Converting True20 to 5e mechanics?

Afrodyte · Apr 20, 2015

I really, really, really like True20 as a fantasy adventure roleplaying game. I enjoy the flexibility of 3 simple generic classes so that I can make a variety of concepts that would have required a ridiculous amount of multiclassing and house-ruling in previous editions. I also like only needing a single d20 to play instead of 6 different kinds of dice.

But...

I really, really, really like D&D 5e too! I am deeply in love with the way skill, tool, and vehicle proficiencies work, and I am a big fan of backgrounds and bounded accuracy. It gives me options for customization without inducing decision-making paralysis due to too many fiddly bits. The classes themselves offer several viable options, but not to the degree that, say, a classless system would. I also like the advantage and disadvantage mechanics, which give me a more intuitive way to deal with random circumstances that influence an ability check or attack roll.

For the most part, it's easy to translate True20 into 5e mechanics. The only problem comes when I think about what to do about class features. My inclination is to treat them like feats, perhaps with trees of feats to represent features that normally went to classes.

Magic, strangely enough, was easy to import from Legendary Lives (and I added a new power called Shadow Mastery), which makes it function like skill proficiencies but is a unique ability available only to mages.

What would you do to update True20 to 5e?

TreChriron · Apr 20, 2015

I would use the bounded accuracy bonuses, advantage, and the concept of proficiency and expertise. Expertise would be a feat. I would eliminate the "+2 to any two skills" and replace with Expertise.

I like your idea of converting class abilities into feats. The hardest part is going to be making them into "feat trees" and then understanding the interaction between these trees if people dabble in multiple trees.

You might want to ditch the 5e class abilities and ensure there are similar abilities in True20 feats (like sneak attack). You could also use the 5e classes and include the True20 feats. You could give them more frequently if you wanted (would make them more powerful). If you do this, I would eliminate the 5e feats. Also, you can easily say that one ability bonus = a True20 feat, so when they acquire them, they can choose. One ability bonus and a feat, two feats, or two ability bonuses.

Use the True20 damage mechanism based on CON, use the 5e saves and improvement based on proficiency bonus. Use the 5e skill system and include any new skills you want for genre (I like the True20 computer skill for example, it's nifty).

Those are my "off the cuff" suggestions.

Afrodyte · Apr 21, 2015

Thanks. I kept myself up trying to give class abilities that work for generic classes, but I may make them class-specific feats instead. And I agree about scratching 5e feats and importing True20 feats, as the 5e feats work better for less frequent progression.

What I may wind up doing is scratching even the generic classes and building a kind of base character progression with feats and skills to distinguish characters rather than any unique class features. I know, I know, blasphemy! I can always specialize more later.

Afrodyte · Apr 21, 2015

And it looks like my first forays into this created more of a headache than it should have, since using feats is much better for customization and for a more even level progression.

TreChriron · Apr 21, 2015

Yeah. I think you should try to create "generic" or class-specific feats for things you feel are missing, and otherwise use the True20 class structure.

Afrodyte · Apr 21, 2015

I'm now at a point where I can actually use what I have without confusing anyone (including myself). As it stands, characters get 15 feats (heavily modified from the 5e PHB to be less potent) and 5 ability score increases. The vast majority of feats are available to all classes, with the exception of a handful specific to experts, mages, and warriors. This is how class progression works:

Character progression for XP and proficiency bonuses work just like the PHB. This is how characters gain feats and ability score improvements.

Feat
Feat
Feat
Ability score improvement
Feat
Feat
Feat
Ability score improvement
Feat
Feat
Feat
Ability score improvement
Feat
Feat
Feat
Ability score improvement
Feat
Feat
Ability score improvement
Feat

I keep things like hit points and weapon damage, but removed the randomization for those and anything that required a player to roll anything other than a d20. For instance, instead of doing 1d8 damage, a longsword just does 8 damage.

I haven't gotten around to translating all class features into feats (barbarian's rage, ranger's favored enemy, etc.), but those will take a lot of time to work into the generic classes. I tend to prefer True20's broader application of class features and skills, so too many direct transports of class features would sort of defeat the purpose. And, because of the way I've radically altered magic, a lot of the class features that involve magic (cleric domains, wizard schools, warlock pacts, etc.) can't be translated in any recognizable way. However, I'm fine with it because magic is much more flexible.