t20 minor complaints

[Shard O'Glase]

overall i'm impressed with this book.

i like the equipment chapters, the starship creation stuff, the classes, the 2 new stats etc.

my 2 complaints so far are

1 I'd of prefered a defense bonus based on class, not a huge issue but that's what I'd of liked. And without magical armor/rings of protection etc a few levels in marines on a mid level character with a couple comabt feats and you just won't miss. Not as bad as paladiums you hit on a 5+, but still way too easy to hit.

2. I really wish they'd unsuckified their psionic system by now. Honestly how many editions has it sucked in. (and yes sucks is just my opinion others might adore it) to me its so bad it would of been better not to put it in. I hope they put out a decent system in a supplement or something. Now some of this may be setting based, though with the psionic human race(gov) whoose name I can never remember it wuld seem psionics are a semi important part of the setting and yet it still sucks.

 

[Psion]

1 I'd of prefered a defense bonus based on class, not a huge issue but that's what I'd of liked. And without magical armor/rings of protection etc a few levels in marines on a mid level character with a couple comabt feats and you just won't miss.

You could do that, but if you did, I'd reduce or eliminate the role of armor in AC and allow armor to affect stamina damage.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

like i said not a huge issue. I wouldn't know how to "fix" it since armor provides both DR and AC. If tagets were both hard to hit thanks to class defense bonuses and had DR fights could last for-ever. And unlike star wars its a type of setting where armor use is promoted to some degree, especially when you reach the really high TLs with cooler armor.(though I don't thik they went far enough armor tech wise)

 

[Ranger REG]

How does one determine what kind of Class Defense Bonus should they have and yet retain balance between all of the classes?

I don't mind stacking the armor's equipment bonus to Defense with Class Defense Bonus (a la d20 Modern) but I may considering reducing the T20 AR values slightly.

Then again, I'm kinda waiting for Wizards Legal to release VP/WP System as OGC already.

 

[Chondu]

I see no problem with lower ACs in Trav. This is not DnD where you are going to be fighting toe to toe with the enemy. As soon as a firefight breaks out any traveller with an ounce of sense is going to grab as much cover bonus as he can get. Three quarters cover (+7 AC) makes up for a lot of missing magical bonuses.

 

[Chondu]

On the subject of Psionics, I think some stuff (such as the prestige class) was cut at the last moment and will be covered in a future issue of Travellers' Aide. Check out the Citizens of the Imperium boards for more info : www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/

 

[snak]

One nice thing about D20 is the more modular nature of the rules. If you hate psionics in T20 drop them out and use rules from 3E, Spycraft, D20 Modern, Coc D20. whatever fits better in your game.

Unrelated subject. Chondu is your picture dealy Jamer Coburn as Steiner from Sam Peckinpah's "Cross of Iron?"

 

[Psion]

One nice thing about D20 is the more modular nature of the rules. If you hate psionics in T20 drop them out and use rules from 3E, Spycraft, D20 Modern, Coc D20. whatever fits better in your game.

I was thinking of doing just that. I considered just using the psionic classes for Shadowforce Archer. (N.B.: There are no psionic rules in Spycraft per se.)

That said, the only thing I really dislike about T20 psionics is that compared to the other psionic disciplines, Teleportation is WAY too easy for what it does.

 

[Chondu]

Unrelated subject. Chondu is your picture dealy Jamer Coburn as Steiner from Sam Peckinpah's "Cross of Iron?"

Yup.

 

[Ranger REG]

That said, the only thing I really dislike about T20 psionics is that compared to the other psionic disciplines, Teleportation is WAY too easy for what it does.

Perhaps. I think the power is limited by what your current Teleportation skill rank is at (which is also limited by your initial PSI score).

IOW, if your Teleportation skill rank is 5, no matter how high you rolled, you can only teleport yourself in your birthday suit. How far you can teleport is up to your current PSI that you can expend.

I just started reading that chapter. The impression I get is that this game uses low psionic but can be very powerful. The drawback at this time, without a psionic class (core and/or prestige), you can acquire and improve the spheres' ranks as cross-class skills.

Of course, good luck trying to get the Teleportation sphere. You need to roll to see what kind of psionic affinity toward the five spheres (Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Telekinesis, Awareness, and Teleportation).