The CFRPG is going really well. Editing is happening in spurts in DnD Charlie's life. Far more than I could do being CUT OFF from a full computer and the internet and having severe ADD.
I was having some deep gaming thoughts while trying to cope with work the other day. Agree or disagree with this philosophizing.
Old School = Less Rules but with More Restrictions
New School = More Rules but with Less Restrictions
We all know the More and Less part of the Rules.
What many players DON'T like are the Old School restrictions. Like what? For example in many Retroclones Elves can't be rangers or druids? Why? They live in the freaking woods. It would seem natural that they would be able to be rangers and druids but these restrictions are held onto and in my opinion need to be written out of the next generation of Simulacrums.
Damn these sacred cows!
For many new players the cat is out of the bag on races being able to play the class they want. Every time I pull out an Old School game and start explaining the restrictions of what class each race can play the "this sucks!" face comes out and they just don't play.
This is with new and old players alike. Level limits do the same thing. They chase away players and can't really be explained without forcing the story.
Now I understand that a DM could force his story to explain the rules but that restricts in a small way some of the stories freedom and the player's fun. Now it may not restrict it at first but when your demi-human goes down every time due to lack of hit points and progresses so slow that the player gets bored and gives up because he is not having fun anymore what then?
I want as many race and character options as I can get to be able to play what I want but without the game ever getting rules heavy and I really think the CFRPG has done this very well.
Most of all it's easy to run and easy to play. Fast flowing and large combats are very manageable by Player and GM alike.
The CFRPG will be know as a Neo-Clone as it it's going to be somewhat a Retroclone but with many of the modern options. Most of all it will be easy to run and easy to play! Easy to make a character in about five minutes.
I know the purpose of the retro-clones were to be able to recapture the Old School Style of gaming but so many of the ridiculous restrictions restrict the fun while so much of the New School Style's huge multiple volume rules you have to stop and look up or can't play without computer cut and paste assistance restrict the fun as well.
Now I don't stand here upon a hill poking bears with sticks challenging the powers that be I just have my opinion formed from my observations of what is going on with gaming here lately.
Oh did I also mention that there are plans to have a published version of CFRPG but like many of the clones out there I plan to give it away for free as well. Not only that the books will be in a format to print them out yourselves and put a cardboard cover on it making it look very close to the size and style of the LBBs.
There may even be a small business opportunity in printing them out yourself as well.
I have always thought the class-and-level restrictions were a bit silly - not so much because they limited my choices as a player but because they just seemed illogical and arbitrary. In what kind of universe do some species have 'unlimited' power and others 'limited' power? I guess the original motivation for introducing them was game balance. But I'm not sure that D&D is the kind of game that can be intrinsically balanced. So much depends on the DM and the adventure.
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