Jorune d20
edobrzel
First Post
I just stumbled onto this forum. I started a custom d20 conversion of Jorune about 10 months ago. I'm currently DMing a campaign that uses Jorune as the setting with many races and monsters converted over, some using the Savage Species rules. I bought Jorune (2E) way back in about '87.
Don't take the following as criticism of anyone here: In this forum and in all the attempts at conversion I've seen, they try too hard at converting the rules and not the essence. (IMHO, of course) The gaming engine is only part of what is important. The system is what you make it. d20 gives you the flexibility to make it what you want. I'm not saying it is the best rules engine, but it is pretty darn good. Plus, as others have pointed out, d20 is *big*.
You can debate whether you want HP or not; whether you want spell/isho "points" or spell slots; whether you want one class or 20. For me, I want to see the places and creatures and world ideas ported over, not the mechanics. My current campaign has thriddle, woffen, crugar, muadra, shantha, skyrealms, crystal armor, etc., etc. d20 lets you be as hack-n-slash as you want or as role-play-centric as you want. My campaign has been running weekly since January and we've only had perhaps 8-10 combat encounters.
For those that do want to get into rules, there are a lot out there. Lalato pointed out a bunch (and I agree). WOTC's Unearthed Arcana is an excellent resource. It provides tons of alternatives, such as DR instead of AC; non-HP systems; and magic point systems. Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed is also excellent. As Turanil pointed out, d20 Modern has an interesting way of doing basic Hero classes and then adds Prestige classes. Bastion Press' Airships is fun for travelling to/from skyrealms. I personally modified a few things because speed of travel was too fast. As I mentioned, Savage Species is a great resource too. Some argue that they don't balance things all that well. Some I agree (as do I sometimes), but I also believe that books/resources are starting points. Don't like it? Write your own rule, or post in a forum and have someone like me doctor the rules for you.
I do have some stats for a bunch of the races and creatures. I would be glad to share them, but be aware that they are straight E3.5 conversions. I don't want to get into mechanics debates. Rules/stats debates are ok, such as just how many HD a dar corondon has or what the ECL of a blount is. I've playtested some of them and discussed them all with other DMs. It is then up to the campaigns, DMs, and players to decide how true to be to Jorune (and even what it means to be "true"). I still have a ways to go on converting things. I have not even begun to get into Prestige Classes. I'm avoiding Earth-tec for the time being.
Don't take the following as criticism of anyone here: In this forum and in all the attempts at conversion I've seen, they try too hard at converting the rules and not the essence. (IMHO, of course) The gaming engine is only part of what is important. The system is what you make it. d20 gives you the flexibility to make it what you want. I'm not saying it is the best rules engine, but it is pretty darn good. Plus, as others have pointed out, d20 is *big*.
You can debate whether you want HP or not; whether you want spell/isho "points" or spell slots; whether you want one class or 20. For me, I want to see the places and creatures and world ideas ported over, not the mechanics. My current campaign has thriddle, woffen, crugar, muadra, shantha, skyrealms, crystal armor, etc., etc. d20 lets you be as hack-n-slash as you want or as role-play-centric as you want. My campaign has been running weekly since January and we've only had perhaps 8-10 combat encounters.
For those that do want to get into rules, there are a lot out there. Lalato pointed out a bunch (and I agree). WOTC's Unearthed Arcana is an excellent resource. It provides tons of alternatives, such as DR instead of AC; non-HP systems; and magic point systems. Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed is also excellent. As Turanil pointed out, d20 Modern has an interesting way of doing basic Hero classes and then adds Prestige classes. Bastion Press' Airships is fun for travelling to/from skyrealms. I personally modified a few things because speed of travel was too fast. As I mentioned, Savage Species is a great resource too. Some argue that they don't balance things all that well. Some I agree (as do I sometimes), but I also believe that books/resources are starting points. Don't like it? Write your own rule, or post in a forum and have someone like me doctor the rules for you.
I do have some stats for a bunch of the races and creatures. I would be glad to share them, but be aware that they are straight E3.5 conversions. I don't want to get into mechanics debates. Rules/stats debates are ok, such as just how many HD a dar corondon has or what the ECL of a blount is. I've playtested some of them and discussed them all with other DMs. It is then up to the campaigns, DMs, and players to decide how true to be to Jorune (and even what it means to be "true"). I still have a ways to go on converting things. I have not even begun to get into Prestige Classes. I'm avoiding Earth-tec for the time being.
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