Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning Echelon d20, or even renaming it.
John Reyst, like me, evidently doesn’t have enough things he wants to work on. In addition to working on (and winning a silver ENnie for) d20pfsrd.org, he’s working on a d20 variant system tentatively called ‘Threshold d20‘. It seems to be closer to using Pathfinder System Resource Document (PFSRD) as a base than the System Resource Document (SRD) or Revised System Resource Document (RSRD) directly.
We have discussed collaboration – we have some shared goals – and for now I think the best way forward is cross-reviewing each others’ work. I’ll be doing so over the next little while as I look for ideas to stea… erm, do research using his site.
As part of this review work, I’ll compare what we’ve each done or are doing.
Initial Impressions
Site Design
The site design looks pretty simple and clean. It’s not cluttered with images (or worse, Flash) or other cruft that makes it hard to read. Given my own practice of minimalistic graphic design this appeals to me.
Like echelond20.org, this site is a work in progress. The system is not yet presented in a complete format, and I expect to see it fill in as he has time to work on it and flesh out the skeleton that is here.
What’s New?
John takes the time to explain the changes being presented and, even more, why the changes are being made. This is placed in a sidebar so it stands apart (easy to find) and away from (I don’t have to read it) the main body of text.
I do something similar at echelond20.org, but using inline ‘spoiler blocks’ that can be expanded or collapsed as needed. My comments tend to be more verbose than his (maybe I’m just writing more stuff, or maybe I’m just not as concise) I think it reasonable that we use different mechanisms.