CourtFool Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues For GMs: can't let them get ahead! Get ahead? I thought it was survive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues Couple notes. As I've said on other FH/GenRP threads, the d20 model is built entirely on wealth management. How your character powers up throughout their twenty levels is as much a function of what powers they've attained through leveling, and how much wealth the DMG tells you to give them for their level. This is why it's nearly impossible to model low-magic/S&S campaigns in d20. It's also why I switched to HERO. To avoid a Wealth Management system. In d20, exp only exists to tell the DM when you need to get more loot, and for the munchkins to go to ENWorld to see how badly they can and break their builds and manipulate the bylaws in their favor (rest in peace, Douglas Adams). In HERO, quite the opposite is true. You can give people gear willy-nilly and not charge them for it. You can charge them for every little piece, and when you award XP, it has a direct, tangible effect. You have options, which in d20, you don't. I do sidestep it. I don't award XP at all in my Ravenloft campaign. Characters level when dramatically appropriate. They don't get crazy equipment - it ruins the feel of the world. I have difficulty imagining a high fantasy Ravenloft. Ick. And KS illustrated more clearly the mechanical implications of allowing an attack/move function - I knew there was a problem, but I couldn't articulate it. Not enough experience to explain it adequately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues I think the moment they started setting prices for magic items was the moment I really realized D&D had gone too far. Remember back in 2nd Edition and before when magic items were rare, and no one would ever even think of selling them? It is indicative of both the magical and monetary extremes to which the system and source material have gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues I'm waiting for the expansion that lets you spend gold to buy Feats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues I'm waiting for the expansion that lets you spend gold to buy Feats. It certainly wouldn't be a far off step. All you need is a magic item that grants them.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues I'm sure they're out there. Improved Critical is already covered by Keen - now you just need to buy it as an NPA. Or am I speaking of a system of flexibility vs. one of inflexibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savinien Posted June 27, 2006 Report Share Posted June 27, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues For GMs: can't let them get head! Dorky GMs strike back against vicious dorky players! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 28, 2006 Report Share Posted June 28, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues It's all one vicious, dorky circle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues In d20' date=' exp only exists to tell the DM when you need to get more loot, and for the munchkins to go to ENWorld to see how badly they can and break their builds and manipulate the bylaws in their favor (rest in peace, Douglas Adams).[/quote'] What's "ENWorld"? And I am not a dork! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues Unless I'm utterly borking my weblinks, it would be: http://www.enworld.org - a d20 (explicit) sucking site where people sit around and find new and uncomfortable directions in which to bend, twist and otherwise abuse the rules. Good times! In other news, I got my sci-fi campaign off the ground. Used basic 5 DEF/2 SPD mooks with 5d6 HAs for testing purposes. Went very nicely. The party tank has Growth and a personal Force Field. That got ugly. I couldn't hurt him. Need either mental attacks or AP or Pen to really get his attention. Find Weakness may also come in handy. He has a ton of STUN and a Forcefield is DIRT CHEAP to maintain. Icky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues And. You're a dork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues Unless I'm utterly borking my weblinks' date=' it would be: http://www.enworld.org - a d20 (explicit) sucking site where people sit around and find new and uncomfortable directions in which to bend, twist and otherwise abuse the rules. Good times![/quote'] Ah. A place where someone too lazy to do their own thinking goes for ideas. Same way some MtG players only play deck ideas they download from the internet. In other news' date=' I got my sci-fi campaign off the ground. Used basic 5 DEF/2 SPD mooks with 5d6 HAs for testing purposes. Went very nicely. The party tank has Growth and a personal Force Field. That got ugly. I couldn't hurt him. Need either mental attacks or AP or Pen to really get his attention. Find Weakness may also come in handy. He has a ton of STUN and a Forcefield is DIRT CHEAP to maintain.[/quote'] Sounds cool. What kind of Sci-Fi game is it? FtF or PBEM? Don't forget about NNDs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted June 30, 2006 Report Share Posted June 30, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues And. You're a dork. Careful, I didn't protest the "vicious" part of the previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperKlaus Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues I happen to think min-maxing to maddening levels is the best part of D&D, so there! The more they try to restrict, the harder you gotta squirm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alric Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues Remember back in 2nd Edition and before when magic items were rare' date=' and no one would [i']ever even think of selling them[/i]? No actually I don't. I never played a D&D game that wasn't rolling in magic items, and I started with the box set with chits instead of dice. Forgotten Realms took the number of magic items to ridiculous levels. We did have scads of fun playing though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues The Sci-Fi game is an FtF. The original concept was to take the d20 book "Expanded Psionics Handbook" which was really its own setting, and apply it as a science-fiction type universe. I took the racial templates from that book and rewrote their histories. Thri-Kreen became the gengineered miners & new rough labor, as they could coordinate with a Queen and could survive in hostile environments. Half Giants were the result of a functional super-soldier program, and so on. I took a page from Serenity & divied up the remaining power in the world (at first blush) among the US, Russia, China, GBR, Japan & "Europe" now the EEC. I abolished any sort of neutral world government and had two more world wars (III & IV). No one dropped nukes, but the fear of nukes & the rapid development of stem-cell and genetics research left too many doors open. Chaos reigned. Now, unlike the general cliches, we still have access to GenTech. It's a major part of the world, and shockingly, the world continues to spin on. Various countries are now in a race against time to be the first to launch GenShips past our solar system. Mars & Venus are both being colonized, and through all of this, secret wars are being waged. During the ancient times of this world, the setting is for my own fantasy campaign. That campaign is built on the premise that the planar barriers have been weakened by an ongoing fued and interplanar war. The repercussions of that war are felt throughout history, but recently, the planar rifts have begun reopening and crazy crap has been coming out. It's also leaving behind a crystallized form of planar energy, dubbed Delerium. Incredibly molecularly dense, but holding a massive amount of power, they believe Delerium is the next giant step forward. Energy powered weapons, space-based technologies and person laser rifles become possible with this stuff. Problem is, no one can be exposed to it for long since it drives people insane, and tends to pull the Planar Gates closer to where the delerium is. And that's the broad premise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues Both sound pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 Re: Moving from D&D - rules issues Glad you approve! Move up to VA, we'll find a slot in one of the games for ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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