D20 Future = Alternity Star*Drive?
- Thread starter migo
- Start date
Shortman McLeod
First Post
migo said:
Yep. D20 Future, if memory serves, makes use of a number of elements from Star*Drive, just as D20 Modern re-imagined Dark@Matter.
Alternity was a pretty nifty little system, and WotC plundered it (in a good way
) for D20 Modern/D20 Future.
Johnny Angel
Explorer
Yes and no. It does take a bit of work to be able to play a Star*Drive game in d20 Future. They provide d20 versions of the main alien races, and a number of the prominent alien species appear in the Menace Manual, but they don't have anything like the Alien Compendium. d20 Future certainly doesn't have anything like the Alien Compendium I + II that you'd need if you were doing an Outbound campaign, and there is little support for the somewhat harder science approach taken in the original materials -- dealing with the effects of gravities and alien biochemistries, for example.
Charge weapons, which are standard issue for Concord Marines, do appear in the d20 Future Tech. They don't present body tanks as such, but there is some generic powered armor. d20 Future Tech also gives you the stardrive, but its functionality is quite different. In the Star*Drive campaign it was an important fact that travel through drivespace took ~121 hours no matter how far you went, and that the drive then needed recharging for 1d4+1 days. In d20 Future Tech, they simply had the stardrive improve your cruising speed by 300%, completely negating the strategic problems and advantages inherent in the concept.
I have done some work bringing the Star*Drive setting into d20, which you can find at the link in my .sig.
Charge weapons, which are standard issue for Concord Marines, do appear in the d20 Future Tech. They don't present body tanks as such, but there is some generic powered armor. d20 Future Tech also gives you the stardrive, but its functionality is quite different. In the Star*Drive campaign it was an important fact that travel through drivespace took ~121 hours no matter how far you went, and that the drive then needed recharging for 1d4+1 days. In d20 Future Tech, they simply had the stardrive improve your cruising speed by 300%, completely negating the strategic problems and advantages inherent in the concept.
I have done some work bringing the Star*Drive setting into d20, which you can find at the link in my .sig.
migo said:
GRAPH is gravity, radiation, atmospheric composition, pressure and temperature. Each has its own rules on how heros interact or survive within such conditions. Gravity is rather easy- speeds (inc falling damage) and skill checks are the only things affected (except in G5 where the heros go squish).
Biochemistry was introduced in the GMG, but the ACs gave it some substance. There are 6 major series (the 7th being a catch all for whatever else there is). I is us, II is cold and based on ammonia, III is chlorine instead of oxygen, IV is cold, V is hot and VI is very hot and all 3 are based on sulfur in various forms. The only VII chemistry I can remember at the moment is iron carbonyl from one planet in the AC. It is a dry, deadly place to humans and the native species live around lakes made of iron carbonyl that dry up all the time (thus the animals are nomads). Other than a few variations on series I worlds, most of the effects are death if proper equipment fails.
Personally I dislike the biochem rules and find those in the new GURPS Space to be much better.
Yes, the 4th edition of GURPS Space (which, ironically is for the 4th edition).
It explains biochemistry better. In Alternity, any 2 species from series I worlds can survive on their counterpart's. The chemistry is identical. That is silly, though very much in line with Star*Drive like settings such as Star Trek and Star Wars.
GURPS Space covers different chemistries and how they affect those species native to them. The equivilent of series I life can be of very different genetic material and chemistry.
It explains biochemistry better. In Alternity, any 2 species from series I worlds can survive on their counterpart's. The chemistry is identical. That is silly, though very much in line with Star*Drive like settings such as Star Trek and Star Wars.
GURPS Space covers different chemistries and how they affect those species native to them. The equivilent of series I life can be of very different genetic material and chemistry.
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