That being said: What would you like to see? There hasn't been a huge volume of releases, but those we've seen have largely been GM tools for letting us build our own campaigns.
-DF
They seemed to have focused all their time on money on DnD 4th ed which I have . . . mixed feelings about. Won't go into that right now, it's a huge can of worms, let's get down to the system:
The inclusions of D20 Modern, D20 future, D20 Past, and Urban Arcana can basically net you almost an role-playing game that you want to have that will work within the confines of the d20 system. In other words: if it can work in a system that is based on levels/feats/skills and roughly revolves around humans (or similar-to-humans) doing stuff, then d20 Modern can do it. (For that reason, I don't think superheroes or beyond humans are a good fit for D20, if you want to play those, try BESM d20 or Mutants and Masterminds.)
Want to run a steampunk game? D20 Past has most of the stuff you'll need right there, just add Computer use for those steam-powered typewriter-computers and your off! Want to run Battlestar Galactica? Just apply an FTL Jump Drive to a PL6 Space campaign and away you go!
Just as an example, out of Sheer Boredom, I stated Ghostbusters equipment earlier today. You can do a lot with the system.
Proton Pack:
The Proton pack must be charged, and can hold 50 charges. One round of continious fire, or one blast is one charge. The weapon can be held in continous fire from round to round. The Proton pack has only one button, FIRE, but depending on what it is fired at, there can be different results:
Normal stuff: The proton stream is quite destructive if fired at innert matter. It does 1d8 damage and ignores 5 hardness. Firing in this manner is considered an autofire attack.
Ghosts: With a successfull attack roll, a proton beam can innitiate a grapple check against a ghost, as if the proton beam has a strength of 12. The Ghost can resist with strength or (if it has no strength score) Charisma.
Multiple beams can aid another, adding a +2 Bonus to the attempt per additonal beam. Thus, multiple beams are recommended for taking down large ghosts. Note that size differences do NOT effect the grapple score unless the ghost is gargantuan size or larger (in which case they are immune)
Note that the beams are all positivly charged, and naturally repel each other, so crossing the streams can only be done intentionally by two(or more) Adjacent Characters.
Possessed: When fired at a possesed creature or object, the ghost doing the possessing must roll a charisma check (DC 10) or be forced from the posessed person or object. Increase the DC by 2 per additional beam.
Ghost trap:
A ghost trap is a portable ecto containment grid. Any Ghost caught within 5 feet of the trap must make a Strength (or Charisma Check)DC10 to avoid being trapped. A creature pinned in a grapple automatically fails the check. It has enough size to fit 10 HD worth of ghosts, and can store them for up to 24 hours.
Slime Blower:
This weapon can chuck slime up to 30 feet, (use the rules for a flamethrower) It holds up to 20 "Shots" of slime. There are 2 types of slime, Positivly charged and negativly charged. A significant exposure of one emotion can reverse the 'charge' of slime. In other words, slime is neutral, and can be charged up with either positive or negative emotions.
Positivly charged:
Charged with postive and good emotions like happyness and hope, this slime can be a good influence. When near it's presence, people tend to be more amicable and generally more helpfull, resulting in a +2 cercumstance bonus to diplomacy, and a -2 penalty to intimidate.
If you douse an object with Positive Slime, it becomes an animated object, as per the Menace Manual, but it has an alegince to good.
If you douse a living creature, creatures with an alegince to evil or other negative emotions suffer a -2 moral penalty to all skills and saves. Other people gain a +2 moral bonus to skills and saves.
Negativly charged:
Charged with negative and bad emotions like depression and hopelessness, this slime can be a bad influence. When near it's presence, people tend to be less amicable and generally less helpfull, resulting in a +2 cercumstance bonus to intimidate, and a -2 penalty to diplomacy.
If you douse an object with Negative Slime, it becomes an animated object, as per the Menace Manual, but it has an alegince to Evil.
If you douse a living creature, creatures with an alegince to evil or other negative emotions gain a +2 moral bonus to all skills and saves. Other people have a -2 moral penalty to skills and saves.
Lastly, when positivly charged slime is fired at a ghost (or a posessed object) it reduces their charisma by 2d4 points. Additonal applications past the 1st round further reduces their charisma by 1.
On the downside is that 4E/Saga isn't as general as D20Modern, so you'll eventually need to buy a couple of splatbooks to represent your character concept in the most mechanically accurate (and cool) way.
Not a jab at 4E/SAGA, just an observation: if they make D20Modern more like D&D/Star Wars systems, there'll be more classes simply because you can't fit every needed archetype in one book.
Aaanyhow, I wouldn't go expecting D20Spectaculars anytime soon. TheRealOrion and co's Phoenix system, however, is a good option with a developer who actually listens to feedback.
If you want new content, I'd suggest you look around these forums for player/GM-made stuff. There's quite a bit, and a lot of the regulars here are good at making stuff upon request.
Is d20 Modern dead? Yes. As far as WotC is concerned.
However we the fan community like to think otherwise, and are amazing games necromancers. :P
Yeah, the last thing they released was, as I believe, Dark Matter, and they never update the site anymore. I am kinda surprised it's still up.
Which was what three years ago...
They seemed to have focused all their time on money on DnD 4th ed which I have . . . mixed feelings about. Won't go into that right now, it's a huge can of worms, let's get down to the system:
Same on the mixed feelings of 4th ed and props to Master Vega for his Homebrew Advanced Talent Trees stuff... they work!
To bad with the internet and all that a group of us couldn't rally together under some banner/flagship title company and create several 3rd party original core and supplementary books by e-mailing each other back to workk out the kinks of stating/etcetera... of course, that would probably cause WotC to have a coronary or release the modern stuff updated
Well maybe we should take exemple from these guys and give WotC a heart attack ....
http://dorkswithdice.com/frontierspace/intro
To bad with the internet and all that a group of us couldn't rally together under some banner/flagship title company and create several 3rd party original core and supplementary books by e-mailing each other back to workk out the kinks of stating/etcetera... of course, that would probably cause WotC to have a coronary or release the modern stuff updated
It's harder than it sounds to create a unified document with that kind of collective creative process. Phoenix started that way, but eventually came down to one person doing most of the work (i.e., me).
It's harder than it sounds to create a unified document with that kind of collective creative process. Phoenix started that way, but eventually came down to one person doing most of the work (i.e., me).
True... I run things I create past my D&D group member who has a few books and looks over what I have and gives me feedback... I think it comes down down to if you have local group help you can expand easier on your ideas... and feedback from an internet source sometimes helps if people respond to what you post... well later today i hope to work a little more on everything I have so far..
The books have been out of print for a while. In fact, if there are any books that you want, I'd suggest hunting them down now. It's not like old D&D versions, which are everywhere because there were so many copies made. There's a limited number of Modern books and the print runs weren't all that high. Some kind of archive of the text is really important if we all want to keep playing it.
I should have .pdfs for almost all of the D20 Modern manuals, with the exception of Dark Matter. I could try downloading all the adventures and stuff from the front page later, getting them all together, and PMing a link to interested parties, if y'all think I should.
The pdf trade is something I shouldn't comment on on this forum (ahem...), but if you want to host the materials that are on the Wizards site in anticipation of losing them, I would very much appreciate it and I suspect others would, too!
I'll see what I can get done in the next day or two. Send me a PM if y'all are interested, so I can know who to send the links to.
Awesome ghostbusters gear up there, by the way.
but that being said, there's nothing new for D20 Modern on the horizon (at least not from WOTC).
Still, if you have access to the SRD, there is no setting you can't convert into the D20 Modern rules.
StarWars, Gundam, Super-heroes, zombie apocalypse, GI-Joe, Transformers, TMNT, Pirates of the Carribean, The Magnificent Seven... you name it, the rules are there to make it... sure they need some massaging in some places (d20 Future Mecha/Robot/Starship/Vehicle rules) but nothing a creative GM can't overcome.
I guess what I am saying is, stop complaining the D20 Modern is dead and start posting material to keep it alive. It seems like a more productive use of the message board that WOTC has left us, don't you think?;) :P :D
Not as long as we fans stand united!
The product line is dead in the sense that no more is being made (by Wizards), but that's like calling a book dead because it's out of print. You can still read it any time you like. The problem with the product line being dead is that there aren't new supplements or modules (again, from Wizards), which are a major part of any game line. Designing adventures from scratch, though very rewarding, is often more work than one person wants to take on.
True, but my experience writing Battlestar Galactica d20 taught me that "if you build it, they will come". Once I began work on the setting I found no shortage of folks right here on the boards willing to pitch in.
Dunno, is the m1 Garand "dead"?
Plenty of users & 3rd party vendors keeping it alive
True, but my experience writing Battlestar Galactica d20 taught me that "if you build it, they will come". Once I began work on the setting I found no shortage of folks right here on the boards willing to pitch in.
Oh absolutely! I'm in the same boat (check my sig!). The thing that I'm not really capable of doing with Phoenix, though, is putting out fully-fleshed game modules. I can "publish" my notes from when I run games, but that's about it.
There is the small, but distinct possibility that all the ideas being generated on the board will be, ahem..."borrowed" for the next edition of d20 Modern
There was a while there when the user agreement literally said anything you post becomes property of WotC. I don't know if it still there, but its the reason I don't post my campaign settings and whatnot on the boards anymore.
There was a while there when the user agreement literally said anything you post becomes property of WotC. I don't know if it still there, but its the reason I don't post my campaign settings and whatnot on the boards anymore.
I think that's still true, but when you are talking about a campaign guide for a licensed property like BSG or Pirates of the Carribbean, it doesn't matter... WotC can fight with the license holders over who gets the money and we get to play in the setting for free until they "steal" our ideas and make them "official".
There is the small, but distinct possibility that all the ideas being generated on the board will be, ahem..."borrowed" for the next edition of d20 Modern
I remember that...I had a deja-vu moment when reading furture tech and read the escape pod..I was like I known i saw that on the ofrums with the same stats....
We will get the Hornblower Chaingun (pl7) stats actually published?
I think there are many solutions on the boards that cant get published,
due to the politically correct requirements of corporate publishing.
It wouldnt take long for the lawsuits to roll in from "offended" persons/groups that read the stats for Mage8 McArmor or the McDagger
And not underestimate the litigatious reach of Necro-Americans (&
I said it before and I'll say it again:
Is d20 Modern dead? Yes. As far as WotC is concerned.
The current edition, yeah, just like 3e, Star Wars Revised, etc.
But the concept? The line? Doubt it.
Just remember Star Wars RPG went into a two-year hiatus before Star Wars Saga came out.
Don't ... Rush ... Them.
There was a while there when the user agreement literally said anything you post becomes property of WotC. I don't know if it still there, but its the reason I don't post my campaign settings and whatnot on the boards anymore.
are you clapping because anything you post could become property of WOTC or because narukagami doesn't post his or her ideas anymore?
I was confused for a while there.
I'm not suggesting posting original campaign settings...
thats just working for WOTC for free...
if you are going to work for them you should get paid...
i did.;) :P :D
On submitted campaign work: It would be really awesome to see Wizards have a contest for a d20 Modern world, similar to how Eberron was born. I doubt it would ever happen, but I can dream, can't I?
I prefer Modern being a generic toolkit, personally. It allows all of us to play any type of game we want easily.
It allows all of us to play any type of game we want easily.
like Bunnies & Burrows... Toon!
Bunnies & Burrows
Anyone who doesn't take this game seriously has never seen Watership Down.
d20 Modern Hares & Holes
I've already got 7 feats in mind, not to mention the opportunity to put together a WORKING system for Mecha and SoilShip combat.... rabits can use plutonium, right?
Your one stop shopping solution for all your FN Five-seveN needs!
win /thread
d20 Modern: Duck Hunt edition
Or did the cord on his DuckChucks break?
Is that dog doing a TWF with Ducks?
Or did the cord on his DuckChucks break?
BOTH!:D
What is the PDC for smith installing a Bayonet Lug on a duck?
He is gonna have to put one of them down so he can fix bayonet.
What is the PDC for smith installing a Bayonet Lug on a duck?
I thought that was the reason why we have you here?
He is gonna have to put one of them down so he can fix bayonet.
What is the PDC for smith installing a Bayonet Lug on a duck?
I'm so using that in my next game. :P
As long as it doesn't become a "core" setting that will encompass ALL of Modern, it'd be neat. If its a supplemental book like Urban Arcana, then I'd be all for it.
I prefer Modern being a generic toolkit, personally. It allows all of us to play any type of game we want easily.
I'm really surprised that WotC never put out a Modern Forgotten Realms setting... I mean Urban Arcan bringing fantasy to the modern world is cool, but I think it would have been just as cool to see a fantasy world that had become modern. I mean they had darn near the whole planet mapped out anyway with Kara-Tur, Al-Quadim, and Maztica.
Why can't there just be a plain modern setting with cops, robbers, corporate espionage, regional conflict, community events and personalities, etc? It doesn't need fantasy elements such as magic or non-human "races" to be exciting.
the most exciting game i ran had the players be either scientist or security for black mesa...but before that was the time the i did a die hard type game.
Why can't there just be a plain modern setting with cops, robbers, corporate espionage, regional conflict, community events and personalities, etc? It doesn't need fantasy elements such as magic or non-human "races" to be exciting.
Amen to that.
I actually run very, very, very few (read: one) modern games that feature any sort of "Fantasy" elements.
It doesn't need fantasy elements such as magic or non-human "races" to be exciting
so you arent gonna have Lawyers in your campaign?
Sometimes the guys committing atrocities are not demons or aliens,
sometimes they are just... jerks.
They are a sickness, but fortunately Dr JMBrowning has developed the cure
-
Either that it made the system more accessible to D&D players (who were acquainted with d20 at the time).
Or
The writers mostly had previous experience with D&D and wanted to use some past material to fill up the book.
-
Thankfully, I think the next iteration doesn't have to "suffer" from either of those.
so you arent gonna have Lawyers in your campaign?
Which if he does and going from the core Modern book will be run by an Illithid... did I spell that right... who will have his high profile case lawyers be mind slaves or something...
Why can't there just be a plain modern setting with cops, robbers, corporate espionage, regional conflict, community events and personalities, etc? It doesn't need fantasy elements such as magic or non-human "races" to be exciting.
I don't think WotC would put out a game setting without fantasy (or sci-fi) elements simply because it cuts out 2/3rds of your options for the Modern rule-set.
Not that I'm against it. I'm just as surprised that they never made a G.I. Joe sourcebook as I am about Forgotten Realms (considering that Hasbro owns both WotC and G.I. Joe)...
the creatures / monsters section would be pretty vaccuous.
There is no need for creatures.
D&D can run whole campaigns with just NPC human classes. If you spawn a PC party in human lands that have pacified / domesticated the far reaching surrounding area, you can have a swashbuckling good time without elves or orcs wanting to get special treatment. How many orcs did Robin Hood slay?
Odysseus killed a bunch of freakazoids, but Sparticus didnt have to deal with the inhumans.
Compare the number of modern Ahnuld/Rambo/Borne/Bond/ and dare I say Mr Chuck Norris movies that had no monsters, to the number that did.
Just write down the 5 key plot points to The Pellican Brief, The Net, DavinciCode, NationalTreasure, and a random Bond film ... shuffle them all and deal 10 to base a 4-5 level extended side quest with no monsters, just NPC jerks that need a good killin
You can play Elfs like
Birkenstock Song & Dance human stereotype
Splintercell Sneaky Stabby human stereotype
Snooty ZhaZha Egophant human stereotype
TWF Death Goddes (River Tam) human sterotype
etc
Is Krup the Halforc doing his halforc thing,
or is he just a knockoff of the Conan/Mongo human stererotype?
Is Flith the Elf being elfy or just incarnating a human stereotype when she says 'Oh Dahling, its simply fabulous'
Tell me SSG Appone wasnt being a total dwarf with his infamous "Dont touch nuthin" line. Or are dwarfs just knocking off the Apone char.
Seems to me, the D&D race sterotypes are fairly well represented in the heist crew in Resivoir Dogs.... despite them all being human
If so you can be shure the next game to come out will be a 4E type Superhero game with mechanics to cover guns, car chases, etc... I just don't see Wotc doing a new «Generic Modern» game again...
4e already has rules for ranged weapons like Bows (& Guns).
When you look system mechanicly at a double barrel shotgun vs a crossbow... load - aim&shoot, load - aim&shoot, load - aim&shoot etc
As for the speed of a semiauto,
a 1st level guy in Modern can get 1 shot out a semi per 6seconds, just as fast as a longbow
but with feats like ManyShot or DoubleShot you can get more from your ranged weapon (bow or gun).
Only real difference is a Shortbow does 1d6 damage while a ShortRifle does 2d8
Just add a 100gp ShortRifle and you are ready to rock & roll Foury Style.
Strong Hero -> The Bear
Fast Hero -> The Cat
Tough Hero -> The Cockroach
Smart Hero -> The Chimpanzee
Dedicated Hero -> The Owl
Charismatic Hero -> The Puppy
A lot of people complain that "Strong Hero" or "Smart Hero" are bland for class names. So, in the next edition of d20 Modern, why not name the classes after animals?
Strong Hero -> The Bear
Fast Hero -> The Cat
Tough Hero -> The Cockroach
Smart Hero -> The Chimpanzee
Dedicated Hero -> The Owl
Charismatic Hero -> The Puppy
I think Dolphin would be a better fit for Smart Hero. And I can see this can be real fun if you're playing Moreaus.
Strong Hero -> The Schwarzenegger
Fast Hero -> The Chan
Tough Hero -> The Willis
Smart Hero -> The Dean Anderson
Dedicated Hero -> The Freeman
Charismatic Hero -> The Cruise
I'll say this though: I really don't mind the names as is
.If owls were so wise, they would shut the heck up in the middle of the night
I cant help but notice that list of folks is just a bunch of actors.
Schwartzenager is not that super stong, sure hes big, but its not like he competed in olympic weight lifting. Mr Anderson can portray a smart character, but he also plays a guy that dont understand 80% of what his smart teammate says and needs it dumbed down.... he is an actor using charisma. Freeman was hardly dedicated to the cause when he went rogue in Wanted, because he too is just a charismatic actor.
Conan was the strong, not Ahnuld.
McG was the smart, not Mr Anderson
The Hero Hero. And I really hope the next version of d20 Modern doesn't use the Star Wars SAGA or Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition rules.
It'll use one of the two. Seeing as how D20 Modern was a subset/generalization of 3E, there's the possibility of the same thing happening with D20 Modern v2, only with 4E rules.
:\
If we could come up with descriptive terms that aren't just the name of one of the attributes, like the Tough Hero, that would be better. But I don't have a better idea so I'm kinda just ******* and moaning for no good reason.
I never minded the names. Heck, i'd play a class called the **** Thrower if it was mechanically balanced :D.