D20 System for a William Gibson-esque game ?

[johndaw16]

Alright the suggestions you've put out are really helpful, you guys have tagged a few items I've never even heard off. Quick question for those of you that have all played with these third party products, how are their rules for combat ? I've run a contemporary D20 Modern game for close to a year and with my groups play style the D20 Modern combat rules are lacking. The players and I have found them to be rather dull after a bit. That however maybe my fault as a DM. Anyways details on the combat aspect would be cool.

Thanks again,
John

 

[Corinthi]

If you're willing to downplay the VR net and instead focus on the real world actions and exploits of your heroes, try Spycraft 2.0.

The Gadget system explicitly says that if your Game Control (Gamemaster) sets the tech level to near future, you can use yourself as the housing for gadgets. Armored skin? Just house your favorite body armor inside your body. Rippers? A melee slashing weapon housed in your hand. Built in cyberdeck? Laptop installed wherever.

Spycraft 2.0 makes supremely competent characters, and by tweaking the campaign qualities, you can make it as brutal and lethal as you like. /Plus/ the combat system is fantastic with tons of flavor and tactical options for even the hardcore.

Of course, if you still want to do VR netrunning, you can just use the Dramatic Conflict hacking rules and change the flavor text to suit, just the way you use the same chase system for skiing down a mountain, motorcycles through downtown, or rival submarines.

 

[GMSkarka]

Quick question for those of you that have all played with these third party products, how are their rules for combat ? I've run a contemporary D20 Modern game for close to a year and with my groups play style the D20 Modern combat rules are lacking. The players and I have found them to be rather dull after a bit. That however maybe my fault as a DM. Anyways details on the combat aspect would be cool.

We published TACTICAL IMPLANT, the latest TERMINAL IDENTITY release, with that fact in mind...altering the D20 Modern combat rules to suit cyberpunk-genre games.


It covers the following (please forgive this cut-and-paste from the product description):

• Variant Fighting Classes: Using the examples of the Soldier and Bodyguard, we demonstrate how to tweak standard Advanced Classes to serve a cyberpunk-genre campaign
  
• Nonlethal Damage: Standard rules for nonlethal damage don't always match the genre's penchant for martial arts action and noirish knockouts. We present a simple revamp of the Modern SRD's rules for nonlethal damage that finally allows low level, unskilled combatants a chance to take each other out.
  
• Scenario Training: Train your character the way professionals do:for the mission. Use scenario training to prepare for your specific encounters.
  
• Ablative Morale: For a grittier edge, use ablative morale to measure how much violence your character can take before he psychologically shuts down or flees -- or until another character talks him back from the edge of despair. Two new talent trees give Charismatic and Dedicated heroes an edge under this system. New Feats toughen your character's mind, let him inspire an entire squad, or even design a meme to influence millions.
  
• Cyborgs in Combat: Metal and flesh collide in new rules that discuss how cybernetics influence grappling, defense, speed and power. Two new talent trees give Strong and Fast cyborgs the ability to hit harder with artificial hands or evade gunfire with enhanced reflexes.
  
• Weapon Mods & Gadgets: New gadgets and after-market alterations let you customize your weapons and ammo. Carry nanite payloads, give a blade a fractal edge, or make the whole sword out of wickedly sharp, retractable wire.
  
• Combat Frames: If you'd rather be stronger without losing an arm and a leg, use a combat frame's exoskeleton to enhance a single limb, or piece them together into a suit of powered armor. Improve your purchase with gadgets like extra armor and defensive nanotechnology.
  
• Combat Nanotechnology: New invisible threats enter the field. Use gray goo, tracers and binders to attack enemies, or employ defensive nanites to keep these microscopic machines at bay. See how nanites move and threaten the battle map and how characters hack nanotech design to create their own nanotech weapons.

 

[AscentStudios]

I'd be remiss not to plug Spycraft 2.0 as well. It's a toolkit built for use with modern and near-future gaming. Corinthi hits all the high points (quite admirably - kudos!). The campaign qualities take it one step past in tweaking with your mechanical environment to fit deadly, gritty Cyberpunk (such as Gibson's) or glitterpunk (like Ghost in the Shell). You can read our Near Future genre write up here. While not as specifically designed for Cpunk as a dedicated book, the toolkit is absolutely flexible enough to build the campaign both you and your players want.

 

[Ymdar]

Use d20 modern with d20 future. With those and 2 days of work (working 1-2 hours a day, with typing) I created my own setting my own rules. That's it. Maybe that's only because I'm a minimalist and like to be in the middle of the creation of the world I'm DMing.

 

[Sunchaser]

Unless you're dead-set on d20, have a look at Ex Machina from Guardians of Order. It's the Tri-Stat system, and comes with 3 very nice sample settings. I bought the pdf but haven't had time to actually play it yet.

 

[Imperialus]

I'd probably join those suggesting either tracking down an old copy of Cyberpunk 2020 or taking a serious look at Shadowrun 4th ed. It's a ground up redesign almost on the scale of AD&D to 3E. D20 doesn't seem to simulate the grittyness of a real cyberpunk setting very well. Hit points and levels just don't translate well into a world where no matter how tough you are any given corperation can still squash you like a bug. In Shadowrun for instance I've seen a juiced up street sam with almost 400 points of Karma (almost 2 years of playing) get taken down and almost killed (he had a single box of overdamage left) by a handful of mook security guards packing heavy pistols and armoured vests. This is the equivilant of a level 15+ character in D&D being killed by a few orcs.

 

[solkan_uk]

I add my vote to Spycraft 2.0.

But if you want to try OGL Cyberpunk I'm going to be getting rid of my copy (IMHO the mongoose OGL books are pretty poor, more or less d20 Modern with one or two variant rules, not worth buying a hardback book for).

Send me a PM if you want OGL Cyberpunk, I'm sure I can cut you a deal (but postage itself from the UK to USA will cost about £7-8)