RPGaDAY2023 Day 27: Game you like a new EDITION of

If I have a flaw (which I don’t because I’m great!) it’s that whenever a new edition of a thing comes out I hate it immediately without giving it a chance.  Maybe it’s because of my early history with Warhammer and the new edition means you have to buy all new shit effect or maybe it’s because I’m a reactionary jerk who hates everything new. 

When 3^rd edition D&D came out I was all like “gross, nothing could ever be better than 2^nd edition!” and I kept playing 2^nd ed for years.  Then eventually I gave 3^rd edition a try and shocker, it was much better.  As if they had learned what was wrong and tried to address those problems.  And then the same thing happened for Pathfinder, which I will consider the “real” 4th edition of that ruleset.  Well actually Star Wars Saga Edition was D&D 4.0 and the Pathfinder 1^st edition was 5.0 D&D. 

Even though I should have learned my lesson my first thought about this question is still “none” because I don’t like new editions.  But my second thought is, actually instead of none, all.  I don’t like 5^th ed D&D or 2^nd ed Pathfinder much so why wouldn’t I want new editions? 

I make fun of Wizards of the Coast because they keep making announcements about  the next edition of D&D in which they take pains to talk themselves into a knot trying to say that it won’t be a new edition.  The funniest one I saw was the WOTC announcement trying to parse what the word “edition” means in book publishing. 

In the words of Elaine Benes “It’s not a new number. It’s–it’s–it’s just a changed number. See? It’s not different. It’s the same, just…changed.”  I get why they’re trying to dance around the Maypole, they don’t want to kill the cash cow, they just want to strap a KFC family feedback to its face and enfatten it more.  New editions make people mad.

But a new non-edition edition of D&D would be good.  I think the goal of 5^th edition D&D was to attract new people and I think they did that.  It would be cool now to see them incorporate some of the stuff from 3^rd (and even 4^th!) edition that people liked into a 6^th edition.  My main complaint about 5^th edition (besides everything) is there not much customization you can do.  You choose your path and that’s pretty much it.  3^rd edition and Pathfinder had gotten too bloated with options but it would be nice to find a middle ground. 

Pathfinder 3^rd edition?  I think they came out with a second edition of Pathfinder purely because they just needed to stop the madness with all their 1^st edition products.  1^st edition Pathfinder was lucrative because it made itself different from the contemporary edition of D&D.  Everyone who hated 4^th edition D&D and still wanted to have 3.5 stuff went over to Pathfinder.  That’s maybe what 3rd edition Pathfinder should be, try to appeal to the oldheads and number crunchers and other people like me that don’t like 5^th edition.

I wouldn’t hate a 7^th edition of Shadowrun just because 6^th edition was a big meh for me.  Really what I’d like is more Anarchy products.  Maybe Anarchy second edition? 

A new edition of Star Wars?  The current one is lamerz noob in my opinion.  I strongly dislike games that have their own special dice.  “Now if you roll and X-wing and two tie fighters that means you failed unless you get a lightsaber then that means you can roll the force dice and if you get a baby Yoda that means. . . ” pukatronic.  If I have to learn a new pictogram-based method of math for your game I’m out. 

Really I’d like to see a new edition of any old game I used to play just because then there would be more support for it. Firefly 3.0.  Savage Worlds Rifts is much better than actual Rifts, how about Savage Worlds TMNT or Heroes Unlimited?  Beyond the Supernatural Savaged!  Take any old game I talked about I wish I had and fart out a new edition.  Why not?  Indiana Jones.  Ghostbusters.  Cyberspace.  Earthdawn.  Paranoia.  Gamma World.  Old school crap is all the rage, how about a “new” edition of Basic D&D?  Known World baby.  Whatever man, go nuts. 

I bet you FATAL 2^nd edition would make money just out of people buying it to be funny. 

Also they should release a second edition of a Lost RPG and then when people say “I don’t remember there being a first edition of a Lost RPG” they hear the Lost mystery noise and then we cut to a flashback.  We never should have left the island Jack!

In conclusion Ghost Dog 2^nd edition is my final answer for game that needs a new edition.  Put it on Kickstarter and at the $10,000 level Forrest Whitaker will come run a session for you.  Holy shit, if the internet so to be believed his personal appearance fee is $75,000! 

Okay, available in the $5000 range is Bil Dwyer so I guess instead let’s go for Ski School 3 The RPG.  See the new edition of the movie is an RPG.  We did it!