Questions about True20

[AFGNCAAP]

I have a few questions about True20 that I hope some of you can answer.

First, how generic is True20? Can it be used for any sort of fantasy-style campaign, or is there a lot of Blue Rose elements in it?

Second, how exchangeable are the mechanics between True20 & D&D (esp. if you use the generic classes from UA, which IIRC are used in True20)?

Third, how much stuff does True20 cover for fantasy campaigns? Would it require a lot of work to stat up items, creatures, or the like that the books don't cover?

Fourth, how much of an investment am I looking at to get all of the True20 books I'll need for a fantasy campaign? (I say this thinking that True20 can be used for various genres.)

That's all that I can think of at the moment. Any info you can provide would be helpful, as well as any personal experiences you may have had playing with this system.

I'd appreciate any info y'all can provide.

 

[Aus_Snow]

It's a generic system, for sure. It has no Blue Rose trappings, that I'm aware of (i.e., I'm far more familiar with True20 than Blue Rose, so that *might* not be 100% true).

The mechanics are fairly easily interchangeable. There are rules in the main True20 book that cover this, pretty well. You've still got levels, skills, feats, saves (f'rex).

It's not hard, or time consuming, to stat virtually anything up - that's one of the selling points of the system. There are sources that cover various things you might need ready-made, though.

How many books would you need for fantasy? That depends. Do you want a setting that's ready to go, to convert a D&D/AD&D/other setting, or your own. . .? True20 as is will do fantasy just fine, but (for instance) the True20 Bestiary could be nifty, were you to do fairly D&D-like fantasy.


Hope that helps a bit - I'd post more details, but I'm at work atm. Might be a start though.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Q: "First, how generic is True20? Can it be used for any sort of fantasy-style campaign, or is there a lot of Blue Rose elements in it?"

A: True20 is nicely generic -- I've seen it used for Cthulhu, Pirates of the Carribbean, standard fantasy, and scifi.

Q: "Second, how exchangeable are the mechanics between True20 & D&D (esp. if you use the generic classes from UA, which IIRC are used in True20)?"

A: If you use the generic classes, very very exchangeable - nearly every feat or class/PrC ability can be converted to a True20 feat.

Q: "Third, how much stuff does True20 cover for fantasy campaigns? Would it require a lot of work to stat up items, creatures, or the like that the books don't cover?"

A: The True20 Bestiary covers most all of your standard D&D critters, and there are simple rules for converting creatures in the Bestiary as well. I find that converting a creature takes less time than statting up a multilevel NPC in D&D, if that's a decent guideline.(Making a new creature in True20 s so quick that making D&D statblocks makes me cry now.)

Items are handled in Liber Artifactorum(which is 3rd party I think), but True20 does not require your players to have magic items unless you want them to have some.

Q: "Fourth, how much of an investment am I looking at to get all of the True20 books I'll need for a fantasy campaign? "

A: Assuming no Amazon discounts, $35 for the core rulebook and $30 for the Bestiary. Both can be purchased as PDFs for a substantial discount, and the pocket player's guide is around $15, I think.

Hope that helps! I've enjoyed True20 immensely -- I've found it handles sword-and-sorcery in particular way better than D&D does.

 

[Nightfall]

True d20 is a great system and while it's not always my preferred cup of tea, it's a very, very, very nice substitute for it.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Well, I think I covered the basics before. There is also the True20 Fantasy Paths PDF, by Phil Reed (I believe), which apparently takes most of the D&D 3e classes, and stats them out pretty thoroughly. That could be handy for some kinds of fantasy campaigns, I imagine.

Anyway, if you want more replies, you might be better off having this moved (or posting something else like it) to the d20/OGL forum here, and/or the forums at http://true20.com - just a tendency I've noticed, when topics like this crop up.

 

[iwatt]

Third, how much stuff does True20 cover for fantasy campaigns? Would it require a lot of work to stat up items, creatures, or the like that the books don't cover?

Creatures: not hard, and the bestiary does most of the heavy lifting. The biggest issue I've come up is with statting up Templates. You pretty much have to ballpark it and comapre it to other templates.

Items: As mentioned, Liber Artefactorum covers this pretty well. I don't agree with some of their conversions and costs, and I felt they kept to close to D&D for my taste (I'm moving away fromthe christmas tree, but the system keeps it). This is probably a feature for some GMS though.

Jst an example of the ease of converting stuff: I'm currently running a Resident Evil type campaign. I jst might take it to a Year of the Zombie campaign, depending on how the PCs handle it. I've found it very easy to convert d20 Modern stuff from fan created material to True20.

Similarly, I know of at least 2 Star wars conversions.

Currently we're working (some of us in the True20 forums) on a conversion for the Skull&Bones naval combat.

I'm going to statr working on a conversion of the Blood and Relics setting to True20 in a couple of months, once the PCs in my current campaign get eaten by zombies.

 

[ValhallaGH]

I can't add much to the previous answers. They've all been pretty accurate about answering your specific questions.

I can tell you that you'll get a slight power shift by switching systems.

Characters will get hit less often (probably) but will be more concerned about it when they do get hit.

The first five levels are no longer instant-death. I had a party of first level characters successfully assault a keep guarded by over 30 men; they did it intelligently but they still did it.

Finally, there's a great deal of power and flexibility in all heroic characters of all levels due to the power of a mechanic known as Conviction. It lets you gain a feat for one round, heal in combat, re-roll attacks and saves, gain an extra standard action this round, and a few other things; all of which can be done in the same round and all of which make the heroes a lot more heroic.
Conviction also encourages role playing, since the fastest way to regain it is to play up a character's fundamental natures.

It's quickly becoming my system of choice for all modern, sci-fi, and rules-lighter fantasy games. For my players that are okay with lots of crunchy bits, I prefer Iron Heroes but it's not much of a difference.

 

[Nightfall]

True d20. Good enough for Nightfall whenever there's arguments about what system to use that isn't D&D.

 

[WayneLigon]

First, how generic is True20? Can it be used for any sort of fantasy-style campaign, or is there a lot of Blue Rose elements in it?

It is very generic, as in 'can handle fantasy, science fiction, modern day', etc. There are no specific Blue Rose elements save the basic rules system. It retains Blue Roses' arcana list; there are no lists of spells, 'just' the various arcana powers. There is another spell system in True Sorcery. I've heard mixed reviews about that; the most common complaint is that the various spell creation DC's are way too high.

Second, how exchangeable are the mechanics between True20 & D&D (esp. if you use the generic classes from UA, which IIRC are used in True20)?

Same enough that you will be comfortable, difffernt enough to trip you up occassionally. The biggest difference is combat: Instead of hit points, you have a Toughness Save. Your Toughness Save is your Con plus any Armor modifiers (armor stops damage in True20, not makes you harder to hit). If you blow your Toughness Save - and depending on how badly you blow it - you incurr certain Conditions. Dead is a Condition. Each failed Toughness Save makes it more likely you'll fail subsequent ones until you're healed.

Third, how much stuff does True20 cover for fantasy campaigns? Would it require a lot of work to stat up items, creatures, or the like that the books don't cover?

I think the basic book gives you enough to work with in this light, especially since you already know D&D. The conversions shouldn't be that hard to handle.

Fourth, how much of an investment am I looking at to get all of the True20 books I'll need for a fantasy campaign? (I say this thinking that True20 can be used for various genres.)

I'd consider the basic book to be good enough. You get the rules plus four settings (One fantasy, one space, one mecha, one modern conspiracy) that show you how the basic rules can be twisted and prodded. The Beastiary could be helpful but not nessesary. There is also another book that gives Paths (where they give you progressions for each level) for many of the D&D classes so you can see how to replicate a barbarian, assassin, fighter, etc.