True 20 Main Book Independent PDF?

[REG]

Are you implying that Green Ronin made a mistake of attaching a romantic fantasy genre setting to launch their first True20 book?

[Breschau]

I picked up Blue Rose as I'm considering what system to use for my upcoming Star Wars RPG - I heard a lot of good things about the True 20 engine as presented there and like Mutants and Masterminds.

I'm not a huge fan of romantic fan but I didn't have any problem picking it up for that purpose.

[Nikchick]

Are you implying that Green Ronin made a mistake of attaching a romantic fantasy genre setting to launch their first True20 book?

Well, since the system that everyone seems to like so much developed directly out of our intention to emulate the romantic fantasy genre, it's just not really accurate to think of it as GR "attaching" the setting to the system.

[JongWK]

Well, since the system that everyone seems to like so much developed directly out of our intention to emulate the romantic fantasy genre, it's just not really accurate to think of it as GR "attaching" the setting to the system.

Maybe that was the intention, but the system is also good for other kinds of settings. I for one, would love to run an Age of Discoveries campaign, perhaps with a few firearms from a True 20 core book.

[REG]

Well, since the system that everyone seems to like so much developed directly out of our intention to emulate the romantic fantasy genre, it's just not really accurate to think of it as GR "attaching" the setting to the system.

Shh. I don't think your customers would like to hear that the much-praised ruleset is actually based on the inspiration of many romantic fantasy novels. They'd rather you tell them it's LOTR-inspired.

I guess I'm wondering if regardless of how it is spawned, would you have taken the safe (i.e., more profitable) route and use a conventional "sword & sorcery cult" setting to launch the True20 product lines?

Are there plans for a different True20 product line in the next 12 months?

[Nikchick]

The question is whether you guys are going to be smart enough to take advantage of that, or through some kind of incomprehensible pride ruin the saleability of what might just be the most promising new system since D20 by keeping it tied to a setting that attracts comparatively few people and watch people who could have become loyal customers of your True 20 line simply refuse to buy BR out of personal disgust for the setting?

Nisarg, you have a real talent for taking what could be a neutral and legitimately interesting question and presenting it in the most inflamatory and insulting way.

[Nikchick]

Are there plans for a different True20 product line in the next 12 months?

Answering this would be breaking my own rule about saying nothing until there's something to say (as I mentioned in the Dragon Fist thread).

[Nikchick]

Businesspeople constantly run under this illusion that its important to keep things as secret as possible, as if at any moment ninjas are going to break into their office and steal the secret rpg plans.

Nothing like that at all. I'm just tired of having my staff raked over the coals because we shared our plans early in the process. It's happened too often in the past and I'm not interested at all in fueling speculation or fielding the inevitable questions-that-have-no-answers about projects that we may or may not do.

Although the ninja comment is a bit overboard, I will say that with D20 we have suffered at the hands of predatory competitors who, upon finding out our plans for a line or project, in the past purposely changed their plans to try to screw with ours. That may happen less often now that D20 is less competitive (with clear winners and losers in the battle for mindshare) but it absolutely has happened before and keeping things close to the vest is not such a ridiculous strategy as you might think.

[Nikchick]

But a general statement of intent, in this case, "Green Ronin DOES in good faith intend to use True 20 for something other than Blue Rose, more specific details to follow when the time is right" would go a long way to overcome the feeling that Green Ronin simply doesn't give a damn about a potential customer if they aren't Blue Rose fans, and really doesn't feel like developing True 20.

On the other hand, we spent two years building Blue Rose and I don't think we have an obligation to jump out in public within two months of launching thei product line to start pandering to potential customers who have enthusiasm for the part but not the whole.

Blue Rose is our product of primary concern and I fully intend to support it and use it according to our plan. This does not mean we "don't give a damn" about people who like True20 outside of its applications to Blue Rose. Hell, in a world of infinite resources, I'd do all sorts of crazy projects on a moments notice, regardless of the potential return on investment or the impact on other plans... too bad we don't live in a world of infinite resources. The fact that people have latched onto the system that drives Blue Rose and want something more for the system is gratifiying and I recognize that possibility that we could turn it into something more but what we intend to do or not do with True20 in the future is a matter internal to Green Ronin and for us to decide, plan, and execute on as we see fit.

I don't understand the strange attitude that infuses so many of these posts that because we created something and someone likes it we now OWE them "answers" to anything they might ask.

[Alazne]

How about this, Nikchick - Thank you, and your staff, for a wonderful system, and a wonderful setting (which I personally like, even though I have adapted the True20 system to other games as well, and don't really need a separate product.). We appreciate what you've done, whether or not you do anything beyond BR.

(And, yeah, I work with the public, I know how nice it is to hear "Thank You" every once in a while.)

[REG]

Are there plans for a different True20 product line in the next 12 months?

Answering this would be breaking my own rule about saying nothing until there's something to say (as I mentioned in the Dragon Fist thread).

Sighs. One of the hazards of living in the Digital Information Age. We want answers in real-time now, rather than wait months for that reply letter in the mail (how I used to correspond with companies about certain rules questions).

I think it is contributing to my short attention span. You know how it ... ooh, pizza delivery is here!

* logs off *

[Pramas]

Sighs. One of the hazards of living in the Digital Information Age. We want answers in real-time now, rather than wait months for that reply letter in the mail (how I used to correspond with companies about certain rules questions).

Yeah, the internet is a blessing and a curse.

People just need to realize that GR has a lot of irons in the fire--M&M, True20, WFRP, d20, Dragon Fist, Thieves' World--and our staff is small. If we don't answer a question right away, it doesn't mean that there is no answer or that we won't give one. We have several important announcements coming up and we just like to make sure that all our ducks are in a row and we're making announcements at the right time and in the right way. So if you guys would just take a step back and chill out, you'll find you have something more concrete to talk about sooner rather than later.

[timemrick]

In the interests of giving you some hope, however slim, I'll point out that True20 has been mentioned as one of several possibilities for future development of the Freeport line.

Keep in mind that, except for GR's intent to keep producing Freeport material, everything in that thread is sheer speculation. (Two of the four listed options would continue to use the standard 3.5 rules that all current Freeport material is grounded in.) But the simple fact that True20 was even mentioned shows that GR acknowledges its appeal beyond Blue Rose.

Whether they think another True20 game would be worth the risks they would take in developing it is a much more complicated question. Green Ronin has been amazingly successful for its size, but it's still a very small company, with (as Nikchick pointed out) very limited resources.

They'll make the official announcement about the future of Freeport and/or True20 when they're good and ready. I, for one, prefer it that way, in spite of my own impatience.

[Nikchick]

If it was a sincerely placed possibility, and not a clever way of trying to create a negative reaction...

It is really so impossible for you to conceive that we are far too busy to waste an ounce of effort to "create a negative reaction" among our fans? That we are NOT running Green Ronin as a front for a Camarilla LARP, where we sit around all day planning out how we can trick and double-cross random people on the internet? That we're not out to screw anyone, trick anyone, or insult anyone?

If I were independently wealthy and had nothing else to do besides sit around all day eating bon bons and coming up with clever ways to screw with you, I still wouldn't waste the time to do so.

Good grief.

[timemrick]

Please forget that I even mentioned that other thread. Sheesh.