Hello everyone,

I've received a number of private emails asking if Arcanis will be converting over to the new 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons rule system and I was told that there was some talk of the same at ArcaniCon. So let me take a moment of your time to discuss this topic.

When Arcanis was first released, it was under the D&D 3rd edition rule set. During that time we launched the Living Arcanis RPGA campaign and over the years it became very popular, at times being second only to Living Greyhawk in number of active players.

With the advent of 4th Edition D&D, we felt that it wouldn't be a good fit for us and it was decided that a rule system tailored to the setting would best serve the game. Unfortunately, many players did not want to learn a new rule system and stopped playing Arcanis.

Though we have a very dedicated following of players, the actual number has shrunk significantly. It has been brought to my attention again and again that changing the rule set to Pathfinder or D&D would greatly increase the number of players. This would obviously help sustain the line and the influx of fresh players with new ideas and tactics could only help the health of the player base.

Problem is, I really like the ARG (Arcanis Roleplaying Game) system and would hate to have it disappear.

Instead, IF it is demonstrated that there is an interest in Arcanis by others outside of the current player base that would play if it were available in another system, I would seriously think of making a dual version available. By this I mean that ARG would not go away. Instead, we would dual publish appropriate products in two different rules sets.

For example, work is being done on releasing the original Bloody Sands of Sicaris adventure in both the ARG system and an OGL version of D&D 5th Edition, assuming that OGL is released in a timely fashion. These would be two separate books, identical but for the game mechanics.

So how will the interest in a 5th Edition Arcanis be measured? Glad you asked.

At Gen Con, Clint Blome and Matt Flinn will be hosting a number of Legends of Arcanis and Witch Hunter events. Included in that will be the first two hard points of the Crusade story arc: Desperate Times and Desperate Measures.

These adventures were chosen because its assumed that the great majority of the current player base has played them. This is NOT part of the Legends of Arcanis campaign nor the start of any other living campaign. They will be played with pregenerated characters and no XP or items will be given out.

If there is an interest in offering Arcanis using another rule set, then I'll consider it, but I want to make one thing very clear:

Even if there is a resounding YES yelled from the high towers of Gen Con, the current ARG system will not go away. As I said, I really like our system and I think more than a few of you do as well. If another version of Arcanis becomes a reality largely depends on a number of things, not the least of which is the release of the new OGL.

I just wanted to settle some rattled nerves and speak clearly to all of you on what's going on.

I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you!

I for one would also like to point out that you would lose some players if you converted. I liked D&D 3.5 in many ways, and I wouldn't leave if Arcanis converted to something 3.5/pathfinder like. I would leave if it converted to 5.0 type rules.

I like the ARG system. I want to see it developed further as a system. If needed, I would be open to buying a version 2.0 at some point in the future as things get debugged and as new options are play tested and the rules are expanded upon and things are balanced.

I especially like that the rules system is designed for the campaign, and there is no large "these are not allowed" list of spells (invisibility, teleport, etc) required to make the gaming system fit the character of the campaign.

I too really like the ARG. There are some details that need to be cleaned up here and there but it is overall a very solid game that fits the setting and campaign very well.

Personally, I would leave if the campaign was converted to D&D (thank you for stately strongly that ARG would not go away - I hope that also means the living campaign using ARG). I've long been tired of the 3.x mechanics (and found 4e refreshing but wouldn't want to see Arcanis in 4e either) and have no interest in seeing Arcanis converted to 5e either.

Regardless of the system, I'm staying. The greatest strength is the world and the storytelling and I know that will come through regardless of the system.

I really like the ARG as it strongly reflects the flavor of the world setting it was designed to interact with. As with any system there's room for clean up and improvement and tweaking. As more characters get into the high 2.x range and start into 3 I expect we'll start seeing where the system excels and where it needs refinements.

Some aspects of the system I think are under utilized. Swapping the stat die out for something appropriate could be an additional selling point if it got some momentum.

Trying to figure out how difficult a climb you're looking at? Athletics (In). Who are the most notorious thieves of all time? Larceny (Lo). Teach a skill? <Skill> (Ch). Improvise an instrument or make the best of a damaged instrument? Perform (Qu or Pr).

As examples come up in mods and in play, it might be nice to capture them for general reference.

Overall it's a solid system. Looking forward to future expansions and both the story and the rules that go with them.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

Hello,



Correct. The current iteration of the campaign is staying in place. So to be clear, the Legends of Arcanis campaign will remain powered ARG.

The object of this experiment is to see if others are interested in the world setting. Increasing the player base, not decreasing it is foremost on my mind.

I thought that was pretty common practice. I've had GMs give a different stat die on occasion at tables I've been playing at and I've done it on occasion with my players.

I would also stay with the campaign regardless of ruleset, but as with many others I am a big fan of the versatility of the ARPG system.

I personally do not think that it would be a good idea to dual publish for two rulesets. There are issues with the speed of product release as it is now, trying to do it twice would only exacerbate the situation.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that it would be easier to attract new players by switching to a mainstream ruleset, but that isn't the only (or in my mind, best) way to do it. I vote to stick with ARPG.

Making some keynote adventures available in D&D5.0 as a 'setting hook' for convention play would be worthwhile.

Another option could be to make a short 16 page 'conversion guide' document for home play groups who wish to use the D&D/pathfinder rulesets. (ie: "Tier X = EL Y")
Priced at $5-10 at your convention trade table should be a handy seller.

The old "Grimtooth Traps" did this in the back of their products for three different systems.

While I'm still learning the ins and outs of the system, in general I like the current mechanic and actually prefer it in some ways over Pathfinder. As for 4e or 5e I have no interest in either system. Tried 4e and in the end dropped it. As for 5e I've yet to hear enough good about it from people I know and trust to consider dropping money on it. One of the strengths of the current system is the multiple ways to achieve a character goal [as spelled out in the Codex of Heroes]. I like that a lot. That said Pathfinder has such a large player base it's a shame we can't rope in some of those players. I could probably get a home game going a lot easier with that system. Of our local player base no one I know plays or even owns 5e, yet everybody does Pathfinder. Also they have just released or are releasing a Green Ronin Pathfinder Freeport book. I know it's off the table but I dearly miss having fun in that pirate town! Some of my fondest memories are mods set in Freeport and Old Coryan. Miss those days...

In any event I wish you the best of luck with this. See you at Origins Henry. Take care.

Thanks for the update. I hadn't heard anything about 5E before. I think it's an interesting idea.

On general principles I'm all in favor of experimenting and tinkering at the margins. So I wish the campaign good luck at Gencon! In the whole slew of Crusader Arc mods, Desperate Times and Measures aren't my really my favorites (Judgement, Condemnation) ... but they do have the virtue of being first. I hope there is a positive response!

Two years ago at Gamestorm Henry mentioned to me that he was somewhat surprised that there was resistance to learning a new system like A:RPG. Back in the day it used to be part and parcel to try out different systems. But these days there seems to be a lot more resistance to learn something that isn't Pathfinder or D&D... I think there could be something to that. At the same time I love the clock and martial tricks (and techniques). The game has given me a real reason to use a dagger or pick instead of a big sword or axe. That's awesome. I wouldn't want to give that up to go back to D&D.

But if a couple of mods can act as a bridge to players who otherwise wouldn't find us then I think that's smart.

On the other hand I've quietly thought that the primary hurdle to growing our base in Portland is a lack of modules. In my experience people want to play a slot or two every month. So to be healthy, IMO a shared world campaign should put out 18-24 rounds per year. Arcanis doesn't hit those numbers. It really doesn't hit those numbers if you don't go to Arcaniscon or Origins to see the BIs or special events.

So I also tend to worry a little about any projects eating into the time that might otherwise be spent producing adventures or PCI products.

Its hard for me to know as a player or a GM how the size of the Arcanis following impacts PCI as a business. Obviously the bigger the campaign the more rule books get sold. And I want PCIs books to sell. But croudsource funding should also have a big impact on the business side of things and I don't really know how the numbers work out. I hope the Kickstarter campaigns have been good enough for PCI that we will continue to see them.