Okay, I'm a big fan of the Super Nintendo game Earthbound ,and I figured it could be converted to d20 rules. In case you've never heard of the game, Earthbound is a modern-times RPG with plenty of bizarre humor. There are no spells, no dragons, and no elves, dwarves, halflings, or gnomes. Instead, there are PSI powers (limited psionics), starmen, monkeys, tenda, and Mr. Saturns. The game was wildly popular in Japan, where it was called Mother 2. The conversion is going well, but some help here would be greatly appreciated. I am making a modest geocities (ugh) page to house the rules, but there are only three staffers doing a large amount of work. The site is here , and I would like some feedback on it. Ok, thanks.
Earthbound d20
- Thread starter Ausderop
- Start date
Wiley, have you been to starmen.net ? It's a great place for all sorts of things, especially Earthbound. The site is getting better and better as time goes on. Anyhew, is anyone willing to help playtest the d20 game for me? I need the classes to have some balance, after all. Also, should I link my site to EN World? Does anyone think it's good enough? [EDIT] I'm willing to hire staffers, if any of you are interested. Anyone? [END EDIT]
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Balance issues?
If anyone has seen my site, and the races on it, could you tell me if you think they're balanced/overpowered/underbalanced compared to the PHB races? Mail me here, please.
If anyone has seen my site, and the races on it, could you tell me if you think they're balanced/overpowered/underbalanced compared to the PHB races? Mail me here, please.
Psychotic Jim
First Post
Earthbound rocks. Your site is very cool, especially the Mr. Saturn conversion. The various human subraces are somewhat wonky, and you might want to limit the teleport ability of the monkey to a special monkey prestige class ability. As for class and other rules inspiration, you might want to take a look at the Malls and Morons stuff at the EN World Website. You could also convert some of the various weird objects in the game using the D&D rules for making magical items, like making the toothbrush able to cast Daze once per day or something like that. A long time ago I made stats for some of the Earthbound enemies for a Second Edition Discworld game and if I can find them, I'll see if I can't convert some of them.
One of the classes, the cerebral, is pratically finished, I'm just playtesting now. Cerebral=Sorcerer. I wanted unique subtypes for humans, and I'll try to improve them. The monkey teleportation ability is more limited than it seems, mainly because it requires DM approval for the teleport to work. For humans, though, which ones need the most work? (balance-wise and wonky-wise) The City Slicker seems ok, and I personally like the Country Bumpkin, but what about the Winterlander (not my work), Scarabian, and Dalaami? I'm considering removing the Scarabian myself. Oh yeah, here's the cerebral link.
Thank you, and good-bye.
Thank you, and good-bye.
*<bump>*
To anyone familiar with EB items, how could healing food be handled in d20? I thought it could "roll" by going up slowly, like 1d3 per round, but how about delayed healing? Wait a few minutes to digest, then the healing kicks in. It keeps encounters rolling at the D&D pace, but keeps a touch of Earthbound. Like it?
To anyone familiar with EB items, how could healing food be handled in d20? I thought it could "roll" by going up slowly, like 1d3 per round, but how about delayed healing? Wait a few minutes to digest, then the healing kicks in. It keeps encounters rolling at the D&D pace, but keeps a touch of Earthbound. Like it?
Psychotic Jim
First Post
Sorry it took so long for a reply.
On the human subraces, instead of giving the Scarabians and the Winterlander total immunity to sunstroke and cold and fire resistance and all that other stuff, how about just giving them really good bonuses to save (or maybe special resistance against) just the subdual damage coming (as per the DMG) from being in their home conditions? Also, I don't think all Winterlanders were skilled in the use of gadgets, just Jeff, Dr. Andonuts, and that one teacher, but this is just a personal quibble.
From a mechanics standpoint, the Daalami looks fairly weak compared to the other races.
The cerebral I can't comment on, not seeing the rest of the classes in the Earthbound d20 to compare it to.
Also, remember to specify the types of bonuses the races get to their skills and saving throws.
On the human subraces, instead of giving the Scarabians and the Winterlander total immunity to sunstroke and cold and fire resistance and all that other stuff, how about just giving them really good bonuses to save (or maybe special resistance against) just the subdual damage coming (as per the DMG) from being in their home conditions? Also, I don't think all Winterlanders were skilled in the use of gadgets, just Jeff, Dr. Andonuts, and that one teacher, but this is just a personal quibble.
From a mechanics standpoint, the Daalami looks fairly weak compared to the other races.
The cerebral I can't comment on, not seeing the rest of the classes in the Earthbound d20 to compare it to.
Also, remember to specify the types of bonuses the races get to their skills and saving throws.
Thanks, I have posted the types of bonuses and penalties. I looked at the Scarabian and Winterlander, and they seem balanced in comparison to the City Slicker. I just playtested the cerebral, and it seems balanced in comparison to the PHB classes. I am going to retest it and the races (in particular the Dalaami) for balance. I have a system for money, and I will work on food. Bye.
