D&D 3E/3.5 How will do the rules for D&D 3.5 and D20 modern "blend"?

[Love of Awesome]

Hi

"Warning" Extremely nerdy idea ahead...

Ok, i'm wondering how well the d20 modern rules, and Dnd rules would match up against each other. How would a 5th level dnd character fare against a 5th level D20 modern character? Would it be broken, balanced, and if it is broken, are there any way's to fix this?

....I ask because i'm running a Ring of Fire style alternate history where an American city.... Gets warped... Into Eberron............

.....You were warned.....

 

[irdeggman]

Well since d20 Modern is designed to revolve around "modern" level weaponry and concepts - that person would be assumed to have modern guns.

The weaponry in d20 Modern would pretty much cut through a standard D&D character - especially at 5th level.

D&D character has just gotten access to fireball and can do 5d6 hit point damage a handful of times a day while a d20 modern character can fire his 9mm (2d6) as long as his ammunition lasts.

Also D20 Modern is designed to increase AC without using any armor so at 5th level they generally have a beter AC than their D&D counterparts (and thoe ones that lower ACs don't have the penalties associated with wearing armor to counter).

 

[Love of Awesome]

Well since d20 Modern is designed to revolve around "modern" level weaponry and concepts - that person would be assumed to have modern guns.

The weaponry in d20 Modern would pretty much cut through a standard D&D character - especially at 5th level.

D&D character has just gotten access to fireball and can do 5d6 hit point damage a handful of times a day while a d20 modern character can fire his 9mm (2d6) as long as his ammunition lasts.

Also D20 Modern is designed to increase AC without using any armor so at 5th level they generally have a beter AC than their D&D counterparts (and thoe ones that lower ACs don't have the penalties associated with wearing armor to counter).

Okay, i get what you're saying. So are there anyway's to balance this out? maybe make modern characters adhere to the AC rules for dnd?

Also, i'm looking at the Weapons Locker Gallery at the moment, so i'll get back to what weapons i want in my game.

 

[BlackSeed_Vash]

I once ran a game where lvl 5 D20 characters were teleported into a D&D world; they did fairly well while their ammo lasted, but they were extremely cautious due to their inability to quickly heal injuries

it got harder to gauge since I had them lvl on D&D classes from that point on; but fun was had by all so I was content with the results

 

[Toptomcat]

Dodge/Combat Reflexes/Combat Expertise/Defensive Martial Arts/Combat Throw/Karmic Strike/Agile Riposte/Improved Combat Throw/Improved Combat Throw/Improved Trip (D&D)/Deft Opportunist.

Season to taste. Serve with size increases, reach, Decisive Strike, Opportunity Power, high Dex, high Con, Crusader, masochism, Double Hit, Snap Kick, or Vigor. An aftertaste of cheese is to be expected.

(In English: watch out, there are some truly nasty synergies available if characters can cherry-pick from both rulesets!)

 

[Starbuck_II]

Hi

"Warning" Extremely nerdy idea ahead...

Ok, i'm wondering how well the d20 modern rules, and Dnd rules would match up against each other. How would a 5th level dnd character fare against a 5th level D20 modern character? Would it be broken, balanced, and if it is broken, are there any way's to fix this?

....I ask because i'm running a Ring of Fire style alternate history where an American city.... Gets warped... Into Eberron............

.....You were warned.....

Casters/semi-casters (Dragon fire Adept/Warlock/etc) will rip D20 modern a new one, but non-casters might be killed easily.

Abjure Jaunt Conjurer variant can evade Int attacks + add in mage armor/mirror image/stoneskin/displacement/invisibility.

 

[pawsplay]

Okay, i get what you're saying. So are there anyway's to balance this out? maybe make modern characters adhere to the AC rules for dnd?

It's a little more complicated than that. The d20 Modern classes were designed to balance, in a pinch, against standard D&D classes. Hence, their defense bonus is balanced against weaker class features. Further, only the Strong Hero has full BAB, and most PrCs are medium BAB, as well. To be truly "balanced," you would leave the Modern characters alone, realizing they will have better AC but worse spellcasting and multiple attacks. They do more damage, but quickly fall behind in accuracy. For instance, a Strong Hero 3/Soldier 1 has full BAB as a Strong Hero but medium as a Soldier, and gains Weapon Focus as a class feature as a 1st level Soldier. So the d20 Modern character would have BAB +3 +1 (Weapon Focus) = +4 + Str (or Dex) to hit, while a 4th level Fighter has BAB +4 +1 (weapon Focus) = +5 to hit, and likely has Weapon Specialization, which the Soldier won't gain for another level. The Soldier has +3 Defense, but does not natively have armor proficiency.

The larger issue is that d20 Modern assumes a much lower massive damage threshold and the use of action points. So you will need to make some decisions about the global gameworld environment.

 

[Toptomcat]

Casters/semi-casters (Dragon fire Adept/Warlock/etc) will rip D20 modern a new one, but non-casters might be killed easily.

Abjure Jaunt Conjurer variant can evade Int attacks + add in mage armor/mirror image/stoneskin/displacement/invisibility.

Well, the theoretically top-tier d20 Modern arena combat build, the Dilettante Profession-maxing Wealth monkey in an M1A2 Abrams with an Acidic You-Bane Dancing Distance Fiery Blast Icy Blast Electrical Blast Flaming Frost Shocking Speed Thundering tank cannon +3, a Bumper of the Ram, a full set of Dashboard Figurines, an Engine of Infernal Speed, Fuzzy Dice of Luck, Headlights of Blinding, a Paint Job of Blurring, Seats of Safety, and Zephyr Treads would at least be able to give interesting challenges to a caster that's not too heavily optimized. And you can buy artifacts: a Talisman of Pure Good and a Talisman of Ultimate Evil are both purchasable under d20M rules, so if you face someone 'exceptionally pure and good' or 'exceptionally foul and perverse' without buff rounds it devolves into an initiative rolloff vs. no-save death.

And if you're facing a Wealth-monkey with access to d20 Future equipment (or both Urban Arcana *and* d20 Future equipment) then I suspect that even an optimized arena Tier 1 would be in trouble.