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As promised here I am back for another month of
spewing forth my opinions
on things that might interest you. As of this
writing, I have not gotten a single comment or idea
for shows to replace the television shows that are
reality based.
This month I take a look at the D20 system.
The Internet seems to be split in their like and
dislike of the D20 system. I, for one. like the D20 system.
I was introduced to the D20 system at
about the same time
everyone else was with the release of Dungeons and
Dragons 3.0. I was actually late in getting into
D&D 3.0 because I really was not a role player. My
dalliances with role-playing games was limited to
an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game that my
older brother ran a long time ago that ultimately
folded because we went a bit nuts with the Deck of
Many Things.
Anyway, I compared the way of character creation
and outside of the little things, like not having to keep track of dozens of
side stats, 3.0 seemed more streamlined and
efficient. Saving throws were reduced from between
6 and 9 different stats for every little thing you
could run into to 3 different numbers.
Attacking was also streamlined into a roll of the
D20 + your base attack
bonus + strength or dexterity bonus depending on
the type of weapon. That's it. If the number was
higher than the opponent's Armor Class then you
hit them. No messy THAC0 number to calculate every
time you attacked.
Classes were not based on the stats that you
rolled, but rather what you
wanted to play. If you had a high dexterity you
could play a rogue or a fighter that was good with
ranged weapons. Being saddled with a high
intelligence did not mean you were automatically
going to be a wizard, but it helped to have a high
intelligence in the amount of skill points that
you got to spend at each level. The paladin and
ranger classes used to have some really tough
requirements if you wanted to start play in one of
those classes. Now the only thing holding you back
from being a paladin is if you want to play
lawful good or not.
Last up is the feat system that is being used to
represent the special
things your character can do. This ranges from
fighting with a hand weapon in each hand, to
giving spells extra damage or an extra large
radius for the spell casting classes. These are
the perfect way to give your character that
personal touch as well as boosting your weapon
attacks.
Wizards of the Coast has shown us how flexible
the D20 system is by not
only using it in its D&D books, but also in its
D20 Modern game. For those of you wanting more of
a spy influenced game there is AEG's Spycraft
game. For those of you who like to play your own
characters in your favorite television show there
is the Stargate SG-1 game and the Babylon 5 games.
If you wanted to stick to the fantasy genre, there
are lots of books by many publishers that can
float your boat. Even that bastion of the
storytelling genre, White Wolf, got into the
Fantasy book publishing thanks to Wizards of the
Coast's Open gaming License.
That's all for this month. I don't know what's on
the agenda for next month. Maybe why speculators are ruining the toy
business for all who collect or play with their
toys.
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