Era IV: 2000 Millennium’s Passage

Let’s see… we’ve survived the predictions of the apocalypse for the turn of this millennium. Not a huge year for new games and systems, but I suspect that the plans of Wizards of the Coast kept a number of publications from hitting the market until next year.

With that being said, a couple of terms are birthed around this time: “OGL” which means Open Game License; and “SRD” which means Systems Reference Document. OGL unlocked the popular D&D system to third-party publishers, allowing the D&D system to become even more expansive and widely used as a generic SRD. In this case, OGL is published by WotC to license the D&D game as an SRD, spearheaded by Ryan Dancey. This resulted in a number of new publishers and D&D ‘clones’ with varying flavors of game ‘worlds’:

Green Ronin Publishing is founded this year off of the bones of Ronin Publishing.
Necromancer Games is founded, partnering with several other game companies to release various products. They released the first OGL product: The Wizard’s Amulet; an adventure for the d20 system.
Paradigm Concepts is founded. Arcanis hits the shelves a year later.
Privateer Press is founded with the plans to publish is own unique d20-based books.
Troll Lord Games is founded and the Castles & Crusades RPG as well as various other contributions from Gary Gygax.

Spycraft 2.0 by Alderac Entertainment Group. Superspies and modern action and equipment!

Prime Directive d20 and Prime Directive PD20 Modern by Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc. These are the SRD versions of the earlier Prime Directive RPG set in the Star Trek universe.

Not so much attached to the OGL movement of the day, Darcsyde Productions also opens its doors in Australia this year.

With that being said, on to the game releases!

FUDGE expanded, by Grey Ghost Press.

Pantheon and Other RPGs by Hogshead Publishing. This introduced the “Narrative Cage Match” using a system of beads, d6, and creative narratives.

Lost Souls LARP: by Fantasy Flight Games. Part of the Cthulhu Live 2 system.

Laws of the Wild LARP: by White Wolf Publishing. Based on Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

Mage: The Ascension by White Wolf Publishing. The revised 2^nd edition.

UnderWorld by Synister Creative Systems. Discover the magic and mystery that lurk beneath the streets of New York City.

Og 2e (Land of Og) by Wingnut Games. Cave men, dinos, and a 17-word vocabulary.

Eon 2e by Neogames out of Sweden. Return to Mundana in this new edition.

Ork! The RPG by Green Ronin Publishing. Engage in blood-soaked ‘merriment’ as you play despicable monsters from other game systems.

Deluxe Hero Wars by Issaries. A bundle of books designed to be Glorantha setting aids.

Legend of the Five Rings 2e by AEG.

World Tree by Padwolf Publishing. Play one of 8 animal-humanoids who lives within sight of Treverre’s snaky walls and have the power to experience everything.

Tenchi Muyo! by Guardians of Order. Dedicated to the 14 episode OAV series.

Blue Planet Moderator’s Guide 2e by Fantasy Flight Games. Uses the Synergy Game System.

Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century 6e by SSDC. Final space operatic edition.

Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium by Last Unicorn Games. This was a limited edition 3000 book run that was then discontinued.

Gamma World 5e by Alternity. Aliens arrive and we respond with our nukes.

Steve Jackson Games, you’re up!

Ogre / G.E.V. , a more detailed version and map system for the basic Ogre wargame.
GURPS 3: Celtic Myth
GURPS 3: In Nomine
GURPS 3: Ogre
GURPS 3: Steampunk

Instant Lightspeed is a self-published game, that is based on the Instant Fuzion system. This is a space opera game where pseudo-Star Trek squares off against pseudo-Star Wars; but includes concepts from Stargate, Alien Xenomorphs, and Predator film critters.

Online RPG games offer Orphen: Scion of Sorcery.for Playstation 2. This is a single player puzzle-solving and battle game.