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Why Convert to d20?
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<blockquote data-quote="Petrosian" data-source="post: 648492" data-attributes="member: 1149"><p>first off, i do not count myself amoung the "everything should convert" crowd.</p><p></p><p>i tend to agree with the basic cases defined in the original post.however i will add just a few more.</p><p></p><p>1. better for novices. </p><p></p><p>1a. With the main rules in the online for free SRDs, pretty much anyone can get into a d20 game with a reasonable rules grasp (adjustments for campaign specific and genre specific notwithstanding) for no investment. This means they can reasonably TRY the game before spending money. A player cannot effectively do that with say HERO or Vampire.</p><p></p><p>1b. The system mechanics are straightforward and directly intuitive with little 'systemisms" getting in the newbie way. ROLL+STAT+Skill to beat a Dc is the most readily absorbed resolution system by new players in my experience. it definitely beats the divide this by 5 and pay this at 2 for +1 and this is +1 too but costs 5 etc we see in HERO. Dice Pools (vampire) are as simple to grasp but the probabilities can be harder to understand and predict, particularly if not only the size of pool but also the difficulty vary by circumstance.</p><p></p><p>The above combine to get the newbie quickly beyond the system and into the play, without a lot of work on their part.</p><p></p><p>2. Easier on the GM. This is pretty much one item but it covers a lot. There is a substantial focus in the various d20s (Fantasy, modern and MnM) towards making the game play the way you play. measurements are in 5' increments which is a whole lot better than "inches" where "inches" means "2 meters". With everything based on 1d20 for success/failure, it is easy for even a non-math major to figure out that +1 is 1 more in 20, whereas a 3d6 roll gives a +1 a variable amount, from maybe 5% to as much as 12.5% and so on. The subdivision of abilities into four basic categories: characteristics, skills, feats and other gives plenty of differentiation without too much overlap. Finally, we now have 3 different damage systems, each with its own strengths and weaknesses developed for this basic core system (HP, VP, and the damage save) allowing the Gm a whole lot of choice and control over damage and how his system feels. The additional elemnts of diaing the right level for MD makes the HP method even more robust and flexible.</p><p></p><p>these tools to me have been VERy user friendly as a GM and even though i was in the process of developing my own fantasy system, after seeing MnM I am almost certainly dropping that for a d20esque system with customizations.</p><p></p><p>D20 is at its core a very simple and modular system, with varying levels of complexity and specificity detailed in its various supported products. It is to me the most USER FRIENDLY system on the market right now.</p><p></p><p>I think many a game can do worse than buying into that user friendly structure.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand... non-games... like HERO... who have a system but no game... cannot benefit much at all. they are marketting their process and as such cannot seriously benefit from another process version.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Petrosian, post: 648492, member: 1149"] first off, i do not count myself amoung the "everything should convert" crowd. i tend to agree with the basic cases defined in the original post.however i will add just a few more. 1. better for novices. 1a. With the main rules in the online for free SRDs, pretty much anyone can get into a d20 game with a reasonable rules grasp (adjustments for campaign specific and genre specific notwithstanding) for no investment. This means they can reasonably TRY the game before spending money. A player cannot effectively do that with say HERO or Vampire. 1b. The system mechanics are straightforward and directly intuitive with little 'systemisms" getting in the newbie way. ROLL+STAT+Skill to beat a Dc is the most readily absorbed resolution system by new players in my experience. it definitely beats the divide this by 5 and pay this at 2 for +1 and this is +1 too but costs 5 etc we see in HERO. Dice Pools (vampire) are as simple to grasp but the probabilities can be harder to understand and predict, particularly if not only the size of pool but also the difficulty vary by circumstance. The above combine to get the newbie quickly beyond the system and into the play, without a lot of work on their part. 2. Easier on the GM. This is pretty much one item but it covers a lot. There is a substantial focus in the various d20s (Fantasy, modern and MnM) towards making the game play the way you play. measurements are in 5' increments which is a whole lot better than "inches" where "inches" means "2 meters". With everything based on 1d20 for success/failure, it is easy for even a non-math major to figure out that +1 is 1 more in 20, whereas a 3d6 roll gives a +1 a variable amount, from maybe 5% to as much as 12.5% and so on. The subdivision of abilities into four basic categories: characteristics, skills, feats and other gives plenty of differentiation without too much overlap. Finally, we now have 3 different damage systems, each with its own strengths and weaknesses developed for this basic core system (HP, VP, and the damage save) allowing the Gm a whole lot of choice and control over damage and how his system feels. The additional elemnts of diaing the right level for MD makes the HP method even more robust and flexible. these tools to me have been VERy user friendly as a GM and even though i was in the process of developing my own fantasy system, after seeing MnM I am almost certainly dropping that for a d20esque system with customizations. D20 is at its core a very simple and modular system, with varying levels of complexity and specificity detailed in its various supported products. It is to me the most USER FRIENDLY system on the market right now. I think many a game can do worse than buying into that user friendly structure. On the other hand... non-games... like HERO... who have a system but no game... cannot benefit much at all. they are marketting their process and as such cannot seriously benefit from another process version. [/QUOTE]
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