(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
I was hoping we could use this thread to showcase which D20 Modern products have caught our interests, especially for ones we've bought. Maybe D20 Modern publishers would take interest in this thread and get an idea of which products we want, or even don't have a fondness for.
Things that caught my interest:
All of these are non-FX. Unless stated otherwise, you can get them from RPGNow.
22 Talent Trees
Blood and Guts:
Inside Vossberg Supermax
This one is interesting, although I'm not sure why it needs prestige classes for prison guards and hardened crooks.
Blood and Guts: Modern Military
Blood and Fists: Modern Martial Arts
Countdown:
Operation Dead Drop
Operation WinterKill (I've got this one)
Operation Winterkill is an adventure designed for both D20 Modern and Spycraft (they've got both sets of stat blocks). It's a very imaginitive adventure (I've never seen a Tough/Gunslinger or a Dedicated Spetsnaz commando before) but I did have a few problems with the stat block editing (it seems to me the authors weren't too familiar with D20 Modern, and they made errors like stating a sidearm does 1d10 damage, missing out on bonus feats, etc).
Martial Arts Mayhem (two volumes)
Also available at www.thegamemechanics.com
Modern Player's Companion (two volumes)
Also available at www.thegamemechanics.com
World War II Heroes
Omaha Beach - World War II Heroes Mission Pack
Sidewinder: Recoiled (http://www.doghouserules.net/)
This is a "cowboy" campaign setting that's drawn a lot of attention. It's also available at RPGNow.
State of the Art Campaign Model
This is an RPGNow PDF set in 2029 and includes rules for cybergear.
Haven, City of Violence (http://www.lpjdesign.com/D20Modern/D20products.html)
Confusion resolved: there are two versions of Haven. One is for D20 Modern and isn't out yet. Alas, I ended up downloading the previous version. Oh well, it still looks very interesting.
This is one I'm looking forward to with great anticipation. You probably noticed above the high military content of the list - it seems to me that a very large chunk of non-FX adventures and settings set in this time period (rather than in the past and future) are military. I like military stuff, but not everybody does, and my group is a huge fan of Boondock Saints, which I'm pretty sure is not military. However, this setting is coming to the rescue of those who like criminal action movies, the Godfather, Grand Theft Auto, Law and Order (I guess).
In addition there's also the New World Order PDF, available at RPGNow for a real low price that gives a lot of background detail on the New World Order.
Red Star Campaign Setting (in development)
This is a space-age setting for those fans of Alternity-style games. I'm looking forward to this one as much as I'm looking forward to Haven, City of Violence.
Mystic Eye games is going to release a D20 Future-compatible setting, but I'm not sure what that is.
Three Kindgoms (in development, www.romancingcathay.com)
You don't have to use D20 Modern rules in this era. The Three Kingdoms period was set circa 200 AD in China, where warriors were real warriors. Suit up, strap on your sword, get on your hourse, hoist you spear, affix your eyepatch and don't forget to pack a strategist!
In addition, www.wizards.com and www.thegamemechanics.com are always putting out free PDFs, often of adventures.
Codename Veil: the Unseen War and Lethal Pursuit.
These products are for those who are fond of X-Files-style campaigns. Probably has minor FX content, although we are also dealing with aliens here.
FBI (by Holistic Design). I think this is still in development.
Urban Designs: New Glory Naval Base
This product includes maps, NPCs and even an adventure - with various amounts of FX (from none to high).
Things that nearly made the cut:
Modern Backdrops
I didn't know what to make of the product from the description.
This was clarified in a review
Things that I had to say no to:
Blood and Space
I briefly looked at the "D20 Future" section of RPGNow and noticed Blood and Space. I took a long at the introductory PDF that they so kindly provided for free to take a look at. The first thing I noticed was the Marine base class (and several more) and a lot of PrCs, including the Space Marine class.
So I was going to get annoyed and spout something about how D20 Modern was so flexible it didn't need a PrC for a Space Marine and wonder why a D20 Modern product would have more base classes... when, due to no prompting from myself (must be precognition) the author stated to a question (not from myself, but from someone on a thread I started at WotC) that their product used the 3.0 DnD rules.
Annoyance dissipating... seems to me game authors (or RPGNow) could more clearly label what of their stuff is what.
The "D20 Modern" section of their website, of course, doesn't refer to the D20 Modern engine but to any D20 product set in a modern (or nearly modern) setting, but it doesn't clearly state whether you're looking at D20 Modern, Spycraft, or what not.
Weekend Warriors
This one sounded more to my liking at first - ordinary people who bust heads on weekends (instead of Department 7 or an all-military campaign). It wasn't exactly that; instead, it featured military people who do strange stuff on weekends. It features "horror" which sounds a bit like FX to me, but I had no way of knowing how much FX there was in the product from the description. The reviews made it clear, however, that it was a zombie-stomp, which meant lots of FX, so I passed.
I'm sure it's a great product, just not what I'm looking for. I think products should clearly state which system and FX content somewhere in the description to help guide customers.
Things that caught my interest:
All of these are non-FX. Unless stated otherwise, you can get them from RPGNow.
22 Talent Trees
Blood and Guts:
Inside Vossberg Supermax
This one is interesting, although I'm not sure why it needs prestige classes for prison guards and hardened crooks.
Blood and Guts: Modern Military
Blood and Fists: Modern Martial Arts
Countdown:
Operation Dead Drop
Operation WinterKill (I've got this one)
Operation Winterkill is an adventure designed for both D20 Modern and Spycraft (they've got both sets of stat blocks). It's a very imaginitive adventure (I've never seen a Tough/Gunslinger or a Dedicated Spetsnaz commando before) but I did have a few problems with the stat block editing (it seems to me the authors weren't too familiar with D20 Modern, and they made errors like stating a sidearm does 1d10 damage, missing out on bonus feats, etc).
Martial Arts Mayhem (two volumes)
Also available at www.thegamemechanics.com
Modern Player's Companion (two volumes)
Also available at www.thegamemechanics.com
World War II Heroes
Omaha Beach - World War II Heroes Mission Pack
Sidewinder: Recoiled (http://www.doghouserules.net/)
This is a "cowboy" campaign setting that's drawn a lot of attention. It's also available at RPGNow.
State of the Art Campaign Model
This is an RPGNow PDF set in 2029 and includes rules for cybergear.
Haven, City of Violence (http://www.lpjdesign.com/D20Modern/D20products.html)
Confusion resolved: there are two versions of Haven. One is for D20 Modern and isn't out yet. Alas, I ended up downloading the previous version. Oh well, it still looks very interesting.
This is one I'm looking forward to with great anticipation. You probably noticed above the high military content of the list - it seems to me that a very large chunk of non-FX adventures and settings set in this time period (rather than in the past and future) are military. I like military stuff, but not everybody does, and my group is a huge fan of Boondock Saints, which I'm pretty sure is not military. However, this setting is coming to the rescue of those who like criminal action movies, the Godfather, Grand Theft Auto, Law and Order (I guess).
In addition there's also the New World Order PDF, available at RPGNow for a real low price that gives a lot of background detail on the New World Order.
Red Star Campaign Setting (in development)
This is a space-age setting for those fans of Alternity-style games. I'm looking forward to this one as much as I'm looking forward to Haven, City of Violence.
Mystic Eye games is going to release a D20 Future-compatible setting, but I'm not sure what that is.
Three Kindgoms (in development, www.romancingcathay.com)
You don't have to use D20 Modern rules in this era. The Three Kingdoms period was set circa 200 AD in China, where warriors were real warriors. Suit up, strap on your sword, get on your hourse, hoist you spear, affix your eyepatch and don't forget to pack a strategist!
In addition, www.wizards.com and www.thegamemechanics.com are always putting out free PDFs, often of adventures.
Codename Veil: the Unseen War and Lethal Pursuit.
These products are for those who are fond of X-Files-style campaigns. Probably has minor FX content, although we are also dealing with aliens here.
FBI (by Holistic Design). I think this is still in development.
Urban Designs: New Glory Naval Base
This product includes maps, NPCs and even an adventure - with various amounts of FX (from none to high).
Things that nearly made the cut:
Modern Backdrops
I didn't know what to make of the product from the description.
This was clarified in a review
and that will push it a lot closer to my "must-have" list.
Things that I had to say no to:
Blood and Space
I briefly looked at the "D20 Future" section of RPGNow and noticed Blood and Space. I took a long at the introductory PDF that they so kindly provided for free to take a look at. The first thing I noticed was the Marine base class (and several more) and a lot of PrCs, including the Space Marine class.
So I was going to get annoyed and spout something about how D20 Modern was so flexible it didn't need a PrC for a Space Marine and wonder why a D20 Modern product would have more base classes... when, due to no prompting from myself (must be precognition) the author stated to a question (not from myself, but from someone on a thread I started at WotC) that their product used the 3.0 DnD rules.
Annoyance dissipating... seems to me game authors (or RPGNow) could more clearly label what of their stuff is what.
The "D20 Modern" section of their website, of course, doesn't refer to the D20 Modern engine but to any D20 product set in a modern (or nearly modern) setting, but it doesn't clearly state whether you're looking at D20 Modern, Spycraft, or what not.
Weekend Warriors
This one sounded more to my liking at first - ordinary people who bust heads on weekends (instead of Department 7 or an all-military campaign). It wasn't exactly that; instead, it featured military people who do strange stuff on weekends. It features "horror" which sounds a bit like FX to me, but I had no way of knowing how much FX there was in the product from the description. The reviews made it clear, however, that it was a zombie-stomp, which meant lots of FX, so I passed.
I'm sure it's a great product, just not what I'm looking for. I think products should clearly state which system and FX content somewhere in the description to help guide customers.
Last edited:
