Re: [DL] D20 ? OTish

[balance@tubas.net]

On Sunday, March 3, 2002, at 05:38  PM, Grand Master Nilus of the Dark 
Angel Chapter wrote:

>> For those who don't like D20 system, what is your major complaint?
>
> Like I mentioned before I don't dislike D20.  I think its a great 
> system for Dungeons And Dragons.  It clears up some rules that have 
> been plaguing D&D for way to long(Demi-Human Level Limits, Bizarre 
> Saving Throw rules, Experience Level Gaps, Multi-Classing ETC).

Very true.

> The Problem is the way WOTC has been marketing D20 and how a lot of 3rd 
> party companies are as well.  Its not about Role Playing.  Its about 
> how bug of a plus or how crazy of a feat, or how outrageously powerful 
> of a presige class can we make up and see if a G.M. might actually 
> allow it.  I know a lot of people who play D20 are munckin Power 
> Gamers, but WOTC is definetly marketing it to them directly.  Just read 
> Dragon.  I remember one of the first post D20 issues had a little 
> section about how to make a character.  Pretty much it said that you 
> should use essential Half-Orcs and Halflings exclusively because they 
> get the best bonus abilities.

Yup, they have been doing this. I'm now staring the second D&D campaign 
in 3e (the last one ended due to... suspicious... circumstances. (OK, we 
messed up bad, world go boom.) We only got to around 5th level 
previously, and only one or two times was a prestige class even really 
mentioned. We consider all prestige classes to be campaign specific: for 
example, in Deadlands, Texas Ranger or Pinkerton might be prestige 
classes, although these may be renamed variants of published classes.

That Halfing & half-Orc thing was interesting. I saw that, if I remember 
correctly.

Just remember that just because you can, it doesn't mean you have to!

> Overall I think only vary few companies have put out good D20 related 
> games.  If you want to see a great example of a good D20 books, check 
> out Fading Suns D20.  Its great, doesn't change a lot of D20 rules, and 
> its well balanced.  If you want to see some bad D20 stuff, Take a look 
> at some of the AEG D20 products.  Half the time they directly 
> contradict D20 rules.

It should be mentioned that even products like Star Wars use a heavily 
modified version of the D20 system.

> Finally, I've looked at Deadlands D20.  My problem is that my group 
> needs some visual aids to get into a game(there like Rodents they like 
> Shiny things).  Deadlands was perfect for them, since the visual aids 
> actually were used in the system(Cards, Chips).  It helped to get the 
> mood across and really got them into the game.  I understand the 
> Deadlands rules aren't the easiest to digest.  When I ran with a new 
> group in the fall it took about 4 sessions to get the rules down,  but 
> once they get it most people love it.  The rules make a lot of good 
> sense and they really give the game that old west feel.  D20 might be 
> simple but it just ain't Deadlands to me.

I started marshalling Deadlands last summer. I had played one session, 
but I liked the rules, I've made a wide range of mistakes, but with the 
help of my players we're getting better each session (I only run once a 
month). The main thing is that I always splice rules corrections in with 
a goal of minimizing the negative effects on players. New characters can 
usually get the basics after sitting in for a session, although I work 
to dissuade them from characters with Arcane backgrounds that require 
knowing the rules better.

--
Brett

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER 
MAN? (Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett)