The word “emprise” (emm-PRIZE), which means a chivalric and daring undertaking, has won out over a number of alternatives (many of which featured the sainted ampersand) as the title of my new retro-recon game. For those who haven’t been following this blog with great regularity, this is my attempt to answer a “what if?” question that has been weighing on my mind for a quarter century:
What if Gary Gygax had not left TSR in 1985, and had been allowed to design the second edition of the world’s most famous fantasy role-playing game?
I’m making great progress, but it’s a ton of work, and I make no predictions about how long it will be before a formal call for playtesters goes out. (But go out it will, along with a call for artists.)
Everything’s up for grabs at this point, but as of right now, the game will consist of three core rulebooks:
- Players Manual
- Game Masters Manual
- Bestiary
In addition, there will be a boxed beginners set, with stripped-down starter rules, a starter adventure, dice, and so forth. Down the line, I foresee dealing with mass combat as a separate, but compatible, game that will give the “old school endgame” some teeth and those men-at-arms and followers gained at higher levels a raison d’etre.
It will be published under the auspices of the OGL, which while it carries with it some restrictions I might not like, is ultimately the best legal protection for a work of this nature.
I'm really looking forward to this one! Nice job with the logo.
There really is an Old School Renaissance! 😉
Looks very interesting so far.
The attention of many, many 40+ year old men, are now upon YOU! No pressure.
You have taken it upon yourself to tackle a very ambitious project. Good luck with it as you push ahead! I can't wait to see the end result!
Emprise is a great word, I wonder if it's a precurser of enterprise, or if they are related at all.
Emprise? Possibly a bad omen. You know what happened to the most famous emprise in history, right? (Empresa de Inglaterra: 1588, lots of Spaniards, lots of boats…)
Just watch out for someone sailing a burning copy of OSRIC into your lines, 'kay. 😉 )
Possible mass combat endgame? *worships*
Intersting. Not sure how I missed this.
Good luck to you, or at least better luck than I'm having trying to fidgit a document with some 2nd edition type rules into Osric.
Good luck! I love how old-school the introduction looks. Excellent!
I really like the idea of creating a retroclone (I've even written a few chapters of a retro-gaming inspired science fiction RPG, though it hasn't gotten farther than that), but don't feel comfortable tackling such a big job yet.
However, I am working on a retro sandbox inspired board game, thanks in almost entirely whole parts to this Old School Renaissance! I can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Sorry for the second post, but I LOVE the idea of adding a dedicated section for endgame play. That has always been some of my favorite reading in 0e material, and I think that it would be a big selling point for me.