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D20 modern worth it?
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<blockquote data-quote="threshel" data-source="post: 508368" data-attributes="member: 5164"><p>Let me start by saying something that I haven't heard anyone say yet: I have actually used d20 Modern.</p><p></p><p>To answer the original question: modern? Definitely, especially if you like the d20 rules already. sci-fi? You'll need more than this book, as it's intended purpose isn't sci-fi. Note here that I follow the strict interpretation of the meaning of science fiction, and there are very few instances of real science fiction in popular culture.</p><p></p><p>Last weekend, I started my campaign. It's set in the modern world, and like takyris plans on doing with his campaign, I told them nothing about were the campaign was going to go. (One thing that I did do was to let everyone know that any knowledge or lore based skills having to do with the supernatural would basically be useless in the game until they had picked up some ranks post-supernatural-stuff introduction. This was due to the nature of the supernatural stuff in my campaign, i.e. it was not based on known mythology, folklore, etc.)</p><p></p><p>We had a BLAST! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>Some things I liked:</p><p></p><p>-The generic class names. In most class based games, when I ask my players to tell me about their characters, the first thing out of their mouths is a class name - "Well, he's a fighter..." In this game, I got character descriptions - "Well, he's a new age pop-psychologist/self-help guru who relies on his personality rather than his knowledge." Immersion city.</p><p></p><p>-The fact that WOTC stuck to their guns and delivered a cinematic, streamlined combat system, and didn't muck it up with "realism." I love the new Massive Damage Threshold, it keeps people from standing out in the open and eating bullets one by one. We had a good, old-fashioned, behind the car doors gunfight, and it was noted how just that one rule (MDT) made characters behave more rationally.</p><p></p><p>-Two of my players are GURPS vets, and one in particular had expressed concern over a level-based modern game. As is usually the case with such concerns, it was just a case of "never done it that way" rather than "system can't handle the genre." They both, and indeed everyone, had a great time.</p><p></p><p>As for the book itself, I think it is the best rendition of the d20 mechanic out there. It's streamlined, refined, and solves some of the problems introduced in the original. The book is gorgeous, and easy to navigate.</p><p></p><p>In the introduction, the authors state that the intention for the d20 Modern game was to emulate action movies. I think it does this quite well. I don't have any problems with it that I didn't already have with d20, and they're minor, anyway.</p><p></p><p>To end, a rebuttal:</p><p></p><p>"It isn't worth a whole new book." What if I don't want to buy D&D, but want the advantages of the open gaming system in a modern game? What if I'm (gasp!) a new customer. Y'know, I think that the whole "they could've done it smaller cause we've got everything already" attitude is short-sighted. Marketing to those that have all the stuff already is what Killed (that's right, with a capital K) TSR. Besides that, reviewing a book based on what you already own makes no sense to me. Neither does the phrase "realistic rpg." Realistic? Realism is what I get when I walk out the front door. As one of my players says "Don't put your realism into my fantasy." NOTE: He's not talking about the genre "fantasy," but refering to what you do when you play: "fantasizing."</p><p></p><p>Have a killer (DM) day. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /> </p><p></p><p>J</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="threshel, post: 508368, member: 5164"] Let me start by saying something that I haven't heard anyone say yet: I have actually used d20 Modern. To answer the original question: modern? Definitely, especially if you like the d20 rules already. sci-fi? You'll need more than this book, as it's intended purpose isn't sci-fi. Note here that I follow the strict interpretation of the meaning of science fiction, and there are very few instances of real science fiction in popular culture. Last weekend, I started my campaign. It's set in the modern world, and like takyris plans on doing with his campaign, I told them nothing about were the campaign was going to go. (One thing that I did do was to let everyone know that any knowledge or lore based skills having to do with the supernatural would basically be useless in the game until they had picked up some ranks post-supernatural-stuff introduction. This was due to the nature of the supernatural stuff in my campaign, i.e. it was not based on known mythology, folklore, etc.) We had a BLAST! :D Some things I liked: -The generic class names. In most class based games, when I ask my players to tell me about their characters, the first thing out of their mouths is a class name - "Well, he's a fighter..." In this game, I got character descriptions - "Well, he's a new age pop-psychologist/self-help guru who relies on his personality rather than his knowledge." Immersion city. -The fact that WOTC stuck to their guns and delivered a cinematic, streamlined combat system, and didn't muck it up with "realism." I love the new Massive Damage Threshold, it keeps people from standing out in the open and eating bullets one by one. We had a good, old-fashioned, behind the car doors gunfight, and it was noted how just that one rule (MDT) made characters behave more rationally. -Two of my players are GURPS vets, and one in particular had expressed concern over a level-based modern game. As is usually the case with such concerns, it was just a case of "never done it that way" rather than "system can't handle the genre." They both, and indeed everyone, had a great time. As for the book itself, I think it is the best rendition of the d20 mechanic out there. It's streamlined, refined, and solves some of the problems introduced in the original. The book is gorgeous, and easy to navigate. In the introduction, the authors state that the intention for the d20 Modern game was to emulate action movies. I think it does this quite well. I don't have any problems with it that I didn't already have with d20, and they're minor, anyway. To end, a rebuttal: "It isn't worth a whole new book." What if I don't want to buy D&D, but want the advantages of the open gaming system in a modern game? What if I'm (gasp!) a new customer. Y'know, I think that the whole "they could've done it smaller cause we've got everything already" attitude is short-sighted. Marketing to those that have all the stuff already is what Killed (that's right, with a capital K) TSR. Besides that, reviewing a book based on what you already own makes no sense to me. Neither does the phrase "realistic rpg." Realistic? Realism is what I get when I walk out the front door. As one of my players says "Don't put your realism into my fantasy." NOTE: He's not talking about the genre "fantasy," but refering to what you do when you play: "fantasizing." Have a killer (DM) day. :cool: J [/QUOTE]
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