True20 -- Who has tried and it not stuck with it?

[Sigurd]

Great Flavour - bad Crunch

I bought the system and I'm still in a game running it.

I find the sense of genre and setting very successful with the game but the core rules are poor.

I think the authors are blinded by what they already know about D20 and they cannot see the gaps in the system. I found myself constantly pulling from D20 to make the game go. I hate the combat and actual magic resolution. Players, at every level are so fragile and making new characters is very difficult unless you use the premade level plans. Whats the point!

The system needs a serious second edition with a 'clean room' rewrite. No D20 stuff allowed that isn't explained and fairly represented. It is probably a redeemable game if they solicit and truly listen to user response. It is really hard to see the forest for the trees when you are designing a game as a reaction to another game. Thats what the core game feels like - a reaction not a game in its own right.


Sigurd

It has a great selection of settings with obvious taste and experience in the selection but the hardest thing to do (the game mechanics) are not finished or intuitively organized.

 

[Greg K]

I bought the system and I'm still in a game running it.

I find the sense of genre and setting very successful with the game but the core rules are poor.

I think the authors are blinded by what they already know about D20 and they cannot see the gaps in the system. I found myself constantly pulling from D20 to make the game go. I hate the combat and actual magic resolution. Players, at every level are so fragile and making new characters is very difficult unless you use the premade level plans. Whats the point!.

1) What are the gaps you have found?
2) What do you not like about combat? Is it the damage resolution? something else? a combination of factors (and, if so what are they)?

3) What do you not like about the actual magic resolution?

4) What about making a character makes it difficult unless you use premade level plans?

 

[bento]

I guess as the guy on the board saying "I'm a True20 Believer", I should chime in.

Truth be told, I've been DMing a D&D 3.5 game for the past year with only a little True20 action here and there.

So why haven't I coverted my current D&D game over to True20?

First my players have invested a lot of money into WoTC books, and I want them to be happy that they are getting value from their investment. I've spent a hefty chunk of change on 3.5 material myself, and I believe in getting my money's worth. With the recent rush to 4.0, its been even easier to pick up cheap 3.5 books.

Second, I think D&D is played best using D&D rules. Killing monsters for XP and gaining more power is what D&D is about to me, and that's what my players want. Sure we like a little NPC interaction on the side, but it's all about getting the line on the next dungeon to explore. IThanks to True20 I've added some house rules; combo skills (stealth, notice and acrobatics) and action points.

So where does that leave True20 for me? I still like True20 for several reasons:

* It's one of the easiest set of generic rules on the market. It's fairly easy to take 3.5/d20 Modern players and get them up to speed fairly quickly. Can't do that with other generic rulesets like Tri-Stat or GURPS.
* It's the best rules I've found for playing "odder" settings. Most alternate D&D rules (taint, honor, etc.) always feel tacked on. It's much eaiser to integrate such rules into True20 and they feel a part of the game. I've used the rules to run historical horror and asian fantasy games and they felt more "authentic" for the players.
* I believe the designers have done a great job on the rules in how True20 focuses on playing adventures rather than indulging player's power-gaming fantasies. When I play D&D my players are XP accountants, regularly re-counting their tally and pining on the next level to get cool new powers. That's distracting to a GM who's trying to get the players immersed in the setting.
*I really like how players are much LESS limited by True20's options. While there is some customization with 3.5 rules, True20 really opens up the box for players who want to tweak their character to be just what they imagine.

OK, so that's my take on the situation. I'm hoping to run a True20 one-shot game for my current group in 2008 and see how they like it. I'm thinking something like Scooby-Doo meets Urban Arcana.