Quote from: DavetheLost;1016260Or they will do what they have done with Ogre. Produce a deluxe version via Kickstarter, then release a very nice updated version for the retail market, support it with at least on retail expansion, a retail card game, and retail released plastic miniatures. Not exactly forgotten. Multiple digital supporting products are available for Ogre, including new content, and there was a succesful KS for a second set of plastic miniatures, with a third set in the planning stages. As wellas the still in development "Ogre Battlefields" expansion, and the Ogre computer game on Steam for both Mac and PC.

I bought Car Wars classic at retail not long ago, and am pretty sure that game also had a succesful KS.

Munchkin of course remains SJG's bread&Butter product line.

Ogre's not an RPG.

SJ will probably just do a KS, using nostalgia to milk the thing some more, like most old guys do with their haven't-aged-well games.
http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/2017-12-26

That is fantastic news. A beautiful big boxed set re-issue of The Fantasy Trip would be amazing (perhaps with a touch of editing and folding in a few things from the zines of the era). If I were him I'd do it up like the Ogre boxed set. My only worry is that he'll realize it would compete with Dungeon Fantasy. Hopefully that kind of cynicism won't kill off what would otherwise be a dream product!

Brilliant news. While you can't make everyone happy, I have faith in SJG to make good decisions about the re-release. Sure, it will most likely be a nostalgia/one-and-done type of thing, but it will be great to have new copies of TFT material.

Idle curiosity, but I wonder if SJG would have needed to make contact with Howard Thompson to get the rights. Or merely make the case that it's been abandoned for 35 years and file a claim.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1016275SJ will probably just do a KS, using nostalgia to milk the thing some more, like most old guys do with their haven't-aged-well games.
http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/2017-12-26

As the asshole brigade weighs in!

Even if this turns out to be nothing but a one time reprint this is one of the more exciting bits of RPG news for me in years. TFT is one of my "games that got away". I was gaming when it came out, but I didn't pay it any attention until it well after it was out of print.
 

Quote from: The_Shadow;1016279Idle curiosity, but I wonder if SJG would have needed to make contact with Howard Thompson to get the rights. Or merely make the case that it's been abandoned for 35 years and file a claim.

My understanding is that was done years ago with no response. As I recall GURPS came about due to the inability for Steve Jackson to revive TFT, so he had to create an entirely new game (with much similarity).

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1016226I just hope he doesn't fuck with it.

Of course he'll fuck with it. Or rather, since he's too busy sitting around drinking Coke, he'll get a particle physicist to fuck with it and make it more complicated.

I wish SJGames the best of luck with the IP. Though I'm not sure their is enough interest in the rpg. I could very well be wrong on that so who knows.

I would hope there wouldn't be any real competition issue between TFT, GURPS, or Dark City Games. Steve seems pretty clear TFT & GURPS are different sorts of games (even if I thought GURPS was the answer to having played the bejeezus out of TFT and wanting more complex rules at that point). It seems more likely to me that SJ finally having the rights to both means they can publish some clear guidelines for converting between systems, meaning all of those games could benefit from the content from the others. Certainly, the counters and maps should all be pretty interchangeable, and even without official guidelines it's not hard to convert stuff if you know the systems well.

(For OGRE there is a rather nice free PDF of the boardgame rules that is a nice condensation of the original micrograme rules from OGRE and GEV, so those of us that don't want to buy the deluxe set or miniatures or anything really can get a nice version of the rules.)

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1016226We should be thrilled because it will be available again, even if only briefly.

I just hope he doesn't fuck with it.

Its still being played locally. and there are plenty of fans playing it and making new stuff for it.

As for fucking with it. Hard to say really. They tinkered with Car Wars alot but Ogre not that much so who knows? Melee and Wizard had a fairly good setup so I cant see them altering it much unless its to make it more like Gurps? In which case whats the point? Could go alot of different ways really. But it will likely be another one-shot like the others. If its not Munchkin its just an afterthought.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1016254Has this happened? Any links?

If so, that's a shame.

Seems was a massive takedown of any material. But actually Im not seeing any fan material getting a C&D... this time. We'll know if they go after Kwaichia's redesign... again. Or the Melee+Heroscape conversion.

Well there are some things that seem a bit obvious to tidy up. to me, including the lack of an Index and some random organization (of what rule is where for no real reason), some rules that could be better (such as Hand To Hand combat), and a few ambiguities or interpretation shifts between Melee & Advanced Melee. There are also some common things that many players have come to use house rules for, which could be listed as options, perhaps. Personally, I think there are weak points in the experience and Talent system that can be nicely improved with making it easier to add Memory points than increase IQ, so characters can learn more talents and improve that way rather than increasing attributes which can get a bit much if/when some characters get a lot of experience. And I prefer house rules that add some sort of defense option. Some people like to loosen up the death threshold a bit. Etc. Really I would probably handle all such things by making one really clean version of the classic rules, and then having a section or supplement or free PDF with really nicely written optional rules for those things the veterans have house-ruled a lot.

After about 5-6 years of heavy play, we wanted some improvements, but having played TFT with some house-rules by players who'd stuck with TFT for many years, it seemed like a few of those made it interesting again to me, and some very well developed rules options could I think make something really great.

They could unify Melee and Wizard into one book. For some that would be an improvement.

Clean up or re-organize some of the rules?

What really does the game need that isnt cosmetic or the simple tweaks like Skarg notes above?

As for minis. That could make the game really expensive really fast if they went for the classic loadout. Seems an odd choice when SJG seems to rarely do minis anymore. But who knows.

Personally I think a really rich nice set of counters would be great and make it even more appealing and eye-catching for new players. I think the original TFT-style flat counters are genius, and would be even better if they had fallen art (even if fairly generic) and an identifier on the back. The reason is the flat counters are far handier than miniatures or SJG "Cardboard Heroes" (either the original ones or the thick ones they made for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy) because they can be easily flipped over to show fallen / crawling bodies and body piles in ways that minis and stand-up counters really do not do very well at all, and in TFT and GURPS, lots of bodies, even in piles (alive and/or dead) can be pretty common and have effects so it's really helpful to have counters that work well for that.

Nice hex maps would also be good.

For those who don't want to make their own settings, there could be settings books.

Quote from: The_Shadow;1016279Idle curiosity, but I wonder if SJG would have needed to make contact with Howard Thompson to get the rights. Or merely make the case that it's been abandoned for 35 years and file a claim.

He would have had to track Thompson down.  17 USC 203 requires written notification to the grantee or his heirs.

It also doesn't pertain to "work for hire" (so, for instance, I could reclaim my rights to my Gamelords work, but not for my MERP work), and if you've got co-authors, you need at least half of them to sign off on it as well.