Conversions

One of the strange things we said in SBRPG is that conversions are expressly forbidden. This is like converting in another game's spell and monster list to SBRPG, and playing from those notes. Another conversion would be to take a long list of equipment and starships from a movie or franchise, and create a large equipment and power lists out of them. There are a couple reasons for this design decision.

Workload: Let me be frank here, but managing a huge database of spells, powers, classes, magic items, and monsters is just too huge of a task for anyone - especially when you consider voluminous works like D&D. Keeping that list up to date, balanced, and usable by players just adds to the work. As a GM, why double or even triple the work required to run a game? For movies, this is an open-ended affair, especially with sequels, and things always change (see, Star Wars).

Gameplay Mechanics: A lot of items in source material are linked to gameplay mechanics, such as D&D's iconic +1 longsword. In other games, the concept of a +1 anything may be an alien concept, they may not even use a system where +1 to-hit and damage makes any sense, or the theme of the world may be setup where a magic sword would be better served by describing what it does, such as a sword of sharpness. In other games, a +5% chance to hit and damage would not be anything special. A game's items should be linked to the theme of the game world, and a bulk conversion takes the opportunity to create unique items away.

Adventure Creation: I prefer to spend my time playing, rather than converting.  Adventures written for one system don't always convert easily to another, and the work done by the author to balance and create the original adventure is thrown away. In a time-to-fun metric, converting an entire adventure over to a new system pays out terribly, and it is much easier to play the module as designed.

Thinking in the System: I find it easier to think in D&D when playing D&D, rather than think in D&D while playing GURPS, SBRPG, or any other generic system used in a conversion project. It is a fun exercise to do the conversion, and even interesting to see a rules system interpreted a different way. In the long term, it wears down, and you are not really playing either system to its full potential. To play a game, it is always better to think in it. You get more enjoyment, and you don't have to put your brain in a game-emulation mode every time you play.

House-Rules are Easier: In all the conversion work I have done, it was always easier to live with the limitations of the source material (and house-rule the original game's short-failings), than it was to do the conversion work. If you can get agreement from the group on the custom rules and everyone is having fun, why convert to a new system?

In SBRPG, we rule out conversions - there are plenty of games better suited for conversion work; and frankly, conversions are a lot of work for a limited amount of fun, or the nostalgia of conversion. I could see a conversion for a long-out-of-print game or subject, maybe, but for everything else, playing the original game is a better proposition. With SBRPG, the focus is on rapid prototyping and creating new ideas and game worlds, totally different than conversion work, and much better suited to SBRPG's storytelling systems.