Sourcery

[Aesmael]

Having made the decision to give actually playing a go, I'm hungry for sourcebooks and trying to build up a list of non-Wizards books for consideration. Would anyone care to recommend me a few that are highly regarded?

The ones I've heard of that sound basically essential are:

• Mutants & Masterminds 2.0
• Iron Heroes
• Ken Grimwood's Grim and Gritty Adventures (I hope that's right, could never remember even when it was fresh)
• Thieves World
• Prime Directive (would I be better off getting the GURPS version?)

Heh. Hopefully this is in the right forum and all. What else is out there?

Edit: Oops. Forgot about d20 Modern itself. I've read the Modern SRD a couple of times and am still undecided on the books themselves. Do they add much of anything easier than or unavailable elsewhere? Are there any great books for Modern or is it all a big pile of meh? I have an idea for a d20 Modern/Future series of campaigns I'd love to run someday so that is probably a yes in the end unless I get swayed elsewhere.

 

[Aus_Snow]

What sort of game(s) are you planning (or hoping) to run?

 

[Psion]

Edit: Oops. Forgot about d20 Modern itself. I've read the Modern SRD a couple of times and am still undecided on the books themselves. Do they add much of anything easier than or unavailable elsewhere?

Actually having the modern books is a convenience if you are going to play it. You may have your own way of interacting with gaming product, but it's my feeling that if it's something that gets used a lot at the table (like any core book), having the print version is pretty much necessary.

Are there any great books for Modern or is it all a big pile of meh?

AFAIAC, third party books MAKE D20 Modern worth having IMO. By itself, I consider D20 Modern sort of "meh". But some settings and supplements are great:

Darwin's World 2
Sidewinder Recoiled
Mars
Blood & Fists (and most of the "Blood" series of books by RPGObjects, really, but this one stands out to me as being both fun to play and capturing the source material well.)

In particular, I've always been impressed with the transformation of the first two. They started out as sort of "meh" d20 implementations, but the addition of D20 Modern to the mix caused the authors to re-examine some areas and gave a more stable baseline.

 

[Roger]

Spycraft 2.0 is all sorts of awesome, and has a lot of good bits for even non-espionage games.

 

[Vigilance]

In particular, I've always been impressed with the transformation of the first two. They started out as sort of "meh" d20 implementations, but the addition of D20 Modern to the mix caused the authors to re-examine some areas and gave a more stable baseline.

Having a foundation helps.

I also know, having gone through the revision process a time or two, that I personally am much happier with Blood and Relics II and Blood and Guts II and they both started as d20 Modern books.

Sometimes you just need a little distance and to realize what doesn't work.

When you're writing a book, if you don't think it's going to be the most face-rocking, mind-melting sourcebook ever, you have a serious problem.

After it's out a while, then you begin to objectively see the flaws

Chuck

 

[Psion]

Spycraft 2.0 is all sorts of awesome, and has a lot of good bits for even non-espionage games.

Indeed it is. I got fixated on the D20 Modern commentary, and neglected what is probably my favorite d20 variants.

In fact, it's bleeding out into my other games. The dramatic conflict rules will be featured in my GenCon D20 Mars and D20 Traveller games.

 

[Aesmael]

Spycraft! I half-remember hearing good things about that when I used to lurk. Going to give it a long hard look. The ones Psion mentioned too. That aside at the end was wondering about whether the Wizards' made supplements (Future, Past, etc.) were getting much use though, since my main question is concerning the third party products.

What sort of game(s) are you planning (or hoping) to run?

Hard to say, since I haven't actually played before. Probably a bit of kitchen-sinking where it works. Really, though, I am looking forward to a variety I could not imagine yet.

The particular campaign series I mentioned in the first post is a DOOM d20/The Fall of the Human Empire kind of thing. The first one, colonists on Mars politicking and trying to make it work, all hell breaks loose and they can either flee off-world or attempt to shut off the flow of demons but probably not both. Later scenarios would involve the appearance of fiends on Earth (in an X-Files sort of way), the fall and attempted evacuation of Earth, outer system bases, the eventual scattering of humanity among the stars with exploration (mysteriously derelict colony ships) and building of new societies over a period of centuries (interplanetary feudal hierarchies with dinosaurs and politics), and so forth. Whatever the PCs accomplish in one scenario affects the state of things at the start of the next.

But I value that idea enough to make sure it is not the first thing I run. Need to know I can run a good game first.

Did I forget to thank everyone for their help? Thanks for the help everyone. That goes for anyone who responds in future too. I appreciate it.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

• Ken Grimwood's Grim and Gritty Adventures (I hope that's right, could never remember even when it was fresh)

Ken Hood's Grim and Gritty Hit Point and Combat Rules is not really a standalone sourcebook. It is an alternate hit point system plus some alternate rules for grappling and firearms. Grim Tales, however, is much more a full fledged sourcebook. I highly recommend Grim Tales.