d20 Systems

[tstewt1921]

Hey all for my next game I'm going to be giving my players options as far as what systems they want to play in. I would prefer non-D&D 3.5/pathfinder the like but I would like to stay in the D20 system. Does anyone have any ideas for other D20 systems, or possibly a non d20 system that is fairly easy to learn and is fun for first time players in the system?

[Luccan]

I like the d20 Modern-based games. My only real issue with them is the wealth system, which you might need to take a look at fixing.

[tstewt1921]

I like the d20 Modern-based games. My only real issue with them is the wealth system, which you might need to take a look at fixing.

One that I was considering was Monte Cook's World of Darkness as an option. I haven't looked into to heavy yet. I'm not sure if that's what your talking about or not, I think there is a d20 modern book itself.

[ColorBlindNinja]

One that I was considering was Monte Cook's World of Darkness as an option. I haven't looked into to heavy yet. I'm not sure if that's what your talking about or not, I think there is a d20 modern book itself.

I made a thread about that system not that long ago. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?578648-How-Good-Is-World-of-Darkness-d20)

The general consensus seemed to be it's awful.

[tstewt1921]

I made a thread about that system not that long ago. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?578648-How-Good-Is-World-of-Darkness-d20)

The general consensus seemed to be it's awful.

There was one opinion that made it look like some of it was blown out of proportion, it still may be worth testing if they want though.

[ColorBlindNinja]

There was one opinion that made it look like some of it was blown out of proportion, it still may be worth testing if they want though.

Having read through the system myself, I'm convinced that the general consensus was correct.

[tstewt1921]

Having read through the system myself, I'm convinced that the general consensus was correct.

Ahhh gotcha, have you tried things like Call of Cthulu or Gamma World?

[ColorBlindNinja]

Ahhh gotcha, have you tried things like Call of Cthulu or Gamma World?

I have played (and greatly enjoyed) d20 Call of Cthulhu. It's a pretty lethal system, though, if the PCs get into combat, they'll probably die.

I haven't played Gamma World.

[tstewt1921]

I have played (and greatly enjoyed) d20 Call of Cthulhu. It's a pretty lethal system, though, if the PCs get into combat, they'll probably die.

I haven't played Gamma World.

That's my biggest concern with the game but also why I want to do it, myself included as we rotate dms, us as players have a, "you aren't going to kill us mindset" and we don't necessarily do stupid stuff but it takes a bit of the fun out of the game if there isn't that sense of losing the character for me atleast.

[ColorBlindNinja]

That's my biggest concern with the game but also why I want to do it, myself included as we rotate dms, us as players have a, "you aren't going to kill us mindset" and we don't necessarily do stupid stuff but it takes a bit of the fun out of the game if there isn't that sense of losing the character for me atleast.

CoC requires a very different mindset from D&D as well.

I've heard people joke it's the only TRPG where players don't want magic items. :smallsmile:

[mabriss lethe]

mutants & masterminds is really portable. it's rather easy to use the engine in other settings

[ColorBlindNinja]

mutants & masterminds is really portable. it's rather easy to use the engine in other settings

I was under the impression it doesn't use class levels. Does that make it incompatible with most d20 games?

[Particle_Man]

For an easy to learn alternative to d20 I like the PDQ (Prose Descriptive Qualities) games like Jaws of the Six Serpents. The players decide their attributes (so instead of str, dex, etc there is “Strong like an ox” or “captain of the city guard”). These attributes are also your hit points and can be reduced in combat or in social situations.

For d20 games I had fun running Iron Heroes.

Both of these are Conanesque games.

[Particle_Man]

I was under the impression it doesn't use class levels. Does that make it incompatible with most d20 games?

It had a gm set power level that acts as a ceiling on powers and attributes. The power level can either be raised by the gm during the game or remain constant (meaning that characters would get more diversity in their abilities rather than sheer power increases).

[ColorBlindNinja]

It had a gm set power level that acts as a ceiling on powers and attributes. The power level can either be raised by the gm during the game or remain constant (meaning that characters would get more diversity in their abilities rather than sheer power increases).

Interesting. How would its power level compare to D&D 3.5's?

[gkathellar]

13th Age is one of my favorites. Very much a combat-as-sport game, it dispenses with battlemats and skill lists in favor of TotM and "backgrounds," and generally supports an ad-hoc approach to out-of-combat magic. Classes are designed to play very differently, and with close attention to how complicated and difficult to play various classes are. The default setting is intensely cool. There's a lot of 4e to it, but with the miniatures wargaming elements mostly stripped out. It's also huge on DM improvisation, so that's gonna put a lot of people off. Also, it loves keying mechanics to the RNG, so ... if you don't like that, you won't like that. But it is a d20 game!

Shadow of the Demon lord is an interesting d20 game that needs more love. It dispenses with large stacking bonuses in favor of "boons" and "banes" - pluses or minuses of 1d6 to rolls. Character customization is low at first level - the whole thing has some old-school DNA - but gets quite diverse as you go along. Note that the whole thing has a horror bent, though, and while you can play around that, you'll have to be aware of doing so.

[zlefin]

Hey all for my next game I'm going to be giving my players options as far as what systems they want to play in. I would prefer non-D&D 3.5/pathfinder the like but I would like to stay in the D20 system. Does anyone have any ideas for other D20 systems, or possibly a non d20 system that is fairly easy to learn and is fun for first time players in the system?

there's a d20 naruto; I know very little about it; from what I've heard it's passably balanced, but beyond that I can't say.

[Particle_Man]

Interesting. How would its power level compare to D&D 3.5's?

Hard to say. Fewer books out but point buy requires a gm to step in sometimes.

[ColorBlindNinja]

there's a d20 naruto; I know very little about it; from what I've heard it's passably balanced, but beyond that I can't say.

It's also over a 1,000 pages long, IIRC. :smalleek:

[tstewt1921]

Hard to say. Fewer books out but point buy requires a gm to step in sometimes.

This game has been mentioned in our group and I believe we have the book for it so I would get to save some money on buying a new book.

[Particle_Man]

Mutants and Masterminds is OGL so you could save all the money. :smallcool:

https://www.d20herosrd.com/

[ColorBlindNinja]

Mutants and Masterminds is OGL so you could save all the money. :smallcool:

https://www.d20herosrd.com/

Is the third edition of Mutants and Masterminds considered to be the best one?

[Particle_Man]

That way lies edition wars! :smalleek:

1st ed is the simplest one.

2nd ed and 3rd ed add some complications in order to gain some tweakabilitiy. 3rd ed allows you to "see under the hood" the most of those, which some will like and others not.

3rd ed also has DC Heroes statted out, in case you wanted to play one of those. That is actually good for those that want to play 3rd ed but prefer not to see under the hood. You want to play a hero, just find one of the DC ones that you like of the allowed power level and go for it!

Those DC books you have to buy though, as they are not OGL.

[ColorBlindNinja]

That way lies edition wars! :smalleek:

1st ed is the simplest one.

2nd ed and 3rd ed add some complications in order to gain some tweakabilitiy. 3rd ed allows you to "see under the hood" the most of those, which some will like and others not.

3rd ed also has DC Heroes statted out, in case you wanted to play one of those. That is actually good for those that want to play 3rd ed but prefer not to see under the hood. You want to play a hero, just find one of the DC ones that you like of the allowed power level and go for it!

Those DC books you have to buy though, as they are not OGL.

I see, thank you for explaining.