Game differences

As I'm trying to harmonize the various X-family games (formerly Dark Heritage 2, Fantasy Hack and Ad Astra; now Dark Fantasy X, Hack Fantasy X and Space Opera X) they will obviously move into a state of being very, very similar. Why exactly do I still need three games, and what will be the difference between them? Not all that much, obviously, but enough that depending on what you're doing with them (what I'm doing; who am I kidding, nobody else will be doing anything with them) you may want to focus on one or the other.

I will probably have four full documents when I'm done. The first will be self-contained Dark Fantasy X, the second will be self-contained Hack Fantasy X, and the third will be self-contained Space Opera X. The fourth will be a combined volume, and I'll have to reorganize it; the basic system will come first, and then separate chapters will give the differences and the differences only between Dark, Hack and Space Opera. But that's a project for after the other three are already done. Let's talk briefly about what I'm going to do differently between the various games.

Dark Fantasy X is specifically geared towards being used with the Dark Fantasy X setting; the nations of Timischburg, Baal Hamazi and the Hill Country, with tiny little edges of Kurushat and Lomar. It will feature the Dark Fantasy X races, and the full blown focus on the horror angles. Sanity and Hardcore mode will be integrated into the rules, although Hardcore Mode will be specifically called out as an optional variant every time a Hardcore Mode rule appears. I'll divide it into two slim pdfs; a player specific one and a GM specific one, as well as a combined pdf variant. The GM variant may well be almost identical to its counterpart in Hack Fantasy X.

Hack Fantasy X will be the more broadly applicable ruleset. It will feature "classic" fantasy races as the default. Sanity and Harcore Mode will be relegated to an appendix of optional rules. That said, it still has the Lovecraftian renaming of the spells. Lovecraftiana was always a part of "classic" fantasy, and by "classic" fantasy, of course, I mean "D&D fantasy." Changing the races and moving Hardcore Mode and Sanity to the appendix of optional rules isn't much of a change, but... well, no, it isn't. That's OK.

Hack Fantasy X will come in three pdfs (and of course a combined one), the first being the player rules, the second being the GM rules (identical or nearly so to the Dark Fantasy X version) and the third being an appendix of options. This is where I'll have some notes on how to adopt to other settings, or types of settings. This will include a Wild West variant, with variant rules, a golden age of piracy variant, and even a modern thriller variant. This is also where the hardcore mode and sanity options will appear, as well as any other options that I can think of. This will actually represent one of the few expansions where I'll need to do just a little bit more than what Fantasy Hack today has to make it Hack Fantasy X. 

And, of course, there will be a single pdf version too. Because Hack Fantasy X will (usually) be the more broad of the two fantasy rulesets, it's where most of the Remixing will occur as well. By this I mean some discussion about how I'd adapt other well known settings into the X-family of games. I've so far done a reasonably significant Eberron Remixed, I've thought about doing a Golarion Remixed (but not started it yet) as well as a Freeport Remixed. And maybe, down the line, others as well. I'm not quite sure where to put those, or even if I should put them anywhere, because other than that, everything else I will have done will be my own creation rather than discussion about adopting and adapting someone else's creation. (I don't mean that literally. I've pretty much completely kit-bashed the entire rule system from someone else's work already too. But that's different.)

Space Opera X will be structured similarly to Hack Fantasy X, except that it will need to have other rules subsystems that the other games do not, notably space travel and space combat or space dogfighting rules. I don't currently have a "monster" list for Ad Astra, so I'll need to actually finally create one here, I suppose, so that people playing Space Opera X have things to fight against. This will probably be stuff from the fantasy list reskinned or relabeled, but I'll likely do a few unique space opera foes too. Looking at how White Star did it will probably give me most of the ideas that I need to do that I haven't already.

Anyway, those are my thoughts right now. Some of that seems a bit tedious, so it's possible that I'll change my mind as I go through the exercise still.