a d20 general rpg campaign

[gurps]

Is a d20 general rpg campaign like a campaign for Gurps? I mean Gurps can have any campaign about any subject, so what is the subject or genre for a d20 general rpg campaign?

 

[Skywalker]

Is a d20 general rpg campaign like a campaign for Gurps? I mean Gurps can have any campaign about any subject, so what is the subject or genre for a d20 general rpg campaign?

You might need to be a little clearer as I am not sure what you are asking.

GURPS and D20 are actually quite different in terms of design and history, so any direct comparison that treats them as identical is problematic.

GURPS was designed as a generic system but it is closed for use by outsiders. It is designed to be used for any genre. The result is that GURPS works well for some genres and poorly for others, though it mostly depends on the quality of the adaption.

D20 was designed from D&D which is a fantasy system, though there is also a modern variant. However, unlike GURPS it has been opened up for use by others and as a result has been applied to multiple genres. The result is that D20 works well for some genres and poorly for others, though it mostly depends on the quality of the adaption.

 

[Ranger REG]

Is a d20 general rpg campaign like a campaign for Gurps? I mean Gurps can have any campaign about any subject, so what is the subject or genre for a d20 general rpg campaign?

If you mean that d20 is a generic rule system that can be used for any or all genres besides the traditional [medieval] fantasy, then yes.

 

[amethal]

Is a d20 general rpg campaign like a campaign for Gurps? I mean Gurps can have any campaign about any subject, so what is the subject or genre for a d20 general rpg campaign?

d20 is general.

There are two versions of d20 :- d20 fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons) and d20 modern. At the moment the offical "campaign" supplements for d20 Modern are :-

Future
Past
Apocalypse
Urban Arcana
Cyberspace

There are plenty of 3rd party supplements which cover other areas - for example superheroes or the wild west.

In addition, there is d20 Call of Cthulhu and d20 Star Wars which I consider to be separate genres.

I'm bound to have missed something out

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

D20 Modern. It's very flexible. I've used it to run a campaign in AD 175 China and one in StarDrive without using D20 Future or D20 Past.

 

[Flynn]

Grim Tales...

I'd definitely suggest Grim Tales. It comes the closest to what you are looking for, I think, based on what you've given us above.

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[jdrakeh]

As the responses so far in this thread make fairly clear, d20 and GURPS are two different beasts. There is no single d20 Core Rulebook built to emulate the complete range of genres that GURPS can 'out of the box' - but d20 can be used to run a game in any genre, provided that you're willing to do some extra legwork and pick up some supplements beyond a core rulebook.

In the end, d20 is about as generic as Palladium in that it can be applied to multiple genres, but isn't presented in a completely generic format by default. The closest thing that I've seen to a truly generic version of the d20 System is d20 Modern, which can be adapted to multiple genres (including fantasy, ironically) with less work that other re-iterrations of the system.

[Edit: Wait... that part about only seeing d20 Modern as a generic version of d20 isn't entirely true. There's also Core Elements - but it is by no means official. It is, however, in the process of being turned into a complete d20 Generic 'tool-kit' system by Butch Curry of Gaming Report (so bug him about it). ]

 

[Turanil]

I'd definitely suggest Grim Tales.

I second this opinion. Grim Tales has been designed to allow play in any genre (fantasy, western horror, modern, PA, sci-fi, etc.).

 

[Aus_Snow]

I second this opinion. Grim Tales has been designed to allow play in any genre (fantasy, western horror, modern, PA, sci-fi, etc.).

Thirded.

Any genre you want. . . just about. . . that one book can do it. Pretty neat! Then, with anything it doesn't outright support, a bit of imagination - and maybe some tinkering - can get you there.


None of the 'official' (WotC) d20 books can do anything close to that (they weren't designed with that sort of goal in mind), if that's even close to what you were asking, 'gurps'.


edit --- On second thoughts, to answer the actual question as directly as I'm able, I would say either pseudo-medieval high fantasy (for D&D) or a variety of archetypal modern genres (for d20 Modern).