So this is a re-run of how I set up Navigator RPG. Today I have put the Pilot RPG draft up on DTRPG as a Pay What You Want download. You can grab it for free, and any money it does raise will go back into developing the game.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/462737/Pilot-RPG–Playtest-Edition?affiliate_id=730903&src=RMB
I am a fan of putting things on public playtest, unlike RMu that has put behind a registration wall. The more eyes on the game the better, as far as I am concerned.
This game is covered by the OGL Open Game License. This means that you can grab it and hack it however you wish, and you can add community content. In this book, the Unarmed Attack Table and its condensed Claw Law were both community contributions, as was the Logo you can see on the cover (bottom left).
This is the Bare Metal Edition [BME] logo, which you can find on Github as a project. The idea is that all the rules, spells, monsters, items, etc. that I create as I iterate through genres will all feedback to a central public repository. In theory, anyone should be able to download the BME source files and build whatever they want.
This game builds on and extends Navigator RPG.
If you don’t have that game, you can grab it from DTRPG here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288954/Navigator-RPG?affiliate_id=730903&src=RMB
In both these games there is a lot of content you will recognize, both as being rolemaster-esque, and as being straight from Rolemaster’s great grandparent D&D. All I did was follow the same process, going from the d20 source to the open-ended game mechanics that we know and love.
I you look at the screenshot above (from Pilot RPG) you will recognize the skill cost progression, and the numbered paragraph structure. I wanted to keep the numbered paragraphs because they make drop-in house rules incredibly easy to share. You just replace one paragraph 7.3 with a new 7.3 and everything else remains the same.
If nothing else, these OGL versions of the game mean that should ICE go bust again, there is a free alternative version of the game, now both fantasy and science fiction, that will live on, and one that anyone can write adventures for and companion material.
Finally…
It is unfortunate, but all titles that are released on DTRPG for free or Pay What You Want get hoovered up en masse. They are then bulk rated at 2* or if you are lucky 3*. These star ratings are then used by the site as a ranking metric.
If you download either or both games, if you get an automated email prompting you to rate your purchase, please could you give it a half decent rating just to offset the trolls?
I picked it up, and am quite besotted – it’s almost exactly the kind of chassis I want for my New Kingdoms material. I’m sorry I can’t rate it on Drivethru – I didn’t know publishers were not allowed to rate or review! But I really like it. Thanks for creating this.
We haven’t been able to rate things for years. Some bad actors went around down rating competitors titles.
Thanks for the kind words. I ran a poll on my Patreon and of the three options I gave them, Cthulhu, WWII, and Post Apocalypse, Cthulhu is winning out.
I will make a Cthulhu version in the new year and then re-run the poll with the options being WWII, post-apocalypse, and Spies/Espionage.
I’m flipping through the pdf and I like it. You can already see that it is a playtester document because it seems that there are parts of the rules that need development. I found some typos and some errors. Where should feedback be sent?
Email me at peter@ppmgames.co.uk, all feedback is welcome.
Peter, just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I’m slowly catching up on back-blogs! I plan to grab a copy of Pilot and check it out once I’m done with my current [very time consuming] project. The Navigator system was terrific and I told several people about it. And yes I paid for it and rated it! I expect Pilot to be no less terrific. Thanks for the work you put in.