D20 Modern is out!

[Psion]

Voneth wrote:
Depends on your point of view.

Which is why I said I get tired. Beleive it or not, you aren't obligated to believe as I do.

But I think I am right. I consider many decisions in d20 modern rather dubious. Not this one.

Some people may like their wooden cart wheels, they get the job done. Some of use like our 4X4 moster truck tires! or better yet -- racing slicks

And some of you like to invoke specious analogies pretending that they mean much. You can call the tires wood, but it's an empty assertion; IME most "new" d20 magic systems are pretty lame, and cannot do as much as simply as the core system. From where I am standing, your tires are the wooden ones.

 

[Mistwell]

Oh man, I suppose this means I can start commenting on my playtest version of the rules...

 

[Paragon Badger]

Holy Crap! I made the news page!!!

Anyway, the Vehicle rules look great if you like the grid combat system from Star Wars Revised or Thunderball Rally.

There are considerations for both Character Scale (5 ft blocks) and Chase Scale (50 ft blocks).

Vehicles do having facing and firing arcs. Sidebars for taking out tires and windows are present. Also a section on Hiding or Bluffing with a car is present. Overall the rules seem focused on cland vehicles with the largest amount of vehicles stated being land vehicles like civilan and miltary cars and tanks. However both watercraft and airplanes are statted up. And the rules are general enough to handle air or sea. Though true 3D combat might be tough since the D20 combat system is, in general, based on a single plane of combat.

More later, I'm heading home now.

 

[JPL]

Oh man, I suppose this means I can start commenting on my playtest version of the rules...

Keep talking, rules lawyer...

A couple of specific questions:

1. Is there a feat or other mechanic which allows you to switch professions, or are you stuck with the one you picked at first level? [I'm cooking up an former Israeli paratrooper/rabbi/Kabbalist mystic...played by Ron Perlman in his "Blade II" outfit]

2. Dedicated Hero --- what sort of talent trees/class features?

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Urban Arcana

Could you be so kind as to elaborate on this setting?

Thanks!

 

[Mistwell]

Keep talking, rules lawyer...

A couple of specific questions:

Caveat – All my info is from a playtest version of these rules. Some of it has probably changed. I’ve also tried to summarize the details of things (other than titles), rather than state them directly, since I don’t want to piss folks off at WOTC. Buy the product!

s there a feat or other mechanic which allows you to switch professions, or are you stuck with the one you picked at first level? [I'm cooking up an former Israeli paratrooper/rabbi/Kabbalist mystic...played by Ron Perlman in his "Blade II" outfit]

My playtest copy uses the term Starting Occupation, not profession. Profession is, however, a skill (just like in D&D), and I see no reason why you could not take Profession (Rabbi), for example. General combat feats would also help with the paratrooper abilities, and perhaps magic feats for the mystic ones as well. However to directly answer your question, I believe the benefits of a starting occupation are only applied once, at the time of character creation. I see no feat that allows you to add a Starting Occupation, though it seems like a naturally good feat for a 3rd-party publisher to come up with.

2. Dedicated Hero --- what sort of talent trees/class features?

The dedicated hero is closest to the Cleric/Druid classes from D&D.

Their Talent Tree is: empathy, healing knack, and skill emphasis.
EMPATHY
Empathy: Bonus on interaction skills, which are basically charisma-based skills plus Sense Motive.
Improved Aid Another: Bonus to aid another
Intuition: Will save to get a hunch that everything is all right or not, kinda like a divination.
Healing
Healing Knack: bonus to Treat Injury skill
Healing Touch 1: + hp’s on medical kit or surgery kit uses
Healing Touch 2: Another + hp’s as above, stacks with Healing touch 1
Insightful
Skill Emphasis: bonus to one skill.
Aware: Bonus to avoid surprise.
Faith: Bonus to use of action points
Cool Under Pressure: A certain number of skills can take 10 when ordinarily couldn’t.

Their Bonus feats are: Advanced Firearms, Alertness, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Attentive, Blind-Fight, Deceptive, Educated, Far Shot, Iron Will, Medical Expert, Meticulous, Surgery, Track, Weapon Focus (I'm not going to even summarize detail on those).

Again, this may not be accurate, it’s mostly summary, and I encourage you to BUY THE PRODUCT!

 

[Paragon Badger]

Profession is just a skill so you can choose as many as you want. Starting occupation is something you pick at 1st level that gives you certain skills as class skills and sometimes a wealth bonus or bonus feat.

Urban Arcana and Shadow Chasers have some ties.

In Shadow Chasers the Shadow is the means by which evil creatures slip into our world intent only on evil acts.

In Urban Arcana the Shadow is just a passageway for fantastic creatures that aren't necessaryily evil. Most people are still unaware that your friendly local gangs has kobold members or that a dragon just caused a plane crash over the Pacific. Pcs are merely just people that know a bit about what is going on.

Picture it this way. Shadow Chasers is how the human must fight the hordes of darkness. Urban Arcana is how the world is going to adjust to the fact we have magic, and kobolds, and dragons (Oh my!) all of the sudden.

Here's some power groups from UA
Dept. 7: private agency that works toward common good of mundane and magical
Mundanes: The average joe who doesn't know what's going down
Early Adapters: Earth natives that embrace the changes
The New Arrivals: All those creatures coming from that end up in our world
The Shadows of the Past: Creatures that came over long ago and suddenly find their powers reawakening
The Secret Masters: Groups that knew this had happened before and were prepared for a return of magic

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I guess none of the settings are Dark Matter with a different name....

But now it's just become a lot easier to convert. Only a few monster conversions, and perhaps a few possible classes associated with its organizations (both real and fictional) like the Hoffman Institute, Knight Templars, Illuminati, Invisible College, and so on.

 

[mgrasso]

I've called every store in a 50-mile radius and they're all saying Nov. 15. I wonder if they'll get surprised by a shipment this weekend. I have the preview booklet, but dammit, I want it NOW!

Mike

 

[Darkness]

Originally posted by Paragon Badger Tooth Fairy (Evil Fey)

ROFLMAO!

Creature Weakness table for adding weaknesses. The whole monster chapter is laid out as a monster factory with detailed creation rules. The actual monsters are under a example creatures section.

What are the creature weaknesses about? Are they to make monsters more mythological? Or more mysterious to players who have read the book? And do they factor into experience points gained for defeating a monster somehow?

Action Points and Repuatation are new rules I haven't read yet.

When you've read it (or at least given it a glance): Are Action Points for something like what you can do in a turn, or to do funky stuff like not being hurt as much by a wound or getting a bonus to a roll, or...?
edit - Heh. Found it in the FAQ that was linked to above:

Every time you go up a level you gain a number of action points (approx 5 points + half you level). Action points can be used to give you a +1d6 bonus to a d20 roll or to activate certain class special abilities. Once an action point is used it is gone forever.

So... Can you give us some examples of what's possible with action points?