BFRPG Starter's Kit

[Sir Bedivere]

I'm bringing the discussion of this over from the Beginner's Essentials project feedback thread (viewtopic.php?f=7&t=225).

I kinda like the idea of an introductory set. A lot of people who might play OSR games are pretty isolated from others who already know how to play, so the point wouldn't be to get people to buy the bigger product, but rather to introduce OSR gaming to people who can't find a DM to "do the rest."

I'm not proposing any changes to Beginner's Essentials; we keep that as it is for the GMs who know how to do the rest and just want to introduce new players to the game.

However, think about this:

Take the BE material as a start, stick a name like "BFRPG Starter's Kit" on it, and expand it by a few pages to include an introduction to OSR role-playing (something Hyway suggested earlier) and all the stuff for second level PCs. Aim it at the guy who thinks the idea is cool but can't find a group to play with. Then, add in an 8- or 10-page solo adventure that would be both fun and instructional, so he can get a bit of the feel of playing the game (and catch the OSR bug). Top it off with a short 'Introduction to GMing': where to find adventures, how to make and run your own, and ideas for other BF downloads that could be useful. All of this could probably fit into 40 pages -- not too much to download & print out for someone who's interested, and a lot cheaper than buying the 4e Red Box mentioned above.

The goal would be to get our guy familiar enough with the rules that he felt confident GMing, and to make it fun and interesting enough to motivate him to do so.

This 'Starter's Kit' doesn't introduce Hyway's '2-book' problem because we already have the Core Rules. Once a gamer finishes with the Starter's Kit, he (or she) hands it off to a friend or kid brother / sister and downloads the Core Rules.

What does everyone think?

[Hywaywolf]

I wasn't against the idea of a beginners complete book. I just didn't want to muck up the beginners essential guide.

The more I have thought about this idea though the more I think I can get behind it (not that that matters). One of the things I missed in BFRPG was the haunted keep mini module at the end of the Basic D&D book, the sample game log after the mini module and the Example of Combat in the encounters section where "Its Ok, Gary sent us" made me laugh my ass off. It seems most of the simulicrums are going teh way of the original D&D game, they just keep getting more complicated.

I think you are right. A simple rulebook for the beginner DM with a solo adventure and some kind of introduction to OSR roleplaying and how to DM would be useful.

[Sir Bedivere]

The more I have thought about this idea though the more I think I can get behind it (not that that matters).

Actually, I do take things like that into account. First, I respect your opinion. Also, even though I think it's a cool idea, if the old grognards in general don't think it's a good idea, I'm likely to drop it. There are only so many hours in the day, and there are a lot of cool projects to work on.

[Hywaywolf]

I like the idea, but I like the idea of finishing up as many of the already started projects as we can before we start new ones. there are a lot of modules for BFRPG, but all but 1 is still under construction or in playtesting. We should get Chaotic Caves and Monkey Isles proofed and play tested and up on Lulu. then move on to the others. I may be getting my local group starting again (cross my fingers) and I think I will pitch to them the idea of play testing all these modules rather than running one long term campaign.

[Sir Bedivere]

Yeah, priorities.

It would be good to get the modules finished, or at least, have half a dozen done. However, my gaming group fell apart over the winter and I'm not very optimistic that we'll start up again this summer, so I'm not terribly excited about working on those projects right now. If we do start up again, I'll try to steer us toward playtesting through one of the modules, but if not, I'll probably work on anything that needs to be done for the next revision of the Core Rules, expanding my MU Options supplement, and maybe this Starter's Kit idea.