Federation Commander

Moved from another topic:

Wolverin61 wrote: I got the GURPS PD right after the first edition came out and thought it was pretty good, although right after I got it I loaned it out and never got it back. Still got the old PD1 stuff somewhere.

Is D20M better than GURPS? Like I say, I've never played D20M, or even D20.

Yes and No.
I know that doesn't help, but each has advantages and disadvantages of their own.

Either version of PD (GUPS, D20, or D20M) is one of the best ST rpgs produced... and are currently the only ones in production!

It really boils down to what you like or are familar with. A group that's played D20 games is going to like PD20 more than PD:GURPS while a group that's used to GURPS will prefer it over PD20.

In a nutshell... GURPS focuses on character building and D20 focuses on leveling.
In GURPS, you can stat your character out exactly the way you want him/her /o regad to fitting into a predefined character class.
In D20, you increase levels in specific classes to gain skill points which are then spent to increase the skills endemic to that particular character class.

Two D20 characters of equal class and equal level are going to be very similar in skills, simply due to the limited selection of skills from which to choose...
Two GURPS characters OTOH, with an equal amount of experience can be widely different depending on which skills the particular players chose to focus on and what disadvantages/quirks were selected/assigned during character creation.

Then there are the skills themselves...
d20 skills are still tied to the fantasy setting (with some notable PD additions) so you can still select skills such as Detect Traps, Disable Device, etc.
GURPS (which has had Sci Fi - or is it SYFy? - settings since 1st edition) has many more technical type skills to select.

PD20M strikes a reasonable balance between the two. There are Hero types, Feats, skills, and Advanced classes... but the selection of skills is often tailored by what advacned class a player eventaully wants to play... not necesarily those designated by your character classes limited selection.

I might comment that I'm on page 83 of Klingon d20M (making Jean's corrections and changes, which are going pretty fast) and that it is scheduled to ship on Monday.

I might add we were making final changes tonight and got through p. 67. The Klingons are being forced into giving up answers to so many questions ...

What?!? I'm not answering them here! This is an unsecured channel ... and I don't feel an urgent need to have a Dagger Team visit me or an ESS team to knock on my door.

What was that shimmer of light in the dark outside?

Signing off ...

WebMom? On this board?
Huh?!?

An unusual number of Klingon planets have exactly 14 moons.

Scoutdad wrote:GURPS (which has had Sci Fi - or is it SYFy? - settings since 1st edition) has many more technical type skills to select.

PD20M strikes a reasonable balance between the two. There are Hero types, Feats, skills, and Advanced classes... but the selection of skills is often tailored by what advacned class a player eventaully wants to play... not necesarily those designated by your character classes limited selection.

Do you need the oop D20M book for PD20M? iirc the first edition GURPS PD book that I had had all the GURPS rules you needed in it. Of course, GURPS Lite is a free download anyway.

Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

While the GURPS version of PR does have everything you need to play... the d20/d20M license does not allow for the inclusion of several of the rules needed for playing. This makesthe D20M core rulebook (which is sadly, oop) a necessasy evil. On the brighter side, they re still readily available from various internet dealers... usually at a lower than MSRP cost.

Wolverin61 wrote:Do you need the oop D20M book for PD20M?

Fortunately the answer is no. You can pick up RPGObjects Modern d20 Core Kit for free at http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php? ... s_id=57989. It has everything you need to run the game when combined with the PD20 Modern book.

So the answer really is, you need a core rulebook that contains the d20 Modern rules, but Jonathan has found a free download of the System Reference Document and a rulebook that will let you generate characters. I'd be interested in hearing how you like the books. Do they compare favorably with the d20 Modern Rulebook?

Post here with what you discover, please.

RPG Object's d20M Core Kit just focuses on character creation. There's most of the character classes from d20M, as well as some of the ones that RPO created, but the ones from d20 Future are missing.

There's always the SRD which many sites have posted as a file or web pages. Between the SRD and the core kit, you've got a core book.

Of course, you could always go small and use Microlite20.

Personally, I think PD with the Spycraft 2 d20 system would work great. It would mean a little tweeking, but adding Spycraft's dramatic conflict system would be worth it.

Thanks for the report!

JEGoodrich wrote:RPG Object's d20M Core Kit just focuses on character creation. There's most of the character classes from d20M, as well as some of the ones that RPO created, but the ones from d20 Future are missing.

Since d20 Future is not required to play then it really doesnt matter if they are missing. The idea to provide a document that can replace the d20 Modern core book, which is the only thing outside of the PD20M book that is required for play. The Core Kit provides just that.