With so many games using the D20 system, why did you license the Ubiquity system?

ya I want to know too cuz I posted on the other site wondering about whether I need to buy that kind of dice or if it's adaptable to D20.

Whatever, tho -- I'm up for buying new stuff

You don't need any special dice to use the Ubiquity system - any will do since even numbers = hits. The Ubiquity dice are a way to roll fewer dice since each Ud can count for 1-3 normal dice (depending on the Ud in question).

We chose Ubiquity after playtesting Desolation with a few other systems, including D20. We wanted a system that was fast, allowed players to stay in character and enhanced cinematic action. Don't get me wrong, we love to play many of the great D20 games out there, but we designed Desolation to be all about the interactive story, and Ubiquity allows us to focus on that in a number of ways.

Rolling less dice (if you choose to purchase the Ubiquity dice -- but any dice will work) less often due to the ability to take an average makes combat fast and fun. We also liked the way Ubiquity handled defense and damage -- the world of Desolation can be a harsh place, and being wounded can ruin your day. The use of flaws and style points are other key features we wanted in Desolation.

In short, it had just about everything we were looking for except a magic system, which we added to Desolation.

Hullo, Jamie,

Yep, my first post on the forums here.



You will get no argument here on your choice of the Ubiquity system. I will add that I don't find that the d20 system is all that suitable to action/adventure, let alone the Pulp style, and think that you've made an interesting, but good choice in system for the game with the Ubiquity stuff.



I look forward to seeing the DESOLATION use of the Ubiquity system, since you've got me totally interested in the game (as you may have noticed from the HEX forums)!

Yea, I too am hopelessly hooked. Thanks for spending my money for me.

Now that 4th ED is on the way, and would cost 5K to be a part of the first six months or so I think you backed a winning horse.

For once I'm not incredibly excited about the new D&D product. It might be in your favor that some of the mid to older aged RPGers might be a little tired of the whole NEW ED situation at WOTC (man I still want to call them TSR).

What has been the most difficult part in making your mechanics work in the U-system? I know that several people have mentioned on the HEX boards that they'd prefer to see a HIT and then a DAMAGE roll, and with a fantasy game I could see this being a big deal. How comfortable have you been with the one roll system?

What you can you tell us about your magic system at this point?

Yes -- even beyond the cost -- working on a 3.5 D20 version and then finding out at Gen Con 2007 that all the rules were changing would have been horrible.

I know there has been a lot of discussion about the one roll system. We briefly discussed alternatives. Personally, I like it. One of the things that attracted us to Ubiquity was the quick combat and streamlined system that leaves more time for roleplaying.

I could imagine working your butt off to find out "Oh, we don't make THAT version anymore" in relation to 3.5.

The one roll system for hitting and damaging is one of my favorite things, and for precisely the same reason you mentioned. Quick and easy leads to more role playing over roll playing. I'm very much tired of going into every session and playing a mini tactical miniature game. I've played Warhammer 40K and Fantasy for many years, and 3.5 was beginning to feel like those games.

I want more character growth in my games, I want to see better stories, and I most certainly don't want to just kill the kobold and take his shit anymore. The younger audience probably still has an appetite for that, and I think it needs to be fed, but not over the ability to play an indept RPG over having to hack hack hack.

Hullo, Jamie,



This raises something that came to mind recently, especially given the nature of most fantasy rpgs and the like. Forgetting about the Ubqiuity system being suitable to an action/adventure feel (as Hollow Earth Expedition so adequatelydemonstrates), this raises the point as to whether you folks see Desolation as being more...familiar in feel and style to fantasy rpgs, or whether you consider it to be an action/adventure post-apocalyptic fantasy rpg.

In my experience with Desolation to this point, the players have found that the game mechanics are well-suited to what the game does, and they prefer a fantasy rpg rather than an action/adventure fantasy rpg, and Ubiquity is as well suited to that as it is to action/adventure. Thoughts?

Hullo, Shawn,



The "Kill the monster in room A, and grab the treasure, go to room B and repeat" stuff doesn't appeal to me either. It didn't after my early experience with D&D, and I switched over to running Empire of the Petal Throne and then RuneQuest before discovering another system that I ran for the longest time.

Character growth and storytelling are something that my players prefer, and I rather enjoy them as well, and to be honest, Desolation offers something of both worlds (the hack 'n slash vs. the roleplaying/storytelling), depending on how it's oriented. The game even has the element of exploration to it, and I think it would make a fine basis for a truly post-apocalyptic world without the fantasy or the true horror elements so common to post-apocalypse stuff these days. And we both already know the strengths of the Ubiquity system, so...

Amen!

The kobold reference reminds me of a playtest campaign Stephen ran. It started a bit before the Apocalypse and had a few sessions in the Long Winter. We were holed up in a destroyed town. A goblin came to the gate. He was cold and hungry and offered his services as a tanner, butcher and cook if we let him stay within the town walls. Perhaps not surprisingly, he wasn't cut down on sight. He was useful, and eventually some of the characters treated him (almost) as an equal. when the kobolds starting hunting us later, however ... well we did not show them the same mercy.



Hmmm ... Personally, I see it as a gritty fantasy setting. Could it be an action/adventure setting in the right GM's hands? Yes, I think it could. That leads into your other point:



That makes me happy. If someone wants to hack and slash, that's fine. It's fun to play that kind of game sometimes. If someone wants to create an epic tale of tragedy and loss, we want to give them the tools to do that. If someone wants to create a bit of a dark comedy -- I think the potential for that is there too.

Hullo, Jamie,



See, that's a neat point to make, since I've always seen the Ubiquity system more oriented towards the action/adventure type of things, mostly due to the HEX influence I guess, In a less action-oriented kind of game, such as perhaps Desolation, this raises a few other questions about speed of character development and the like, not to mention the finite number of skills available.

And that also makes me wonder whether Style points will accumulate because of good roleplaying and not a lot of spending them in combat and the like, or whether they get used at the same kind of rate that they do in HEX.



Well, I don't see myself running Desolation in a dark comedy way, other than perhaps throwing in a bit of a Terry Pratchett influence (hmm, Discworld a la Ubiquity...hmm), but others may see or prefer a style of play that follows along these lines. It'll be interesting to see what kind of games and the like come out of the Desolation stuff when people start to run and play this game....

In the playtesting we've done, Style points have been flying every bit as furiously as in the HEX games we've played.

Hullo, Jamie,



Now, does this mean that Desolation is more of an action/adventure fantasy rpg, with the post-apocalyptic leanings? O am I misisng something here when it comes to Style points and their being given as rewards in the game?