RetroRoleplaying: The Blog

After mentioning the request I had received to produce a forth edition of Microlite74 (because the current edition is over four years old) in a blog post about six weeks ago, I have received a few emails about the idea -- mainly from people who really want a new edition. All of these presented better reasons for a fourth edition than the email that sparked the post mentioned above. The primary reason being that a fourth edition of Microlite74 could replace the Microlite20-based class and advancement rules with rules more like those of the original rule set -- like I did with Microlite81.

I'm fairly sure a good number of people would like such a revision as the very simple class system and the "encounter level" experience system are not much like the original 0e rules even though they capture the feel of 0e characters and 0e advancement fairly well. However, I also know that there are a good number of Microlite74 players who prefer the class and XP system as it currently is in the Microlite74 rules. Publishing an entire new edition to change the rules in a way that would probably upset as many players as it pleased just doesn't seem like a very good idea to me. In fact, I think some major game company tried that very thing with the fourth edition of their game and it did not work out all that well for either them or the players of their game. I see no reason to repeat history, so there is no Microlite74 4.0 in the works.

However, there still seems to be a sizable group of people who prefer the more structured classes and the more "old school" experience system I used in Microlite81. Frankly, I'm in that camp, which is why some of the Microlite74 variants have used versions of the system adopted for the Microlite81 games. So I've decided to produce a second edition of Microlite75 (the first edition of what became Microlite74 Extended 3.0) that will be 0e with what I've learned from writing all the Microlite74 companions and variants and from writing Microlite81. This project should move along much faster than Gyphons & Grammarie because -- unlike Gryphons & Grammarie -- it's not trying to design a new 0e-like game from scratch for a group of very hard to please playtesters. Work on Gyphons & Grammarie will continue, of course, as it is the game I'm running every Sunday. Work on Microlite75 2.0 will begin in earnest once I get Microlite81 Advanced finished. I still hope to have it finished in time for (US) Thanksgiving.

If you have anything you'd like to see (or like not to see) in Microlite75 2.0, the next few weeks would be a great time to speak up. Remember, however, that I intend it to be strongly in the 0e tradition, just like Microlite74.