The hydra project is the first application of ‘mash-up processes’ to create a gaming system for heroic fantasy roleplaying. Hydra is therefore the proof of the mashing or fusion concept of roleplaying development. It’s still a working project and is currently in the play-testing phase whilst I am concurrently writing up the Hydra Gaming System Version 1.0.
Hydra is being written with a particular world in mind, that of Fritz Leiber. However, it is being designed to be readily adaptable to other world systems. Once Hydra has been play-tested, updated as a result and entered into a campaign-ready state I intend on completing its write up and development. This will be Hydra 1.5 or similar. From there it may turn out that Hydra becomes a commercially published RPG, which depends on the negotiation of copyright status of the material it is mashed/fused from. If not, the it will never be sold for profit and will remain the province of our role-playing group.
The hydra above in the logo is a “Learnaean Hydra” (according to wikipaedia the font of all knowledge) as depicted by a 16th Century illustrator clearly influenced by the beast of revelations. A Hydra is a multi-headed beast. Originally in thinking of a title for the project I considered ‘Hybrid’, which is from a biological/genetic point of view the combination of two creatures. Given that this mash-up involves more than two roleplaying system sources it somehow seemed insufficient to consider it a hybrid. Hence Hydra, because it has multiple heads. Sort of.
