Microlite20 Under New Ownership

On March 12th, Robin Stacey (aka Greywulf) announced that he had sold the rights to Microlite20, including microlite20.net, to Seth Drebitko. I quickly asked Robin to get me in touch with Seth, which he did, and Seth was gracious enough to answer some questions about the sale and the future of Microlite20. Here’s what Seth had to say.

What can you tell us about you?

Currently I live in Capital Region NY with my wonderful fiancée (can’t leave out the SO), working towards a degree in marketing. I am hoping to jump on in to the publishing industry once I can get school all squared away.

Overall I am hoping that my marketing degree and what I learn from publishing will give me the ability to promote more widespread play of Microlite20.

Why did you decide to purchase Microlite20?

Overall prior to the announcement of the Microlite20 sale I had been playing around with a few ideas for a more personal project; however when Robin (Greywulf) proposed the sale of the system I envisioned the coolness of not only all my little tweeks being “official”, but the ability to bring Microlite20 into its own.

What are your plans for Microlite20? Will there be any tweaks or even a “new edition”?

I don’t plan on changing the core rules too much; I am waffling on adding a social attribute, and will be adding in some very simple cross class rules. I am also thinking of creating a slightly more advanced set of the rules to go along with the original booklet. A key thing for me is that even if there is an advanced set of rules the core Microlite20 gets just as much attention.

One thing that is very important to me (and won’t happen right away) is to set up a system in which quality third party material can not only be supplied for the game but will actually be promoted. I don’t want to take the stance of WOTC and just leave third party publishers hanging but instead create a community that supports itself.

What do you think about microlite games in general? What’s most important about microlites?

To me the very essence of a microlite game is that it can be successfully taught, and ready to play within 10-15 minutes. That said it is better if you can distill the core of those rules down to a 1 sheet.

Are there any “big name” systems out there that you feel should get a microlite version?

That is a tough one; I think most games could benefit from the microlite treatment. I would have to probably pick 2 games that would make for awesome microlite games.

The first system I would give the microlite treatment would be the old Alternity game. This skill based system is probably one of my favorite games but could totally use some trimming. The second would probably be shadowrun, because really who does not love piles of dice!

Anything else you’d like to add?

Keep an eye out for changes on the site because I am going to be switching things to a more familiar platform for myself. One of my first priorities is definitely going to be swapping out the forum software to something more stable so that we can all start building up a big community for our little game!

This is definitely a big event for the microlite gaming movement. Seth seems dedicated to advancing Microlite20 and microlite gaming in general. More on this story as things unfold.