Running D20 Modern

[Rolzup]

Greetings, all!

I'm kicking off a brand new campaign in a few weeks -- weird pulp/horror, pitting a band of hapless PCs against Reptoid Nazis From Within The Hollow Earth -- and this is going to be my first real experience with D20 Modern.

I've been playing in a D&D3E campaign for about two years now, and I know *that* system pretty well, but there's always a few things out there to trip up a new GM.

With that in mind, are there any experienced d20 Modern GMs out there who would care to share their experiences with the system? Pitfalls to watch out for, neat things to do, resources to mine?

I'm hoping that, for instance, someone might have a good source of generic NPC stats...the ones in the book are a good start, but more would be even better.

Rolzup

 

[jonrog1]

Generally, a great system, but nowhere as "cinematic" as, say, SPYCRAFT. So you may want to keep a few things in mind.

a.) High lethality. Burst fire etc. can force a LOT of those Massive Damage Threshold Fort saves. if you want a slightly pulpier feel, slide the MDT to 15 or 20 standard. If not, keep it at 10 or CON.

b.) Vehicle rules are just okay. Put a little more plotting into any chase/vehicle battles you're planning.

c.) It's not that easy to knock a guy out from behind. With a sap. You may want to use the Knockout dam= CON or HP rule for conking low level guards on the noggin. There's actually a thread on that floating around somewhere in this forum.

Have fun. Reptile Nazis, mmmm ....

 

[projectdaedalus]

Here's a few things I've learned so far in running my game:

1. Grenades are like mini-fireballs. They're good for the PCs to have so they can use them against superior numbers. The scatter rules suck though, so keep that in mind. The reason I don't like the scatter rules is that if you miss your intended square, the grenade (or whatever) barely moves from where you threw it. It generally never makes a difference with area effect attacks.

2. Magic is good, but keep it a little more grounded in the beginning. If you go by the standard rules, players cannot cast spells until at least 4th level. Magic items may or may not be rare, but with the availability of technology, you should keep magic items rarer than in D&D, if only for play balance reasons.

3. Along with the spellcasting thing, there are no magical healers in the beginning. The Treat Injury skill is nice, but it isn't as effective as a Cure Light Wounds. You might think about giving out healing potions once in a while if the characters are getting injured a lot.

4. Include as many elements of the familiar as possible. This is a modern game, not just D&D with guns. The familiarity will bring a much different edge and feel to the game than with a fantasy world.

That's all I could think of for now. Good luck!

 

[Henry]

Here's a few things I've learned so far in running my game:

1. Grenades are like mini-fireballs. They're good for the PCs to have so they can use them against superior numbers. The scatter rules suck though, so keep that in mind. The reason I don't like the scatter rules is that if you miss your intended square, the grenade (or whatever) barely moves from where you threw it. It generally never makes a difference with area effect attacks.

Keep in mind about scatter rules: The greanade's range increment is 10 feet. The blast radius is 20 feet. You HAVE to throw it more than one range increment to keep from blasting yourself. This puts the scatter diagram on the SECOND chart, not the first. If you miss the square (unlikely, but possible), that grenade can bounce up to TWO squares beck towards you! (this is usually called a "fumble", but most PC's can only get out the first two letters before the grenade goes off. ) The main point about grenades is not to throw them into a close combat, because you stand a chance of forcing a colleague to make a massive damage save.



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My advice:

• If you want pulp, keep the action rolling. describe dives, rolls, limbo-style dodges, and don't forget that if you hold a pistol, you are NEVER unarmed (the good old-fashioned pistol-whip!)
• Emphasize skill use. There are many modern skills that come in handy when trying to figure out the plot of the adventure. If you have any smart or charismatic heroes in the group, you will need to emphasize skill use because this is what half of their concept is based on. A smart hero is not as optimized for combat, so unlike in D&D where even the Rogue has a good time in combat, Smart Heroes will live more for the research and problem-solving chances. But put those skill rolls to good use, otherwise those people who spent their time allocating ten or twelve skills or more, are going to have wasted their time.
• Use the Autofire and burst fire rules EXACTLY as written to get a feel for them, before anyone in the group starts wanting to change them. Those rules are DARNED deadly enough without modifying them. Just put four heroes against four people with autofire weapons, spraying ungodly amounts of lead downrange at the heroes, and watch the fun. If the heroes are in close quarters, and can't spread out much, there won't be enough left of them to bury.
• Pay CLOSE attention to the feats. Many feats changed between d20 Modern and D&D, and a feat with the same name may not work the same way.

Good luck with your campaign, and tell us how it went! If you have time, the Story Hour forum can always use more good tales!

 

[Moonsword]

I have a solution to the vehicle rules. Go find a copy of the Starfarer's Handbook for the Dragonstar setting, and use those vehicle rules. Fantasy Flight Games left those rules as OGC, so they might even be up on the web somewhere, minus flavor text. <shrugs> Anyway, the second scale listed in the Modern core book is the vehicle scale in Dragonstar. It works, and can handle aircraft internally, and with much less pain than Modern forces you to deal with (read as severe headaches inflicted as you try to force the system to do what you want).