GP-as-XP Rewrite

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AncientToaster
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GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by AncientToaster »

For the last year or so, my on-and-off Basic Fantasy campaign has used a lightly-rewritten version of the core rules that officially incorporates the GP-as-XP rules into Basic Fantasy. Call me hidebound if you wish, but I just like my character advancement to require rivers of gold. :-)

I finally polished this up into something approximately presentable, and published a tweaked page version of page 42 (minus art/PI). If GP-as-XP interests you, check it out (scroll down to Downloads to skip the bloviating).
Last edited by AncientToaster on Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dymondy2k
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by dymondy2k »

I like this.. I admit I've been fudging this a bit myself. I've been assigning the party 1/2 the gold as additional XP in my BFRPG campaign...

My thoughts on this? Supplement it and maybe add some additional details. How to handle 'Special' treasure comes to mind.

- non-coined treasure
- Mundane weapons and armor
- Magical Items

How do you handle the XP for these? Do you give them XP for Item worth or what they can sell it for? A gem worth 100xp is nice but you probably won't get that much for it.. A store needs its markup you kno!

Also BFRPG lacks a table of costs for magical items. I know that alot of it depends on the campaign.. A +1 Shortsword might be 200gp in one campaign and 2000gp in another and some of it can be derived from how much it would cost to create the item but having a handy worth next to item is nice. I actually use the costs in the AD&D 1e DM guide instead as I found most BFRPG items can be found in it but having a table made for BFRPG would be nice for those w/o access to other books.

Anyways I hope this helps and I for one would love to see this supplement maybe even as part of a whole alternative XP supplement.
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Solomoriah
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by Solomoriah »

Toaster, I hate to have to tell you this, but you can't redistribute modified versions of the Core Rules without removing all the artwork (which isn't Open Game Content), changing the name of the game on the title page, and adding your new name in the Copyright section.

The entire text of the game is Open Game Content. You can use it any way you wish, BUT you can't use Product Identity without permission. The name "Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game" and its variations are listed as PI in the license in the back. Literally the only thing I hold back is the name; all else is shared. Limiting the use of the name is critical to the Project; if anyone were allowed to distribute "Basic Fantasy RPG" with their own modifications, how would a newbie know which version is the "official" one?

Further, the artists who contributed granted me (personally) a permanent, non-exclusive (they still own it, and can use, relicense, sell or share it) license to their artwork; while I have fairly free rein to use that artwork in products that appear on our site, nobody else can do that. For example, if you submit a supplement to me that uses, say, the Gnome picture from the Core Rules, I can put it on the site and that's cool, but if you put it on another site without the approval of the artist, well, that's illegal.

I really hate to rain on your parade here; I like the concept in general, and of course, barring legal action (which I don't want to undertake in any event) I can't do anything to force you not to share it. But I cannot condone it.

Incidentally, this is why I have to personally approve every translation project, and the translated works get distributed from our site.
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dymondy2k
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by dymondy2k »

Hence my request to make it a supplement :)
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AncientToaster
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by AncientToaster »

Solomoriah wrote:Toaster, I hate to have to tell you this, but you can't redistribute modified versions of the Core Rules without removing all the artwork (which isn't Open Game Content), changing the name of the game on the title page, and adding your new name in the Copyright section.

The entire text of the game is Open Game Content. You can use it any way you wish, BUT you can't use Product Identity without permission. The name "Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game" and its variations are listed as PI in the license in the back. Literally the only thing I hold back is the name; all else is shared. Limiting the use of the name is critical to the Project; if anyone were allowed to distribute "Basic Fantasy RPG" with their own modifications, how would a newbie know which version is the "official" one?

Further, the artists who contributed granted me (personally) a permanent, non-exclusive (they still own it, and can use, relicense, sell or share it) license to their artwork; while I have fairly free rein to use that artwork in products that appear on our site, nobody else can do that. For example, if you submit a supplement to me that uses, say, the Gnome picture from the Core Rules, I can put it on the site and that's cool, but if you put it on another site without the approval of the artist, well, that's illegal.

I really hate to rain on your parade here; I like the concept in general, and of course, barring legal action (which I don't want to undertake in any event) I can't do anything to force you not to share it. But I cannot condone it.

Incidentally, this is why I have to personally approve every translation project, and the translated works get distributed from our site.
Apologies, didn't know that's how the license worked. I've changed the links to point to a generic one-page rewrite which doesn't incorporate any PI (I think; I wasn't sure how the license should look).

So there's no way to distribute small rewrites of the core rules? I totally understand the reasoning, but in cases like this the changes are so minor (adding about six sentences to one page, deleting four sentences from another) that a whole supplement would seem like overkill.
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Solomoriah
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by Solomoriah »

AncientToaster wrote:Apologies, didn't know that's how the license worked. I've changed the links to point to a generic one-page rewrite which doesn't incorporate any PI (I think; I wasn't sure how the license should look).
Thank you. I haven't looked... did you remove the picture?
AncientToaster wrote:So there's no way to distribute small rewrites of the core rules?
Sadly, no. I simply cannot allow altered versions of the rules to be distributed with the name intact, nor can I sublicense the artwork (I don't request or receive that right from any of our artists).
AncientToaster wrote:I totally understand the reasoning, but in cases like this the changes are so minor (adding about six sentences to one page, deleting four sentences from another) that a whole supplement would seem like overkill.
Indeed. Further, the changes are so minor that you don't have to write them down at all.

This is something that people have a hard time understanding, but it's really simple. You don't have to write everything down. Having mentioned the idea in the optional rules, and covered the possibility that a dragon hoard might grant too many XP, there is really no need to record the change in writing for general consumption.

Of course, many people create a "house rules" document for their own consumption; if you never distribute it, it's fair use and that's cool. And no, I don't really mean you can't hand your players copies, you just can't put it on the 'net or sell copies to the public.
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AncientToaster
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by AncientToaster »

Solomoriah wrote:
AncientToaster wrote:I totally understand the reasoning, but in cases like this the changes are so minor (adding about six sentences to one page, deleting four sentences from another) that a whole supplement would seem like overkill.
Indeed. Further, the changes are so minor that you don't have to write them down at all.

This is something that people have a hard time understanding, but it's really simple. You don't have to write everything down. Having mentioned the idea in the optional rules, and covered the possibility that a dragon hoard might grant too many XP, there is really no need to record the change in writing for general consumption.
Sure, I don't think one has to write everything down. But writing down a few core houserules can be, well, fun. The game becomes one's own, in the same way that Stonehell became my dungeon when I started scribbling emendations in the margin. :)
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dymondy2k
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by dymondy2k »

Toaster.. I think there is enough gray area that you have enough to fluff out a small 1 to 2 page supplement. GP as XP sounds good until you have to try and figure out value of items so maybe some quick ideas on doing that would help.
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Solomoriah
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by Solomoriah »

Indeed. Let me note that our "coverage target" game did not give XP for magic items discovered, whereas the more "advanced" game did, but had separate XP and GP values.

I personally do not like to ever give "official" prices for magic items. That way lies madness. But giving a standard XP value (if you like giving XP for magic items recovered) is not such an issue.
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dymondy2k
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Re: GP-as-XP Rewrite

Post by dymondy2k »

Solo.. it took me a second to get what your saying.. Assigning worth isn't a good idea but assigning a standard XP is. So regardless of where magic sits in your campaign you would still have a uniform XP assignment value, just like for creatures.. I like it!
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