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General RPG Rules Discussion[WAS CALLED "Pathfinder/OGL/D20 GAMES"] Discuss the rules of Pathfinder, d20 Modern and any other game except D&D, such as Arcana Evolved, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, and the like.
Need help- Modern-like D20 system to handle my needs
Hey all- I'm looking for a D20 type system to handle my "modern games. Something lighter than 3.5-i.e. not 800 pages over 3 books.
Now "modern games" to me= roughly 1890s- through possibly today- I'm looking for something that could handle a bit of steampunk, classic Cthulhu, 20s/30s Pulp, Cold War espionage and possibly some "light" modern fantasy/horror- or even geting into a John Carter of Mars (ERB) type game (i.e. very light on actual science fiction)
I bought the D20 Modern core book when it was first released, but honestly don't remember much- never played the game and the book just sat on my shelf for a couple years until I sold it. I know the core book is a bit difficult to find now, but it does look like it could handle all of my list fairly well. Especially with the "past" and Urban Arcana supplements.
What about True 20? Can the core book handle my list reasonably well? If not what supplements would I need? Monster/enemies books? Genre books of some sort? I know very little about the game, so I'm all ears.
Are there other systems that are similar? better? I don't know of any other universal D20 games off the top of my head, though admittedly I don't follow such things.
Any advice is much appreciated
__________________ "Maybe I'm just getting too old to want to have to deal with a heap o' rules and the steaming heap o' rules lawyers who go with them."-Gary Gygax
"D&D was meant to be a free-wheeling game, only loosely bound by the parameters of the rules." Tim Kask, Foreword, Eldritch Wizardry 1976
What about True 20? Can the core book handle my list reasonably well? If not what supplements would I need? Monster/enemies books? Genre books of some sort? I know very little about the game, so I'm all ears.
True20 can handle modern pretty well and thankfully you wouldn't need many supplements to do it. With True20 all you basically need in the True20 Revised Edition and maybe the True20 Bestiary and your set. True20 has several additional books which expands on the game's three primary roles (while adding optional rules), but they aren't really necessary to play True20.
There are many 3pp True20 settings/books which could be utilization for a modern game. There's Interface Zero (cyberpunk), Shadows of Cthulhu (Lovecraftian horror), Techno Thrillers (espionage), GearCraft (steampunk), Agents of Oblivian (horror/espionage), etc.
is Modern20 available as a print product?- I didn't see a link for a print version and I don't purchase PDFs
__________________ "Maybe I'm just getting too old to want to have to deal with a heap o' rules and the steaming heap o' rules lawyers who go with them."-Gary Gygax
"D&D was meant to be a free-wheeling game, only loosely bound by the parameters of the rules." Tim Kask, Foreword, Eldritch Wizardry 1976
We have been waiting for the revised edition to hit before printing, so it's currently only PDF.
Thanks for the quick response-
EDIT-NM, glossed over your comment on ETA previously for the revised version :doh:
__________________ "Maybe I'm just getting too old to want to have to deal with a heap o' rules and the steaming heap o' rules lawyers who go with them."-Gary Gygax
"D&D was meant to be a free-wheeling game, only loosely bound by the parameters of the rules." Tim Kask, Foreword, Eldritch Wizardry 1976
I'd like to plug the game I'm working on, but I don't think it's quite what you are looking for. I do, however, think you might want to check out Microlite20 Modern20 .
Download the Core Rules + Modern20 rules and you are off to the races.
True20 Revised would be a very solid choice. I believe there is even a Cthulhu supplement that has just come out, or is just about to. And the rest is certainly easily covered, with just the core book, and (maybe) one or two setting books.
The True20 Bestiary is great - IMO, better than the Monster Manual, say, by quite a margin. I used to recommend an ABC approach with True20: Adventure Roleplaying, Bestiary, Companion. Now that the Companion is included in the core book, well, things are even simpler.
I know its a different system, but the Unisystem (the game mechanics found in such games as Conspiracy X, Buffy Vampire Slayer, Armeggedon) is very simple and all inclusive. I'm playing a WW2 rpg using these rules and its fantastic. And its easy to bring in ideas from other games, if thats your kind of thing.
__________________ I think I can, I think I can....I thought I could
"Not everybody likes the same sort of games.
Everybody ought to play the sort of games they like.
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Spycraft 2.0 can handle all of that easily. You'll need the Fragile Minds PDF supplement and it's curiously named horrors to really do Lovecraft justice though.
__________________ We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming. - Werner von Braun
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Thx for the input everyone- I ended up deciding to initially try D20 Modern- there is a alot of support material available as well as compatible games/games based on the the d20 Modern SRD. I've a copy of the core book and D20 Past on the way.
In my research I found a game by the name of Etherscope- by Goodman Games. This sounds like a seriously cool game to handle the steampunk bits-I need to find a copy of that as well. Anyone have any experience? I believe it was nominated for an ENnie a few years back?
__________________ "Maybe I'm just getting too old to want to have to deal with a heap o' rules and the steaming heap o' rules lawyers who go with them."-Gary Gygax
"D&D was meant to be a free-wheeling game, only loosely bound by the parameters of the rules." Tim Kask, Foreword, Eldritch Wizardry 1976
In my research I found a game by the name of Etherscope- by Goodman Games. This sounds like a seriously cool game to handle the steampunk bits-I need to find a copy of that as well. Anyone have any experience? I believe it was nominated for an ENnie a few years back?
Etherscope is excelent. Its set in an alternate timeline but you could easily ignore the setting and use the mechanics to do exactly what you are talking about - a kind of steampunky Cthulhu-esque campaign - since in manyways thats exactly what this is.
__________________ Check out my (Scott Carter's) stuff here. or read my mostly RPG related Blog
Thx for the input everyone- I ended up deciding to initially try D20 Modern- there is a alot of support material available as well as compatible games/games based on the the d20 Modern SRD. I've a copy of the core book and D20 Past on the way.
In my research I found a game by the name of Etherscope- by Goodman Games. This sounds like a seriously cool game to handle the steampunk bits-I need to find a copy of that as well. Anyone have any experience? I believe it was nominated for an ENnie a few years back?
No experience - but, yeah, looks cool. Was nominated for an Ennie in 06,
You can find a lot more info - and various reviews - if you click around here.
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