up.  For example, I don't much like GURPS,
but kinda would consider buying some of the supplements that
it has.  The reduction in cost and removal of the unnecessary
GURPS mechanics in itself might get me to consider those
products.

-james