Why I'm sticking with d20 Modern (instead of Spycraft 2.0)

[Roudi]

I'd gladly use d20 Modern's unarmed combat system... as long as I also had a copy of Blood & Fists nearby. I might also consider tweaking or using a different nonlethal damage system... but in most cases, if I have a character intent on making use of unarmed attacks, they aren't going to try and rely on nonlethal damage.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I honestly can't imagine running any d20-based game without having a copy of Spycraft 2.0 on-hand, now that I have it.

I much prefer the skill system from SC2, but far, far more importantly, the NPC system is FASTER THAN GUESTIMATION.

Just take a minute to mull that over in your mind.

A reasonably balanced stat block for an NPC faster than you can make one up on the fly and fudge to taste.

Those, what, ten pages about NPC creation? Those are Core Rulebook 4 for D&D, Core Rulebook 2 for d20 Modern, OGL Conan, Arcana Evolved, whatever.

If the Spycraft book contained nothing else, it would be worth every cent. But the classes are nicely portable, the skill system is a blast, the action dice are hugely enjoyable, the mission structure is an immeasurable upgrade to the campaign model from dungeon crawling, and the dramatic conflict rules provide a great look at how to handle non-combat with interesting rules.

With all that said, I'd rather play d20 Modern with all those Spycraft elements bolted on to mostly standardized generic classes, feats and 2dx firearms. And Blood & Fists martial arts rules, of course.

 

[Committed Hero]

With all that said, I'd rather play d20 Modern with all those Spycraft elements bolted on to mostly standardized generic classes, feats and 2dx firearms. And Blood & Fists martial arts rules, of course.

That's what I plan.

 

[Denaes]

I honestly can't imagine running any d20-based game without having a copy of Spycraft 2.0 on-hand, now that I have it.

I much prefer the skill system from SC2, but far, far more importantly, the NPC system is FASTER THAN GUESTIMATION.

Just take a minute to mull that over in your mind.

A reasonably balanced stat block for an NPC faster than you can make one up on the fly and fudge to taste.

Those, what, ten pages about NPC creation? Those are Core Rulebook 4 for D&D, Core Rulebook 2 for d20 Modern, OGL Conan, Arcana Evolved, whatever.

What I like a little bit better than the NPC creation is the fact that the Mission Guidelines work out perfectly into a quick 'n dirty checklist for any system and experience.

There isn't any reason (that I can see yet, aside from taste) that you couldn't just drop the whole CR thing in D&D and replace it with the objectives and NPCs from Spycraft 2.0.

I swear, someone could really expand that one chapter for GCs and make an OGL book with creatures for use and experience for d20/OGL games.

 

[Kanegrundar]

That's what I plan.

Same here. There are plenty of rules that I'm porting over to Modern from SC2, but still keep the overal framework of Modern because I like it more.

I'm finding that with all the switching and porting around that I'm doing (use this from book 1, that from book 2, and bits from books 3-10) I ought to just write my own D20 Modern house system! That way at least I have it all in one tome instead of many tomes.

Kane

 

[Denaes]

Same here. There are plenty of rules that I'm porting over to Modern from SC2, but still keep the overal framework of Modern because I like it more.

I'm finding that with all the switching and porting around that I'm doing (use this from book 1, that from book 2, and bits from books 3-10) I ought to just write my own D20 Modern house system! That way at least I have it all in one tome instead of many tomes.

Kane

I thought about the same exact thing... just making my own OGL RPG made up of my favorite parts of different RPGs. Just for myself/my group and toss it online as a free download or something.

Unfortunately since SC2.0 came out, it's practically 95% SC2.0 and I wouldn't really gain anything by retyping the whole book

 

[Henry]

I much prefer the skill system from SC2, but far, far more importantly, the NPC system is FASTER THAN GUESTIMATION.

Just take a minute to mull that over in your mind.

A reasonably balanced stat block for an NPC faster than you can make one up on the fly and fudge to taste.

You have my attention. You possibly have S'mon's, Akrasia's, and several others, as well.

Thanks to the various posters here, this has gone in the past three weeks from being second-to-last publication I get when I make my next gaming purchase, to FIRST publication to get.

 

[BaldHero]

Yeah, the npc creation system is really, really sweet. Not only is it simple, but the examples given in the book are for almost everything you could need for a modern game. Most of the work is already done for you. it reminds me of the prestatted npc groups from Alternity, with varying levels of skill already factored in. You cant even imagine how fast it works when your group decides to chase down some red herring, or pull somes tunt you didnt expect and you need thugs, bikers, or the fbi all of a sudden. And it has been well balanced in our game so far.
Im really expecting to get a ton of use out of this book. much more than i did out of the first version for sure.

 

[philreed]

You have my attention. You possibly have S'mon's, Akrasia's, and several others, as well.

Thanks to the various posters here, this has gone in the past three weeks from being second-to-last publication I get when I make my next gaming purchase, to FIRST publication to get.

Didn't I already say the game is awesome.

Seriously, there's a lot of good stuff packed inside the book. I think you'll be very happy.

 

[Morgenstern]

Yeah, the npc creation system is really, really sweet. Not only is it simple, but the examples given in the book are for almost everything you could need for a modern game.

We are working on posting a second wave of handy pre-built NPCs as a .pdf at the AEG website sometime in the next week or so. The author who put together the first batch has been practicing his craft, so I hope we'll see some neat stuff.

The part that really makes me happy is that NPCs scale. One stat-block gives you wimpy, sensible, or dang tough opponents, and it does it at all levels from 1-20 .