d20 Modern classes in pseudomedieval fantasy

[Snoweel]

Since I've been frustrated with the lack of versatility offered by D&D classes almost since 3e came out, I wonder if anybody uses (or has tried to use) the d20 Modern ruleset, particularly the character creation rules in a pseudomedieval fantasy campaign setting?

I understand a whole bunch of skills and feats would become redundant, but do the standard rules work for such a setting?

Are fantasy archetypes easy to create and portray with d20 Modern? I'm particularly interested in swashbuckling types.

Note also that I'm trying to dumb the magic level of my setting down to the levels typically seen in the fantasy genre (not the D&D genre). While I have no problem with a D&D-level proliferance of magic-users, I'd rather keep the level of spells used way down.

 

[I'm A Banana]

d20 Modern is generic enough to probably work OK.

It's slightly more 'realistic' (being a bit deadlier), and it's definately reducing the magic level.

The biggest changes will be some of the extra oomph a d20 class carries with it -- you want to make sure to limit the magic items, too, accordingly, otherwise the power could go pretty high.

Turn some of the regular 'archetypes' into 10-level "advanced" classes, and you should be golden.

But, in general, yeah.

 

[Snoweel]

Sorry to bump my own thread so soon, but I'm in the vicinity of the gaming store and need some more feedback before I purchase.

Maybe I should cross-post this to the d20 Modern forum...

And thanks for your comment, KM.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Don't own the d20 Modern rules but have been looking over the SRD. Have been thinking of using the 6 base classes from d20 modern and then re-tooling the 3E PHB classes to be PrCs or "Advanced Classes" to use the d20 Modern parliance.

ie, you could take a few levels of Strong Hero before going on to levels of fighter. The campaign I've just started is rather low-magic and there is some strong incentives to avoid being a spellcaster. I figured this might give some more options to players to help customise their characters a bit. We could all end up as fighters, but depending on the levels of base classes we took we might end up quite different looking.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

 

[Gez]

Maybe some work could be made to "fantasize" these classes a bit.

I.e., giving "Use Magic Device" as a charismatic hero class skill, "Decipher Script" and "Alchemy" to the Smart one... Don't see what could be done to the other tough.

But maybe they don't need. Modern games have less emphasis on Str, Dex and the rest, since other skills and capacities (like buying power) are much more important to the party (i.e., no hacker or driver role in a medieval party).

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Just thought I would jump in unofficially here:

Bad Axe Games will be releasing a low-magic rulebook sometime this year, built around the core d20 Modern SRD. We've been working diligently on this product since the company's inception-- it is, in fact, the reason why games with grit is our official company motto.

We plan to announce this product "officially" after we finalize our release schedule for the rest of the year, within a few days.

If you are looking for a gritty, low-magic system to play anything from fantasy to Victorian to far future, please check it out.

Wulf

 

[Desdichado]

There's a thread in the Modern forum that I started a few weeks ago about this, in which a bunch of traditional fantasy occupations were proposed. They were so good I nabbed them immediately for my own homebrew I'm developing.

Other than that, the classes work pretty good. You need to axe Computer Use, Demolitions, Drive, and Pilot but there are some other D&D skills you can use just fine to replace them. I also use the D&D feat and equipment lists instead of the Modern ones, but that's a no-brainer.

Also, keep in mind that d20 Modern assumes all characters are human, so an extra starting feat and an extra base skill point per level are baked into the class descriptions. That needs to be backed out for non-human characters.

 

[Snoweel]

Thanks Josh.

Wulf - I wait with baited breath. In fact, I wonder why it hasn't been done already, what with all the pretentious low-magic elitist whining I've read from the gaming community's version of the 'Latte Set'.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Wulf - I wait with baited breath. In fact, I wonder why it hasn't been done already, what with all the pretentious low-magic elitist whining I've read from the gaming community's version of the 'Latte Set'.

[sips the foam off hit latte]

Well, I wouldn't say it's so much being an elitist, as just enjoying being a Rat Bastard DM... I like games where the PC's lose. "Winning" is defined as "losing more slowly."


Wulf

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Thanks Josh.

Wulf - I wait with baited breath. In fact, I wonder why it hasn't been done already, what with all the pretentious low-magic elitist whining I've read from the gaming community's version of the 'Latte Set'.

One double-decafe capuccino please... with a twist of lemon