d20 Past - Anyone using it?

[HalWhitewyrm]

Subject says it all. d20 Past has been out for a few weeks now, and I'd like to know how has it been received at the gaming table.

Personally I'm 50/50 on the book; it gave me some stuff I wanted, but I feel there were many opportunities lost that would have made the book better (not to mention the above-average attention to FX in the material, which means if you run a no-FX campaign you're in for a long night of editing with the virtual red marker). In terms of my games, however, what little I've used has gone well.

What's your story?
(And yes, I'm also interested in your answers from a publisher's standpoint as we ponder future products.)

 

[The_Universe]

I haven't used it yet - but so help me I want to!

I've got Sidewinder: Recoiled and D20 Past just waiting in the wings for my D&D game to conclude (or for a good one-shot opportunity).

 

[sinmissing]

Anybody know when or if d20 Past will make it into the SRD?

 

[Roudi]

Due to lack of funding, and the appearance of NO d20 Past material in the SRD, I have not had the chance to use any of it.

However, I think enough of what I want to do can be done without d20 Past...

 

[DnDChick]

We can hope for D20 Past to get into the SRD soon. The D20 Menace Manual, D20 Future, and Urban Arcana (IIRC) had statements of no OGC in the print product by they all have SRDs now. Give it some time. I think it will be there.

And to answer the question ... no ... I haven't used d20 Past yet.

 

[SWBaxter]

I looked at it briefly at my FLGS, and was fairly underwhelmed. It's just too short to serve as both a rulebook for "the past" and a setting book with multiple settings, so I can't justify dropping the bucks on it. Particularly when it's relatively easy to houserule d20 Modern into something usable for vaguely historical settings.

What I would've spent money on:

- a pure rulebook covering various historical eras, with optional F/X
- a setting book of about d20 Past's size dedicated to one of the included settings
- a scenario book with scenarios taken from history

But I don't know if the d20 Modern marketplace is big enough to justify any of those products, at least for WOTC.

 

[Bobitron]

I think I was one of the first people on the site to get it. I was pretty happy with it on the first read, but I've come to find it has not been all that useful. I already owned the Sidewinder: Recoiled rules for western stuff, and after disappointment in D20 Past's coverage of the WWII era, I ended up buying Hell on Earth 1939-1945 and WWII Heroes pdf's for my WWII campaign.

I think that it is a good book, but I don't think I have used it once in the two games I am running where it would apply. If there were not so many options from other publishers, I would make use of it. I think that WOTC did a good job with the amount of space they decided to use, but that it lacks the detail that I need for my campaigns.

If I had to say one thing that D20 Past has done for me, it would be that it has given me the desire to buy more specific products from different periods. I would love to buy a book covering the years 1600-1800 or so, I have had a American Revolutionary War campaign kicking around in my head for years, and D20 Past combined with a re-reading of Dumas' 'Three Musketeers' has piqued my interest in a Napoleonic or French Revolution campaign.

 

[Ranger REG]

We can hope for D20 Past to get into the SRD soon.

Personally, I hope it is not soon but three months down the line. WotC should give d20 Past more time on the store shelves, even those who currently lack funding will eventually save up the equivalent of 20 US dollars to buy it in time.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Well, it was about 3 to 4 months (if not more, I can't recall) before the the Future stuff made it to the SRD, so I assume more or less the same time for Past.

Now, here's the big question: if Past doesn't make it to the MSRD, will it be missed?

 

[Committed Hero]

Now, here's the big question: if Past doesn't make it to the MSRD, will it be missed?

Not really, there's nothing vital or unique in it IMHO.