all d20 into one game

[zoraker]

well i know this has been spoken bout before, but i plan to take everything in the d20 system from every game (making homebrew adjustments for balance) and put it into one campainge, games included are mutants and masterminds, d20 modern, d20 starwars, dnd 3.5/pathfinder, third party publishings and alot of my own homebrew rules for stuff like(pokeballs, onitrix like divices) and much more, my questions are:

what are you thorts ?
would you play if you were one of my players ?
and what would you play ?

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

I'd be a Jedi, like my father before me. :D

The best way to pull this off is via a massive cross-continuity crossover. Basically, your setting needs a multiverse and some way to cross between dimensions.

You might even elevate the concept and make intellectual property violations one of the resources players have to manage. When you run out of luck/fate/action/inspiration points you can continue to spend them, but each time you do you have to roll on a cease-and-desist table to see what longer-term penalties your character suffers. The Big Bad would be a mouse with an army of lawyers who aims to conquer the multiverse, obviously.

I think that a more rules-lite system like Risus or FATE would be better-suited to handling this. Less stress on the GM because rules-lite tends to be harder to break, and more room for players to do cool things because rules-lite doesn't get in the way of creativity.

[nonsi]

well i know this has been spoken bout before, but i plan to take everything in the d20 system from every game (making homebrew adjustments for balance) and put it into one campainge, games included are mutants and masterminds, d20 modern, d20 starwars, dnd 3.5/pathfinder, third party publishings and alot of my own homebrew rules for stuff like(pokeballs, onitrix like divices) and much more, my questions are:

Having to deal with so much, I don't see how it would be even theoretically possible to balance them all out.

what are you thorts ?

You'd probably end up with a system that makes dozens of Pun-Pun like characters possible and with loopholes galore.

would you play if you were one of my players ?
and what would you play ?

No, because there would be just too much accumulation of materials to deal with.
I'd much rather play in a system where the only thing that guides a player how to build his/her character is the vision of what kind of character they'd want to role, counting on the game system to take care of balance for me.
I realize that there's never total symmetry, but my codex is an example of at least aiming at that direction.

[zoraker]

an interesting choice for the light rules option tho was going to go with the d20 system tho thanks for the option

[infinitetech]

this sounds like what my 3 rpgs im working on are striving towards, though only 1 is d20 based, and 1 is a pc version kinda, but still, im game for anything, and count the mad sciarchanist in, time to give life to my runic steam gundam, mwahhahahahahahaha, oh wait, you wanted me to be lawful good?! oops

[BWR]

My 'thorts':
1. a.If you like supercrossover settings, then fine. If not, it's a recipe for disaster.

1.b. Not all d20 systems are created equal. The first two SW d20 versions are ridiculously underpowered compared to 3.x. Balance issues aside, you'll need to do some serious rules tinkering to get them to work together at all. Do you go with hp or Vitality/Wounds? AC or Defense? What sort of system do you use for firearms? Does SWSE count because you'll need to fix the skill system, combat system, etc. etc.


2. Impossible to answer. I know nothing about your players or you. For all I know you're like some people I've known who get an idea, get fired up about it and run a game for a few sessions then the passion dies and you start something else. Personally, I wouldn't bother but I know several people who put up with that and don't have a problem with it. Maybe you have a lot of passion but absolutely suck at putting something like this together even if you're decent at games with a narrower focus. I'd stay away from this in that case. Still, I know people who play anything no matter how sucky. Maybe you can make anything work in a game, no matter how stupid it looks on paper. I'd play but I know people who are very stuck in their ways and anything that isn't that one particular setting and system played one particular way is not for them, no matter how fun.

3. Without any more information on what sort of setting, plot, how you intend to make the rules work etc. I don't know.

[Eldan]

Is... there a reason to?

I mean, from what I've seen of M&M, you could probably recreate the classes of all the other games in it, with varying degrees of approximation, needless complexity and annoyance.

Also, they work really differently. M&M doesn't even have damage and hit points, as such.

How do you translate a 1d6+20 shortsword attack into a damage rating? How much damage does a weapon have to deal to get past a toughness of 23?

[zoraker]

Thomar: Micky mouse awesome tho i like the heavy rules thing, Frankensteining games is a personal hobby
nonsi: no but there is always flaws in an d20 game and i tend to put uneven encounters so broken characters do help, and yes most R.P.G's have a strait point on the story focus, tho think of the wonders of what story's will evolve when the players start playing, and it wont be just limited to just ground combat or combat in general(unless they feel like being a munchkin), but with my D.M style i make the world around my players and they interact, useauly have at least 5 missions there level and letting them choose, and to come up with there own goals or backgrounds for thier characters so the story is more focused on them for a while as the bigger plot starts evolving(conspiracy to my fave), and the epic levels would be awesome
BWR: to understand, yes systems do not fit together unless you fix the tweaks in the game and thanks to mastermind manual and unearth arcana it is possible to do with guide and little thinking on my part as well, the d20 system(like with tcgs) are easy to Frankenstein realy well because they have similar mechanics in each game because they all work off the same system.
Eldan: yes, because i can

[Grod_The_Giant]

You might be able to frankenstein it, but you'll never be able to balance it. Not without rewriting entire systems' worth of material.

I mean, from what I've seen of M&M, you could probably recreate the classes of all the other games in it, with varying degrees of approximation, needless complexity and annoyance.

It's mostly pretty easy.

Also, they work really differently. M&M doesn't even have damage and hit points, as such.

QFT. M&M is really a completely different game that happens to use the same dice. I'm sure there's a more normal d20 superhero system out there, though.

[Debihuman]

Sandbox games can be a lot of fun, but they are also a lot of work. You have to been aware of balance and fairness when choosing material to add. I'm all for adding 3rd party material but I also have pretty high standards. Not all 3rd party material is going to be up to my standards.

Some material won't work because of tone as well. If you are running a horror campaign, throwing silly monsters at your players will defeat your purpose.

Adding explicit content rules can also make players (note I said PLAYERS) uncomfortable. If your friends aren't comfortable with the material, then let it go. I hate to see friendships end over gaming disputes.

While you don't often mix a yeti and pixie in the same scenario, there's no reason why you couldn't. Can you have a Jedi and 17th-century courtesan in the same party? Theoretically yes. Finding a common ground for them is going to be more difficult. Making sure they have an equally fun time is also going to be a challenge. Notice, it's a challenge not impossible. A good DM can make even the most ridiculous combinations work smoothly. Not all DMs are good. And thanks to the Dunning-Kruger effect, far more incompetent DMs think they're good. Do not make your players unhappy with your choices. If someone hates a particular genre, don't be a jerk and be heavy-handed with it.

Playing D&D should be a combined effort with feedback from players helping to drive the story as well. That doesn't mean that the players have to be protected from the consequences of their choices. In a party I once ran, my brother-in-law wanted to play a boggart and I let him. I also let him suffer the consequences for that choice. People thought he was some kind of blue monkey. One NPC even wanted to add him to a collection of exotic animals (a zoo of sorts). So some elements are easier to incorporate than others.

Do you have a plan? What kind of mash--up were you looking for? I find that different locals can be different genres as well.

Good luck pulling it off.

[zoraker]

basically was putting anything nerdy i could think of into a blender and starting the party small in an urban adventure setting and at higher levels they start exploring they start expanding(like doing open map stories and letting they players choose there own path), for genre depends on missions/adventures

[infinitetech]

one game to look at that sort of has rulesish for this kind of thing would be Human Occupied Land Fill, tho it is almost a jokes its a starting point

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd try looking at a deliberately generic system like GURPS, Fate, or M&M (despite the superhero branding, it works pretty well for most things-- and unlike many systems, I find it works best when players make really dissimilar characters). That way you can have your kitchen sink campaign without having to worry about trying to smoosh together different systems with very different assumptions.

[Extra Anchovies]

one game to look at that sort of has rulesish for this kind of thing would be Human Occupied Land Fill, tho it is almost a jokes its a starting point

Oooh, thanks for mentioning that one! Now that I've taken a look at it, I want to play it now

[infinitetech]

HOLF is super fun and zany, now do i want to play the king, or bubba...

[zoraker]

thanks guys

[necroon]

I currently run a game that is "Open D20" and it's a ton of fun: been ongoing for a few years now. My players are currently around level 14 and gestalted. Most of them are using homebrew material, as well.
I have found it fun and challenging at the same time. I think you definitely need to sit down with your players and make them aware of the setting and help them build a strong concept first for their characters.
It can be difficult to plan for sometimes but I've never had more fun running a game.
I'd recommend trying it and seeing if it works for you: I know it has for me.

I'd like to get a post together containing a basic outline of my game, players, characters, homebrew I've used (to thank the Brewers properly), and setting but I'm not sure what the right forum to post that sort of "reverse world-building" thread would be.

[Knaight]

I'd consider this theoretically workable. I also wouldn't use it - there are vastly better options for eclectic mix settings, starting with just about any half decent generic system.