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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010401" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Chris Sims, Staff Editor and Reviewer d20 Magazine RackSizing Up the TargetModern Player's Companion is a 37-page (including 2 for the cover and 1 for the OGL) PDF designed to add some spice to a d20 Modern campaign. You can get yours right now on RPG Now for $5, or wait until Green Ronin brings more Game Mechanics work to print. First Blood Modern Player's Companion is a good-looking PDF with lots of material crammed into its small profile. The design is fine, the illustrations attractive, and the content thoughtful. Stan! offers seven new occupations, nine class combinations, eight new advanced classes, twenty-five new feats (some of which appear in Ultramodern Firearms), and some new gear for your d20 Modern game.Critical Hits Excellent new occupations do exactly what Modern Player's Companion claims as its goal—enhance character creation. Not only are these occupations nice for a character's back-story, one wonders why they weren't in d20 Modern. Now your hero can be a bohemian from the Village or a tribesperson form the deep wilds of the Third World.Stan! really hits on something with basic class combinations. The d20 Modern classes are so flexible and well designed that the need for advanced classes (think prestige classes and you get the general idea) is superfluous, unless a player wants a very sharp focus for his or her character. To this end, Modern Player's Companion shows you how you might come up with an archeologist (ala Indiana Jones), a journalist, or a member of a religious organization.However, Modern Player's Companion proves the efficacy of the advanced class as well, bringing the sorcerer into d20 Modern with the adept (unfortunately, with the hidebound familiar class ability and weird tattoo ability). The gentle warrior is also an inspired class, with which Stan! really succeeded in creating a martial artist that can subdue opponents. Who can overlook the value of the profiler, an expert in sizing up a criminal from evidence, or a survivalist in a modern story?Some of the feats are indispensable. Many others are too flavorful to ignore as part of character concepts. Moonlighter is especially thoughtful, allowing another starting occupation with some heavy prerequisite rules.Finally, Stan! has come up with an ingenious way to equip your starting d20 Modern character with equipment packages. Instead of using the Wealth system as is in d20 Modern, and thus consuming a lot of time that could be used for play, a character can, based upon Wealth bonus, select a nice package of appropriate gear. Great work!Critical Misses Modern Player's Companion makes a few strange language gaffes. For example, the Tribal occupation reads, "Tribal societies are often (but not always) feudal in nature". No tribal society I know of uses the political and economic structure of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century. Similar things occur with the use of the phrase "lay clergy" and other minor points. This type of thing is unexpected from a group of industry pros like the Game Mechanics.While the class combinations are a good idea, they fall flat in a few areas. First, each only shows a progression to 10th level. Why? A 20-level progression would have been just as useful, if not more so. Further, Stan! sees fit to share with us how someone might create a bouncer or counselor. Does the idea of a "hero" really fall in line with 10 levels towards making a good bouncer or counselor?The feats are good for the most part, but a few just don't seem beneficial. Code of Honor gives your character +4 to certain skill checks with persons who respect the same ethics, but –4 to the same rolls with persons who have and opposite moral tack. Where, exactly, is the benefit for having spent a feat? This is really a variant rule. Similarly, a couple feats allow the acquisition of ability score points—one allowing +1 to any two abilities for –2 to one ability (again, no real benefit), and the other essentially allowing +1 to an ability score for the price of a feat. Probably a bad idea.Coup de Grace Modern Player's Companion comes close to essential gear for a d20 Modern game. Coupled with its "less-than-lunch-money" price, this little gem really should be part of your d20 arsenal. If it's not obvious, I'll admit openly I had to dig for flaws. Someone, if not everyone, in your (modern) gaming group will use something from this tome regularly. Pick it up!To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to Fast Tracks at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=414&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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