Good questions, David ! Thanks for posting them. Here are my responses.I like how minimal TFT is. I like how the rules are in three booklets and that's it. The microquests, the full-campaigns, etc. are all optional. This allows the minimum rules to conduct a game and maximum creativity by each GM.
For example, there is the setting. Cidri is the main place for the game, but no one is sure even what it is. It is so vast that its full extent is not even known. (And thus, the location of the gem trading town of Paska-Dall remains a delightful little mystery.) Cidri is the same place, so the basic rules remain consistent wherever a campaign takes place. Yet, it is big enough for GMs to introduce house rules under the guise of regional variations. Furthermore, there is the concept of gates to other worlds in parallel universes. Thus, GMs who want to make a serious change to the rules can use a different universe as the setting for those different rules. In short, the setting is so big that it effectively allows a GM to do whatever he or she wants, but the rules still give an elegantly simple and effective system for gaming.
I like that.In contrast, there is D&D. There are tons of rules, charts, graphs, supplements and so on. Keeping up with that game is like keeping up with tax law. There isn't much room for flexibility, and there's always a price to pay for the next necessary supplement.
So, as far as rules go, I like TFT's minimal rules. The only changes I would make (if TFT were republished) would be to better organize the material and to have a decent index.
As for optional supplements, I like this forum. People can and do suggest different house rules, proposed rules, critters and creatures and so on. People are free to accept them, modify them or reject them as they wish. I wish (ahem) there was more discussion of Advanced Wizard: spell research, magical items, etc. About the only magical topics I've seen are a healing spell and the effect of magic on fortifications. There's more that could be discussed (but maybe I just missed it).
As for RPG supplements from other systems, I confess that I like the original edition of D&D's "Monster Manual." A lot of it was devoted to monsters found in nightmares and caverns, but there was some creativity there; and a few of those monsters are good ideas for foes in a TFT setting.
Be well. --John
From: "David Peterson" <peterson@vigyan.com> Reply-To: tft@brainiac.com To: tft@brainiac.com Subject: (TFT) Poll - TFT Books We'd Like to See Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 09:04:47 -0400 (EDT)Whether TFT is your favorite RPG system, or a golden oldie in your collection, there are probably many books for it that you wish were available. Perhaps these are equivalent to certain titles for other RPG's, or perhaps these are titles that you have written or would like to write. So...1. Assuming there was an Open-TFT license, what books would you like to see published for the system?2. What is your favorite RPG supplement that would be cool to have for TFT?3. What is your favorite TFT supplement/rulebook/adventure that you wish there were more of for TFT?4. What is your favorite rules expansion or adventure from this mailing list that you think is worthy to be a published TFT supplement?------------------- Email sent using AnyEmail (http://netbula.com/anyemail/) ===== Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com. Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body "unsubscribe tft"
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