MasterCraft

[Mister Andersen]

That's a shiny logo right there.

So what you're saying is that Crafty is going oldWoD and each book will contain largely identical chargen rules and the same basic classes, skills and feats but fleshed out with setting specific rules and mechanics?

[Morgenstern]

In essence, yes. Fantasy Craft won't have the Lawman Base Class in it, and Ten-Thousand Bullets won't have the Lancer Base Class, but both books will feature Base Classes, for example.

Turns out that if you shift away from the 20/80 rule (20% is used 80% of the time, the other 80% comes up 20% of the time) and more towards an 80/80 rule (most of the rules are used most of the time and a few specialty rules are used every once in a while) the core game system becomes very compact. Very compact.

[Mister Andersen]

So the MasterCraft model is essentially going to be each new book using the ruleset intended for Spycraft Henchman Edition, with the more complicated enhanced rules being one of the "Setting specific extras" that make Spycraft it's own version of MasterCraft?

[meadicus]

Turns out that if you shift away from the 20/80 rule (20% is used 80% of the time, the other 80% comes up 20% of the time) and more towards an 80/80 rule (most of the rules are used most of the time and a few specialty rules are used every once in a while) the core game system becomes very compact. Very compact.

Considering the FantasyCraft page estimate has gone from 288 to only 320 (yes I'm sad enough to monitor this stuff) it is incredibly compact. Skills, feats, character generation, combat, NPCs, traps, basic gear and all that gubbins which I understand wasn't going to be included before, in just 32 pages.

You've done a mighty job indeed.

[Morgenstern]

So the MasterCraft model is essentially going to be each new book using the ruleset intended for Spycraft Henchman Edition, with the more complicated enhanced rules being one of the "Setting specific extras" that make Spycraft it's own version of MasterCraft?

Spycraft is both an Espionage-oriented version of Mastercraft and effectively a crunch-heavy suppliment for any of them by offering optional add-ons like fluid initiative.

[Morgenstern]

Considering the FantasyCraft page estimate has gone from 288 to only 320 (yes I'm sad enough to monitor this stuff) it is incredibly compact. Skills, feats, character generation, combat, NPCs, traps, basic gear and all that gubbins which I understand wasn't going to be included before, in just 32 pages.

Spycraft has a lot of little details that can add realism and texture to any encounter, but they are also easily overlooked or skipped entirely for the sake of not having to stop and look things up. When you smooth off those edges you get a lot of word count back .

You've done a mighty job indeed.

We're very excited with how the book is shaping up. I think most of our fans will be too once we put out a few previews so you can see how streamlined and easy to use some of the systems have become.

[Mister Andersen]

So how do Spycraft classes that have abilities predicated on fluid initiative - such as the trigger man - play with the MasterCraft ruleset?

[meadicus]

We're very excited with how the book is shaping up. I think most of our fans will be too once we put out a few previews so you can see how streamlined and easy to use some of the systems have become.

He said the magic word "previews" 

[Sletchman]

So the MasterCraft model is essentially going to be each new book using the ruleset intended for Spycraft Henchman Edition, with the more complicated enhanced rules being one of the "Setting specific extras" that make Spycraft it's own version of MasterCraft?

Spycraft is both an Espionage-oriented version of Mastercraft and effectively a crunch-heavy suppliment for any of them by offering optional add-ons like fluid initiative.

I'm sorry, I must be slow, but, how is Mastercraft going to change the way I game?

A) A logo on the back of all my shiny new craft games products that doesn't really effect the way my groups plays - instead of referencing our Spycraft 2.0 books for a rule, it'll be in FantasyCraft or 10, 000 Bullets with the exception of speciality gear? - Eg. If a player in my FantasyCraft game wants to play a faceman and I approve then he'll need the SC2.0 book for that, and not much else?

Or... [And I sorta hope its this latter option]

B) We get a kick ass new book of rules that are completely setting independant in the form of MasterCraft, with new Toolkits [and new printings of Spycraft] now becomming -> Spycraft, powered by MasterCraft.  Fantasycraft, powered by MasterCraft.  10k Bullets, powered by MasterCraft.  Sorta making MasterCraft the G.U.R.P.S. of d20 [Which while not a comparison I like, is all i can think of].

Or...

C) Something else, and I've really mis-understood the news posting [which for some reason I don't really understand what you're announcing in the first place].

[Morgenstern]

So how do Spycraft classes that have abilities predicated on fluid initiative - such as the trigger man - play with the MasterCraft ruleset?

To use the Triggerman as written in Mastercraft, you'd need to turn on fluid initiative in the same way you need to turn on high magic before you start including Spellbound Classes.

[Mister Andersen]

I'm sorry, I must be slow, but, how is Mastercraft going to change the way I game?

[...]

Instead of referencing our Spycraft 2.0 books for a rule, it'll be in FantasyCraft or 10, 000 Bullets with the exception of speciality gear? - Eg. If a player in my FantasyCraft game wants to play a faceman and I approve then he'll need the SC2.0 book for that, and not much else?

Whic really is no different to as it stands now - you have to look up World on Fire if you want to play a Fixer with the Commando specialty

Yes.

See Morg's response to my initial question -- it's the self-contained oWoD model as opposed to the core + splat expansion model of nWoD GURPS or d6

Personally I'm with you on preferring the core+splat model -- to me a more elegant approach where you don't feel like you're buying stuff you already paid for -- but Crafty are responding to an apparant demand for the self-contained model.

And in favour of self-containment, someone can just buy Fantasycraft and begin play without having to wait for or hunt down a copy of MasterCraft to do so.

[Mister Andersen]

To use the Triggerman as written in Mastercraft, you'd need to turn on fluid initiative in the same way you need to turn on high magic before you start including Spellbound Classes.

Does this mean we'll see a revised Triggerman pop up in 10K?

[Morgenstern]

I'm sorry, I must be slow, but, how is Mastercraft going to change the way I game?

Hopefully in most respects it won't change it much for a verteran 2.0 player. It'll give you a version of Spycraft that's easier to remember and use, and present that engine in a way that reflects a particular genre in a way that's intuitive. For instance while player characters are part of a 'team' in Spycraft, they are described as a 'crew' in Ten-Thousand Bullets. Its a tiny change that's easy to handle if you are 'porting bits around, but it makes the Ten-Thousand Bullets rules read like a guide to street drama instead of an tactical espionage rule-set.

A) A logo on the back of all my shiny new craft games products that doesn't really effect the way my groups plays - instead of referencing our Spycraft 2.0 books for a rule, it'll be in FantasyCraft or 10, 000 Bullets with the exception of speciality gear? - Eg. If a player in my FantasyCraft game wants to play a faceman and I approve then he'll need the SC2.0 book for that, and not much else?

That seems like a reasonable expectation. Simiarly it should work the other way - you could continue using Spycraft but import magic items or the monster conversion rules to your modern game.

Or... [And I sorta hope its this latter option]
B) We get a kick ass new book of rules that are completely setting independant in the form of MasterCraft, with new Toolkits [and new printings of Spycraft] now becomming -> Spycraft, powered by MasterCraft.  Fantasycraft, powered by MasterCraft.  10k Bullets, powered by MasterCraft.  Sorta making MasterCraft the G.U.R.P.S. of d20 [Which while not a comparison I like, is all i can think of].

We're not planning to release Mastercraft in a 'naked' form. What we're working towards is a core ruleset that is so compact that it can be reprinted (with a few tweaks to settle it into that genre) in each of the campaign setting books while only taking up a fraction of the book. You wouldn't need anything other than Fantasy Craft to play Fantasy Craft, and you would only need the single Ten-thousand Bullets book to play a Ten-thousand Bullets campaign, but since they both use the Mastercraft rules, you could 'port things across very easily like you were describing with the Faceman.

Or...
C) Something else, and I've really mis-understood the news posting [which for some reason I don't really understand what you're announcing in the first place].

Well, we did consider pressing a bunch of mind-controlling squids between mock-up covers and unleashing them in a fiendish plan to dominate all life on Earth, but we found out shipping would be prohibitively expensive .

[Morgenstern]

To use the Triggerman as written in Mastercraft, you'd need to turn on fluid initiative in the same way you need to turn on high magic before you start including Spellbound Classes.

Does this mean we'll see a revised Triggerman pop up in 10KB?

That would be Alex's call as the maestro of 10kB. Its also possible that he'll feel split second timing is critical to the street genre and include fluid initiative as part of 10KB's combat chapter. Either way you'd only see a reprint of something as easy as that would be to 'port in if it were essential to 10KB working as a stand-alone book. After all, we know our long time fans already have the triggerman class and we'd like for new players for whom 10KB is their first book to look at Spycraft 2.0 as somethign they might want to pick up to expand their gaming options. Both of those are strong forces for extremely minimal and judicious reprinting.

[Mister Andersen]

Oh I hope 10K is static. I really do. Dynamic definitely needs to be an option, not the default.

In that case, would we see a mechanics for replacement levels for use when importing classes from other MasterCraft splatbooks -- say a section suggesting applicable classes from other books that would be appropriate to the one in question, such suggestions including the changes that would have to be made to get it to fit.