d20 modern first timer

[sambouchah]

I've finally convinced my 3.5 group to play a d20 modern game. So I'm game master/narrator/DM/whatever. I don't know where to start. I picked up Apocalypse and the core book along with a pdf of a polyhedral mag(151 I think, Thunderball) And Urban Arcana and Menace manual. I want it to be vampire/zombie(haven't decided) outbreak or something like that. Any advice for teaching them the basics and stuff would also be very useful.

Thanks so much, Sam:smallbiggrin:

[zorenathres]

thankfully, D20 modern is (IMO) much simpler than 3.5 for players, crunch-wise characters have a lot less to work with, so you wont be spending hours poring over books. As the core game mechanic is the same, anyone who has played 3.5 will easily make the transition, as the only real changes are in terms, as the crunch is largely the same as well.

As a DM, I keep spreadsheets/ records of all my players characters, & comparing D&D 3.5 characters (with their many magic items, abilities, & other tidbits can become a wall of text, especially for detailed homebrew classes & such) to D20, they are usually a paragraph or two equivalent on the spreadsheet. A lot less record keeping for me, & not to mention, many players have an easier time identifying with the "modern" world over fantasy, & they can better conceptualize the scope of the setting.

EDIT: Sorry, forgot bout the Apocalypse thing, as for a starting point, I have run several zombie D20 games (I prefer them over vampires, which have been glossed over way too much recently, whereas I more like the vampires akin to the feral 30 days of night type), & you want to keep things moving.

Make sure to decide when your campaign is starting & stick with it, if you begin at the onset of the outbreak it makes for a much different game than say 6 months, or more than a year following a zombie outbreak. At the initial outbreak, the goal is often "escape the infected area while struggling with other survivors in full panic mode", where the 6months to a year later is either "nomads roaming/ scavenging the wasteland", or the "fortify a defensible position while fighting off bandits & the growing mob of zombies".

[Togath]

I have to admit, I always have trouble understanding the idea of a zombie setting, given that realistically speaking, a zombie outbreak would fail quickly for several reasons(such as people being smart enough to stay away while the zombies are obliterated, or even just things such as animals or weather eating/destroying the zombies).

Vampire might work, if you(as Zoren mentioned), if you went with more feral ones, or went the complete opposite direction and went for Nosferatu style ones(though Nosferatu ones would be more of an image gimmick)

[Berenger]

I've played a zombie play-by-post game that goes on since ~2 years (ingame, just three weeks passed), startig with the outbreak. There is a little problem with zombie campaigns: without evolving / specialized video game zombies, combat can become rather dull over time. You will need human antagonists after a while (rogue army units, post apocalypse marauders etc.) to spice things up.

If you are not deadset on a full-scale zombie apocalypse, an adventure involving zombies (virus-type, necromancy-type or both) can be part of an Urban Arcana campaign. Did I mention i LOVE Urban Arcana? It's great. Unless I'm mistaken, there is an mafia/zombies adventure seed somewhere in the UA book.

Oh, and my group insisted that we need to shoot zombies in the head.


Head Shot House Rule
- attack roll takes a penalty of 4
- a crit is automatically threatened
- roll to confirm crit is needed (apply penalty)

I think with a penalty of... perhaps 6 (?) this could also work to stake vampires. Instead of waiting for an nat20. Obviously, this rule overrides the "critical hits don't apply to undead" rule.

[Togath]

Aye, necromancy fueled ones would work a bit better, "its [evil] magic"would help reduce or negate decay, and help keep animals away.. now I sort of wonder why magic fueled zombie are so uncommon in modern settings:smallconfused:

[Beleriphon]

I've finally convinced my 3.5 group to play a d20 modern game. So I'm game master/narrator/DM/whatever. I don't know where to start. I picked up Apocalypse and the core book along with a pdf of a polyhedral mag(151 I think, Thunderball) And Urban Arcana and Menace manual. I want it to be vampire/zombie(haven't decided) outbreak or something like that. Any advice for teaching them the basics and stuff would also be very useful.

Thanks so much, Sam:smallbiggrin:

3.5 and d20 Modern aren't all that different, that being said d20 Modern share more in common with 3E rather than 3.5E as far skills go so look out for that. Otherwise familiarize yourself with the massive damage rules. They are what make guns actually dangerous.

If you're looking at doing a zombie type of thing then my big suggestion is to decide what books you want to use. I'd recommend for a Dawn of the Dead kind of scenario limit yourself to the core rules and none of the setting suggestions in the back of the book.

[zorenathres]

I have to admit, I always have trouble understanding the idea of a zombie setting, given that realistically speaking, a zombie outbreak would fail quickly for several reasons(such as people being smart enough to stay away while the zombies are obliterated, or even just things such as animals or weather eating/destroying the zombies).


well, not that zombie scenario's are realistic or anything, but I do prefer the Resident Evil way of things when doing a zombie game (they are more akin to regenerative aberrations than undead zombies, & mutate, evolve, & adapt to their environment, allowing you to make all sorts of nasty things crawling around in the ruins of the world, not rotting away like Romero zombies). Romero zombies aren't scary at all for my players, however, the mutated recurring zombies that dont die unless decapitated or burned are much more challenging & make the players more paranoid.

[sambouchah]

I have to admit, I always have trouble understanding the idea of a zombie setting, given that realistically speaking, a zombie outbreak would fail quickly for several reasons(such as people being smart enough to stay away while the zombies are obliterated, or even just things such as animals or weather eating/destroying the zombies).

Vampire might work, if you(as Zoren mentioned), if you went with more feral ones, or went the complete opposite direction and went for Nosferatu style ones(though Nosferatu ones would be more of an image gimmick)

Are vampires in the Menace Manual? I haven't had a chance to thumb through

[hamishspence]

I thought they were in the main D20 Modern book?

[Jeraa]

I thought they were in the main D20 Modern book?

Vampires are in the main rulebook, page 261.

[Beleriphon]

Vampires are in the main rulebook, page 261.

And zombies are shortly there after. The Menace Manual focuses a large part of its contents on cryptids (Sasquatch, Mongolian deathworms, etc) and organizations. I just reread a good portion of it and the organization content is fantastic. Read that for sure if you're aiming for a Resident Evil thing using the existing organizations in place of Umbrella Corp is probably a good place to start.