SBRPG Remastered

Looking back, if I were to remaster and re-release SBRPG, I would keep the majority of the game as-is. There is an argument to "update everything" and make everything perfect, but there is also a desire to preserve the original as much as possible.

Except for the horrendous art.

And, the entire thing needs to be grammatically checked, with more precise language. The tools today are significantly better than the spell-checkers and grammar books we had back in 2005. The original was created with the old Aldus Pagemaker software, and today, Libre Office is the only software that can open those files, but it is not a perfect conversion. My best bet is to rebuild the entire book in Adobe InDesign, copying the text from the PDF, and then going chapter by chapter.

There is a Rules Update that I would incorporate to update the core mechanics based on the feedback from players. There are core fixes in here I want as well. The nine Bonus Web Content books would also be folded into the core system, along with the unfinished tenth book. There are a few areas I want to clarify, especially creatures and monster design, which need a dedicated chapter.

Now, the game is also 532 pages long! We had people buy this just because they wanted to play "an RPG the size of a phone book," and we delivered, long before Kickstarter was a thing, and the industry standardized on 500+ page books. Today? The 500-page book is being phased out, with core games either transitioning to A5 size or being condensed to 150 to 200 pages.

An A5 SBRPG Mini would be a fun project. The original design of SBRPG was as a Car Wars-sized pocket-box game. It grew to a phone book-sized manifesto of gaming. A condensed version could be A5-sized, but the whole game is more comfortable in a full-sized book.

Would I split this into a Player's Book and a GM book? Frankly, at 500+ pages, the game is already three or four books in size, and one 500-page book starts running into the limitations of print-on-demand technology. One huge book is far less playable, but it is also not ideal to flip through a library when you want to play the game. Also, a 200-page POD book will last longer since there is not as much wear and tear on the glue and spine.

I could split this into five books: Player's Guide, World Creation, Book of Powers, Book of Rules, and Book of Stuff. This is a non-standard split, too, since the core game rules would be apart from the class, race, and character creation information. The Book of Rules would cover skill rolls, combat, movement, tasks, and other essential information that needs to be a quick reference guide for the entire table to use.

The Book of Stuff would gather all the gear, vehicle, weapon, and starship information. Again, it makes sense to put the gear-related items in one book, and this also includes starting packages for gear on the first pages, to make starting play easier. The magic item and treasure bonus web content would go in here, and this is where the enchanted and power treasures would live.

I'd like to explore the concept of "magic items in modern and sci-fi settings," but with a twist: these items would be unique, powerful, and high-tech, offering bonuses without the magic feel, which can break immersion. A noted gunslinger's 0.45 Peacemaker could begin to get its own bonuses to-hit and damage as it "levels up," and the weapon itself takes on a legendary status as it is used and grows in power. Items may have levels, too, but they are far more simplified, have a smaller range, and are easier to use than characters.

Power design? Not all games use it. Put it in its own book.

World creation is also a huge deal, so it gets its own book.

There is no Referee's guide! We have shared ownership of game worlds, so we don't really need one. I could write a dedicated book for this, but that would require the most new material. I would avoid today's trite "this is how you behave in a social situation" sort of Psychology for Dummies guide that many RPGs write. We're familiar with a lot of that material, and it's also covered in other books. There are already great books on the subject, and this information changes every five years as people come up with new theories and different things become touchy subjects. A real referee's guide would focus on keeping players engaged with the world and rules, how to run enemies and create adventures, and the "ground game" stuff that referees need to drive engagement.

What else would I add? A seventh book, the Best Bestiary, because that is a massive weakness in the original system, and I am an idiot who loves to write books. Great games are defined by their monster books, and actually designing that level 14 rattlesnake that can entangle and mind control people would be a hilarious example of the insanity that happened in our games.

Also, the rules for how to design and "level up" monsters need to be written. This concept is almost identical to class design, but it requires formalization, including how creature statistics increase with the creation of a "level 5 goblin" in your game. In practice, you should be able to just say "level 5 goblin" and use that in a game, and be able to assume everything from powers, stats, gear, and skills from that one level number.

SBRPG was a lot like "reverse GURPS and D&D 3.5E meets a JRPG," which was one of the strengths of its design. You could just throw down a "level 14 wolf" and play. The thing may have a sonic howl attack that could level a two-story house, but that's just what you'd expect from a JRPG. Also, rolling ten attacks on one 3d6 dice roll and being able to hit five targets with that same roll is so darn cool. We had some mechanics that were far ahead of their time, even today.

It also never used the OGL, since we hated that thing back in 2005. There is no reason an open system can't use the licenses found in software, and Linux has been doing this for ages. Linux is free and open, but Ubuntu is a copyrighted trade name that defines a specific version of the Linux system with a set of defined features for that distribution.

This sounds like a complete rewrite, but it is and isn't. George's words need to be preserved and kept intact; he is half of this game. How things work can't change. The quirks and silly stuff need to stay in there. It will ship "broken" in many ways, and honestly, that is what a future version 3.0 will address.  Many will prefer this 2.0 version, too, but it needs to be as close to 1.0 as possible to be that.

But a part of me loves silly, broken, crazy games.

And it needs to be made available again for people to read and enjoy.

Except for the horrendous art.