Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Everything is better with zombies
I picked up a copy of Zombie Smackdown! for All Flesh Must Be Eaten on the weekend. Essentially, Zombie Smackdown is the wrestling supplement for the game of zombie survival horror. I've been reading through it, and although I'm not too far in, I can start by saying it's not too bad ... so far. One thing really bugs me, though, and that's that in the first twenty-five pages, probably a good ten pages or more was filled up with fiction. I hate that. I don't buy RPG books for short stories. I buy them for games. I can tolerate a little bit of fiction just to set the right mood, but there's a point where it's just too much.
Anyway, I haven't been a fan of professional wrestling (a la WWF/WWE) since I was a kid. I think the last time I watched pro wrestling was when I was about ten or twelve years old. I just can't stand it at all now. Funnily enough, though, I really like wrestling video games -- and I think a wrestling RPG is just too damned funny ... especially with the crazy storylines involved in federations like the WWE these days.
Years ago, there was a WWF RPG released, but I think it got canned after one expansion. I'm sure the amount of mocking from the various game reviewers out there didn't help the game win any fans. I'm sure it probably drove a few away. Still, even though I laughed way back when, I think pro wrestling (or wrasslin', if you'd prefer) as an RPG is a pretty good idea. You can mix in all kinds of drama, and then bring that drama to a head with a good, old-fashioned squared-ring brawl. Tell me that doesn't scream "RPG" to you. Go on. Tell me.
Anyway, the WWF RPG didn't work out well, but people aren't about to give up on the pro wrestling genre. Zombie Smackdown seems kind of cool, and if you take out the zombies, I think you could probably run a fairly traditional pro wrestling game with it. However, there's a WWE RPG in the works now. Check out the link to Know Your Role: The WWE Roleplaying Game. Unfortunately, Know Your Role looks like it uses a bastardized version of the d20 rules ... and like I've suggested before, I'm getting a bit sick of everything being d20. From what I hear, this is supposed to launch sometime this spring/summer -- probably around the time of Wrestlemania (whenever the hell that is these days).
Anyway, I haven't been a fan of professional wrestling (a la WWF/WWE) since I was a kid. I think the last time I watched pro wrestling was when I was about ten or twelve years old. I just can't stand it at all now. Funnily enough, though, I really like wrestling video games -- and I think a wrestling RPG is just too damned funny ... especially with the crazy storylines involved in federations like the WWE these days.
Years ago, there was a WWF RPG released, but I think it got canned after one expansion. I'm sure the amount of mocking from the various game reviewers out there didn't help the game win any fans. I'm sure it probably drove a few away. Still, even though I laughed way back when, I think pro wrestling (or wrasslin', if you'd prefer) as an RPG is a pretty good idea. You can mix in all kinds of drama, and then bring that drama to a head with a good, old-fashioned squared-ring brawl. Tell me that doesn't scream "RPG" to you. Go on. Tell me.
Anyway, the WWF RPG didn't work out well, but people aren't about to give up on the pro wrestling genre. Zombie Smackdown seems kind of cool, and if you take out the zombies, I think you could probably run a fairly traditional pro wrestling game with it. However, there's a WWE RPG in the works now. Check out the link to Know Your Role: The WWE Roleplaying Game. Unfortunately, Know Your Role looks like it uses a bastardized version of the d20 rules ... and like I've suggested before, I'm getting a bit sick of everything being d20. From what I hear, this is supposed to launch sometime this spring/summer -- probably around the time of Wrestlemania (whenever the hell that is these days).
// posted by Chris @ 9:19 AM 
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I don't usually chime in on things like this, but... well, I felt the need to speak up on this issue.
While I sometimes feel the same concerning d20 variants clogging the arteries on the RPG market, you have to be at least a little forgiving, since it's an easily adaptable system. However, people that go with just flat out d20 rules and tack stuff like action points and such on are only helping WOTC make money (more or less), since going with d20 rules, you still need the core D&D 3rd Ed. handbooks to play. (Using the D20 license requires people to state that you need at least the Player's Handbook, since third party publishers can't include character generation rules.)
OGL, on the other hand, does allow publishers to include those generation rules, since they're pretty much bastardizing - albeit legally - the d20 system.
I believe the WWE RPG is OGL (I'm kind of hoping it is, anyway). This would allow the writers a ton of leeway, since the D&D 3.5 rules for grappling would need to be reworked. Plus, from the preview, it appears that they're going to giving a list of all possible moves players can use, as well as rules to make new ones. With that in mind, you could easily apply those same rules to D&D hand-to-hand combat, for a more flavorful fighting experience.
I admit I'm a fan of the d20 system. But that's due mostly to the fact that I can usually find a rule in the core books for any question I may have, and because I know very well how the system works. But I'm also a fan of White Wolf's World Of Darkness rules, and Legend of the Five Rings' roll and keep system.
Well, like I said, I thought I'd chime in on this.
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While I sometimes feel the same concerning d20 variants clogging the arteries on the RPG market, you have to be at least a little forgiving, since it's an easily adaptable system. However, people that go with just flat out d20 rules and tack stuff like action points and such on are only helping WOTC make money (more or less), since going with d20 rules, you still need the core D&D 3rd Ed. handbooks to play. (Using the D20 license requires people to state that you need at least the Player's Handbook, since third party publishers can't include character generation rules.)
OGL, on the other hand, does allow publishers to include those generation rules, since they're pretty much bastardizing - albeit legally - the d20 system.
I believe the WWE RPG is OGL (I'm kind of hoping it is, anyway). This would allow the writers a ton of leeway, since the D&D 3.5 rules for grappling would need to be reworked. Plus, from the preview, it appears that they're going to giving a list of all possible moves players can use, as well as rules to make new ones. With that in mind, you could easily apply those same rules to D&D hand-to-hand combat, for a more flavorful fighting experience.
I admit I'm a fan of the d20 system. But that's due mostly to the fact that I can usually find a rule in the core books for any question I may have, and because I know very well how the system works. But I'm also a fan of White Wolf's World Of Darkness rules, and Legend of the Five Rings' roll and keep system.
Well, like I said, I thought I'd chime in on this.
# posted by 
: 3/05/2005 12:43 AM
: 3/05/2005 12:43 AM << Home
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