Simple20: Anyone using it?

[SteveC]

Just a quick add to the thread: I absolutely love what people have started to do with the D20 system. Perfect20, Core Toolbox and now Simple20...very good stuff.

I'll echo what others have said: the addition of the psychological trauma wound track is brilliant. The next time I run a CoC like game, I'll probably just snag these rules and use 'em. Great job, James, you really brought something new to the table with these rules.

--Steve

 

[jdrakeh]

I think it would be cool to release small adventures costing maybe 1 or 2 dollars tops, even a few free ones to show off the great utility of the system.

I did have a free horror adventure planned for Halloween, but I had to put it on the back burner while I playtested a small-press game for review. Hopefully, I'll get it finished up in the next few weeks.

I'm interested if magical items work any differently, and hazards. Maybe I missed that part in the rules?

Magic items, by default, work just as they do in whatever d20 system material you port them over from (although a little cosmetic adjustment may be in order from time to time). For example, a sword from D&D that grants its wielder a Strength bonus grants its wielder the same bonus in Simple 20. Hazards work exactly the same.

 

[jdrakeh]

I'll echo what others have said: the addition of the psychological trauma wound track is brilliant. The next time I run a CoC like game, I'll probably just snag these rules and use 'em. Great job, James, you really brought something new to the table with these rules.

--Steve

Thank you for the compliment, although to be fair, it was really Butch's physical wound track that inspired me -- I was writing up the alternate rules for that in the appendices and I thought "Hmmm.... it would be odd and contradictory to have a physical wound track, but not present a similar option for Composure." So I used what Butch already had in place, modified it slightly by marrying it to the default syst for Composure and. . . voila!

 

[snikle]

I'm thinking of starting a Modern, Call of Cthulu'esque campaign to see how well it works in a non-fantasy setting.
I was wondering what everyone else might be doing with James Hargroves' excellent system?

Yes actually, I am starting up a Victorianesque horror style game here in the next few weeks using simple20. We will be using the online tool called MapTool for the game. If anyone is interested in this game, please contact me, you wouldn't believe the number of people afraid to try something other than d20 D&D....shocking.
I am also considering running the classic Temple of Elemental Evil module but using simple20, as a sort of test of the system in a different genre.

Once Fantasy Grounds 2 Beta comes out, I will be working on a ruleset (ie using simple20 in the game) and that will be released on the FUM site.

For me, simple20 seems to be THE system I had been looking for all these years.

 

[Steel Rat]

A quick perusal of Simple20 brings me to the following:

1) I think keeping Dex as a single attribute is a mistake. For all its life, D&D has lumped Dexterity and Agility into one. This doesn't follow. One can have excellent eye-hand coordination, but not be physically quick. I would suggest a separation of the two, as Deep7 has done with their Red Dwarf XPG.

2) No attribute for physical appearance. I miss the old Comeliness attribute introduced in the 1st Ed Unearthed Arcana. This is another seriously under-represented aspect of RPing. Charisma is always used as both looks AND leadership/charisma, a very critical mistake, IMHO.

3) I DO like that Dex is used to determine hit resolution, instead of STR. STR was never a good choice. It totally disregarded any kind of finesse in combat, you had to be a big brute, or use nothing but missile weapons.

4) I dislike the fact that Simple20 retained the d20 ability modifiers. As a player it's ultimately frustrating to have to wait 4 levels to raise an ability score, only to receive zero benefit unless it was an odd number to begin with. A MAJOR drawback of d20. Start the modifiers at a higher score and make them have meaning each time an ability is raised (e.g. 15=+1, 16=+2, 17=+3, 18=+4, etc).

5) I also dislike the fact that Simple20 seems to adhere to the "you're perfectly healthy until you hit zero HP" philosophy. Another MAJOR drawback of d20. Levels of damage should have cumulative effects to abilities and skills as you take more and more damage.

6) I couldn't find any information about critical hits. Am I to assume it follows d20's standard crit system? If so, an extreme disappointment. Another DEEPLY FLAWED aspect of d20.

I am not really seeing anything that makes me want to use the system, other than the use of Dex for hit resolution.

Steel Rat
RPGMapshare.com

 

[Thanee]

Sounds like you are looking for a more complex not a more simple system.

5) I also dislike the fact that Simple20 seems to adhere to the "you're perfectly healthy until you hit zero HP" philosophy. Another MAJOR drawback of d20. Levels of damage should have cumulative effects to abilities and skills as you take more and more damage.

As a quick sidenote... You might like my house rule then:

If you are below 50% hit points you automatically become fatigued ((only) regaining hit points above 50% will remove the condition), when you go below 25% hit points you automatically become exhausted.

Simple and effective.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Steel Rat]

Sounds like you are looking for a more complex not a more simple system.



As a quick sidenote... You might like my house rule then:

If you are below 50% hit points you automatically become fatigued ((only) regaining hit points above 50% will remove the condition), when you go below 25% hit points you automatically become exhausted.

Simple and effective.

Bye
Thanee

I'm looking for a more logical system, lol.

FYI I just found the Damage and Psychological trackers mentioned, though they don't seem well-explained. Not sure also why they're in a separate PDF.

I still don't think Simple20 is the one for me. I miss the old 1st Ed Weapon cs Armor Type tables which made choosing a specific weapon meaningful. In d20 there is no meaning, except choosing the one with the best damage and/or crit range.

I quite like the Action! System, but publisher support is non-existent, and there are no monster manuals, vehicle manuals, etc for it.

 

[snikle]

SR, I think you are missing part of the point though, it is made with the intention of leaving allot up to the GM, in the idea that removing allot of the buily rules will foster a better game/story/role-playing setting. I am wondering if you want a logical system or a realistic system, because in my view, they are not necessarily the same thing. I think s20 is very logical, and due to the freedom afforded a GM with the rules, the GM would be the deciding factor on how realistic the game is.

1-2) I dont see a need for this, especially in a rules-lite system, the whole point is getting away from pages of rules to describe everything that could happen.
3) One of the things I liked most about the system.
4) Simple taste I guess, I actually prefer the rule of dropping the stats completely and using isimply the modifiers (ig don't use 15, 16, 17...use +1, +2, +3 instead)
5) Yeah, was going to suggest the Wound Tracker in the Appedices. They are in seperate files because the Appendices are considered to be optional rules.
6) There is no system in place for such a rule, leaving it open to GM judgement. As a GM, if a player does an exceptionally good roll, the GM could easily decide to make a judgement on the severity of the blow. Additionally, you could argue that if you used the Wound Track, the fact that a player could be knocked out (incapacited 26+) with one blow, a critical hit is inherent in the system

One thing, s20 is OGL, so you could easily take what is there that you do like, and add or subtract that which you do not.

 

[snikle]

For all you simple20 people out there, Flynn has just signed up to run some simple20 sci-fi games at iCon, so if you are interested in trying it out (or trying out a VGT), you may want to register (opens on the 15th of Feb) and sign up for one of the games!

 

[jdrakeh]

For all you simple20 people out there, Flynn has just signed up to run some simple20 sci-fi games at iCon, so if you are interested in trying it out (or trying out a VGT), you may want to register (opens on the 15th of Feb) and sign up for one of the games!

A big thanks to Flynn

[Note: I was asked to run a game myself, but my PC is horribly online gaming software without serious glitches. So when I say "thanks" to Flynn, I really mean it -- if it weren't for him, there might not have been a Simple 20 showing for iCon.]