d20 Weapons Locker vs. Ultramodern Firearms

[Davelozzi]

Has anyone had a chance to check out WotC's new d20 Weapons Locker yet? I've only flipped through it (very briefly) in the store, but it appears at a glance to be extremely similar to Green Ronin's Ultramodern Firearms, even beyond the obvious fact that both are big books of guns with d20 Modern stats. I'm curious as to how they stack up against each other.

 

[Psion]

Has anyone had a chance to check out WotC's new d20 Weapons Locker yet? I've only flipped through it (very briefly) in the store, but it appears at a glance to be extremely similar to Green Ronin's Ultramodern Firearms, even beyond the obvious fact that both are big books of guns with d20 Modern stats. I'm curious as to how they stack up against each other.

Well, first off, let me say, they are more similar in scope than I imagined they would be. I figured d20 weapons locker might have more "fictional" weapons than UMF, in keeping with the approach of past WotC d20 modern books. But no, it's all realistic weapons.

It doesn't waste as much space as UMF, and unlike UMF, it does have heavy weapons (well, a few, like grenade launchers), but the illustrations aren't as nice as UMF. It does lack the extra feats and similar rules add ons that UMF has.

But to be perfectly honest, they are so similar in scope that I would say unless you gotta have grenade launchers, if you have UMF, you don't need weapon locker. (Especially if you have Blood & Guts, which already has a stable of heavy weapons.)

 

[Davelozzi]

But to be perfectly honest, they are so similar in scope that I would say unless you gotta have grenade launchers, if you have UMF, you don't need weapon locker. (Especially if you have Blood & Guts, which already has a stable of heavy weapons.)

Well, in my case, I don't have any of the above. I have Spycraft's Modern Arms Guide which I like for Spycraft but wouldn't use for d20 Modern because of the VP/WP and other rules differences. I've seen conversion rules (add or subtract one die) but I don't really like them and would rather have a tool designed for the job and was trying to get a sense of which people thought was better.

 

[JPL]

I agree with everything Psion said. Both are pretty similar in overall value and content.

 

[The_Universe]

I have them both, because I am a D20 book junkie. I was hoping that D20 weapons locker would have more "weapons" than just guns of various sizes and shapes, but alas, no.

I can't say I'd recommend buying either, as in the end both don't have enough of a range of stats (or enough "personality" for the weapons) to make them worthwhile.

Big guns do 2D8, medium-sized guns do 2D6, and little guns do 2D4. Merry Freakin' Christmas!

In short, as long as you want a couple hundred pages of repeated, nearly identical stats, GET THIS BOOK!

 

[Dana_Jorgensen]

Weapons Locker has a lot of problems.

1.) Typographical errors abound.
2.) wrong pictures for some weapons (there are no M16 variants that look like an AK-47, for example)
3.) It bought into Hype & Bunk.
4.) A lot of duplications of rules & stats from UMF D20.
5.) Plenty of space dedicated to the good things about individual guns, but hardly a word about the bad things.
6.) They spent months touting it as a more complete look at modern weapons with everyone expecting rocket launchers, ATGW, mortars, etc., and it turned out being nothing but guns and a few grenade launchers.

To be honest, I have the impresion that even the author of the book wasn't too happy about the way the book turned out.

 

[The_Universe]

Hey Dana!

I have a question for you!

Starting a new campaign, setting it somewhere between 1870-1900 earth or pseudo-earth. I want stats for D20 Modern for North American and European guns, with perhaps a few weapons in common use in Asia minor.

Do you have the hookup? (ie, is that kind of stuff in one of your publications)

If not, is there a place where I can find some information on those types of weapons, and do the conversions to game stats myself?

 

[Cergorach]

- Green Ronin's Ultramodern Firearms: Nice layout, great illustrations, maybe wastes a little space. Could have fit more guns. Rules for D20 Modern.
- D20 Modern Weapons Locker: More weapons and variants described, filled to the brim. Less space devoted to individual weapon descriptions, layout feels crowded, illustrations not as great as UMF, lots of stats/mechanics used from UMF. Rules for D20 Modern
- Spycraft's Modern Arms Guide: Less weapons than UMF and WL, less illustrations, less text per entry, the book is not a dedicated gun book. The rules are more varied and interesting, this could be due to the use of the Spycraft rules.

I am already planning of creating a big gun table that indicates in which book they are covered.

I also intend to create a table for D20 Modern and Spycraft that has the rules for all the guns i know (and can find).

 

[nobodez]

my problem

my main problem with d20WL was that fact that they didn't differentiate enough between the different rounds. They also introduced quite a few specialty rounds but never described them (they only described the 9x39mm). I wanted to know how much the special 7.62mm rounds that the S4M fires costs. Or how much the chinese 5.8mm round costs.

I preferred UMF's treatment of ammo, as well as the more detailed ammo description on each weapon (rimfire vs. centerfire, etc.). Of course, I like the much larger variety in d20WL (even though about one word per page as "ff" inserted into the middle of it, kinda like a "fnord"), even if I can't use them yet without more ammo info.

 

[ledded]

<snip>

I am already planning of creating a big gun table that indicates in which book they are covered.

I also intend to create a table for D20 Modern and Spycraft that has the rules for all the guns i know (and can find).

Ok, these are 2 things I would *really* like to see.