MCDM is making their own RPG!
Checkout the MCDM Video Announcement below
With the funny business from Wizards of the Coast with OGL 1.1, many companies such as Kobold Press have announced that they are breaking away for D&D and creating their own tabletop role-playing games. MCDM is a much smaller and newer company in comparison to the others but has garnered a lot of attention due to Matthew Colville's YouTube Channel and their impressive products such as Arcadia, Strongholds & Followers, and much more. Matthew has worked on many tabletop RPGs apart from 5e and is well-versed in game design so it was only a matter of time!
They have been playtesting and live-streaming design on their Patreon so if you're interested in seeing their process, you should support and join their journey. It isn't every day you get to see all the different facets of designing a game and see what get's used, thrown out, and kept.
Starting a game from scratch
Personally, I think it's a great idea to take a step back and create something new! Matthew explains that they want to create something specific for heroic fantasy and not something that dips its toes into everything and not doing anything well.
Many fall into the trap of using D&D 5e and adapting the system to every single setting and unique situation. Although D&D is flexible, there are a lot of different rules that many of us can agree that might not lend themselves to every type of gameplay.
For example, the Blades in the Dark RPG is meticulously designed for a specific use case: heists and related activities. The game mechanics specifically address that and frankly probably is more fun than running heists in D&D. They want to create a system for a specific game that they want to play so they are able to focus on mechanics that support that rather than having to accommodate rules for every single situation. The result should be a game that is super fun to play if heroic fantasy is your jam.
MCDM RPG Licensing
Matthew mentions that the community will be pleasantly surprised at their licensing terms when they do release their game. They want the community to create fun games and enjoy the process of designing and playing. For many, the OGL 1.1 fiasco has opened their eyes to many different other RPGs and honestly, that's great for the community. More innovation and fun games can be created and supported now that D&D isn't dominating the market as much as it did before.
Again, D&D 5e will still have a place at many people's tables just like Matthew said in the video too. However, I think we can all agree the hobby belongs to everyone and that putting unfair restrictions on make-believe games probably isn't the way to go.
