Torg and D20 Modern

[Ascending Crane]

Re: 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.

*snip*

I plan on unpacking all my Torg stuff this upcoming weekend - so I don't have the book here. But since d20 Modern doesn't use a Vitality/Wound Points type system (BOO!), I think what you propose here is probably the best way to go about it.

Great summary, Voneth! There certainly are a lot of different way to go about this...

 

[Ascending Crane]

Re: drama deck?

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.

It is similar, and some might say improved - but not exactly the same.

 

[Gargoyle]

Hi guys. I was busy the last few days, some of them out of town. Glad to see other Torg fans are busy doing what we're doing.

We've inquired with WEG about a license so that we can bring back Torg to a new generation of players. Other companies have inquired as well. They're currently working out the details of the license and have put us on their list. If we're lucky, and the terms are reasonable,we'll be able to get it, though of course beyond that we can't talk about any negotiations. And I don't want to bring up anybody's hopes. We're a very small company and WEG may not let us do it.

However, whether we'll be able to publish it or not, we're going to develop d20 Torg for our own use, ' cause we just want to play it so badly.

I worked on axioms and contradictions this weekend while I was away. I've put some thought into action points as well, but it's not done yet either. After I work the reality and possibility stuff out, I'll tackle the character creation and then the drama deck. I love this stuff. I guess I can't just post this stuff though (even for free) without violating some of WEG's trademarks and copyrights. I'll have to create a private messageboard on my site or something. If there's a chance they'll give us a license, I don't want to make them mad. (and of course I respect those laws since they protect me too!)

My design philosophy for d20 Torg:

1. Keep the gameplay as much like the original Torg as possible.
2. Try not to conflict with d20 Modern SRD rules, but feel free to build on them.

As far as setting material, I don't feel that continuing the original campaign is the right way to go. Those who want to do so could take the rules and do just that with their old campaign, but my goal is to present a new version of the war to new groups of players while bringing it up to the 21st century, instead of the 90's.

 

[herald]

Keep me posted on that message board.

I would imagine that you would be looking for "beta testers" (hint, hint, hint) after you got the licence worked out. I'm sure you know where to look for that.

I'm glad you would be doing a revamp. I myself had a though on a whole new realm. But I'll wait to tell you about that later.

 

[Gargoyle]

Herald -

I'm a huge, huge HUGE fan of Torg - I still have all the books in my closet.

I'd love to work with you on bringing Torg to d20.

If I get the license and you want to help develop it I'll need playtesters/writers/peer-reviewers. Even if I don't get the license, I'd like to work with others on this. Things develop better when there is a community that provides synergy.

.....

Possibility Points are another matter. I feel that what d20 Modern uses is not as powerful as PP's from Torg. In Torg, they play a much larger part than an occasional bit of 'luck'. I feel that the SpyCraft action dice might be more appropriate, with a bit of tweaking.
.....

I agree. Possibility points are more powerful and used for more things. The solution I think is to just improve the way action points work for possibility rated characters. You could change the extra d6's to a d20, for instance, and allow additional rolls on 10's and 20's. And there are other things you can do to make the Heroes and Villains stand out from the Ords. The hit point example above is a good idea. "Bah, it was merely a flesh wound."

And I'm not sure ords should get action points at all.

 

[Gargoyle]

Keep me posted on that message board.

I would imagine that you would be looking for "beta testers" (hint, hint, hint) after you got the licence worked out. I'm sure you know where to look for that.

I'm glad you would be doing a revamp. I myself had a though on a whole new realm. But I'll wait to tell you about that later.

I'll let you know about the board. It should be online late tonight or tomorrow morning. And yeah, I'll need lots of playtesters/peer-reviewers/hecklers, etc to help.

 

[Ascending Crane]

Sign me up, put my name in a hat, let me be a whipping boy - whatever it takes for me to be involved in that project in whatever capacity. I have a whole box full of Torg books, crying out for a rebirth!

Can you imagine - a hardback Torg book, with slick pages and beautiful artwork..?

... splat books for the realms, done with the same care...? (and, err... an eye for balance (see: Living Land vs. Tharkhold))

... the Reality Storm Rider PrC...? Or maybe playing a Werewolf at level 1? (ok, ok, maybe +1 ECL)

... Having your feats and skills totally change when you transform to another realm...?

Ahhhh, the possibilities....

 

[Gargoyle]

Sign me up, put my name in a hat, let me be a whipping boy - whatever it takes for me to be involved in that project in whatever capacity. I have a whole box full of Torg books, crying out for a rebirth!

Can you imagine - a hardback Torg book, with slick pages and beautiful artwork..?

... splat books for the realms, done with the same care...? (and, err... an eye for balance (see: Living Land vs. Tharkhold))

... the Reality Storm Rider PrC...? Or maybe playing a Werewolf at level 1? (ok, ok, maybe +1 ECL)

... Having your feats and skills totally change when you transform to another realm...?

Ahhhh, the possibilities....

Cut it out, you're making me drool. Believe me, I'm imagining all of that. Especially the balance part. We can avoid the spiral of power that seemed to rocket out of control with the higher tech realms like Space Gods and Tharkold.

The board is set up. I'll send out some e-mails to you and Herald tonight. Anyone else who is interested, e-mail me at james@chainmailbikini.com.

Edit: Actually, I don't see your e-mail address, Ascending Crane. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the instructions as well.

And incidentally, I picture Storm Knights easily starting out as werewolves or other powerful types of characters. The fact is, Storm Knights need to be fairly powerful, even at the beginning of play. Otherwise, it's not really Torg. More on that later though.

 

[Ascending Crane]

I emailed you, James. Thanks!

Incidentally, I am really looking forward to the balance you'll bring to the force (errr, Torg). I once had a transformed Edeinos in the same party as a Space Gods Monitor - and you can imagine the disparity. Thankfully I had some good roleplayers that could overlook that.

And please tell me that the events of the last module were just but a dream. Too many cool and interesting NPC's were reduced to cannon fodder. Very sad.

Bring back the 'Core' NPC's! Dr. Hachi Mara-Two! Thratchen! Kurse! Malcom Kane! (ok, ok - I just have a soft spot in my heart for that whacko)

*sigh* Looking forward to the board, where I can talk endlessly about the joy of Torg.

 

[Gargoyle]

bump.

We're actually making some progress (slow cause of the holiday and other projects, of course). If anyone else is interested in d20 Torg and wants to join the message board, e-mail me.