Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
What I would like to see for d20 Modern is a very detailed spy expansion. It would benefit most genres of play, and not just spy-based campaigns. And while there are other products out for gaming that involve spys, they are inadequate for the particular needs of d20 Modern.
When I say I'd like to see a very detailed spy d20 expansion, I mean the whole shebang: equipment, new uses for skills, new feats and talents, characters combos, new advanced and prestige classes, detailed and attractive artwork, additional ordinaries and villains for a spy-oriented game, sleuthing tips, role playing suggestions, adventure ideas, sample maps (like labs, lairs, submarines, missile launching sites, high-security government buildings, that sort of stuff), a detailed discussion of requisitioning spy gear and Dept-7 services, and a sample adventure. That's calling for a lot, but I still think it could be done in a soft cover "splatbook" format rather than a campaign-sized hardback book.
There is a good reason to keep it in the "splatbook" format. While in theory "splatbooks" for D&D were for the Greyhawk campaign setting, realistically they were and are used in all manner of campaigns. The universality of the "splatbooks" for that d20 game helped the sales for those books, and helped unify the disparate campaign settings and the gaming community. Not everyone knows who the Deities of the Forgotten Realms setting are, but most people could tell you what Expert Tactician is, whether they are in your gaming group, on a D&D internet site, or at a gaming convention.
I know, "splatbooks" are usually used reserved for core character development. The Fast & The Furious, the Brave and the Beautiful, The Staunch and the Smart, or whatever your imagination can conjure for class books might be (and I'd like to hear them). And WOTC can and should still do those books. But a "splatbook" for spy stuff would be helpful for all campaigns as well, and not just a specific campaign setting or couple of classes. What setting could not do with a nice dose of gadgets? Sure, a magic setting is going to want to magic-up those gadgets (thought their gnomes might want to make them just as they are), but even those games could do with a baseline for exotic equipment pricing, requisitioning, and power balancing. And the non-magic games? Military, psi, criminal, futuristic, shadow, steampunk, almost any manner of setting would benefit from such a spy-book. Oh, and did I leave out a spy setting?
There are other gaming products out there for the spy genre. Spycraft is the most obvious, being based on the d20 platform and enjoying a certain degree of popularity. And there are others, like the old James Bond books and Topsecret/SI (and probably a few others I forgot). And those games are all great. But none are adequate for a d20 Modern game. The older games need such serious conversion that they are mostly for inspiration at this point (useful though that is). Spycraft comes closer to being easy to convert. However, there are a lot of problems with such a conversion - wealth, massive damage, vehicle rules, equipment stats, and most importantly the general balance of the game. Let's face it - Spycraft is a more high-powered game than d20 Modern. If modern equipment were like magic, Spycraft would be the high-magic setting (fun though that may be).
Sure, many will argue that Spycraft is primarily (though not only) built for spy games, so why wouldn't you just play that platform for a spy-genre game? The answer to that question many Spycraft fans may have a difficult time with - some people just prefer d20 Modern. And, given that there is a substantial market for this kind of product in the d20 Modern universe (see my above argument on that contention), it's worthwhile doing it right - doing it the d20 Modern way.
In conclusion, we should encourage WOTC to produce a high-quality, in-depth spy-oriented splatbook that satisfies the desires of d20 Modern players of most setting styles. There is a solid market for such a product using the d20 Modern platform, and all we need to do is overcome a presumption that other games fill that market adequately, which we can do.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this idea. If WOTC won't go for it, perhaps a 3rd party publisher will. Heck, maybe even I will! But only if the idea has some gravity. So, does it?
When I say I'd like to see a very detailed spy d20 expansion, I mean the whole shebang: equipment, new uses for skills, new feats and talents, characters combos, new advanced and prestige classes, detailed and attractive artwork, additional ordinaries and villains for a spy-oriented game, sleuthing tips, role playing suggestions, adventure ideas, sample maps (like labs, lairs, submarines, missile launching sites, high-security government buildings, that sort of stuff), a detailed discussion of requisitioning spy gear and Dept-7 services, and a sample adventure. That's calling for a lot, but I still think it could be done in a soft cover "splatbook" format rather than a campaign-sized hardback book.
There is a good reason to keep it in the "splatbook" format. While in theory "splatbooks" for D&D were for the Greyhawk campaign setting, realistically they were and are used in all manner of campaigns. The universality of the "splatbooks" for that d20 game helped the sales for those books, and helped unify the disparate campaign settings and the gaming community. Not everyone knows who the Deities of the Forgotten Realms setting are, but most people could tell you what Expert Tactician is, whether they are in your gaming group, on a D&D internet site, or at a gaming convention.
I know, "splatbooks" are usually used reserved for core character development. The Fast & The Furious, the Brave and the Beautiful, The Staunch and the Smart, or whatever your imagination can conjure for class books might be (and I'd like to hear them). And WOTC can and should still do those books. But a "splatbook" for spy stuff would be helpful for all campaigns as well, and not just a specific campaign setting or couple of classes. What setting could not do with a nice dose of gadgets? Sure, a magic setting is going to want to magic-up those gadgets (thought their gnomes might want to make them just as they are), but even those games could do with a baseline for exotic equipment pricing, requisitioning, and power balancing. And the non-magic games? Military, psi, criminal, futuristic, shadow, steampunk, almost any manner of setting would benefit from such a spy-book. Oh, and did I leave out a spy setting?
There are other gaming products out there for the spy genre. Spycraft is the most obvious, being based on the d20 platform and enjoying a certain degree of popularity. And there are others, like the old James Bond books and Topsecret/SI (and probably a few others I forgot). And those games are all great. But none are adequate for a d20 Modern game. The older games need such serious conversion that they are mostly for inspiration at this point (useful though that is). Spycraft comes closer to being easy to convert. However, there are a lot of problems with such a conversion - wealth, massive damage, vehicle rules, equipment stats, and most importantly the general balance of the game. Let's face it - Spycraft is a more high-powered game than d20 Modern. If modern equipment were like magic, Spycraft would be the high-magic setting (fun though that may be).
Sure, many will argue that Spycraft is primarily (though not only) built for spy games, so why wouldn't you just play that platform for a spy-genre game? The answer to that question many Spycraft fans may have a difficult time with - some people just prefer d20 Modern. And, given that there is a substantial market for this kind of product in the d20 Modern universe (see my above argument on that contention), it's worthwhile doing it right - doing it the d20 Modern way.
In conclusion, we should encourage WOTC to produce a high-quality, in-depth spy-oriented splatbook that satisfies the desires of d20 Modern players of most setting styles. There is a solid market for such a product using the d20 Modern platform, and all we need to do is overcome a presumption that other games fill that market adequately, which we can do.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this idea. If WOTC won't go for it, perhaps a 3rd party publisher will. Heck, maybe even I will! But only if the idea has some gravity. So, does it?
