True20 system questions - not setting related in any way- no controversy here

[JoeGKushner]

Are there any plans by Green Ronin to publish the True d20 system seperately from the Blue Rose setting?

They should do a pocket verson of the rules.

 

[Crothian]

Are there any plans by Green Ronin to publish the True d20 system seperately from the Blue Rose setting?

Not that they have announced, but with the amount of people asking for one I imagine it is just a matter of time.....

 

[Ranger REG]

Are there any plans by Green Ronin to publish the True d20 system seperately from the Blue Rose setting?

Isn't Mutants & Masterminds a True20 product? Granted, it wasn't labeled "Powered by the True20 System," but that doesn't mean it isn't a True20 product.

 

[Pramas]

Isn't Mutants & Masterminds a True20 product? Granted, it wasn't labeled "Powered by the True20 System," but that doesn't mean it isn't a True20 product.

No, Mutants & Masterminds is not a True20 game. Although True20 adopts the damage save from M&M, the latter game is quite different, starting with the fact that it's point based.

As for a stand-alone True20 rulebook, we have no plans for one right now.

 

[Crothian]

Isn't Mutants & Masterminds a True20 product? Granted, it wasn't labeled "Powered by the True20 System," but that doesn't mean it isn't a True20 product.

No it isn't. There are options that are similar like no HP and the toughness save but M&M does not have classes, does not have the same magic system, and uses a poiunt system with levels so even things like gaining feats and attribute bonuses are different. M&M also has 20 be the max for attributes.

 

[takyris]

If you intent to adopt the BR magic system, you are good to go. Considering that you want to interpret a tradition d20 game to BR, I might warn you that spells might give you difficulty.

When you move from the d20 Hit Point pool, to the injury system of BR, things like a 10d6 Fireball won't translate well. Simply put the damage modifier is 1/2 the die type minus 1, times the number of die. So the 10d6 fireball would do something like +20 Damage.

So far so good, but considering that a 10th Level warrior has a Toughness score of +10, you are looking (on an average d20 roll of a 10) at a 10th level warrior to fail their Toughness save by 15, which puts them in the "Dying" category.

I've been trying to make a d20 Modern game that uses the damage save, and I ran into a similar issue. I first used "average result of the roll, rounded up, minus 2" which worked well for 1d6 and 1d8 but not so much for 3d6 or 4d6. The one I'm trying now is "Maximum damage divided by 2, minus the number of dice used." So 3d6=18/2 -3 = +6, and 10d6 = 60/2 -10 = +20 -- and that works out to the same as your system.

That said, my solution is to say that area-effect damage starts at 10, not 15 -- and/or to simply modify the spells so that 10d6 damage is really only something that pops up when it's supposed to kill everyone. The original purpose of the 10d6 damage spells is to clear mooks and hurt people, so even if you dropped the damage to +8, that's a save of 23, so all the mooks are likely gone and the ordinary heroes aren't likely to act casually about that damage. Just like a fireball is supposed to do. You're just translating the theme, not the exact numbers.

 

[Longshadow]

I use variations on the M&M rules for a lot of different things, and I've cannabilizaed materials for play from across the d20 spectrum. What I've found works best for converting dice of damage to a damage bonus is as follows:

(1) Assume that the d6 is the "true" translator of damage. 10d6 = +10, 6d6 = +6, and so on.
(2) Dice types modify by simple addition and subtraction from the total number of dice. d4= -1, d8 = +1, d10 = +2, d12 = +4, d20 = +8.
(3) So, 2d6 = +2, 2d4 = +1, 2d8 = +3, 2d10 = +4, 2d12 = +6, 2d20 = +10, and so on.

Gives me nice, reasonable and usable damage bonuses. It also matches up well with the actual weapon bonuses from the M&M books. Using some sort of multiplier , in my experience, usually winds up with damage bonuses converted that dwarf the already listed ones in the source material, or grossly overpower converted items from particular settings --

"Hahaha! I converted my 11th level Sorcerer over and he just wasted the Hulk and leveled a city block around the sorry bastard in the process! YES! Dance for your new master, little monkeyboys, or feel my wrath! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

 

[Skywalker]

How does M&M handle the invulnerable oppnent, say the Adult red dragon? Hopefully there's a mechanism for it. As an example Spiderman once beat Juggernaut ( a near invulnerable foe) by wearing down his armor as he was not strong enough to punch thru it.

It doesn't in a way that is easy to adopt. In M&M, damage increases with level along with Toughness Save. So a 10th level superhero can have a max Damage of +10 and max Toughness Save of +10.

In BR, like in D&D, damage is based on weapons and tends to range from +0 to +5. Toughness Saves are based on level, like HP and can go through the roof (though it doesn't in any monsters presented in the book).

As such, you either need to bump up damage, reduce toughness or allow smaller hits to at least cause Hurts to wear down the target.

How do the alternate UA using this combat system effect speed and game play? Does it have the same effect making Dragons unbeatable? Does it speed up play at all? I'mgeussing it does not speed it up as all the other 3.5 rules are in use to bog it down.

Pretty much. The UA version is not that good. It is essentially a Fortitude Save, which is lower than Toughness. However, without the grading of wounds and Conviction in BR, the UA version makes for a pretty poor wound system. Death is quite random and large creatures can suffer hundreds of smaller hits and then go down in one shot.

 

[Stone Dog]

As long is this thread is here, no point in starting a new one.

How well/easy would it be to 'port in other setting's into True20 rules? I'm not just talking about critters here, but also side rules. Here is what I am talking about.

I love Eberron. Crave it. The main problem I have is that it is D&D. The sheer amount of love I have for the setting throws how much of the rules (mostly just magic) and mindset (loot=victory etc) I increasingly loathe.

I do have no small admiration for the d20 system though. It works, it is customizable and I can pretty much make it dance for me. However, since I have not seen True20 on the dance floor, I figure I can run this idea past the people who HAVE. these questions are a bit on the vague side I know, but I haven't even SEEN a compy (of course not, they are extinct) COPY of Blue Rose yet. Kind of hard to have good questions when you are fumbling about in the dark like this.

Clerical magic bugs the living hell out of me. What I want out of clerics is turning/rebuking undead, bardic music (inspiring/motivating parables, preaching.. that sort of thing) and some faith based bonuses. The Priest class from Dark Legacies blended a bit with the Piety rules from testament seems just about perfect for what I want, but I just can't seem to track down a copy of the former. How easy would it be to simulate this sort of thing in True20?

Arcane magic is halfway done for me (Black Company magic is the way I want to go for wizards) and I hope that soon enough the other half will click into place (Iron Lore's arcanist sounds about right for a sorcerer). The thing is that True20 seems to be set up with its own magic system in mind and I don't know how well another feat and skill system would mesh with such a thing.

I have bards all set thanks. Carry on.

It seems that Druids can be nicely simulated with plant and animal arcana. No problem there, but I really don't want to lose out on their shape shifting abilities either. Anything in Blue Rose that might help with this?

Artificers are the main problem, but I think leaving them mostly the way they are already and making a set of "artifice" arcana would do fine. I just don't have any idea how such a thing would work as I don't yet have Blue Rose.

This is all pretty much theoretical kitbashing right now anyway. My Eberron game is going just fine at the moment, but slowly building up your houserules can't possibly hurt. Much.

 

[Ranger REG]

No, Mutants & Masterminds is not a True20 game. Although True20 adopts the damage save from M&M, the latter game is quite different, starting with the fact that it's point based.

Between point-based, classless model and the 3-gestalt-classes model, I'd go with former.

FYI, Kenneth Hite gave props to Blue Rose in his "Out of the Box" web column. And what a coincidence, we think alike.

http://www.gamingreport.com/modules...Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=137