Torg and D20 Modern

[herald]

Voneth


I agree that Deadlands d20 works well, I just like the Torg concept.

I need to get mutaints and masterminds though. It sound great.

 

[Ascending Crane]

IMHO all high lords are Epic level.

But, right now if you wanted to go to print with it, epic levels are right out.

Print? We'd have to secure the rights to it - who knows where they are now? And I happen to be a relatively poor computer drone, so buying them is right out for me!

I agree with you on the Possibility Points, but I would change what they could do for you. After all you get a bonus to your stats every four levels, it could easily get out of hand if you allow people to buy up thier stats with posiblity points.

Not necessary for PP's to be tied to stat raises, or skill raises, for that matter. D20 already offers a way to increase these, through levelling.

But you could beef up what D20M offers and make it very close to what Torg offered.

Base characters are what concern me the most.

I would suggest the d20 modern character types for core earth.

Aylse characters should be like D&D characters, (not sure what kind of editing they would need.

Deadlands has a Mad Scientist type already for D20. That should be a start for what we need for wierd science.

There has been some cyber stuff made for d20 in Dragonstar and a few other sources.

Well, I think we should pick the base of d20 Modern, and stick with it. By that, I mean that in Aysle - players would still pick Fast, Strong, etc etc. It's the flavor, equipment, world laws and feats that would make them Ayslish (or Cyber Papish, etc). Then there's the PrC's for each realm...

Reality shards and storms should be brought over.

Oh yes. That will be quite fun.

Drama Decks do offer some really cool stuff. But I think that a with or without option should be done. I would also say that perhaps the deck should be open ended, and customizable. (not sure how to do that.)

Make the cards available as a .doc file for easy editing.

we should stay in touch. Maybe I should open upa thread in the conversion area. [/B]

Sure. I do think we should keep this thread open until we have some concrete data.

Perhaps the first thing we should find out - where is the license for Torg? Who has it? Are they already doing this...?

AC

 

[herald]

WEG was bought out by a french company called humaniods. Right now all that they are licencing is thier game rules, not game worlds, but they are taking inquiries about thier game worlds.

Check out thier web site.

West End Games

and

contact info

 

[Voneth]

Oh, they finally got a web page?

It was few years ago, I tried to find their web page and didn't find one, so I called them up to get the URL. Their attitude was "We won't deal with a web page, its a waste of time." Sort of funny for a company that put out SF games.

If you have your heart set on becoming a game company and printing up d20 Torg, (I'd advise you NOT to become a game company though) then d20 Modern couldn't hurt.

If you going to just play at home, ... well you know my two suggestions already.

 

[herald]

I don't know if I would want to become a company. But if the collected notes and work could become a product that could be published ethicly and legally, then there is nothing wrong with that.

I have a good idea of the trouble one can get into after reading the listservs of over at http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/d20.html

And I don't think that I would publish anything until all parties interested had signed off on it. (WEG, WOTC, lawyers and any other material from D20 publishers I would use.)

No sense putting out a product that will only get me in hot water.

But publishing seems to be pie in the sky right now. Better to aim for just having fun with the conversion and playing and then go from there.

 

[Ascending Crane]

Indeed, that's my thought, herald.

If the owner of the Torg license were to walk up and offer it to me however, I wouldn't refuse!

 

[herald]

Possiblity point convertion

Hey Ascending Crane,

What if Action Points could be spent to get you hit points back like they ad to your bonus to hit.

Spend one action point to get hit points back

1-7 levels 1d4 hit points

8-14 levels 2d4 hit points

15-20 3d4 hit points

I choose d4 because d6 seemed a little high.

Or perhaps a little AC bonus

1-7 levels 1d6 bonus AC
8-15 levels 2d6 bonus AC
16-20 levels 3d6 bonus AC

 

[Voneth]

"Luck point" systems I know about four so far ...

D20 Deadlands (which came out before Spycraft and d20 Modern)
Basicaly you get some point which can improve your rolls and heal you with a d6.

The GM rewards you the dice when he feels like it. You run out, you are out of luck.

Spycraft
As you get higher in level, the size (shape?) of the dice change. You go from d4 to d10s. They effect rolls, which include a inspiration roll for GM hints and an education roll for when the player has no idea, but his PC might have specialized training. These "action" points also can be traded in for some healing and to activate high level abilities that no one else gets. The psi system in Spycraft runs off feats and skills with the total roll determining how big your effect is. Ice Daggers and a load of Action Dice, yeeeehaw!!!

Your action dice ususaly refresh between games, but the GM also had action dice and he can only get more if he gives you some in mid-game.

Mutants and Masterminds
You get a hero point every odd level, but M&M actualy has two "pushing your luck" systems. Extra Effort allows a PC to do a lot of stuff that usualy is in the realm of action points, such as enhance your attack rolls or you defense score. If you do Extra Effort, you are Exhausted the next round with a penalty to you Dex and Str. You can avoid being Exhausted by spending an Hero Point. Hero Points also do some extra things not covered in Extra Effort, like healing subdual damage. So you actualy have more of an option to decide if you want to be a "lucky" hero, or one who "pushes" himself to fight evil.

Your Hero Points refresh between games, but it is suggested the GM give the PCs a "rest" period if the session runs too long.

d20 Farscape
Every intellgent race has Control points, which are based off their class and then modified by their race (the opposite of hit points in Farscape which are based off your race and modified by your class). If you are a non-mystic type, Control points (and you have quite a few) do most of the standard stuff for luck points. Farscape does go an extra mile by allowing them to be spent to create "vitural" skills where you can suddenly have trained skill. It will be a low rank and be expensive, but it can be done. The result is worth the effort, or it can get PC in hot water. "Wait, I wasn't trying to overload the plasma pistol. Honest!!!" For mystic types, Control fuels your miricles.

Control comes back with rest and mediation.

As for the company thing, I was more thinking that almost every person I bump into who is trying to sell a product or run a business on the side usualy finds out that it's not worth it.

 

[Alzrius]

And here I was, thinking this was a post about implementing Sluggy characters in D20 Modern. Must be young yet...

I thought that too...::sighs::...oh well, back to singing karaoke to Air Supply songs... "I'm all out of love! I'm so lost without you!"

 

[EarthsShadow]

drama deck?

D20 Torg would be cool for many of the same reasons you would want to convert any other aging combined RPG setting/system:

1. It would be easier for new players to learn d20 Torg than the old system. It's like pulling teeth to get my players to try something other than D&D, much less a non-d20 system.

2. Many people, some who posted above, loved the Torg campaign, not the system.

3. While I agree that the Torg system ran very well, it wasn't perfect and could use some improvement. A new version of the system could work even better. And d20 Modern could be used to build it.

4. Homebrew or not, if it's what I'm after, that's what I'll do. It's a hobby for me, after all, and building it is part of the fun.

[/b]

In d20 modern, it would be easier to match an elven warrior with a longsword against a cybernetic agent of the Church Police, even if you threw in magic, psionics, etc. The CR system is by no means perfect, but there was no such system in Torg. (Although I believe there was an article on balancing encounters in an issue of Infiniverse or a later supplement.) And d20 Modern can handle magic, psionics, high tech, super heroes, etc, though it of course needs expanding; it's just a base.

[/b]

I totally agree. That's one reason d20 Torg is a good idea. You could take parts of it, like the drama deck or subplots, or just psionic powers, spells, gadget rules, martial art rules, equipment, yadda yadda yadda, and seamlessly insert them into your D&D, d20 Modern, or Spycraft game.

I have no doubt there are others who love Torg like it is and have no interest in a d20 version of Torg. But making d20 Torg wouldn't hurt them. If someone did it, it would give them new campaign material, something they haven't had for years.

BTW: I wouldn't think of running d20 Torg without the drama deck or subplots... There are a lot of non-d20 things that I would convert. Playing Torg without the drama deck would be like playing D&D without dice...

All of the above IMO coming from a self professed Torg fanboy of course. [/B]

Is the drama deck in Torg similar to the deck used in Shatterzone? By the way, Shatterzone is also a kickbutt game from WEG that failed to the almighty rule of D&D.... IMHO, that is.