A tabletop version of Wasteland PDF + a dicerolling program

[cmagruder]

It was mentioned that they wanted this system to work just fine as a tabletop game before they worked out the combat system in practice. I think it would be awesome if the rules to this "Tabletop game" in PDF form + a dice rolling program were included with the Wasteland 2 files.

I'd love to run it and it would channel the 90s rather effectively. It could be thought of as an extension to the Wasteland Paragraph book.

[derekticon]

Sounds like fun and something that's not too difficult to do. But I suppose there's gonna be intellectual property rights issues?

[krellen]

MSPE was an actual published rule system, and the people that designed and created it were (and are) designers on the project.

[Plasmablaster]

I'd really love to see a pen & paper version of W2. But I think I'd much prefer a big, comprehensive resource book than a rulebook and that's because the intricacies of calculating numbers on a p'n'p session would mean that a certain level of simplicity would be necessary and this might compromise the computer game's mechanics a bit -if they are to be the same system. If not, then we are talking about a different game and I don't see as a good idea to have members of the development team develop a new system tailored to p'n'p RPG gaming instead of the computer game itself. Except of course if the base system is such that can be easily simplified for p'n'p wthout having to alter any attribute of any creature/item in the game world.

About a resource book however, things are a bit different: A detailed, packed and comprehensive resource book could be the basis on which many things could be built upon: Mods, p'n'p adventures, sequels, comics, novels, you name it. Hell, it could be useful just by itself, for anyone that is curious to learn more about the game world, for any reason.

The only issue with this sourcebook is that if it is to be alone (without a rulebook) the statistics of every creature/item should be given in a way easily adaptable for other systems (Like Gurps, Fuzion, Fudge, 3rd Edition or other). Maybe a percentage system would be good for this.

[killstring]

Oh gods, this. This.

It may not be super feasible for analog gaming, depending on the math, but still. Could be a lot of fun.

I seem to recall Chris Avellone doing something like this for the Fallout Bible, yes?

[BentSea]

Oh gods, this. This.

It may not be super feasible for analog gaming, depending on the math, but still. Could be a lot of fun.

I seem to recall Chris Avellone doing something like this for the Fallout Bible, yes?

Seconded... so very seconded! Man, this would be so cool.. heck, if it could even be out before the game.. give us something to salivate over...

[BlackGauntlet]

Yeah, something like D20-Modern, MSPE-Wasteland! We should suggest it for the online merchandise store.

[Zigmar]

I agree it could be awesome, I but I would definitely against producing such a spin-off game during the main game production time and/or using an original game budget. It's quite a large task to create such game, and while nice in theory, it see it totally out of scope of the current project.

[AgentTate]

I was a big fan of the Fallout P&P, I'd be all over a Wasteland P&P as well.

[Lantander]

Sounds like something to do when WL2 is finished and selling well...

[cmagruder]

I only suggested it because they said they would design it before they coded the game.

[suz]

I only suggested it because they said they would design it before they coded the game.

And play it for ~6 months aswell...

If it does get released it might need some dehydration council in bundle - from this thread it seems like people's saliva glands are already leaking.

[nathanknaack]

Good idea, and we could use Roll20 to test it out.

[Plasmablaster]

I was a big fan of the Fallout P&P, I'd be all over a Wasteland P&P as well.

Did you play any adventure using it? We did once and it was pretty time-consuming, the damage system was a bit too heavy for P'n'P. It should be simpified instead of just mirroring the computer system.

[SagaDC]

I could certainly get behind a project like this. But then again, I could probably get behind almost any project that involved telling us more about the world of Wasteland. I do run a weekly tabletop game, though, so tabletop RPGs are of particular interest to me. There are (or were) only a small handful of Post-Apocalyptic RPGs on the market, and many of them suffer from poor writing (Exodus) or wildly inconsistent from edition to edition (Gamma World, although there were some good editions ). Darwin's World is a fairly solid game, despite it's reliance on the now-defunct D20 Modern setting, and Warlords of the Apocalypse seemed very promising... but it appears to be on indefinite hold.

I certainly wouldn't recommend bothering with the development of a tabletop game until the video game is finished, though. I think everyone wants Fargo and the rest to keep their full attention on Wasteland 2 for the time being.

[cmagruder]

I could certainly get behind a project like this. But then again, I could probably get behind almost any project that involved telling us more about the world of Wasteland. I do run a weekly tabletop game, though, so tabletop RPGs are of particular interest to me. There are (or were) only a small handful of Post-Apocalyptic RPGs on the market, and many of them suffer from poor writing (Exodus) or wildly inconsistent from edition to edition (Gamma World, although there were some good editions ). Darwin's World is a fairly solid game, despite it's reliance on the now-defunct D20 Modern setting, and Warlords of the Apocalypse seemed very promising... but it appears to be on indefinite hold.

I certainly wouldn't recommend bothering with the development of a tabletop game until the video game is finished, though. I think everyone wants Fargo and the rest to keep their full attention on Wasteland 2 for the time being.

As mentioned before, they said they'd write one first to base the system around.

[SagaDC]

As mentioned before, they said they'd write one first to base the system around.

True, but that doesn't mean that it will be a complete tabletop RPG ready for distribution to people outside of their design group. J.E. Sawyer made a tabletop RPG during the development of the original Fallout 3, but it's basically unplayable beyond the lightest of scenarios (although it's better now after years of tweaking from fans). A system that just happens to be made alongside the development of the video game likely won't include rules for things that aren't present in the game.

At any rate, I would certainly appreciate anything they come up with (even if it's unfinished), but I wouldn't want them to actually devote anyone to finishing and polishing it up during the period that the devs are working on the actual video game. I mean, not unless the person handling the development of the tabletop RPG has nothing else to do.

[BubbaBrown]

I think it would be interesting for them to publish beta versions to the public during development. For an RPG, a pen and paper version is really an excellent analog to debug some general mechanics before going through the effort to code them. If you can't get some mechanic to make sense within the realm of pen and paper, you might be setting yourself up for trouble when you try to translate it to game code. Good software engineering relies upon heavy planning before you even type out one line of code. One good ER diagram can spare you untold amounts of trouble when you are developing a system.

And what better point to correct issues and factor in fan input then when the system is still within the pen and paper realm. It's a lot easier to rewrite a game rule in the context of an RPG system reference document than when it is coded and relied upon by many other game modules. If you can make is feasible on paper you can make it feasible on the computer. (Okay, maybe not always... Stupid NP Incomplete problems.)

[SagaDC]

I think it would be interesting for them to publish beta versions to the public during development. For an RPG, a pen and paper version is really an excellent analog to debug some general mechanics before going through the effort to code them. If you can't get some mechanic to make sense within the realm of pen and paper, you might be setting yourself up for trouble when you try to translate it to game code. Good software engineering relies upon heavy planning before you even type out one line of code. One good ER diagram can spare you untold amounts of trouble when you are developing a system.

And what better point to correct issues and factor in fan input then when the system is still within the pen and paper realm. It's a lot easier to rewrite a game rule in the context of an RPG system reference document than when it is coded and relied upon by many other game modules. If you can make is feasible on paper you can make it feasible on the computer. (Okay, maybe not always... Stupid NP Incomplete problems.)

Agreed! And I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a finished, polished version of a tabletop RPG released afterwards. I run a lot of tabletop RPGs for personal and professional reasons, so I'd leap at the chance to run a few games for my friends just to try things out.

[AgentTate]

I was a big fan of the Fallout P&P, I'd be all over a Wasteland P&P as well.

Did you play any adventure using it? We did once and it was pretty time-consuming, the damage system was a bit too heavy for P'n'P. It should be simpified instead of just mirroring the computer system.

It wasn't bad... we played it enough that we could remember all the damage/skill calcs and whatnot. I play a lot of different game systems, and Fallout is what I would consider moderate in learning curve. Actually posted one of the campaigns a friend that I write with made on the forum.