Those of us who pre-ordered the Delving Deeper boxed set have started receiving the no-art PDFs, prior to the shipment of the actual sets. I've received Volumes I and II so far; Volume III is expected tomorrow. I've done a quick read-through of the character creation section, but I plan on doing a more thorough reading, followed by a review.
I've noticed a few significant differences from the LBB rules, but it seems to be pretty close, which suggests strongly that Liber Zero, as a straight-up OGL retroclone of the LBBs won't be necessary. Instead, I will probably re-focus on putting LZ together as a non-OGL, Creative Commons ruleset that de-emphasizes resolution mechanics (allowing you to substitute the ones you prefer) and focuses instead on the rules around the mechanics, as well as on the building blocks of things like monsters and spells. The final product will actually be more useful for those already committed to Delving Deeper, Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, or the official rules, as a way of expanding or clarifying those rules.
I'm glad you're not going to shelve LZ. I'm looking forward to seeing the final product and will be using it exactly as you have described.
ReplyDeleteI'm still interested in your generalized take on the situation roll and reaction roll, among other such things. The project of Liber Zero always seemed to me to be more about a sort of radical generalization and simplification that would allow a game like OD&D to played with some simple guidelines, and that vision seems rather different than the goal of fidelity which seems to be what Delving Deeper is more about. In any case, I'm looking forward to your review of DD, as I don't have access to the PDFs.
ReplyDeleteI'm also happy to hear you're still going to work on Liber Zero, and the idea of a non-OGL presentation is an interesting way to go. I'm not sure we need more duplication of the same mechanics, and your situation roll approach has really clarified my thinking about things.
ReplyDeleteAnother one that's happy to hear that LZ is still coming.
ReplyDelete