Infernal Teddy
Explorer
So, after getting myself d20 Modern, what other books should I get myself? What do you recommend, and why?
d20 Modern - and what else?
- Thread starter Infernal Teddy
- Start date
Bobitron
Explorer
Infernal Teddy said:
Depends what you want to play, but the books I get the most use out of recently have been the Weapons Locker and the Blood and Guts pdfs. I use d20 Modern mostly for military games.
Some other ones I can recommend are Blood and Relics (if you want to add some religous occult feel), and d20 Future for sci-fi.
Urban Arcana has some great stuff sprinkled throughout, but I don't feel I have gotten enough use out of it for the purchase price. If you are looking to run a magic heavy game, it really makes sense to pick it up. I have considered a Constantine-type game for a while using elements of UA and Blood and Relics for a while now.
Menace Manual has plenty of pre-generated foes and NPC's, even for a guy like me who doesn't use much FX.
Honestly, with some work you could really make just the core book work for just about anything. It's not hard to convert it to historic games set in the American Revolution, WWI trench warfare, modern military stuff, anything!
Wraith Form
Explorer
This book (MenMan, as I like to call it) is a really awesome book. I likey, if that means anything to you.Bobitron said:
Modern Magic (by The Game Mechanics) was also a lot of fun.
Kanegrundar
Explorer
Like Bobitron said, it all depends on what you want to do.
Uraban Arcana, D20 Past, the Urban Magica series, and Modern Magic are all great for D20 Modern games that are magic heavy or even magic-lite.
For Post-Apocalyptic games Darwin's World 2 and D20 Apocaplyse are the cream of the crop. The Gamma World PHB has some neat talent trees and Advanced Classes, but the cybernetics and mutations rules are much better in DW2 and D20 Apoc.
Sci-Fi is well done with D20 Future (hit and miss with it in spots) and Dawning Star.
Creatures are covered with the Menace Manual, but I also use a lot of my fantasy D20 monster books as well.
Horror is well supported with Blood and Brains, Blood and Spooks, and Year of the Zombie. CoC D20's insanity rules can be easily inserted into D20 Modern for a little extra "oomph".
Westerns is very well covered by Sidewinder: Recoiled.
No matter what style of game you're running Ronin Arts makes a product for it. Everything I've picked up from them is top notch.
LPJDesigns has an excellent line of Advanced Classes that fit into various settings.
The Modern Player's Companions are an excellent buy as well.
Ultramodern Firearms will keep you and your group well stocked and loaded for bear.
Also check out the entire RPGObjects line for all sorts of great D20 Modern goodness (they put out DW2, and the Blood and...series).
Basically, the lion's share of the D20 Modern support is in the pdf market. Check out RPGNow.com and look in the D20 Modern and D20 SCi-Fi categories.
Hope that helps!
Kane
Uraban Arcana, D20 Past, the Urban Magica series, and Modern Magic are all great for D20 Modern games that are magic heavy or even magic-lite.
For Post-Apocalyptic games Darwin's World 2 and D20 Apocaplyse are the cream of the crop. The Gamma World PHB has some neat talent trees and Advanced Classes, but the cybernetics and mutations rules are much better in DW2 and D20 Apoc.
Sci-Fi is well done with D20 Future (hit and miss with it in spots) and Dawning Star.
Creatures are covered with the Menace Manual, but I also use a lot of my fantasy D20 monster books as well.
Horror is well supported with Blood and Brains, Blood and Spooks, and Year of the Zombie. CoC D20's insanity rules can be easily inserted into D20 Modern for a little extra "oomph".
Westerns is very well covered by Sidewinder: Recoiled.
No matter what style of game you're running Ronin Arts makes a product for it. Everything I've picked up from them is top notch.
LPJDesigns has an excellent line of Advanced Classes that fit into various settings.
The Modern Player's Companions are an excellent buy as well.
Ultramodern Firearms will keep you and your group well stocked and loaded for bear.
Also check out the entire RPGObjects line for all sorts of great D20 Modern goodness (they put out DW2, and the Blood and...series).
Basically, the lion's share of the D20 Modern support is in the pdf market. Check out RPGNow.com and look in the D20 Modern and D20 SCi-Fi categories.
Hope that helps!
Kane
King of Old School
First Post
I'll reiterate the props for d20 Menace Manual. It's indispensable.
Urban Arcana is good, but not great. I think the idea is sound enough but the implementation is dodgy in bits (e.g. non-human characters are overpowered) and the tone is too inconsistent and sanitized for my tastes.
d20 Future should have had the same page count as UrbArc, and suffers for its shortness. It also suffers by comparison to mechanically superior third-party products, like the d20 Mecha rules from GoO. That said, it's worth buying if you're heavily into SF.
Anything from Green Ronin/The Game Mechanics is worth buying, but Ultramodern Firearms and the Modern Player's Companion are particularly useful.
KoOS
Urban Arcana is good, but not great. I think the idea is sound enough but the implementation is dodgy in bits (e.g. non-human characters are overpowered) and the tone is too inconsistent and sanitized for my tastes.
d20 Future should have had the same page count as UrbArc, and suffers for its shortness. It also suffers by comparison to mechanically superior third-party products, like the d20 Mecha rules from GoO. That said, it's worth buying if you're heavily into SF.
Anything from Green Ronin/The Game Mechanics is worth buying, but Ultramodern Firearms and the Modern Player's Companion are particularly useful.
KoOS
Infernal Teddy,
Since nobody else is extolling our wares, I'll just have to do something about it. Go to the Alternate Realities Publications manufacturer page and pick one of our individual d20 Modern PDF products (no bundles, please) and then use our Contact Page to tell us what one you're interested in. Choose "Prize Claim" for the subject line and make sure you sing the email so we know who sent it. Once we get the resulting email, we'll send you a complimentary copy of that product.
Since nobody else is extolling our wares, I'll just have to do something about it. Go to the Alternate Realities Publications manufacturer page and pick one of our individual d20 Modern PDF products (no bundles, please) and then use our Contact Page to tell us what one you're interested in. Choose "Prize Claim" for the subject line and make sure you sing the email so we know who sent it. Once we get the resulting email, we'll send you a complimentary copy of that product.
Kanegrundar
Explorer
Yep. Hands down the best rules for running historical westerns games on the market. It may be my opinion, but Sidewinder: Recoiled is so good that I'll state it as fact!Bobitron said:
Kane
The Shaman
First Post
The Game Mechanics' Modern Player's Companion is essentially core material as far as I'm concerned. I also like Modern Magic and Martial Arts Mayhem - for martial arts, most people I know prefer Blood and Fists, but I didn't want to add AdCs to my games, and I like MAM's schools approach.
I prefer Ultramodern Firearms to Weapons Locker mostly because it has some useful feats that the latter lacks. I've gotten good use out of a couple of the Big Bang books and I'm really looking forward to some of the future releases in the "Ricochet" line of military vehicles.
Dog House Rules' Sidewinder: Recoiled is the gold standard for a historical game using the Modern SRD - it's a double-eagle in a bag of buffalo nickles.
Though I haven't used it very much, I think the Menace Manual is well-done - same with d20 Future. I'm still getting a feel for Blood and Guts. 22 Talent Trees and Another 22 Talent Trees have provided some inspiration, but I haven't allowed material from either one in my games yet - I have some concerns about the material nerfing AdC and PrC class abilities. I have a couple of LPJ .pdfs, the drug book and the dog book - I've used ideas from both.
Finally, WotC should recall d20 Past and re-issue it when they get it right.
I prefer Ultramodern Firearms to Weapons Locker mostly because it has some useful feats that the latter lacks. I've gotten good use out of a couple of the Big Bang books and I'm really looking forward to some of the future releases in the "Ricochet" line of military vehicles.
Dog House Rules' Sidewinder: Recoiled is the gold standard for a historical game using the Modern SRD - it's a double-eagle in a bag of buffalo nickles.
Though I haven't used it very much, I think the Menace Manual is well-done - same with d20 Future. I'm still getting a feel for Blood and Guts. 22 Talent Trees and Another 22 Talent Trees have provided some inspiration, but I haven't allowed material from either one in my games yet - I have some concerns about the material nerfing AdC and PrC class abilities. I have a couple of LPJ .pdfs, the drug book and the dog book - I've used ideas from both.
Finally, WotC should recall d20 Past and re-issue it when they get it right.
Aus_Snow
First Post
Just for modern? Menace Manual & Modern Players Companion, I'll second/third/whatever. Ultramodern Firearms (or something similar) is handy too, but only if you think you - or your players (?) - would benefit from extra coverage of that area.
I also like Blood & Fists and family, but I'm not sure how much of that is purely subjective.
Regardless, I recommend checking out products at RPGnow and their reviews there, at RPGnet, and here (particularly if you're interested in pdf's, of course).
I also like Blood & Fists and family, but I'm not sure how much of that is purely subjective.
Regardless, I recommend checking out products at RPGnow and their reviews there, at RPGnet, and here (particularly if you're interested in pdf's, of course).
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