Anyone got Mindshadows?

tetsujin28 · Dec 3, 2003

I was wondering what people's impressions of it were. And if it was easily adaptable to getting rid of the fantasy races (elves, dwarves, &c).

johnnype · Dec 3, 2003

tetsujin28 said:
I was wondering what people's impressions of it were. And if it was easily adaptable to getting rid of the fantasy races (elves, dwarves, &c).

I thought it was good although, like you, I could have done without the typical fantasy races. I wouldn't go as far as eliminating all non-human races but a set of different races would have been nice. Elves, dwarves and halflings just don't fit the setting. YMMV.

The book itself is good and has some of the best artwork I've seen in a supplement in a long time. The text is a vague in certain places and could benefit from additional material but I'll take what little they give.

tetsujin28 · Dec 4, 2003

I'd probably keep elves as a nasty 'fair folk', and turn all the other races into older human societies or eliminate them entirely. I suppose one could always add naga as the 'good snakey people'.

How's the integration with psionics, vis a vis this being a South East Asian-flavoured place?

Lalato · Dec 4, 2003

Psionics is handled very well in this setting. I think they did a good job of integrating it.

As for the races... I don't see why you couldn't eliminate the fantasy races completely. You'll be forced to tweak the history a bit, but it's definitely workable.

--sam

tetsujin28 · Dec 4, 2003

Well, there's usually some sort of 'elder race' in most mythologies. But yeah, the shorties have got to go.

Vocenoctum · Dec 4, 2003

Was okay.
Tying it into a normal D&D setting means they have the standard races, but why did they give gnomes a new creation myth? (they're dwarves that didn't agree with the Empire)

I liked halfling monks for some reason

Dwarves are the historical founders of empire, and I think they work well there, but could be replaced easily enough.

Elves could simply be replaced with humans without effect.

Psionics blend fairly well, though they're more of an "added" ability to the setting. They haven't been around forever. It really brings them more central.

That said, I'm not a big fan of "psionics as super powers" like Psychic warriors tend to turn out. Mindshadows tends to play the superpowers/ monk-fu style for psionics.

tetsujin28 · Dec 4, 2003

I'm all about the fu.

Von Ether · Dec 4, 2003

Vocenoctum said:
Was okay.
That said, I'm not a big fan of "psionics as super powers" like Psychic warriors tend to turn out. Mindshadows tends to play the superpowers/ monk-fu style for psionics.

Hmmm, the same company is putting out the "Psychic" Master Class, which claims that it will have options to tweak powers up OR down. The class basically brings a generic version of the d20 Star Wars Force powers to d20 and d20 Modern.

tetsujin28 · Dec 6, 2003

Well that sounds quite spiffy. Will it require the Psionics Handbook, or is it a stand-alone product?

Von Ether · Dec 6, 2003

tetsujin28 said:
Well that sounds quite spiffy. Will it require the Psionics Handbook, or is it a stand-alone product?

From the product info at Green Ronin:
The Psychic's Handbook provides a completely independent system for adding psychic abilities to your campaign, abilities which are at once more subtle and wider-reaching than magic, powers with their own applications and limitations that separate them from the spells of clerics and wizards, and even the powers of psions.

In other words, you can use this book even if you don't own the PsiHB, but cause it's a completely different system (Call it the PsyHB, perhaps?). Steve Kenson is the developer, and he said that you can use the system as yet another source of powers in addtion to magic or psionics, or if you wish, as the sole supernatural power in the game (a feature the PsiHB lacks). More importantly, I am gleaning hints that book will just out and out state the expecations for the class.

(something that didin't come across in the PsiHB, i.e. Psions may look like a spell-point sorcerer, but they are more of a funky support class)

To sum up, if you liked the "d20 Star Wars Force" system of feats and skills and wanted to add it your D&D or d20 Modern game, then this is the book for you.