The Campaign Builder's Guild

:detect:
I am interested in what kids these days have to say about D20 modern & D20 future in terms of game mechanics and fun'ness. I am NOT looking for commentary or reviews of the settings provided with the base games.

What has been your experience with D20 Modern/Future?
Is the D20 Modern/Future system good for an action campaign?
Are there any 3rd party OGL 'must have' supplements with cool new Feats, Equipment, etc?

Gracias

Quote from: brainfaceI think the concept is awesome and the mechanics questionable. I don't think their can be that much debate over the concept--that's pretty much an opinion. If someone has no fun playing a bard, then the concept sucks for them i guess?

I think the concept is based on the historic bard:  (from Dictionary.com) -  a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like.

I assume the stuff they were given in RPGs was to make them somehow useful in a dungeon crawl.  Cause if all they did in the dungeon was stroke that lyre and talk in iambic pentameter then they would definately suck the big suck.

â,,¢Â« sneak, sneak, sneak past the sleeping black dragon â,,¢Â«

So...

is this a discussion about whether the concept of a bard as a character sucks?

or...

the abilities/powers/feats/magic that some game designers assigned to the bard as a whole vs. other characters suck?

So is the drama going to come from conflicts/competition between the empires you have established?
Are we talking about the whole galaxy as the backdrop?

This sounds a little like the same scale as the venerable Traveller game.  I always thought of the setting as just too vast.  Then then again Star Wars takes place on a galactic scale and Star Trek covers about half? a galaxy or so.

I guess what I'm gettin at here is, if you have an entire galaxy as your playground how many children does it take to make it so that they are fighting each other for turns on the big slide?
 :huh:

It definately sounds like an interesting twist on a Fantasy idea.  
Are the players going to be a mixed group of alignment types?  Is it going to be 'good' guys hunting down 'bad' guys or is it going to be a grayer setup?

So it's going to be Law Enforcement & Justice in a Fantasy game?

I prefer to use the Virtue/Vice system from nWoD and True20.

As for good/evil specific magic, I follow D20 Modern's idea of replaceing 'good/evil' with 'opponent' or 'adversary.'

 :cool:

IMHO Bards served a purpose back in the day that was in many ways very foreign to us now.  People seem to take their listed abilities and try to make something out of them which isn't really true to their spirit.  
Also, in my experience youngish (ego challenged) male players tend to project a little homophobia/gheyness onto them since the Bard frequently is associated with enterainment/peformance.  Short of American Idol and Karaoke we don't have strong traditions of that in our current society.

I don't think Bard's suck.

<edit> I mean the question itself 'Do Bard's suck?' has a bit of homophobic twang to it.  Do Bards suck what?  and why is sucking that bad?  ;)

that's my word  :cool:

Quote from: TybaltHave you read "A Song of Ice and Fire" series at all? I know some others on here have and its quite a good source for ideas on how to do adventures and low magic at roughly the tech level you are presenting.

I don't know the books, but I will look into them.

Quote from: Phoenix KnightWhat about mythical creatures?  Are there dragons, sea serpents, and so forth?  Non-mythological monsters from D&D (if this is a D&D setting), such as mind flayers?

Most of the stuff in classic fantasy/D&D is around somewhere.  However, there isnt around enough to drastically change the timeline.  I don't have a checklist of what is around and what isn't.  I will just make up the legends and myths as needed.

Quote from: Phoenix KnightYou mention goblins as the enemies as dwarves.  Where do dwarves live (I mean besides underground)?  Are the found all over the world?  Only in Scandinavia?

Dwarves live in all the major mountian ranges of Europe: Alps, Pyrennes, Scandinavia, South East Europe, Caucucas, etc.  Most of the European magical creatures centers around Europe and nearby lands.

I have tried True20.  We play tested it and decided it wasn't for us.  The main complaint was the way they resolve damage using saves instead of HP.  I'm not a huge fan of HP either but True20 just didn't do it for me.
So while I didn't take it from 1-10, it never made it out of the gate for me.

I think that analogies and metaphors are a completely valid way of discussing and communicating.  When the conversation gets hung up on the metaphor the problem lies with the participants not with the method.

I agree.

Quote from: Just XathanI'd love to hear more information on the various races and their place in the world. Also, where are the Elven Lands and Steppes orcs, or other racial lands, located on a modern day map?

The map above shows in Elven Kingdoms in Green.  I just realized that I never documented the story of the Orcs, oops!  Basically I am lifting them directly from the LoTR movies.
 
Goblins: (Size M not S) Goblins live underground and in caves.  They are the rivals of the Dwarves mostly.

Orcs: Orcs live anywhere they can without being wiped out by Humans and/or Elves.  The once place they thrive is on the steppes of central Asia.  The Huns and Mongols are not going to be a historical threat in this world because they are always fighting for their lives against the Orcs and their Worgs.  The Orcs have tried to invade a few nearby countries ( Goth kingdoms, Persia, the Tang Empire, etc), but have never had much success.

Urukai:  The word Urukai strikes fear in the hearts of men, elves and dwarves alike.  They prefer mountainous areas that are usually to rough for humans.  They are always a problem in the Pyrennes, the Alps, and the rough areas of South Easter Europe.  Many times Humans and/or Elves have tried unsuccessfully to wipe them out.  Their mountain fortresses either prove to be too strong or they retreat into the caves of their Goblin allies.

That's the skinny on the 'humanoids'