Xev20 Modern: The Kap'n's Extra Krunchy Project

[Xeviat]

[note]There are a lot of things I want to muddle with in 4ED&D, but I'm going to be slow this time and wait until I've played the system more before I go through and make too many changes. But I know me, and I need to keep myself busy with some mechanical project. After watching "Hellboy: The Golden Army", I was reminded how much I had wanted to play in or run a d20 Modern game. I got out my d20 Modern book and was instantly reminded of the little things about 3E that irritate me now. So, it is my intention to make my own version of d20 Modern, using the d20 Modern OGL (not the d20 system license or the new GSL) with Star Wars Saga and 4E ideals melded into it. While I want to lead this project in the direction I want to take it, I know that there are many here that can help me. While I don't intend to sell this, I do want it to follow the OGL so I can put it up on our Wiki or its own site for public use and criticism. Who knows, it might put us on the map.[/note]

Please do not post in this thread. Post HERE for the discussion thread.

Hello all. In this post I'm going to discuss the direction I want to take for my d20 Modern project. I intend to create a new system here, one that takes advantage of what we've learned from the d20 system over the years. Here follows a basic outline of my planned changes, following the table of contents of d20 Modern.

Characters

*

Abilities: The six abilities will be retained.
*Classes: After considering the way HP and Skills work in 4E, I decided to not use classes for Modern. There will be a number of talent trees with ability score prerequisites, based on the 6 classes. There will also be 6 abilities that can be chosen at 1st level which will mimic a character's first class choice (such as bonus HP and Fort Defense for the Tough Hero, or bonus skills for the smart hero '¦). As of right now I'm trying to determine the difference between talents and feats.
*Levels: Level progression is going to be linear. Feats at even levels, talents at odd levels, with additional feats at 1st and 11th level (I don't think I need 'epic modern' rules just yet). All skill checks, attacks, and defenses go up at a rate of ½ per level. Prestige Classes will be replaced by 'prestige talents' that can only be picked up after certain requirements are met (or maybe they'll just be feats with high prerequisites, depends on how talents are defined).
*Hit Points: HP will follow the 4E progression. I'm looking into using WP/VP or the Damage Threshold from SAGA to make damage more realistic. I definitely want to use second wind, but I'm not sure how to handle it out of combat. I want debilitating injuries and I want natural healing to be more realistic, but injuries can be handled by damage track stuff rather than HP (perhaps an endurance check to move up the damage track per night of rest, with a penalty based on the damage track so it's harder to recover from horrible injuries). I want players to fear a gun pointed at them, even though they're the heroes.
*Skills and Feats: Skills are trained vs. untrained, like in 4E and SAGA. 4E skills will be utilized, with a few more 'knowledges' added in. Craft skills need to be added back in, but they can be broad like knowledges and actually encompass knowledge and craft (chemistry allows one to know about chemicals and also how to make things out of them). Profession doesn't, as I feel every character would keep their profession skill high for the extra money (what are we in the real world if not leveling up in our 'profession'). Minor things like proficiency with instruments and such can probably be handled with occupations or feats.
*Occupations: This has to be retained. It's a nice way of rounding out characters, especially since d20 Modern classes don't have the numerous 1st level abilities of D&D classes. [/list]

I think I'll be retaining the wealth system, but I will not be using 'masterwork' or 'superior' items; 'monster' and NPC design will follow a different progression than 4E so that improving equipment isn't required, unless input determines that this is too fun a part of RPGs to pass up.

Str/Con will effect Fort, Dex/Int will effect Ref, and Wis/Cha will effect Will. I may or may not retain an 'Armor Class', but I think it might be best to ignore it or use armor as DR if it is at all possible. Armor just isn't that prevalent in Modern and should probably be handled differently (maybe even as bonus HP, I don't know).

Attacks will use one stat for attack and damage (melee weapons use Str, ranged weapons use Dex; 'heavy thrown' weapons use Str and 'light melee' weapons can use Dex), but having fair Str or Dex will be more important for all characters since damaging attacks utilizing the other 4 stats probably won't exist until you get into magical stuff.

As for the difference between Talents and Feats, I think I decided upon it. Feats are modifications for things that everyone has. Some might grant 'new' attacks or abilities, but these will all be modifications of basic things (such as grappling feats to improve upon the basic grab attack open to everyone). Talents should all be entirely new things. This means some of the d20 Modern talents won't work as many are fairly bland, but I think we can come up with more as a team.

Combat will utilize the actions of 4E, except I'll be bringing back disarms, trips, and other maneuvers, as this system won't have a Power system (except for the 'FX' stuff, but that's the second step). I'll try to simplify the equipment list, perhaps utilizing Mutants and Masterminds for ideas on costs for items. The costs are mostly a flavor issue, though, and for games where GMs want cash to be tight.

So, let me know HERE what you think about this project. Give me any input you can. Again, I want to follow the OGL, but I believe I'm perfectly within my right to utilize the innovations of 4E to create a better d20 Modern experience.

[Xeviat]

CHAPTER ONE: CHARACTERS[/b]
This chapter covers ability score creation, what the ability scores apply to, and your character's species (normally human), starting abilities, their talents, and their occupation. I'm not certain if I will be trying for the d20 System License; if I do I'll have to just reference the d20 Modern XP charts, but if I don't I can design my own. Heck, I might not even use XP, and just have a level gained at the end of an adventure, or at the end of a chapter in a long adventure, or any other point where it would make the game progress. I think that's ultimately the best, especially since I don't intend equipment to be a part of character strength (the intent is to have weapons and armor and other items balanced based on proficiency levels, and have feats to get proficiencies).

[note=Humans]Interestingly enough, the D&D4E stats for humans were the stats I was giving humans in my own games, except I obviously didn't have the extra at-will because at-wills didn't exist. Nice when these things make you feel better about yourself as a designer.[/note]SPECIES
In most games, your character will be human. Countries of origin or ethnicities do not change your character's abilities, though they can be useful in helping to decide what skills, feats, and occupation you choose, as well as what languages you start with. Other species may become available as determined by your campaign setting; these additional species will be listed in the Creatures chapter.

HUMAN
We're all human (I hope). We know what we are.

[ic=RACIAL TRAITS]
Ability Scores: +2 to one ability score of your choosing.
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal

Languages: Humans begin play with 1 language, and they can select any languages for their bonus languages gained from a high intelligence bonus.
Bonus Talent: Humans gain a bonus talent at 1st level. They must meet the talent's prerequisites.
Bonus Feat: Humans gain a bonus feat at 1st level. They must meet the feat's prerequisites.
Bonus Skill: Humans gain a bonus trained skill at 1st level.
Human Defense Bonuses: +1 to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will Defenses.[/ic]

ABILITY SCORES
GENERATION
The standard ability score package for heroic characters is: 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8.

Instead of taking the package, players can generate their own ability score packages with the following table. Your character's ability scores all start at 10. You have 32 points to spend to increase these scores, using the costs shown below. You may buy one score down to 8 to gain 2 points.

[th]Score[/th][th]Cost[/th][th]Score[/th][th]Cost[/th]

8	-2	14	5
10	0	15	7
11	1	16	10
12	2	17	13
13	3	18	17

You should determine what path you'd like to follow for your characters talents beforehand, since they will determine what ability scores your character requires. At 4th, 8th, 14th, and 18th level, your character gains a +1 bonus to two ability scores, and at 11th level your character gains a +2 bonus to all ability scores. Talents and feats all require odd Ability Scores, generally 13 or 15 for low level talents and feats and 15 to 19 for high level talents and feats.

[note=Ability Score Balance]I need to address the disparity between Physical and Mental ability scores here. While mentals generally have more skills (except for Dex), they apply to far less than the Physical scores. This is less of an issue for Str and Con as they have only one skill each, so it is more of an issue of comparing Dex to the mentals. Looking at it that way, I guess it isn't 'that' big of an issue, but I see Dex being far too important, so I am seeking methods of either reducing the effect of Dexterity or adding to Int, Wis, and Cha.

My current thought is that skills could be added back to Intelligence, Wealth bonus will be tied to Wisdom, and that Action Points could be added to Charisma. Smarter people learn tasks easier, even physical tasks. Wise people know how to apply their skills better in the real world, and it stands that they will make more money in the professional world (there is a reason the old Profession skill was attached to Wisdom). Action heroes typically possess a strong personality, and you could even describe Action Points as a character exerting the strength of their personality over the universe.[/note]STRENGTH

• Attack and Damage rolls with Unarmed Strikes and Melee Weapons, as well as thrown weapons with the 'heavy thrown' property
• Carrying Capacity
• Fortitude Defense if Strength is higher than Con
• Athletics skill checks

CONSTITUTION

• HP (Note: I need to determine exactly how I will do HP. 4E's system makes for HP that are closer between classes, but it practically requires the use of Healing Surges to make Con important. I'm not sure I want to use healing surges.)
  
• Fortitude Defense if Con is higher than Str
• Endurance skill checks

DEXTERITY

• Attack and Damage rolls with Projectile Weapons, Thrown Weapons with the 'light thrown' property, and for Melee Weapons with the 'light' property if your Dex is higher than your Str
• Reflex Defense if Dex is higher than Int
• Acrobatics, Drive, Stealth, and Thievery skill checks

[note=Knowledge]I have brought back the Knowledge skill, and it will encompass Craft as well; I could just as easily split it up into Knowledges and Crafts, but I feel someone with the capacity to make something generally knows about it as well (though there are situations where someone could know about how something works without knowing how to put it together, but this seems like a rare trait). Keeping skills like 'Computers' and 'Spellcraft' condensed under the 'Knowledge' header allows for the skill list to not change based on the genre. 'Computers' would not exist in the typical medieval game, and 'Spell Craft' wouldn't exist in a realistic game.[/note]

INTELLIGENCE

• The number of skills your character is trained in
• The number of languages your character knows at first level
• Reflex Defense if Int is higher than Dex
• Knowledge skill checks (Knowledge is a category of skills, with each category of knowledge being treated as a separate skill; knowledge skills are useful for learning information and for applying that knowledge, such as in crafting items)

WISDOM

• Wealth Bonus
• Wisdom checks to increase Wealth at every level-up
• Will Defense if Wis is higher than Cha
• Heal, Insight, Perception, and Survival skill checks

CHARISMA

• Action Points
• Reputation
• Will Defense if Cha is higher than Will
• Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Intimidate skill checks

LEVEL BONUSES
[table=Level-Dependent Benefits]
[tr][th]Character
Level[/th][th]Level
Bonus[/th][th]Talents[/th][th]Feats[/th][th]Ability
Increases[/th][/tr]
[tr][th]1st[/th][td]0[/td][td]1st[/td][td]1st[/td][td]Species bonuses[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]2nd[/th][td]1[/td][td][/td][td]2nd[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]3rd[/th][td]1[/td][td]2nd[/td][td]3rd[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]4th[/th][td]2[/td][td][/td][td]4th[/td][td]+1 to two[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]5th[/th][td]2[/td][td]3rd[/td][td]5th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]6th[/th][td]3[/td][td][/td][td]6th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]7th[/th][td]3[/td][td]4th[/td][td]7th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]8th[/th][td]4[/td][td][/td][td]8th[/td][td]+1 to two[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]9th[/th][td]4[/td][td]5th[/td][td]9th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]10th[/th][td]5[/td][td][/td][td]10th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]11th[/th][td]5[/td][td]6th[/td][td]11th[/td][td]+2 to all[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]12th[/th][td]6[/td][td][/td][td]12th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]13th[/th][td]6[/td][td]7th[/td][td]13th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]14th[/th][td]7[/td][td][/td][td]14th[/td][td]+1 to two[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]15th[/th][td]7[/td][td]8th[/td][td]15th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]16th[/th][td]8[/td][td][/td][td]16th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]17th[/th][td]8[/td][td]9th[/td][td]17th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]18th[/th][td]9[/td][td][/td][td]18th[/td][td]+1 to two[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]19th[/th][td]9[/td][td]10th[/td][td]19th[/td][td][/td][/tr]
[tr][th]20th[/th][td]10[/td][td][/td][td]20th[/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]

CHARACTER LEVEL
Characters begin play at a level determined by the GM and gain levels when determined by the GM. Generally, a level should be gained at the end of an adventure, though longer adventures should feature levels gained at the end of every 'chapter'. For instance, if your game is an Action Story where the players are fighting through the many lieutenants of a crime boss, the characters should gain a level after defeating each lieutenant, and maybe possibly after locating the crime boss and fighting through his minions before fighting the boss himself.

LEVEL BONUSES
All characters gain a level bonus equal to one-half their level (rounded down) to their ability checks, skill checks, and defense scores. Attack rolls are a type of ability check which may be modified by a bonus from the weapon used.

[note=HP]I am really uncertain about HP. I do not want to use 4E's healing surges, but I like 4E's even flow of hp gained. Rather than using surges, I am going to increase base HP. All healing will be performed with the Treat Injury skill (which will actually heal on its own) as well as the Second Wind ability (which will explicitly be a cinematic ability, something used within combat and not out of combat). I want to use a Damage Threshold like Saga, as it will allow for persistent injuries to be simplified. While I'm posting a system here, it is by far finished and is easily up for discussion.[/note]HIT POINTS
Hit Points represent your characters ability to endure punishment. While hit point damage is usually taken as a result of being struck with a weapon attack, it doesn't represent serious injury, just bruises, scratches, minor cuts, and simple fatigue. An attack which drops your character to 0 hp does represent a serious injury, and an attack which deals more damage than your Fortitude Defense causes an injury which imposes a penalty on all attack rolls, skill checks, and defenses. While hit points recover easily (1/4 of your full total HP are recovered during a short rest), it is difficult to recover from injuries (you make an endurance check after a full rest to remove one injury, unless it is persistent).

[table=Injury Penalties][tr][th]Injuries[/th][th]Penalty[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]1[/td][td]-1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2[/td][td]-2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3[/td][td]-5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4[/td][td]-10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5[/td][td]Unconscious
and -10[/td][/tr][/table]

All characters start at 1st level with a number of hit points equal to 12 plus their Con score. At each level thereafter, a character gains 6 hp. If you are building a character past first level, it's hit points are determined by the following formula:

6 + Con Score + (level x 6)

Characters may gain bonus HP from their first level character abilities.

Archetype

 HEROIC ARCHETYPE
At first level, a player chooses a heroic archetype for their character. Each archetype requires a 15 in the archetype's associated ability score. A character's heroic archetype represents the core of their nature, generally associated with their highest ability score.

An archetype can determine bonus HP, defense bonuses, the number of trained skills a character gains, and other bonuses.

Strong Hero
Requirements: 15 Str

• +2 HP per level, +2 HP at first level
• +1 Fort and Will Defense
• 3 Skills
• 1/encounter, as a free action, can gain their Str modifier as a bonus on one melee attack roll.

Tough Hero
Requirements: 15 Con

• +4 HP per level, +4 HP at first level
• +1 Fort Defense
• 2 Skills
• 1/encounter, as a free action, can subtract their Con modifier from damage just dealt to them.

Fast Hero
Requirements: 15 Dex

• +2 HP per level, +2 HP at first level
• +1 Ref Defense
• 4 Skills
• 1/encounter, as a free action, can force a foe to reroll an attack roll against them with a penalty equal to their Dex modifier.

Smart Hero
Requirements: 15 Int

• +1 Will Defense
• 6 Skills
• 1/encounter, as a free action, can grant an ally (or theirself) a bonus on one skill check equal to their intelligence modifier.

Dedicated Hero
Requirements: 15 Wis

• +1 Fort, Ref, and Will Defense
• 4 Skills
• 1/encounter, ?.

Charming Hero
Requirements: 15 Cha

• +1 Fort and Ref Defense
• 5 Skills
• 1/encounter, ?.

TALENTS
All characters gain a talent at each odd level. These levels coincide with levels where Level Bonuses are not granted; this way characters gain something important at every level. Talents are new abilities which typically define a character, such as a fast character's uncanny ability to dodge attacks or a tough character's ability to shrug off blows. These are abilities that not everyone can easily get, and typically come with harsh ability score requirements.

At higher levels, Talents may be spent on Prestige Talents, which have tougher prerequisites than standard Talents. These Prestige Talents unlock new abilities which further specialize a character and mark them as an elite character. Not all characters will pursue a Prestige Talent tree, and these trees should represent special status in the campaign setting. Prestige Talent trees typically consist of 5 talents, though feats exist to further improve upon them. FX users such as Mages, Psychics, and Priests are examples of Prestige Talent trees available in some campaigns.

Talent Trees
(More to come)

SKILLS
The following skills exist in Xev20 Modern:
[table=Skills][tr][th]Skill[/th][th]Ability[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Athletics[/td][td]Str[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Endurance[/td][td]Con[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Acrobatics[/td][td]Dex[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Drive[/td][td]Dex[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Stealth[/td][td]Dex[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Thievery[/td][td]Dex[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Knowledge*[/td][td]Int[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Heal[/td][td]Wis[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Insight[/td][td]Wis[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Perception[/td][td]Wis[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Survival[/td][td]Wis[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bluff[/td][td]Cha[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Diplomacy[/td][td]Cha[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Gather Information[/td][td]Cha[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Intimidate[/td][td]Cha[/td][/tr][/table]

Characters have a number of trained skills equal to their

FEATS
All characters gain a feat at every level. Feats improve upon abilities that a character already has, including basic abilities available to all characters and a character's individual talents. They allow a player to refine and define their character within their role, and generally let them perform better at what they do or allow them to shore up a weakness.

[note=Balancing Occupations]The standard occupation could include a number of skills that gain a +2 occupation bonus (chosen from a list determined by the occupation), a bonus feat (chosen from a list determined by the occupation), a reputation bonus, and a wealth bonus. When these bonuses are totaled, they equal 6 points. The bonuses cost the following:

+2 to a skill: 1 point
Bonus Feat: 2 points
Reputation Bonus: 1 point
Wealth Bonus: 1 point

Players will not generally be constructing their own professions. I will create new versions of the professions found in d20 Modern soon.[/note]STARTING OCCUPATIONS
A first level character chooses a starting occupation. This represents the training and life experience the character has had prior to the start of the campaign.

(More to Come)

ACTION POINTS
(More to Come)

REPUTATION
(More to Come)

WEALTH
(More to Come)