solkan_uk said:
In my opinion the classes of spycraft offer more freedom than the classes of d20 modern. Who sticks with d20 modern base classes, when we played we qualified for an advanced class as soon as possible and then basically ignored the base classes, so how is this different to starting with a themed class? In addition with the increased functionality of skills its actually easier to fill a wierd concept in Spycraft.
In d20 modern you are just as bound by the classes, it's just an illusion that you're not. Going back to the hacker example? How many people when creating a hacker would go for anything other than Smart Hero/Hacker (I seem to recall a Hacker AdvClass, I'm sure there'll be one somewhere), and yet in Spycraft, you can be an awesome hacker without sticking to one route... I've played a hacker with no hacker levels at all (as an Advocate), and he could enter and exit most systems, and even take on those with the actual hacker class as long as they weren't heavily optimised, the point was he had other tricks up his sleave as well.
If you gave us a character concept I'd be willing to bet that we could generally come up with more competent ways to fill it in Spycraft than in D20 modern.
Deal. How 'bout a hacker. There's not actually an advanced class called the hacker (although there's a hacker-focused class called the shadowjack in Urban Arcana). And a Smart Hero/Shadowjack is definatly not the only way to build a hacker. I can think of five different ways to build a hacker, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
But first, the honorable mentions--The Strong Hacker, the Fast Hacker, the Tough Hacker, the Charismatic Hacker, And all of the Advanced Class Hackers. Since hacking is governed by the Computer Use skill, the only thing you need to be a hacker is to take ranks in the skill, and with starting occupations, everyone can have Computer Use as a class skill. While you can make a fast hero that's good at hacking, for instance, the fast hero's abilities don't actually improve your effectiveness as a hacker. Likewise, your Technomage is going to be a pretty competent computer hacker (and even gets a bonus on all checks related to technology), that's kinda dwarfed by his ability to cast spells.
1) The computer scientist. A straight smart hero build, this represents someone whose hacking ability comes from his superior training and general knowledge of computer programming. Taking the Savant talent for the computer use skill gives him a bonus equal to his smart level. Plus, he can take the plan talent and net himself more bonuses for the first few rounds of hacking. This hacker's superior training gives him the absolute best computer use score in the long run.
2) The intuitive hacker. A straight dedicated hero build, this represents someon whose hacking ability comes from subconcious intuition, rather than training. Skill emphasis for a +3 bonus to computer use checks make her as good or better than the smart hero for the first few levels. And when she rolls poorly, faith lets her get more use out of her action points than the smart hero would. Plus, the dedicated hero's superior combat ability means that she can afford to save more action points for hacking checks, and cool under pressure lets her take 10 on computer use checks. While the computer scientist's training outstrips her at the higher levels, this hacker's intuition is actually superior at first few levels.
3) The hardware guy. A techie build, this guy only hacks when he can't build machines to do the hacking for him. Basically, he's Marshall from Alias. Between the stuff he does before the mission starts (building, repairing, and improving stuff) and the stuff can do from a distance (hacking, directing robots, directing robots to hack), he can pretty much just stay behind in the van while the rest of the party sneaks into the building. That means he's free to focus all of his resources and abilities on being good at what he does, instead of being decent in combat.
4) The field hacker. A field scientist build. In contrast to the hardware guy, this is somone who's good at hacking while bullets are flying over her head. d8 hit dice, good fort and ref saves, and the smart defense and smart survival abilites all work to improve her survivability, while skill mastery let her take 10 on hacking while other folks are shooting.
5) The shadowjack. The shadowjack can't actually get the super-high computer use score that a 10th level smart hero is capable of. But in exchange, he gets bonuses to attempt certain sorts of checks and a slew of abilities that prevent him from getting caught if he screws up.
Spycraft's biggest problem facing it, though, is the pigeonholing, which is that Crafty Games' crew has got to counteract with their upcoming products. "Back to Basics" takes a big step, but the other products really have to nail their respective genres, or people are going to keep relegating it to just "action spy" stuff.
