Vampires WW to d20

[dekrass]

Has anyone tried to convert Vampire: The Masquerade to the d20 system?
I really like the way vampires are represented, and the setting as a whole, but I'm not fond of the storyteller system. I tried a conversion with little success. The disciplines were especially troublesome.

 

[Green Knight]

Maybe the Clans can be classes? Like D20 Modern classes, but instead of picking a Talent every other level you pick a Discipline power. I dunno. Haven't played Vampire in a long time.

 

[Dyir]

Meh. I did a small conversion of the World of Darkness to d20 Modern that was margenally successful. However, I changed quite a bit of the details and backstory to my own tastes that made it easier. Vampires and werewolves became Monster Classes/Templates (ala Savage Species), while Mages were advanced classes. I pretty much threw the standard disciplines and such out the window and just stuck with standard D&D. It was a fun exercise in game design, but not much came of it.

 

[Catulle]

I think it'd be an exercise doomed to mediocrity at best; by the time you map across class/level system elements, I think you'll end up sacrificing some or all of what makes vampire, well, vampire (as written, rather than as often-played, I don't think it stands up at all well to "kill them/take their stuff") and/or what makes d20 tick.

If it's vampire PCs you're after, that's easily modeled with d20 modern as is. If it's the complex social setting that you're after, I'd suggest ditching the vampires and running it as d20 whatever with secret societies. Not a whole lot need change...

On the other hand, I never thought Call of Cthulhu would take off under the d20 system. So take my comments with a pinch of salt.

Regards,

Barry

 

[Darkness]

I think it'd be an exercise doomed to mediocrity at best; by the time you map across class/level system elements, I think you'll end up sacrificing some or all of what makes vampire, well, vampire

Eh, just use d20 Modern classes, slap on a template and come up with a creative solution for the Disciplines and you're set.

Come to think of it, if you really want to do this with a d20 game, I'd recommend using Mutants & Masterminds. It's probably flexible enough...

 

[Catulle]

Eh, just use d20 Modern classes, slap on a template and come up with a creative solution for the Disciplines and you're set.

I rather thought the major mechanical issue would revolved around humanity and the beast (hence the Cthulhu). Control in vampire tends to decrease, not increase, over time.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

Regards,

Barry

 

[Darkness]

I rather thought the major mechanical issue would revolved around humanity and the beast (hence the Cthulhu). Control in vampire tends to decrease, not increase, over time.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

Humanity? Nah, that's not the hardest part. (Disciplines are hard, assuming you're using a class-/level-based system.)

In a nutshell, you can build it kinda like Alignment (D&D), the Dark Side (SW d20), and/or Sanity (CoC d20). Especially the latter two.

Heck, you can mostly lift it as-is from V:tM. Maybe change the scale from 0-10 to 0-20.

Now, Virtues... You don't have to use Self-Control and Courage; that's what Will saves are for in d20. On the other hand, using them as a modifier to Will saves vs. the appropriate phenomena would be pretty frikkin' cool. (I.e., a Self-Control/Courage score of 2 gives no modifier; 0-1 gives penalties and 3-5 gives bonuses. 'course, the scale might be different from 0-5, in a d20 game.)

Which leaves Conscience. Now, if you use the other two, just use Conscience as well.
Otherwise, just assume a default Conscience for everyone (e.g., +0) and create a feat that gives you a bonus to Conscience rolls.

(In any case, Humanity is a limit to the effective Virtue ratings- just like in V:tM.)

 

[Darkness]

As an aside, someone recently posted a V:tM to M&M conversion in the d20 System Games forum:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58477

I haven't looked at it very closely but maybe you can get some use out of it, or even work together with the guy who wrote it...

 

[Wombat]

Personally I'll be happy when the last Anne Rice-ian vampire is staked or give a one way ticket to Santa Barbara for a walk on the beach.

I find these uber-vampires exceptionally boring.

(definition)

Vampire (vam-pyr): a leech that walks on two legs; to live by killing; necessarily evil; ignoble; good with stake and garlic.

 

[dekrass]

Thanks for the pointers. I'll probably try to use savage species, it's a book I was going to buy anyway. I'm not very familiar with M&M, I intend to use this more in a D&D game with WoD type vampires. I like the style of vampires in the WoD, but the rules set annoys me.
Thanks for the input!