Dragonstar :: what happened?

[GuardianLurker]

Could someone give a summary of Dragonstar vs T20? Maybe also vs D20 Future? It'd be much appreciated.

T20 is a d20 port of Traveller. It's intended for space opera along the lines of Andre Norton's Forerunner series. Essentially no magic. It also assumes you start at a level higher than 1. IIRC, I think 7 is the minimum. This is the result of the background rules. It also has good rules for starship, and star system creation.

Dragonstar is D&D in space. It integrates magic and tech and has no real literary equivalent. *Maybe* Chalker's Well World series - *maybe*. It assumes a 2nd or 3rd level start to compensate for deadlier weapons.

If you have a choice, play either over D20 Future. I'm coming out of a campaign that makes extensive use of D20 Future. The PrCs are OK. My opinion of the rest cannot be adequately expressed under Grandmother rules. Anything involved with starships has *huge* conceptual flaws. For a system that purports to be a "toolbox" it is almost entirely lacking in systems to help you build things. Like star systems, starships, etc. I started really hopeful, and have been utterly disappointed in it in almost every way possible.

 

[Storyteller01]

You're also better off importing 3.0 cover rules if you play DS. The lethality of the ranged weapons makes it all but essential unless you have some exceptional armor.