RE: [DL] Original or d20?

["coyote" <coyote@net-link.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-deadlands@gamerz.net [mailto:owner-deadlands@gamerz.net]On
Behalf Of Jefferson Dunlap
Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2002 10:35 PM
To: deadlands@gamerz.net
Subject: [DL] Original or d20?


That is the question.

I am hankering to start up a deadlands campaign again. Last time I played it
was right after the 1st edition came out. A couple years ago I started
playtest 3RD ed D&D and before you knew it everything was turning up d20.

Lately I've been reading the DL Player's guide & so far I like the
improvements made in this edition. So what are most of the folks on this
list playing - Original DL or DL D20? Just curious.


Alright listen up you primitive screwheads!

Well, as the whole Deadlands d20 vs. Deadlands Classic controversy looms on
the horizon ONCE AGAIN I thought I'd throw my two-bits into the mix and
share a couple of d20 tweaks with the membership of this most august of
gamer communities. The following tweaks are mechanics that I've purloigned
from a variety of sources, whever possible I'll include the source for easy
reference. Oh! And before I forget, these mechanical tweaks are also
suitable for Weird Wars: Blood on the Rhine or any other d20 powered game.

Firstly, how best to handle the whole hit points vs. ballistic trauma thing.
We all can agree that firearms should be scary in any rpg, even a .22 bullet
to the back of the head can and does kill. As it stands right now high level
characters are likely to take multiple gunshot wounds without batting an
eyelash. Sidewinder, the wild west d20 rpg from Citizen games has
implemented a complex system of temporary loss of Con to simulate the trauma
and shock caused by "lead poisoning". Their system works and it does make
bullets mighty deadly but in my honest opinion it lacks elegance and causes
more problems then it's worth. If you think it works so be it but here's a
simpler alternative that'll keep your game cooking without bogging it down
with unnecessary beancounting. What I suggest is borrowing the massive
damage rules from d20 Call of Cthulhu. If your character takes more than 10
hit points from any one damage source the character must pass a Fortitude
save (DC 15 + damage in excess of 10) or become incapacitated by shock. A
character who succombs to shock is immediately reduced to -1 hit points,
taking one further 1 hp of damage each round until he/she dies or is
stabilized with a successful Healing (DC 15) check. Simple and elegant and
makes things like falling damage, flamethrowers and nitro mighty scary even
for high level characters with a keister-load of hit points. For critters
and beasties I suggest modifying the massive damage threshold up and down to
account for size. Here's a handy table for your own use:

Size		Threshold
Fine		2
Diminutive	4
Tiny		6
Small		8
Medium		10
Large		20
Huge		30
Gigantic		40
Collosal		50

For those seeking additional tweaks to simulate the stunning effects of
injury, you can use the Clobber rules from page 66 of the DMG. Basically, if
you take more than half (rounded up) of your current hit point total you are
clobbered meaning you are limited to partial actions till your next turn.
Kindly Marshals might allow a Fortitude roll (DC 15) to avoid the clobber
effect. Just remember, varmints and supernatural bad@sses immune to critical
hits are also immune to being clobbered. Individual Marshals will probably
have adjudicate which critters from the various sources are immune to the
clobber effect.

An additional rule that keeps the game hopping is extending the coup de
grace rules as a means of bushwhacking your opponents. According to the
rules an opponent can be dispatched automatically if several conditions are
met. The first being the opponent must be disabled and immobile. Secondly
dispatching the poor bastich requires a full round action meaning no
movement is allowed save for a 5 foot adjustment. And thirdly the ambushee
must fail a Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + damage dealt) to survive the
rough treatment. The hit is automatic and a critical hit is automatically
scored. Nasty! I allow characters looking to get the drop on opponents to in
effect use their Move Silent and Hide skills to mozy up to an unsuspecting
target and take'em out before they can holler. It makes things pretty deadly
but it allows characters to take out sentries without the fuss. Just a
gentle reminder, this is a mighty underhanded tactic and it goes both ways
meaning if the posse members make a habit of bushwhacking their opponents
the Marshal is within his/her rights to visit the same kindness upon them.

Armor and defense are tough to simulate in Deadlands d20. Basically, besides
a few instances of a cleverly concealed steel plate over the hero's
gizzards, cowboys didn't clunk around wearing platemail armor which means
it's powerful easy to get yourself nicked in a fight. What I suggest is a
Defensive mod to your character's Armor Class based upon his or her level
and vocation. This is a seriously tweaked mechanic inspired by WotC's Star
Wars d20 Revised game. Basically all characters begin the game with a +0
bonus to their Defense bonus. The bonus increases by +1 every time the
character's Reflex bonus improves. For simplicity I've constructed a few
tables for ya. Now don't ever say I never did nothin' for ya.

Character Class: Blessed
Level		1-3	4-6	7-9	10-12	13-15	16-19	20
Defense		+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6

Character Class: Brave
Level		1	2-4	5-6	8-9	10-11	12-13	14-15	16-17	18-19	20
Defense		+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+10

Character Class: Gunslinger
Level		1	2-3	4-5	6-7	8-9	10-11	12-13	14-15	16-17	18-19	20
Defense		+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+10	+11

Character Class: Huckster
Level		1	2-3	4-5	6-7	8-9	10-11	12-13	14-15	16-17	18-19	20
Defense		+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+10	+11

Character Class: Mad Scientist
Level		1-2	3-5	6-8	9-11	12-14	15-17	18-20
Defense		+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6

Character Class: Maverick
Level		1	2-3	4-5	6-7	8-9	10-11	12-13	14-15	16-17	18-19	20
Defense		+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+10	+11

Character Class: Rowdy
Level		1-2	3-5	6-8	9-11	12-14	15-17	18-20
Defense		+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6

Character Class: Scout
Level		1	2-3	4-5	6-7	8-9	10-11	12-13	14-15	16-17	18-19	20
Defense		+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7	+8	+9	+10	+11

Character Class: Shaman
Level		1-3	4-6	7-9	10-12	13-15	16-19	20
Defense		+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6

Now before you ask you're probably wondering about armor. Basically, you get
either the armor bonus or the Defense bonus but NOT BOTH. If this system's
too clunky you can always use the character's Reflex bonus as his/her
adjustment to Armor Class. This is what Mongoose does with the Judge Dredd
d20 game but this has one serious consequence and that is it makes the
Lightning Reflexes feat mighty attractive as it adds +2 to your Reflex
saves. Game Masters had better think it over before implementing the Judge
Dredd d20 rule.

Critical hits have always bothered me in d20. Basically your ability to
critical hit an opponent has little to do with character level; more or less
it's based upon the properties of the weapon being used and the luck of the
die roll so I use a modified version of the Grim & Gritty rule set
(published by Sleeping Imperium Games). Here's the URL if your curiosity is
peaked:
 http://www.sleepingimperium.rpghost.com/d20downloads.htm
Simply put, your critical hit threshold improves by +1 for each full +5 Base
Attack Bonus. Here's yet another table for your illumination:

Base Attack	Critical
Bonus		Threshold
0 to +4		+0
+5 to +9	+1
+10 to +14	+2
+ 15 to +19	+3
+20		+4

This modification is added in AFTER taking into consideration the Improved
Critical feat and Keen/Bashing weapon properties. For example, the critical
hit for a Colt Peacemaker is 19-20 (x2). If wielded by a green 1st level
gunslinger character a critical hit is scored on natural roll of 19-20 but
that same character would critical on a 18-20 at 8th level. Now if that
character had the Improved Cirtical feat a critical would occur on a roll of
15-20 as the range of 19-20 would double to 17-20 before the +2 bonus was
factored in. Nasty but then again a gunslinger should be!!

Well, that's about enough work for one night. I hope some of you will find
this useful for your campaigns.

Adios Compadres,

>>Marshal J. C. Wolf

--
Joseph C. Wolf
Line Developer, Dark Heaven Legends d20
Reaper Miniatures Inc.