I noticed a recent thread from Goldenfrog about how to introduce a group of old-rules gamers to Pathfinder, and I was interested in the reverse of that situation as well, which is running an old-school type game using the Pathfinder rules. That's basically how Necromancer Games approached third edition, simply offering an alternate approach to a lot of the 3e rules (not changing them, just applying them differently) and also presenting them in a completely different writing/art style.
There's an interesting experiment about that going on for Pathfinder, now, and it seems to me at least that there's a whole new model for "conversions" being developed.
Although Necromancer is now spun off into Bill Webb's new Frog God Games, the new company is doing something with Pathfinder that's even more of a retro-innovation (Retro-nouveaux?) which is to set up an interaction between authors who have never written for anything post-1e (in some cases, not even post-0e), and Pathfinder authors. The result is an underlying design based on purely free-form principles, with the Pathfinder engine basically used to interpret and shape the way that underlying design interfaces with the players.
The prime example is a module called Ursined, Sealed, and Delivered, which is written by Dennis Sustare (for those not familiar, Dennis was the author of the druid character class back in 1976). So the underlying module is as "old-school" as you can get in terms of its fundamental design principles. Once interpreted with the PF rules, you get something very interesting. It's like a fusion experiment where the PF rules have a different sort of feel to them.
I think "conventional wisdom" on module conversion is that the more a module is designed to be tailored to the strengths and details of a particular game system, the better it will be. Frog God Games's fusion model turns that on its head. With the objective of creating a unique, different feel, the theory is to begin with a different (more free-form) structure to the adventure, and then build a system's strengths into it as an interface.
It will be interesting to see how different the results of that kind of fusion design actually turn out to be.
Very interesting. Since 3.0 I feel that the game has lost some of he "classic," feel of previous editions. Would love to see some things along the lines of classic modules from the golden age of D&D like ToEE and ToH. Can't wait to check this stuff out. Thanks for the heads up!
Very interesting. Since 3.0 I feel that the game has lost some of he "classic," feel of previous editions. Would love to see some things along the lines of classic modules from the golden age of D&D like ToEE and ToH. Can't wait to check this stuff out. Thanks for the heads up!
A couple are already out, although they aren't the fusion-designed ones I was navel-gazing about :) I think they are Slumbering Tsar, Eamonvale, Splinters of Faith, and Fane of the Fallen. They all have the dark, not-high-fantasy, Clark Ashton Smith style that Necromancer used. The Paizo store blog has better information on them:
http://paizo.com/store/blog/v5748dyo5lbiq
Edit: I left out a module called Demonheart. I haven't read Eamonvale or Demonheart, just Slumbering Tsar, Splinters of Faith, and Fane of the Fallen.
What is very interesting about the new Frog God is the approach to writing. Bill and others have always prefered an old school feel to their games. Now, that term gets batted around quite a bit, but what does it really mean? If people who still play this game really look at themselves, we've all gotten pretty jaded. How many of us are still scared of orcs? Or lowly goblins and kobolds? But when we started, you bet yer britches we were scared as heck over some of these critters. And giants? and dragons? Forget about it!
Taking a look at who publishes adventures these days, there are only a handful that even try to recapture that feeling. Paizo does a good job with the AP adventures. While they dont make me feel like a teenager anymore, they do whet my appetite for adventure. Greg Vaughn's contributions to the AP world are amazing, as well as James Jacobs (2 of my personal favs; not to disrespect any of the authors). These are the games I enjoy DMing; taking thses scenarios and beating my players (sorry, my players "characters", sheesh!) to death is great fun. We all have a good time, even after a somber TPK (love the Ogres of Hook Mountain!)
When I get to play, I prefer the older school adventures. If some book can take me out of my day to day adulthood, and make me stand around like a little schoolgirl (Im a 6 ft kickboxer) worried about getting jumped by a goblin in the woods than THATS old-school. Having guys that never "progressed" through the editions writing adventures is what takes me back in time. And to them, Im greatful.
It is my honor and priviledge to be able to work with these guys at Frog God. I take their words, their ideas, and their love of the game, and add a few numbers. Its the writers soul they pour into the game that makes a feel, not a system of numbers and mechanics. Fortunately, the Pathfinder mechanic is really easy to work with, and with the new APG out, wow! (I love antipaladins)
Anyway, I think the merging of older style play, with new shiny mechanics (that work, for the majority) is a great thing. it may not have a huge surge of gamers right off, but once they see what its about, and maybe even grab back some of the child like gaming I still do, they will come.
Skeeter
And I didn't know that Kenneth Spencer was an archaeologist. That makes me even more interested in the viking series.
I also get to read it before everyone but Bill and Greg, so that's awesome too. ;)