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Blood and Guts: Modern Military
Blood & Guts: Modern Military is a sourcebook for d20 Modern games, dealing with modern military forces, primarily Special Forces and other elite and special units in the US Military. [Blood & Guts[/i] is written by Charles Rice, who also authored the excellent Blood & Fists and other titles in the "Blood" series for d20 Modern published by RPG Objects.
A First Look
Blood & Guts: Modern Military is available as a PDF (96 pages with separate cover and image files for $8.95) or in print format (96 page perfect bound softcover format for $18.95.) The print version is based on version 1.2 of the PDF version (the latest version as of this writing.)
The cover of the book is a brown/sepia tone with a background that looks like a satellite map, with various pictures of military hardware superimposed on it. The cover is by Jeremy Simms.
The interior is black-and-white (though the PDF uses color borders). Interior artists include V. Shane, Chris Martinez, John Longenbaugh, and Joseph Wigfield. Except for the first chapter, the artwork is somewhat sparse.
A Deeper Look
Put simply, Blood & Guts: Modern Military is a book of character options for d20 modern designed to deliver detailed military characters. As stated, the primary focus of the book is special forces and other highly trained, high risk forces.
The book is organized into an introduction and six chapters.
The first chapter is entitled Military Characters includes two new allegiances (active duty and reserve duty) and several new advanced classes, most of which represent special forces units (such as SEALS, rangers, green berets, delta force, and so forth.) Many of the special forces are represented by a single advanced class, though some have multiple classes representing specialties.
The special forces advanced classes have some abilities they may select in common. As they advance, in addition to unique class abilities, each gains a number of "special forces talents." These talents work much like the base class talents in d20 modern, but are available to all special forces advanced classes. Special forces talents trees include mental toughness, silent kill, and special operations strategy.
In addition to the "special ops" classes the chapter provides a sniper prestige class (which is also eligible for special ops talents) and top gun (i.e., elite fighter pilot).
The second chapter is entitled Military Training and includes a variety of new skills, skill uses, and feats, including a new feat mechanic, MOS and advanced training.
The new skills are mostly fairly specific military occupational skills such as air traffic control, communications operations, and paradrop. Though the skills seem appropriate, they also seem very specific for d20 skills, and for purposes of neatness and backwards compatability, it seems as if they would be best tucked in under other skill categories such as profession.
Feats are a mixture of combat related abilities (many being martial arts maneuvers almost straight out of RPG Objects' Blood & Fists). Some others are more occupation in nature, providing bonuses or special uses for skills.
The MOS and advanced training rules are a special case of the feats rules. These can only be taken by characters with the military occupation from d20 Modern in the place of feats. They behave very much like occupations in that they provide new class skills (or bonus to same) and possible other feats (such as proficiency in vehicle mounted weapons.)
I should pause here to say that one thing about a book of this sort is that enthusiasts and insiders can (and have) pick aspects of it apart, despite how well researched it is. The first one that drew my attention here was the decision to make security clearance a feat. This strikes me as a waste of a feat and totally out of whack with the way security clearances work in the military. They are not huge boons (like some movies might suggest); they are part of doing a one's job. Some jobs in the military (like submarine radiomen or navigation) requires top secret clearance, but that does not mean that they would be granted access to any information outside of their job due to the "need to know" principle.
The Military Training chapter provides a special rules section for handling promotions and decorations. This section models the effects of the military promotion system, including modeling effects of medals on promotions. Promotions require level related checks, and each rank provides requisition bonuses according to the rank.
The third chapter is entitled Military Combat and introduces a variety of optional rules variants for the d20 combat system as well as rules for handling equipment and situations not handled by the d20 Modern combat rules, such as submarine and air combat, air support, and artillery.
These rules options for personal combat are split into three categories. Modern, gritty, and true grit, depending on how much realistic danger the rule adds to the game. For example, the suppression fire combat rule (which strikes me as infinitely better than the d20 Modern autofire rule) is designated Modern because it only provides additional details, but does not make combat significantly more perilous. The injuries rule, which adds random injury effects to any hit which can trigger a massive damage check, is rated as gritty. The common injury rule, which also makes specific injury effects possible on any critical threat, is rated as true grit.
Other optional combat rules add rules for mental fatigue and disorders stemming from combat, cover fire, and crossfire rules that make combats a bit more hazardous to bystanders. Generally, the rules add detail without adding too much complexity.
As mentioned earlier, there are a few bits in this book that might not pass muster with those familiar with the technology. The big one that caught my attention was the submarine rules. One of the rules therein makes the hide skill against other submarines equal to the drive skill of the driver. Submariners would realize that this is not too accurate; the "driver" as it exists on a sub is quite likely to be one of the most junior persons on the ship! A more accurate method of making such rolls would depend on equipment and/or some sort of tactics roll by the commander.
The fourth chapter details military equipment. Vehicles and weapons are the primary items detailed, but there are also other pieces of military hardware detailed, such as protective gear. In the case of the vehicles, the cross section is non-exhaustive, only detailing common examples of each vehicle type. In some cases, the author leaned towards detailing the latest innovations over ones that are widely deployed currently. For example, the book includes the F-18E/F superhornet
(which it erroneously just calls the F18) and the V-22 Osprey, even through the former is still outnumbered by the older F-18A-D and the latter just barely completed its trials and has little field deployment.
The fifth chapter details the Battlefield Unit Combat System (or BUCS.) Similar to the various mass combat systems that exist for the d20 system, BUCS is a derivative of the d20 system made to model larger combats. BUCS models 10 person squads or larger as entities.
Unlike many abstract mass combat systems, BUCS does not model units using modified individual stat blocks derived from the individual composing it. Rather, an assessment is made of the unit quality (from Green to Elite), and modifiers are derived directly from that. The system takes into account factors such as leadership, orders, and deleterious effects of non-regular units on your side.
The system does seem simpler to employ than systems that adapt individual stat blocks. However, the lack of any direct correspondence to character statistics may make it more difficult to reliably convert units between d20 system and BUCS statistics. However, many real world units are already provided with statistics for BUCS.
The BUCS chapter also has a special advanced class for use with the chapter, the Strategist, which grants bonuses when using the BUCS scale combat.
The final chapter is a brief section of GM advice. The section discusses a few common choices to make when running military campaigns, such as the level of realism and the experience of the characters. The chapter also provides some ideas for special ops campaigns, a brief list of (somewhat colorful) military slang, and references that the GM might use to research campaigns.
Finally, there is a convenient table and feat list compilation.
Conclusions
How good is Blood & Guts? Well, at one time, Spycraft would have been my first choice for a special ops campaign, but the tight focus on the subject would definitely make me consider otherwise now. It should be at the top of your shopping list if you desire to run a military campaign with d20 Modern, or wish to add detail to military characters in a more general d20 modern campaign.
Though the book tries to touch on airborne and seaborne/submarine combat a bit, it definitely is not the focus of the book and you need a lot more detail if you wish to focus on these aspects. Also, I think that while the Basic Unit Combat System is functional in and of itself, lack of easy conversion to d20 System statistics compromises its utility for use in conjunction with the d20 System.
Finally, there is certainly room for those who are familiar with military hardware and procedure beyond what you can find in Jayne's to nitpick details. Most such glitches are minor, and will be of little consequence if you are not so well informed.
Overall Grade: B
-Alan D. Kohler
Blood & Guts: Modern Military is a sourcebook for d20 Modern games, dealing with modern military forces, primarily Special Forces and other elite and special units in the US Military. [Blood & Guts[/i] is written by Charles Rice, who also authored the excellent Blood & Fists and other titles in the "Blood" series for d20 Modern published by RPG Objects.
A First Look
Blood & Guts: Modern Military is available as a PDF (96 pages with separate cover and image files for $8.95) or in print format (96 page perfect bound softcover format for $18.95.) The print version is based on version 1.2 of the PDF version (the latest version as of this writing.)
The cover of the book is a brown/sepia tone with a background that looks like a satellite map, with various pictures of military hardware superimposed on it. The cover is by Jeremy Simms.
The interior is black-and-white (though the PDF uses color borders). Interior artists include V. Shane, Chris Martinez, John Longenbaugh, and Joseph Wigfield. Except for the first chapter, the artwork is somewhat sparse.
A Deeper Look
Put simply, Blood & Guts: Modern Military is a book of character options for d20 modern designed to deliver detailed military characters. As stated, the primary focus of the book is special forces and other highly trained, high risk forces.
The book is organized into an introduction and six chapters.
The first chapter is entitled Military Characters includes two new allegiances (active duty and reserve duty) and several new advanced classes, most of which represent special forces units (such as SEALS, rangers, green berets, delta force, and so forth.) Many of the special forces are represented by a single advanced class, though some have multiple classes representing specialties.
The special forces advanced classes have some abilities they may select in common. As they advance, in addition to unique class abilities, each gains a number of "special forces talents." These talents work much like the base class talents in d20 modern, but are available to all special forces advanced classes. Special forces talents trees include mental toughness, silent kill, and special operations strategy.
In addition to the "special ops" classes the chapter provides a sniper prestige class (which is also eligible for special ops talents) and top gun (i.e., elite fighter pilot).
The second chapter is entitled Military Training and includes a variety of new skills, skill uses, and feats, including a new feat mechanic, MOS and advanced training.
The new skills are mostly fairly specific military occupational skills such as air traffic control, communications operations, and paradrop. Though the skills seem appropriate, they also seem very specific for d20 skills, and for purposes of neatness and backwards compatability, it seems as if they would be best tucked in under other skill categories such as profession.
Feats are a mixture of combat related abilities (many being martial arts maneuvers almost straight out of RPG Objects' Blood & Fists). Some others are more occupation in nature, providing bonuses or special uses for skills.
The MOS and advanced training rules are a special case of the feats rules. These can only be taken by characters with the military occupation from d20 Modern in the place of feats. They behave very much like occupations in that they provide new class skills (or bonus to same) and possible other feats (such as proficiency in vehicle mounted weapons.)
I should pause here to say that one thing about a book of this sort is that enthusiasts and insiders can (and have) pick aspects of it apart, despite how well researched it is. The first one that drew my attention here was the decision to make security clearance a feat. This strikes me as a waste of a feat and totally out of whack with the way security clearances work in the military. They are not huge boons (like some movies might suggest); they are part of doing a one's job. Some jobs in the military (like submarine radiomen or navigation) requires top secret clearance, but that does not mean that they would be granted access to any information outside of their job due to the "need to know" principle.
The Military Training chapter provides a special rules section for handling promotions and decorations. This section models the effects of the military promotion system, including modeling effects of medals on promotions. Promotions require level related checks, and each rank provides requisition bonuses according to the rank.
The third chapter is entitled Military Combat and introduces a variety of optional rules variants for the d20 combat system as well as rules for handling equipment and situations not handled by the d20 Modern combat rules, such as submarine and air combat, air support, and artillery.
These rules options for personal combat are split into three categories. Modern, gritty, and true grit, depending on how much realistic danger the rule adds to the game. For example, the suppression fire combat rule (which strikes me as infinitely better than the d20 Modern autofire rule) is designated Modern because it only provides additional details, but does not make combat significantly more perilous. The injuries rule, which adds random injury effects to any hit which can trigger a massive damage check, is rated as gritty. The common injury rule, which also makes specific injury effects possible on any critical threat, is rated as true grit.
Other optional combat rules add rules for mental fatigue and disorders stemming from combat, cover fire, and crossfire rules that make combats a bit more hazardous to bystanders. Generally, the rules add detail without adding too much complexity.
As mentioned earlier, there are a few bits in this book that might not pass muster with those familiar with the technology. The big one that caught my attention was the submarine rules. One of the rules therein makes the hide skill against other submarines equal to the drive skill of the driver. Submariners would realize that this is not too accurate; the "driver" as it exists on a sub is quite likely to be one of the most junior persons on the ship! A more accurate method of making such rolls would depend on equipment and/or some sort of tactics roll by the commander.
The fourth chapter details military equipment. Vehicles and weapons are the primary items detailed, but there are also other pieces of military hardware detailed, such as protective gear. In the case of the vehicles, the cross section is non-exhaustive, only detailing common examples of each vehicle type. In some cases, the author leaned towards detailing the latest innovations over ones that are widely deployed currently. For example, the book includes the F-18E/F superhornet
(which it erroneously just calls the F18) and the V-22 Osprey, even through the former is still outnumbered by the older F-18A-D and the latter just barely completed its trials and has little field deployment.
The fifth chapter details the Battlefield Unit Combat System (or BUCS.) Similar to the various mass combat systems that exist for the d20 system, BUCS is a derivative of the d20 system made to model larger combats. BUCS models 10 person squads or larger as entities.
Unlike many abstract mass combat systems, BUCS does not model units using modified individual stat blocks derived from the individual composing it. Rather, an assessment is made of the unit quality (from Green to Elite), and modifiers are derived directly from that. The system takes into account factors such as leadership, orders, and deleterious effects of non-regular units on your side.
The system does seem simpler to employ than systems that adapt individual stat blocks. However, the lack of any direct correspondence to character statistics may make it more difficult to reliably convert units between d20 system and BUCS statistics. However, many real world units are already provided with statistics for BUCS.
The BUCS chapter also has a special advanced class for use with the chapter, the Strategist, which grants bonuses when using the BUCS scale combat.
The final chapter is a brief section of GM advice. The section discusses a few common choices to make when running military campaigns, such as the level of realism and the experience of the characters. The chapter also provides some ideas for special ops campaigns, a brief list of (somewhat colorful) military slang, and references that the GM might use to research campaigns.
Finally, there is a convenient table and feat list compilation.
Conclusions
How good is Blood & Guts? Well, at one time, Spycraft would have been my first choice for a special ops campaign, but the tight focus on the subject would definitely make me consider otherwise now. It should be at the top of your shopping list if you desire to run a military campaign with d20 Modern, or wish to add detail to military characters in a more general d20 modern campaign.
Though the book tries to touch on airborne and seaborne/submarine combat a bit, it definitely is not the focus of the book and you need a lot more detail if you wish to focus on these aspects. Also, I think that while the Basic Unit Combat System is functional in and of itself, lack of easy conversion to d20 System statistics compromises its utility for use in conjunction with the d20 System.
Finally, there is certainly room for those who are familiar with military hardware and procedure beyond what you can find in Jayne's to nitpick details. Most such glitches are minor, and will be of little consequence if you are not so well informed.
Overall Grade: B
-Alan D. Kohler
