My thoughts...
OK. I've bought DNW, SAS D20, and 4CTF, and will by buying M&M.
DNW: an absolute joy to read, and a game which dares to go totally against the 'grain' of most superhero D20 games; rather than eschewing classes and races, it revels in them. One thing which is interesting is that, apart from a handful (Armor Adept, Psychic), classes aren't power based, as they are in most D20 supers games, but more 'lifestyle' based. (Mercenary, Playboy, Vigilante, Sidekick). There's no real power advantage/disadvantage system, and, for that matter, no balancing of powers -- powers incur an 'experience tithe', and it's the same whether your power is Darkvision or Firebolts. You can also have as many or as few powers as you wish starting out; there are no power points, it's all between you and the GM.
4CTF: It's a brilliant idea: A 'plug in' for adding superpowers to any D20 game. There are two drawbacks:
a)It doesn't stand alone. You have to pick some other D20 game to plug it into; D20 Modern would be ideal, but it isn't out yey.
b)The power list is very short. The "Big Book of Powers" would remedy that, but it's being delayed for several months.
D20 SAS: This follows the more typical route, with a robust power-creation system (and vehicle creation, to boot!). The classes, though, are ill-defined, being little more than a listing of archetypes, and some alterations were made to key D20 concepts (no feats, skill names changed, the optional 'defense roll' from the DMG is used, the attribute scale is different) which makes the game lose some D20 'feel'.
Mutants&Masterminds: This game, as yet unpublished, makes some radical changes to the D20 system -- much more than SAS -- but also foregoes the D20 license, going for pure OGL. It has, apparently, no classes (but does have levels, of a sort) and a Power+Enhancements/Limitations model.
My thoughts? None of the games out there *precisely* hits the bullseye. (I reserve judgement on M&M until I see it) Each does a lot right, but there's a few bits missing. If I had the time, I'd OCR the OGL and create a Frankenstein monster from them all...
If DNW had a power system, rather than just a power list...
If 4CTF had more powers, and a few more 'modern' core classes...
If SAS D20 had upped the D20 'feel' factor a few notches...
(As for me, I've got 80-odd pages of '20 sided supers' sitting on my hard disk, untouched for a year; between my freelance work and the glut, I'm unlikely to ever finish it. So it goes.)
(Given the speed with which Scott Lynch churns out supplements, a 'Proton Bolts and Plasma Fields, The Ultimate Guide To DNW Powers' supplement would be quite welcome...) (Other note to Scott: Consider rating each power as being equal to, say, 1/4 Power, 1/2 Power, 1 Power, or 2 Powers; then, when you total your powers for your XP Tithe, you don't feel like a schmuck for taking 'flavor' powers and paying the same price for zap/kill/destroy powers)
OK. I've bought DNW, SAS D20, and 4CTF, and will by buying M&M.
DNW: an absolute joy to read, and a game which dares to go totally against the 'grain' of most superhero D20 games; rather than eschewing classes and races, it revels in them. One thing which is interesting is that, apart from a handful (Armor Adept, Psychic), classes aren't power based, as they are in most D20 supers games, but more 'lifestyle' based. (Mercenary, Playboy, Vigilante, Sidekick). There's no real power advantage/disadvantage system, and, for that matter, no balancing of powers -- powers incur an 'experience tithe', and it's the same whether your power is Darkvision or Firebolts. You can also have as many or as few powers as you wish starting out; there are no power points, it's all between you and the GM.
4CTF: It's a brilliant idea: A 'plug in' for adding superpowers to any D20 game. There are two drawbacks:
a)It doesn't stand alone. You have to pick some other D20 game to plug it into; D20 Modern would be ideal, but it isn't out yey.
b)The power list is very short. The "Big Book of Powers" would remedy that, but it's being delayed for several months.
D20 SAS: This follows the more typical route, with a robust power-creation system (and vehicle creation, to boot!). The classes, though, are ill-defined, being little more than a listing of archetypes, and some alterations were made to key D20 concepts (no feats, skill names changed, the optional 'defense roll' from the DMG is used, the attribute scale is different) which makes the game lose some D20 'feel'.
Mutants&Masterminds: This game, as yet unpublished, makes some radical changes to the D20 system -- much more than SAS -- but also foregoes the D20 license, going for pure OGL. It has, apparently, no classes (but does have levels, of a sort) and a Power+Enhancements/Limitations model.
My thoughts? None of the games out there *precisely* hits the bullseye. (I reserve judgement on M&M until I see it) Each does a lot right, but there's a few bits missing. If I had the time, I'd OCR the OGL and create a Frankenstein monster from them all...
If DNW had a power system, rather than just a power list...
If 4CTF had more powers, and a few more 'modern' core classes...
If SAS D20 had upped the D20 'feel' factor a few notches...
(As for me, I've got 80-odd pages of '20 sided supers' sitting on my hard disk, untouched for a year; between my freelance work and the glut, I'm unlikely to ever finish it.
So it goes.)(Given the speed with which Scott Lynch churns out supplements, a 'Proton Bolts and Plasma Fields, The Ultimate Guide To DNW Powers' supplement would be quite welcome...) (Other note to Scott: Consider rating each power as being equal to, say, 1/4 Power, 1/2 Power, 1 Power, or 2 Powers; then, when you total your powers for your XP Tithe, you don't feel like a schmuck for taking 'flavor' powers and paying the same price for zap/kill/destroy powers)
All this said, I am very intrtigued by the ideas of the damage save and such and I'll buy it to see what happens.
