Using T20 with d20 Modern?
- Thread starter faherman
- Start date
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
I use d20 modern all the time for T20, that and Call of Cthulhu d20... I find it lines up pretty well with only slight tweaking, which I would do anyway, with any game... mostly it seems to be Hit Points and the additional Statistics that are different... and the purchasing system... i look at both as a Guideline
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
A zombie in that case (or at least what I would do) would be some sort of construct, like a robot (which also has no Con in my game, at least) and its "lifeblood" would be its structure rating...
I'm not sure what the structure rating of a reanimated corpse would be...
I'm not sure what the structure rating of a reanimated corpse would be...
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
A zombie in that case (or at least what I would do) would be some sort of construct, like a robot (which also has no Con in my game, at least) and its "lifeblood" would be its structure rating...
I'm not sure what the structure rating of a re-animated corpse would be...
I'm not sure what the structure rating of a re-animated corpse would be...
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
A rough rule of thumb I have found to work is that the SI of a human/zombie is equal to body mass (in kg) divided by five.
p. 210 of the THB combined with p. 114 results in roughly SI 13 for an average male human. Granted that's treating a zombie like a piece of equipment...which they are!
Base SI of 10 for Size Medium
assume 74kg which gives +3 SI for being 44kg over 30kg
----------
total SI for an average human zombie = 13
Sydite Zombies at 116kg are about SI 16
Hmmm Ursa Zombies at 448kg are about SI 28!
Chibi-Asu-chan Zombie goes from a whopping 8 Lifeblood to a fierce SI 10! grrrr natto argggh insta-brains...oooOOO p.o.p.t.a.r.t.s...
Adjust as desired. This is kinda fun. ^_^
Casey
[EDIT]added more examples[/EDIT]
Base SI of 10 for Size Medium
assume 74kg which gives +3 SI for being 44kg over 30kg
----------
total SI for an average human zombie = 13
Sydite Zombies at 116kg are about SI 16
Hmmm Ursa Zombies at 448kg are about SI 28!
Chibi-Asu-chan Zombie goes from a whopping 8 Lifeblood to a fierce SI 10!
grrrr natto argggh insta-brains...oooOOO p.o.p.t.a.r.t.s...Adjust as desired. This is kinda fun. ^_^
Casey
[EDIT]added more examples[/EDIT]
Almost all the stuff that D20 modern changed, T20 also changed. Classes, damage rules, etc.
I don't think anything would prevent you from using the d20 modern rules instead of PHB, because almost all the rules AFAIK that are used in T20 are common to both books (XP progression, etc.)
I don't think anything would prevent you from using the d20 modern rules instead of PHB, because almost all the rules AFAIK that are used in T20 are common to both books (XP progression, etc.)
M
Malenfant
Guest
You know, now that I have D20 Modern (and D20 Future), I am struck by one obvious possibility:
One of the problems I had with T20 was the class/career distinction - or rather the lack of it. Most noticeably, unless I was utterly mistaken about how it worked - you could start off (for example) in the Scout class at age 18, before you'd even reached University or joined the Scouts.
Now along comes D20M, which divides the classes up into Strong/Fast/Smart/Dedicated/etc according to their attribute specialities. And I'm thinking "hmm. So why can't you adapt this to T20, by saying that before you enter your careers you can only choose from these classes, and then when you enter the careers (Traveller, Scout, Navy, Merchant, etc) you pick those as Advanced Classes?" (I dunno yet whether you can multiclass in basic and advanced classes though, haven't read that far).
Could that be workable? I haven't read throough D20M enough to get a full grip on how it works yet.
One of the problems I had with T20 was the class/career distinction - or rather the lack of it. Most noticeably, unless I was utterly mistaken about how it worked - you could start off (for example) in the Scout class at age 18, before you'd even reached University or joined the Scouts.
Now along comes D20M, which divides the classes up into Strong/Fast/Smart/Dedicated/etc according to their attribute specialities. And I'm thinking "hmm. So why can't you adapt this to T20, by saying that before you enter your careers you can only choose from these classes, and then when you enter the careers (Traveller, Scout, Navy, Merchant, etc) you pick those as Advanced Classes?" (I dunno yet whether you can multiclass in basic and advanced classes though, haven't read that far).
Could that be workable? I haven't read throough D20M enough to get a full grip on how it works yet.
That could perhaps work, but you would have to lavish extreme care on the class/cross-class skill lists for each D20M class, especially since they'll get quadruple skills at level 1.
I think a simpler and better solution would be to say "you do prior history before picking your level 1 class". Prior history will give you 0-nnnnn XP, and you then spend that on levels starting from 1. Carry over the class entry restrictions that are in place, e.g. you can't buy levels in the scout class without having served some time in the scout career.
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
So has anyone got hold of d20 Future yet?
M
Malenfant
Guest
I have d20 Future. Whaddya want to know?
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
Is it good?
M
Malenfant
Guest
That's still a very vague question . Anything specific you're after for it to be good for?
*sigh*. I guess you just want me to explain it all don't you...
It's OK as a general scifi supplement (a la GURPS Space). The settings it comes with are OK, nothing to write home about really. Most are riffs off other things anyway - you have the Aliens ripoff, a Fading Suns/Cthulhu ripoff, a 70s post nuclear apocalypse thing, a Star Cops thing, plus of course Star*Drive.
Its got lots of rules for cybernetics, genetic engineering, mecha, mutations, robots, spacecraft (the tech is good, but the design sequence is basically nonexistent - just swap out things from existing ships and that's it). The technology side is riffed from Alternity (ie Progress Levels) but that's pretty nifty.
Biggest let down really is the spacecraft side of things. Ship Combat is... dubious IMO. It's very like character combat but with ships instead, you got your AoOs and 5 ft steps and so on, but now it's point defence and 500ft shifts. Yawn. And like I said, ship design is basically not very interesting. Star system design takes up about a page and is pretty darn useless (they have "green stars", for cryin' out loud).
There's lots of ideas in there to plunder, but I'm not sure what there is to specifically add to a default Trav game. T20 beats it hands down for ship design/combat and world design, that's for sure. But D20F does have all those other chapters on Mecha, cybernetics, mutations, geneering etc if you want to add that.
. Anything specific you're after for it to be good for? *sigh*. I guess you just want me to explain it all don't you...
It's OK as a general scifi supplement (a la GURPS Space). The settings it comes with are OK, nothing to write home about really. Most are riffs off other things anyway - you have the Aliens ripoff, a Fading Suns/Cthulhu ripoff, a 70s post nuclear apocalypse thing, a Star Cops thing, plus of course Star*Drive.
Its got lots of rules for cybernetics, genetic engineering, mecha, mutations, robots, spacecraft (the tech is good, but the design sequence is basically nonexistent - just swap out things from existing ships and that's it). The technology side is riffed from Alternity (ie Progress Levels) but that's pretty nifty.
Biggest let down really is the spacecraft side of things. Ship Combat is... dubious IMO. It's very like character combat but with ships instead, you got your AoOs and 5 ft steps and so on, but now it's point defence and 500ft shifts. Yawn. And like I said, ship design is basically not very interesting. Star system design takes up about a page and is pretty darn useless (they have "green stars", for cryin' out loud).
There's lots of ideas in there to plunder, but I'm not sure what there is to specifically add to a default Trav game. T20 beats it hands down for ship design/combat and world design, that's for sure. But D20F does have all those other chapters on Mecha, cybernetics, mutations, geneering etc if you want to add that.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
The only things I'll add to Malenfant's summary are:
a section on nanotechnology
a very brief equipment chapter listing equipment at different PLs
With regards to the ship design, I have read somewhere that they were all built using the Alternity Warships book and then written up in the new d20F format (weapons and armour have been converted to d20). That book is still available as a free pdf at the alternity website and includes a much better combat system.
a section on nanotechnology
a very brief equipment chapter listing equipment at different PLs
With regards to the ship design, I have read somewhere that they were all built using the Alternity Warships book and then written up in the new d20F format (weapons and armour have been converted to d20). That book is still available as a free pdf at the alternity website and includes a much better combat system.
I just got d20 Future yesterday, and I have to say... I'm torn. I'm impressed, yet a little annoyed. I think I was expecting a revamped version of Alternity. And there is a little of that in there, too. I really like the section on Robots. Good sections on GeneTech and Cloning (actual realistic up-to-date info). I've never really thought about NanoTech before, but they handled it like Traveller handles Medicine (generic types, no brand names, etc...), and as far as I can tell, a ton of this could be incorporated into T20 with little effort. Disappointed that they didn't have a futuristic psionics system (I don't like the way they have it in d20 Modern and the T20 psionics isn't versatile enough for me). I liked the campaign settings; although, I doubt I'll ever play the Dimention X one. Their Xenobiology section could have been better, but they have a template system to turn any creature from D&D or other d20 sources into either an Extra-terrestrial, or a Space Creature (one that can live freely in vacuum). They also provide a nice list of D&D monsters that they think would work great with those templates. I'd say, tho, that the d20 Menace Manual has more than enough creatures to go with this. I don't like how they've turned the Fraal into the Greys. They used to be a more alienistic Vulcan, and now they are Little Green Men.
Hope that helped,
Scout
Hope that helped,
Scout
M
Malenfant
Guest
Oh yeah, I forgot about the nanotech stuff - that part isn't bad, actually.
The book is certainly a handy toolkit for d20 scifi. Though I think some aspects could have been done a lot better.
The book is certainly a handy toolkit for d20 scifi. Though I think some aspects could have been done a lot better.
