New to game, need some advise/help

[BigUgly]

Have a few questions for you vets out there. Just picked up a copy of T20. I havent gamed in about 6-7 years. But my two sons are 11 and 12 and they wanted to start gaming. Remembered old pops playing when they were younger. So we went down to the local used book store and I let them pick out the game they wanted to play. and they pick T20. Might have been the watching of Pitch Black and the Chronicals of Riddick the night before that influenced their desecion.

I'm not familuar with the D20 rules. And the T20 handbook keeps reffering to core rules. Please tell me I have to go spend another $5 billion dollars on the AD&D core books to learn the rules for character generation abd combat and such? Printing T20 lite right now hopefully it might help. And pointing,pushing, or tugging in the right direction would be great. The boys want to play next weekend so i already have a full plate in reading the handbook. Thanks good I played traveller back in the early 80's. But dont think that vauge memories from then or the 20 years of DM 1st edition AD&D and Dark Conspiricy will help me figure out this new system. and yes I'm an old fart.
Again thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Malenfant]

Well, technically you need to get only one book - the D&D Player's Handbook. That's the "core rules" that it refers to all the time.

 

[BigUgly]

Thanks, guess its back across town tomorrow. Damn kids they'll break your wallet any way they can. Should have never let the wife talk me into selling 20 plus years of game stuff. Oh well guess you live and learn. again thanks

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by BigUgly:
I'm not familuar with the D20 rules. And the T20 handbook keeps reffering to core rules. Please tell me I have to go spend another $5 billion dollars on the AD&D core books to learn the rules for character generation abd combat and such? Printing T20 lite right now hopefully it might help.

<waves> Welcome to CotI! ^_^

Long story short, TSR got bought by Wizards of the Coast who put out a new [A]D&D edition and called it D&D Third Edition (known as D&D 3.0 or D&D3E or just 3E). They've since released a updated version called D&D3.5 . They also released the core, but not all, of the rules for use by publishers as the d20 system. This is known as the d20 SRD (System Resource Document) and is available online. While useful you really still need a core book, especially if you're not run a d20 game before.

So any WotC d20 core book should do the trick, which includes the D&D Player's Handbook, d20 Modern, Star Wars d20 (Revised is the latest version), Call of Cthulhu d20, and likely some others. T20 is based on the core of the 3.0 rules not 3.5 .

So if you're looking for the cheapest route I'd recommend:

1) looking for a used/on sale 3.0 PHB
2) Mongoose Publishing makes a nice $20 Mongoose Pocket Player's Handbook based on the 3.5 rules that is a complete d20 core book. They also make a Mongoose Pocket Modern Handbook for the same price.
3) whatever other d20 core book is available used / on sale that you and your kids like for the cheapest price
4) borrow a d20 core book from someone else for a bit; though if you're not familiar with d20 it's nice to have a core book of your own

Personally I find d20 Modern easier to read than D&D3.0 but not quite as useful for T20 as I used to; SWd20 Revised being about the on ease of reading, uses some similar ideas as T20, and is science fiction as opposed to Modern or Fantasy. It does cost the most IIRC. I like CoCd20 but while well done the subjest matter really isn't meant for kids. The Mongoose PPHB is $10 cheaper than the 3.5 PHB or most new copies of the 3.0 PHB but is smaller and IMO not easy for kids and some adults to read at length. I've not looked at the pocket modern book.

T20 Lite's a good intro to T20 but still requires a d20 core book.

FWIW T20 works and provides a Traveller feel. It's not D&D in space IMNSHO. One advantage of it being based on the d20 system though is you can plug in things from other d20 books, online files, etc. with usually little change needed. Additionally T20 is fairly compatible with CT and other versions of Traveller so you can use a lot of the online resources for Traveller with minimal or no change needed.

If your kids get bogged down in Prior History chargen I recommend either pre-genning characters for them or just give them each 28,000 XP to spend (6 levels) as they choose.

If you find you like the game I recommend looking into the 76 Gunmen Traveller's Aide pdf for sale on this site along with the first TA. The first handles all the NPC's you'll likely need aside from Major Villans and the second adds some nice weapons, including several that are non-lethal. The latter is also available in print form. There's also some pdf adventures for sale here.

Finally, links to the SRD files. I find them useful for reference, quick printouts, and to crib goodies from to use in T20.

3.0 SRD page
d20 Modern SRD page

Hope this helps, and as always your mileage may vary,
Casey

[UPDATE]Added Mongoose links and info on their pocket books; some rearranging for clarity; corrected Modern SRD link; insomnia wore off

 

[tjoneslo]

There are two rules from the "Core Rulebooks" you need which are not posted in the SRDs, nor in the Mongoose books. All of the rest of the rules you need to play are in the T20 book.

First is the rules for creating a character. If you know the rules for AD&D 1st edition, it shouldn't be difficult to figure out.

Second is the Experience points required for each level table and the rules for the sequence for going up a level. There are some interesting bits, but again very similar to AD&D.

If you must have the exact rules, find a copy of the Players handbook version 3.0 (not 3.5, nor the D20 modern book), which you can find for fairly cheap.

 

[jasper]

Or just create your own xp chart and method of rolling up a character.

 

[mike wightman]

Or use the XP chart on page 35 of the T20 rulesbook

 

[mike wightman]

And as for a random number from 3 to 18 how about:
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">roll % dice
% number
01 3
02 4
03-05 5
06-09 6
10-16 7
17-26 8
27-37 9
38-50 10
51-63 11
64-74 12
75-84 13
85-91 14
92-95 15
96-98 16
99 17
00 18 </pre>[/QUOTE]For above average characters add 10% to the die roll, for Riddick type characters add 20% to the die roll.
There are, of course, other methods

 

[tjoneslo]

See, there's this whole sequence of applying the items gained from a new level. You have to do it in the right order or your cheating. Can't have people cheating while playing now can we.

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by tjoneslo:
There are two rules from the "Core Rulebooks" you need which are not posted in the SRDs, nor in the Mongoose books. All of the rest of the rules you need to play are in the T20 book.

Sections "D20 Characters" and "Character Classes" pp. 24-25 and p. 29-31 respectively of the Mongoose Pocket Player's Handbook.

It is an OGL replacement for the 3.5 PHB afterall.

Casey

 

[slyen2002]

another option that as far as i can see is d20 future but d20 modern has the same effect.

a gerneal rule i noticed on the experiance charts (as in looked at it for a frew levels but not calvulated all the way out) is that each level is 2000 experance greater than the last.

all you need the out of the core books is enouter ideas, combat rules, and character creation rules. the Revised Star Wars book gives out all of these and infact just about any of the books except for the D&D books do.

I must also check out this Mongoose Pocket Players handbook, for i have not heard of it.

hope i helped! and possibly make more questions for you...

 

[Flynn]

Actually, the XP charts can be determined like this:

Each level requires (1000XP X current level) to achieve the next level.

The target numbers (or "what is my XP total for the next level?") can thus be calculated like this:

(current level) X (current level +1) X 500xp.

1st Level: Starts at 0xp, requires 1000xp to advance, next target 1000xp (which is 1*2*500).

2nd Level: Starts at 1000xp, requires 2000xp to advance, next target 3000xp (which is 2*3*500).

3rd level: Starts at 3000xp, requires 3000xp to advance, next target 6000xp (which is 3*4*500).

...and so on...

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by slyen2:
another option that as far as i can see is d20 future but d20 modern has the same effect.

d20 Future (link) is a supplement to d20 Modern and requires d20 Modern to really use. IMO esp. since I already have T20 and d20 Future has some gaps I'd just crib what I like from the d20 Future SRD files on the d20 Modern SRD page linked in a prior post. Direct link to the d20 Future SRD files in one zip file (link).

I must also check out this Mongoose Pocket Players handbook, for i have not heard of it.

For me it's handy, doesn't have illos to get in the way of the text, and was $10 cheaper than the 3.5 PHB. I'd have preferred a simple black text on plain jane white background than grey background and a slightly more comprehensive index. But for the price and ease of use it does the job.

As an aside the upcoming Pocket Conan will hopefully be from the corrected Atlantean printing and be more "family-friendly" without the Howardian border and interior artwork.

Casey

 

[slyen2002]

Originally posted by Casey:

As an aside the upcoming Pocket Conan will hopefully be from the corrected Atlantean printing and be more "family-friendly" without the Howardian border and interior artwork.

Casey [/QB]

ok this statement was confusing.

as for the Ziped files of d20 future are they in Win Zip?

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by slyen2:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Casey:

As an aside the upcoming Pocket Conan will hopefully be from the corrected Atlantean printing and be more "family-friendly" without the Howardian border and interior artwork.

ok this statement was confusing.</font>[/QUOTE]Yeah I was typing outloud there.

Mongoose Publishing has more Pocket Books in the works as part of their OGL Rulebooks line (link), including a Pocket version of the OGL Conan RPG (link) called the Pocket Conan book. The first printing of the Conan RPG did a great job of capturing the feel of Robert E. Howard's (the original author) Conan stories but had some big typos and errors*. The corrected 2nd printing is called the Atlantean Edition (link).

I'd consider buying the Pocket Conan book if it’s based on the Atlantean edition for more than just the corrections. While I have a 1st printing of the Conan RPG and like it the artwork includes a bare female breast on almost every left hand page as part of page borders and other similar artwork including one or two sacrificial scenes. The previews for the Conan RPG have some examples. While this fits the stories and the author it also makes it difficult for me to carry the book around in public or around kids. Most of the people I game with have kids so it’s an issue, especially since some of the kids play RPGs and like Conan.

as for the Ziped files of d20 future are they in Win Zip?

They're .zip file(s) which will work in WinZip or any other similar program. The actual text files are in .rtf which should work in any text program.


* it’s a testament to just how good the book is that it’s still highly regarded despite the editing process looking like it consisted of a monkey running a spellchecker through the text once selecting wrong words half the time and ignoring corrections the rest of the time

Note: to their credit Mongoose has taken great steps to correct this and ensure something like this doesn’t happen again so kudos to them!


HTH,
Casey