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View Full Version : [d20] Merging the SRDs, Spliting content into Modules



Kaihaku
2009-07-17, 09:37 AM
I'm attempting, at the moment, to merge the 3.5 and d20 Modern SRDs into a single document with content split among several easily selectable Modules. This is already done, to a certain extent, with Psionics in 3.5, as well as Arcana and Future in d20 Modern.

One of my gaming circles tends to mash the various SRDs together quite a bit and I figured it was time to make that process a bit easier as well as give us a better means of introducing at least semi-balanced setting specific material.

The end product will, hopefully, look something like this, divided amongst Modules and Submodules.

Core System (Vanilla)
* The Basics
* Race
* Skills
* Feats
* Saving Throws
* Combat
* Death, Dying, and Healing
* Environment and Hazards
* Creatures (Animals only)
* Conditions (Almost all Conditions listed here for ease of reference)
* Special Abilities (Almost all Abilities listed here for ease of reference)
Modules
* Fantasy
o Fantasy Races
o Fantasy Creatures
o Fantasy Equipment
o Submodules
+ Arcane (Classes, spells, etc)
+ Divine (Classes, spells, etc)
* Psionic
o Psionic Races
o Psionic Classes
o Psionic Creatures
o Psionic Equipment
* Modern
o Modern Equipment
* Future
o Future Races
o Future Equipment

The ultimate goal being that all of the SRD Material would actually balance with itself, that a DM could easily select which material was permitted by Module, and that new material could easily be compiled in new Modules. So, in the future, a DM could describe allowed material just by saying, "I'm running a Fantasy campaign but without the Divine submodule and I'm adding in the Steampunk and Oriental Modules."

So...here are the questions...

The interaction between Purchase DC and gold pieces is a pain, as always. Would replacing all of them with Currency Units which can then be converted by the DM into campaign-specific currency such as Rubees, Yen, seashells, Purchase DCs, or what not be worth the effort?
I've heard both argued, which is better, 10 or 20 dollars to the gold piece?
How would you sort overlapping skills? Would it be helpful to assign a Progress Era to all Skills to determine when they become accessible? What Skills are Core, accessible at all times?
This will include some rule tweaks but how significant should they be? Is compatibility more important than balance? What rule tweaks would you recommend for Core?
Should Skills be merged and new Skills added, or should that be left to the DM?
What should be the universal rule? Modern-style Class Bonuses to AC? 3.5-style no Class Bonuses to AC? Unearthed Arcana Class Bonuses to AC and Armor equals DR (firearms suddenly make more sense)?
Equipment is essential in 3.5, it's not quite so important in Modern. Any thoughts on WBL? Leave it to the DM? How do you balance out $200,000 magical suits of armor?
Would it upset anyone terribly if Modern Basic Classes (the 'Heroes') were cut?
Should Core have its own set of base classes or should that be reserved for the Modules?
Got any other generally helpful advice?

PairO'Dice Lost
2009-07-17, 10:28 AM
I haven't actually played Modern, just read over the rules, so keep that in mind:


[LIST]The interaction between Purchase DC and gold pieces is a pain, as always. Would replacing all of them with Currency Units which can then be converted by the DM into campaign-specific currency such as Rubees, Yen, seashells, Purchase DCs, or what not be worth the effort?

That would probably be best; the only issue is that if you can convert gold to CU and CU to a purchase DC, then you can convert gold to a purchase DC, the difficulty of which is the whole problem. If you can manage to do that, you might as well have a direct translation.


I've heard both argued, which is better, 10 or 20 dollars to the gold piece?

I'm not sure if either of those are the best fit. For instance, bread costs 2cp in D&D and about $1-$3 in the real world, so a gold piece, being worth 200cp, works out to just about $2 in terms of commodities trading. Now, with inflation and devaluation of gold in D&D, it might go all the way up to $10, but something between $2 and $5 would probably be more accurate.


How would you sort overlapping skills? Would it be helpful to assign a Progress Era to all Skills to determine when they become accessible? What Skills are Core, accessible at all times?

Should Skills be merged and new Skills added, or should that be left to the DM?

I'd assign skill equivalencies, so Disable Device in D&D might map to Computer Use in Modern, which would both fall under Devices or something. If you invest X ranks in Devices, you have X ranks in Disable Device in D&D or X ranks in Computer Use in Modern. Basically, the Devices skill--"metaskill," if you will--is Core and always available, but how you use it is dependent on the progress era.


This will include some rule tweaks but how significant should they be? Is compatibility more important than balance? What rule tweaks would you recommend for Core?

I don't know any particular tweaks I would do, but compatibility is definitely more important than balance. If two things are compatible but unbalanced, a DM can easily fix it because the systems are more transparent; if they're balanced but incompatible, tweaks of any sort are much harder to make.


What should be the universal rule? Modern-style Class Bonuses to AC? 3.5-style no Class Bonuses to AC? Unearthed Arcana Class Bonuses to AC and Armor equals DR (firearms suddenly make more sense)?

I'd leave D&D the standard; there's much more material for it than for Modern, so adding class bonuses to all D&D stuff would be more difficult than removing them from Modern stuff.


Equipment is essential in 3.5, it's not quite so important in Modern. Any thoughts on WBL? Leave it to the DM? How do you balance out $200,000 magical suits of armor?

What you could probably do is cut down WBL to Modern levels and reduce prices in D&D accordingly, so you can buy the same stuff at the same levels, but purchasing power is roughly equivalent in both.


Would it upset anyone terribly if Modern Basic Classes (the 'Heroes') were cut?

Should Core have its own set of base classes or should that be reserved for the Modules?

Actually, you might want to combine some classes for Core--Rogue and Smart Hero would get some of the same skills-based abilities, Rogue and Fast Hero would get evasion- or speed-based abilities, etc. The base D&D classes could take the Hero abilities as alternate class features, and the Modern classes could get some D&D abilities as talents.

AstralFire
2009-07-17, 10:32 AM
When merging two systems together, you will always be better served by working out individual rulings and using wise ad hocs than you will by attempting to make a blanket conversion. This is especially true with money.