combining d20 systems (3.5e, future/modern sw etc

[Jurble]

Hi guys,
my homebrew world is a combo of fantasy and sci fi, sorta a stargate like universe.

Anyway im wondering how well 3.5e will mesh with d20 future and d20 modern, as well as SWRPG and other systems.

Are there major problems with swapping characters across feats/skills etc?

Are some harder than others? THanks for the help!!!

Marc

 

[S'mon]

The big problem I see is that some/most d20 versions give a Defence Bonus by level, while D&D doesn't. If you let D&D magic item AC bonuses stack with other d20 systems' level-based bonuses the D&D classes will be underpowered relative to the other ones. Possible solution is to give D&D classes their own level-based AC bonus (eg Judge Dredd uses the Ref save bonus as AC bonus, that'd work) while keeping magic item AC boosts rare.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

As far as I can tell, they're roughly even in power level, and use very similar systems. I wouldn't predict any major conversion issues, though some of the d20 rules in d20 Modern should be updated to 3.5-- particularly monster DR and some of the spells.

D&D magic and magic-users are far more powerful than comparable d20 Modern characters, but d20 Modern characters will typically have higher ACs, and combat-oriented characters will have deadlier physical attacks.

One thing I'd highly recommend, though, is to settle on one system for non-lethal damage, massive damage threshold, and action points, and use it for both sets-- otherwise, it gets very confusing.

 

[Psion]

Every time this topic comes up, I am compelled to point out that Second World Sourcebook analyzes the differences between D&D and d20 modern in great detail and provides a variety of strategies to deal with the differences. The one I prefer is to assign the D&D classes defense bonuses (provided in the Second World Sourcebook), and then to make up for the fact that D&D has more in the way of magic defenses, combine some of the bonus types to keep players from stacking up AC/defense too high.

 

[Jurble]

hmmm intresting i had figured d20 modern ports straight into D&D, lucky i checked with you guys!

How about SWRPG and d20 Future? I would expect d20 future to be more compatible but are there any major problems with SWRPG and D&D? People with previous experiences?

Thanks again for all the help!

Marc

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

How about SWRPG and d20 Future? I would expect d20 future to be more compatible but are there any major problems with SWRPG and D&D? People with previous experiences?

This is actually considerably more difficult than D&D and d20 Modern. They use an entirely different health and FX mechanic, and neither is particularly compatible with the other. The Jedi imbalance problem, which I consider painful in SWRPG, would explode on contact with d20 Modern-- they have entirely too many ways of forcing repeated Massive Damage saves.

If Modern were converted to SW and the massive damage rules removed, it would solve a good deal of that problem, but I have no idea how to reconcile d20 Modern FX with the Force-- unless d20 Modern FX were completely stripped, and some of the Force feats and skills were added to Modern class lists. That, however, would make Force powers less exclusive than they're intended to be.

 

[Psion]

How about SWRPG and d20 Future? I would expect d20 future to be more compatible but are there any major problems with SWRPG and D&D? People with previous experiences?

Well, first off, Star Wars uses the (far superior, IMO) Vitality Point / Would Point system.

NPCs are handled a bit differently as well, but that is sort of a consequence of the VP/WP system (in fact, the way NPCs are handled is one of the reasons I feel VP/WP is superior), and should be easily portable if you settle on one method or the other.

 

[Turanil]

There once was a really great campaign setting on the Interent (unfortunately not available anymore) which depicted Earth in a fantasy-like future where the world was mostly magical (thus D&D 3.5) with a few bastions of technology / anti-magic (thus d20 Modern / Future). Well, modern characters had defense bonuses as long as they rejected the use of magic (mostly to prevent increasing AC over the top). I didn't playtest the setting and its rules, but IMO it should work well as long as you don't mix the two sets of rules. That is, either you create a full D&D 3.5 character, or a full d20M/F character, but never a bastard like a Smart 5th / Monk 7th.

 

[TerraDave]

Grimm Tales melds 3.5 and D20 Modern to provide a tool kit for a range of genres. There is also Dragon Star...

In terms of Ad-Hoc mixing and matching, I think it would just be a hastle to have for example both the Strong Hero and Fighter...But that is up to you.

Unearthed Arcana may also be usefull, it has things like defence bonuses, or SWRPG VP/WP mechanic for D&D.

 

[S'mon]

BTW when I used to run Cyberpunk games using 1e /2e AD&D rules, I never had an level-based AC and never felt the lack of it. If anything it encouraged realism as people used cover rather than get shot to pieces! (50% cover +4 AC, 75% +7 AC, 90% +10 AC). You could actually just remove the level-based AC bonuses from the non-D&D systems and let them get magical AC bonuses if they find items.