Not the same as the Old Boss...

While the buzz about Chimera 2.0 has been more like a low hum, the revised system is actually quite different from Chimera 1.x, and I think you'll find a lot of improvements.

Why Chimera 2.0?

Straight-away, I want to clarify that Chimera was never about building a better mousetrap, or astounding the marketplace with Yet Another Generic RPG. Rather, it was simply about getting all my house rules into an independent structure that I could call my own (and therefore publish, sell, tweak, distribute, etc., at my discretion). Those who've been around my block a few times know Chimera's general evolutionary path: It began with a heavily modified ruleset based on TSR's Rules Cyclopedia, then morphed into its own FRPG (because at that time, there was no OGL), then expanded to multi-genre, then incorporated the OGL to keep things familiar and accessible.

While Chimera 1.x was clearly a stand-alone system, it wasn't as elegant as I'd hoped. It was fast, but play could be streamlined. While flexible, options for PCs could be made more consistent. And though it was multi-genre, Chimera could do a better job of facilitating a GM's creativity. More than anything, Chimera had to be a useful RPG platform, basically for people like me who have a lot of imagination they want to set on the gaming table, but limited time to spend doing it.

The driving force behind the revision was the need to very quickly translate ideas into gaming. I get a lot of my campaign ideas from movies, cartoons, books, things that my wife says, history texts, and a slew of random thoughts that keep me from getting a decent night's sleep. Naturally, I want to incorporate these into my game, but the speed and accuracy with which you can do so is very much a function of your RPG system. The whys and wherefores of this bold statement (for which I expect/welcome some challenge) are a topics for another day. For now, suffice to say that flexibility is key—you don't want rules to get in the way, and you want mechanics to handle your idea with some amount of grace. Oh, and you also don't want the exercise to take more than a few minutes. In fact, it would be great if the system let you do these things on the fly, while you're actually sitting at said gaming table.

These are fair expectations for any RPG, but it's demonstrably clear that some systems do a better job than others. With that in mind, Chimera 2.0 is less of a multi-genre RPG and more of a time-saving tool for busy gamers. It's very fast and highly flexible. With an intermediate understanding of the rules, you should be able to come up with a Chimera-ese translation for just about anything you see in a book, movie, or show, in a matter of minutes.

Chimera 2.0

The Chimera RPG Quick Start guide—free when you sign up for our newsletter—gives you a taste of what Chimera 2.0 can do. For those who like bullet lists and the order they bring, here's a cursory rundown of the what you can expect from Chimera 2.0:

• Easy rules - you can learn Chimera's mechanics and character generation in less than an hour
• Intuitive actions - target numbers for successful actions are based on character ability scores, not class or level
• Fast play - unique Action Roll system provides quick outcomes and "critical" results
• Creative flexibility - unique Trait system allows you to create any ability you need and "plug" it into the game seamlessly
• Rapid opponents - modular abilities lets you create NPCs and customise monsters in minutes
• Realism - include fatigue, encumbrance, ammo, and gear usage without extra bookkeeping
• Combat - wound system accounts for character injury, one-shot kills, and realistic healing; no hit points and very easy to track
• Advancement - unique character advancement model; no experience points, no levels, and wide-open advancement paths
• Infinite customisation - everything is built on the core mechanic, so you can easily add your own house rules, variants, and tweaks

Chimera 2.0 will be released this fall. In the meantime, take a look at the Quick Start and decide if it can't help you save some of your precious gaming time. And, before I forget: Yes, those of you who purchased Chimera 1.x on RPGNow will receive a free upgrade to Chimera 2.0—thanks for your support.