paulewaug said:
Hmm..so Deeds Not Words is d20 right?
Could you add 4-Color to Fantasy to that siytem then!? hehe..
I don't know if that would work that well, actually. They scale slightly differently, so unless someone sat down and made up a full conversion document between the two systems, then an attempt to combine them wouldn't accomplish much. It'd be like running a game where half the characters use GURPS rules, and half use D&D. Both systems work, but it'd just be kinda confusing to try to use both.
To use a car analogy, FCTF gives your existing D20 game a new set of super-powered hubcaps, but your car stays pretty much the same. You keep the same gas mileage, though, and don't have to get a new owner's manual.
DNW gives you a new car that is similar to the original car, but it has six wheels, bigger tires, and a huge engine. You can still drive it, and at lot of times the extra power can come in handy, but it might be harder to let your friend borrow it for a spin.
For Vigilance, hmm. Since I'm a competitor in the field of superhero games, my opinion is automatically biased, but I do want to give my honest opinion without coming across as petty or vindictive. Judging from just the core pdf (I don't have any of the expansions), I would say that Vigilance is not completely realized as a game into itself.
There aren't enough classes or super powers presented, and even though the superheroic genre is full of archetypes, the book doesn't cover all of them. There are a lot of assumptions as to how characters will use their powers, such as that energy blasters are primarily sniper-type folks, and that all of their abilities are devoted to using ranged attacks in combat. Having archetypes is useful, but in this case, those archetypes aren't flexible enough to match even the level you'd see in a normal D&D game. There's little advice on designing characters, running games of this type, or even the small but important things like how to fight and maneuver at super speed.
My closest approximation would be to compare Vigilance, at least as presented in the pdf, to 1st edition D&D. There's a lot of potential, and it's probably fun to play, but it's fairly unpolished. Perhaps the print version, which will be released by Mystic Eye Games later this year (I think, possibly early next year) will be better, but I'd give the basic pdf of Vigilance a score of 2 out of 5.
Now, bear in mind, I've been told that I tend to put my foot in my mouth a lot, since apparently I don't understand tact or something, but this is just my honest opinion. If nothing else, I consider this better than if I just said, "Buy my book, because." At least now I can try to give possible consumers some more insight into why I think that, not only is FCTF a good book, but that it's the best book.
I do commend the Vigilance folks for being one of the first to get a supers book out, and I hope that the print version will present a fuller game. I did not intend to offend anyone, simply present my opinion.
I still have to review Deeds Not Words, but that will take a little while, since the book's so dang big. Look for it either today or this weekend.
and blowing up the moon) then I would hope that the DBZ game itself would be really good for that.
