D20 SF campaign

[Ranger REG]

Sorry, still fuming over the money I wasted on the Player's Handbook and Machines & Mutants. Man, those books were crap.

Well, you're gonna have to talk to Bruce Baugh about that.

 

[Cowpie Zombie]

Well, you're gonna have to talk to Bruce Baugh about that.

Why? It's not his fault that I bought the books he designed. Caveat emptor and all that. I learned my lesson, though. :\

 

[Teflon Billy]

Well, you're gonna have to talk to Bruce Baugh about that.

Bruce has excused himself from the internet hasn't he?

 

[Krieg]

Even with the resources, trying to make a 3e/d20 version of the game AND still retain the feel of past GW games can be a heavy task.

Jonathan Tweet must be a Freakin' Supra Genius for managing to do it in 50 or so pages in Omega World.

I'm sorry to hear that. I loved the original. Nothing like radioactive, telepathic koalas to brighten your day

Did they try to make it serious or something?

In addition to the poor editing & terrible layout choices mentioned above....

The book was broken up into five sections, with a different author writing each section.

Apparently the five never spoke to one another as their is virtually no cohesion from section to section.

If you want mutant, psi & super science rules which not only don't match the existing rules systems, but don't mesh with one another either!...then this book is for you.

Bruce has excused himself from the internet hasn't he?

Yep, citing health problems.

 

[King of Old School]

I was shopping around myself and i came across Fading Suns. Is this a decent system and what kind of science fiction does it promote?

Fading Suns is very reminiscent of a mix of Dune and Warhammer 40,000. I think the Victory Point System version does a better job of presenting the fullness of the setting than the D20 System version, but YMMV.

KoOS

 

[Ranger REG]

Jonathan Tweet must be a Freakin' Supra Genius for managing to do it in 50 or so pages in Omega World.

Unfortunately, not everyone is warmed up to the Omega World mini-game.

 

[johnnype]

Fading Suns is a great setting. I haven't had the chance to play it using D20 rules so I can't comment on their conversion. The setting is good enough to make it a worthwhile purchase however.

Other settings you might consider are Heavy Gear and Jovian Chronicles. The latest edition for both games includes D20 modern conversions. HG is a militaristic setting set thousands of years in the future on a planet called Terra Nova. Technology is advanced but other than some war vehicles (more on that later) it's not very different from a present day setting. Heavy in political flavor it involves two factions on Terra Nova that continuously skirmish. They do come together when Earth decides to invade. No aliens. Great storyline.

Jovian Chronicles is different in that it takes place in the 23rd Century. The solar system has been colonized (for the most part) but no faster than light travel exists. Various factions exist based on some of the planets with Earth and Jupiter being the focus of most of the setting. The setting is much more "space based" than Heavy Gear. The storyline is much lighter in this setting but enough is there to allow any GM to come up with adventures.

Both HG and JC make use of mecha. In HG the "gears", as they are called, are only four meters tall on average. Most of the combat takes place on land with the Gears functioning as very agile tanks. They do not however replace tanks. In fact, in a tank vs. gear battle most tanks will wipe the floor with the gears but there are balancing factors.

Jovian Chronicles on the other hand, takes place mostly in space. Mecha are called "exo's" and also allow for agility on the battle field. Most exo's are very large 15 meters or so.

I should mention that it is very, VERY easy to completely do away with mecha completely in either game if you don't like that sort of thing.

You can read more about both settings on the website: www.dp9.com

 

[Cowpie Zombie]

Unfortunately, not everyone is warmed up to the Omega World mini-game.

Agreed. It's a cute game, definitely a good beer n' pretzels game, but hardly a true successor to the Gamma World of old.

 

[Ranger REG]

Of course, if you had like the mini-game and encourage Jonathan Tweet to supply more support material that will eventually become a best-seller, Wizards may have decided not to license out the brand and instead do a d20 version of Gamma World themselves, kinda like when Ed Greenwood supplied articles after articles of Forgotten Realms in the old Dragon magazine, which was then bought by TSR.

 

[slingbld]

kinda like when Ed Greenwood supplied articles after articles of Forgotten Realms in the old Dragon magazine, which was then bought by TSR.

Yer showin' yer age there... Recalling such antiquated material.
Wait, I'm showin' mine by remembering those articles!