How is modern?

[dvvega]

My experience with d20 Modern is as a GM running a linked series of 8 adventures for an RPG convention here in Australia.

I've been having a blast with it, and so have my players. I have had high player returns thus far (people coming back to play) and hope that a core group will make it all the way to the end of the 8th adventure.

It is an awesome system for what it does. However I don't think that it's a viable basis for a fantasy campaign without a lot of work (as admitted to by previous posters). In fantasy, the characters are fantastical. They should not be pigeon-holed into strong/fast/tough etc.

That aside there are grim/gritty fantasy novels out there that it would suit perfectly.

 

[JPL]

d20 Modern is so good it will make you wanna slap your momma.

Sure, it'll just be nonlethal damage, but it will still get her attention and convey the quality of d20 Modern.

 

[takyris]

It is an awesome system for what it does. However I don't think that it's a viable basis for a fantasy campaign without a lot of work (as admitted to by previous posters). In fantasy, the characters are fantastical. They should not be pigeon-holed into strong/fast/tough etc.

Interesting. My group has actually been feeling the opposite -- they wanted a campaign where heroes weren't heroes because they were fantastical, but because they made good choices and used teamwork. I suppose it's G.R.R. Martin versus David Eddings, fantasy-level-wise, and I liked both when I read them.

As for pigeon-holing, I'd argue that you're pigeonholed a lot less with Modern than with D&D. If I declare that my character is a fast-talking swordsman who eschews armor, there are several possible class combinations:

- I could be a Fast Hero
- I could be a Strong/Fast Hero (the Strong being "increased accuracy when striking with my weapons)
- I could be a Charismatic/Strong Hero, mixing up raw hitting power with bluffs
- I could be a Charismatic/Fast/Strong Hero, doing a bit of everything.

And my fellow players never need to know what I am, unless they want to geek it out ("Aha, you moved thirty-five feet! That's at least a level of Fast!").

I enjoy the heck out of D&D, but I would certainly argue that it's easier to make certain character concepts in d20M than it is in D&D. For example, the thing that I really like about d20 Modern for fantasy is that it's the first system that really makes an unarmored warrior feasible without the use of magic. A Fast hero can work his thing just as well as a Strong hero in armor, but anyone who DOES sink the feats into armor is getting some nice boosts out of it as well. Both choices are viable.

 

[dvvega]

True that it is a matter of point of view.

One thing I did borrow from Modern before it came out was the Masterwork items getting more than a +1 bonus.

I tend to use low-magic in my campaign and so Masterwork items grant additional benefits dependent on the money spent on them.

Someone can conceivably get a Masterwork weapon +1 to hit and +1 damage (two weapon purchases in that combination).

It reduces the requirement for magic and emphasises the use of special materials to bypass DR.

 

[Biohazard]

For those who have played or GMed it. How "fun" is D20 Modern? And what kind of games have you run with it? I already know the D20 system, so that is no trouble.

How "fun" is d20 Modern? I don't know--how "fun" is rock-climbing? How "fun" is playing the violin? It all depends on what a certain person enjoys doing.

But I assume what you're really asking is why those of us who enjoy d20 Modern enjoy it. Some reasons:

1. Simple, elegant mechanics.
2. Class system that gives structure and detail to character generation while also giving supreme flexibility and customization.
3. Skill system that doesn't bury one in hundreds of unnecessary skills (anyone familiar with GURPS will recall that "Flower Arranging" is actually a skill--shudder) yet is comprehensive enough to model any skill needed for game purposes.
4. The best written and laid-out core rulebook I've ever seen.

What kind of games can one run? Here's what I've done:
1. Pulp Heroes 1930's games.
2. Victorian Steampunk games.
3. Cthulhu mythos horror games.
4. Resident Evil-style zombie apocalypse games.

Here's what I will be doing in the near future:
1. Gamma World (*the* quintessential far-future/post- apocalypse campaign setting).
2. Urban Arcana (beautifully designed hardcover campaign setting of contemporary fantasy--think goblins in the sewers).
3. X-Files-esque conspiracy/supernatural adventure.
4. Blade Runner-inspired cyberpunk.

Also, even though I personally *detest* the following genres, I must grudgingly admit that d20 Modern is superb at modelling them:
1. Espionage.
2. Special-ops/military.

In short, unless your passion is traditional vanilla fantasy (a la Dungeons & Dragons) or you're a pencil-necked, rules-addicted, no-life gear head (a la GURPS), you can't beat d20 Modern.

Go buy it.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Is D20 Modern fun? For me and my group, oh yeah. We have a blast with it in our Rifts campaign. While I think I'll still run traditional fantasy with D&D (mixed with OA and AU), I'll use Modern for just about everything else. We've used it for the following campaigns and one-off games:

Rifts (more of a psuedo-Rifts, taking the stuff we loved and chucked the rest. This is where we use my Gamma World and Darwin's World material as well.)

Hell in Kansas City (1930's era mafia one-off)

The Group with No Name (Spaghetti-western styled one-off based off the old Clint Eastwood westerns.)

People Taste Like Chicken (a Resident Evil/Night of the Living Dead hybrid one-off that may end up becoming the next full campaign.)

Sex, Drugs, and Flock of Seagulls (Miami Vice styled one-off.)

We tend to do more one-off games than anything else since Modern with Urban Arcana is so loaded with great ideas that it's hard to pick one style of game we want to run. I can say that the rules are excellent. Character creation is so flexible that character following similar paths are usually very different in the end even when taking the same classes. It's our group's system of choice.

Kane

 

[Tellerve]

Kanegrundar- LOL, those sound like such fun one-offs as ya call 'em. Man, I would love to have been at the table for them. I totally understand what you mean about having so many ideas to go with modern though. Tough to decide what to keep in and what not to in building a campaign.

Tellerve

 

[Pierce]

For those who have played or GMed it. How "fun" is D20 Modern? And what kind of games have you run with it? I already know the D20 system, so that is no trouble.

Something else that's different about the Modern classes. This has been touched on in this discussion, but I'd like to make the point from a different angle.

The fact that your class does not pigeonhole you into an occupation/function can not be stressed enough.

How many times have you started or joined a campaign and the first question is "OK, what do we need?" How many times have you been forced to play the Cleric or Rogue just because everyone beat you to the Fighter or Wizard? The bulk of D&D campaigns seem structured to force party balance - you have to make sure you've got all your bases covered. No Rogue? Hope the Fighter's strong enough to bash down the locked door! No Cleric? Better stock up on healing potions!

Modern is quite different. We started our campaign with 5 characters: 2 Smart, 1 Tough and 2 Charismatic. Even though we had duplicates, each character was very identifiable and very few skills/talents were over- or under-represented (with the possible exception of pure combat ability ). The differences have gotten ever more pronounced as we've advanced - the Tough character is now pretty much the most advanced mage. The ability to take those six basic classes and morph them into nearly any imaginable character is what makes Modern the strongest d20 product out there.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Tell- Thanks. All of the campaigns were a lot of fun. People Taste Like Chicken went off the best. It had a lot of jokes in it, but the sense of doom really hit the group about halfway through (much sooner than I thought it would). They liked it well enough that a couple players hinted that they may like to make it an ongoing campaign once the Rifts campaign has ran its course.

Right now, I'm working on another one-off based on Scarface. It's something I hit close to with Hell in Kansas City, but instead of running whores and booze, it'll deal more with hardcore narcotics. I usually don't get too graphic in my games, but I think the story will outshine the flagrant drug-use and decadence.

I've been toying around with sort of near future Max Payne/Bladerunner adventure and a Cthuhulu/Ghosts of Mars adventure as well.

It just goes to show the versatility of the system. Not to mention I use just about all of my D20 books from D&D to Star Wars in Modern in one form or another. Even if there are only a few supplements specifically for Modern you can pretty much use anything with it with only a modicum of fuss.

Kane

 

[C. Baize]

I've been playing in a D20 Modern campaign for about a year, now... And I just started a campaign (see my sig file, baby!) that my players seem to be thoroughly enjoying.
One of the players was a hardcore fantasy only type, we were discussing rolling up characters for Dragonlance when he came up with, "I can't... I can't even wrap my brain around fantasy, right now... I'm freakin' HOOKED on this modern campaign."
Take it as you will, but, for my money, D20 Modern (other than a couple of little tweaks) runs LOADS smoother than D&D.