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<blockquote data-quote="Guest 6801328" data-source="post: 7888231">There are lots of specific mechanical differences, of course, but I think what you're asking is &quot;what's the difference such that you don't want to play a 2d20 game?&quot;For my part, the answer isn't that (or isn't just that) the 2d20 system is itself worse than d20, but that I'm almost always dissatisfied when a generic system is ported to a specific setting.&nbsp; For example, I really do enjoy playing D&amp;D, but when the 5e system is ported to an established setting, one that comes packed with expectations....Star Wars, Middle Earth, Old West, Pirates, Lovecraftian horror, etc....I've never much liked the result.I think (to dive down into this) the problem is that every system of game mechanics is only the very roughest approximation of a reality.&nbsp; It's highly &quot;lossy&quot;, to use a data compression term.&nbsp; And the designers have to make a decision about what bits of reality are thrown away, and which are emphasized. And also which bits of unreality are emphasized.&nbsp; And when you map those decisions to another setting, the fit is usually poor.I do suspect that I'm in a tiny minority with this stance. And I also recognize that designing and playtesting a new system is a LOT more work than just porting an existing one. Just stating my position.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Guest 6801328, post: 7888231"] There are lots of specific mechanical differences, of course, but I think what you're asking is "what's the difference such that you don't want to play a 2d20 game?" For my part, the answer isn't that (or isn't [I]just[/I] that) the 2d20 system is itself worse than d20, but that I'm almost always dissatisfied when a generic system is ported to a specific setting. For example, I really do enjoy playing D&D, but when the 5e system is ported to an established setting, one that comes packed with expectations....Star Wars, Middle Earth, Old West, Pirates, Lovecraftian horror, etc....I've never much liked the result. I think (to dive down into this) the problem is that every system of game mechanics is only the very roughest approximation of a reality. It's highly "lossy", to use a data compression term. And the designers have to make a decision about what bits of reality are thrown away, and which are emphasized. And also which bits of [I]un[/I]reality are emphasized. And when you map those decisions to another setting, the fit is usually poor. I do suspect that I'm in a tiny minority with this stance. And I also recognize that designing and playtesting a new system is a LOT more work than just porting an existing one. Just stating my position. [/QUOTE]

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