There's a campaign I've been wanting to run for a long time, and now that I have a system and some concepts ready to go, I guess it's time for an interest check.
The system would be a slightly modified Future d20, with a whiff of the SG-1 system. If there's enough interest, I'll post all the nitty-gritty. It should be quite familiar to anybody who's ever played Pathfinder.
The campaign's high sci-fi (faster-than-light travel, cybernetics, psionics) with some harder elements (Isaac Newton's still the baddest mother in space). It'll be in the vein of Star Trek, Star Con 2, Mass Effect, or SG-1, with an emphasis on exploration and diplomacy but plenty of chances for combat in space and on the ground.
For now, just interest or any questions. If there are at least 4 people interested, I'll make a campaign thread.
I have had the urge to play some non-fantasy lately. Definitely interested!
Wow, two interested in thirty minutes. This is very promising.
You got my interest. Been wanting to play in d20-land. Put up the nitty-gritty!
I'm pretty interested.
Looks like we have quorum.
I've converted this to a campaign thread. I'll be adding system and character things to the campaign tab in short order.
I'm currently thinking a fast hero/psionic agent.
Sort of like the ghosts of Starcraft.
I am also quite interested.
Be nice to put on a gun instead of a sword for a change.
I'm looking for 4-6 characters for this. I've added at least the basic information to the campaign tab. It's been awhile since I last ran a PbP campaign so I'm sure I've forgotten something or something will be unclear. Please let me know what questions come up during character creation.
Not everything is up yet, of course. I'll be adding information about the Deronda herself, gear rules, etc. as I have time.
looks good, except 20 point buy is really, really low. Humans in d20 don't get a +2 bonus like in pathfinder, and a sample 20 point buy could look something like this:
10, 14, 10, 10, 14, 10.
If we use pathfinder point buy it's a little better, but they'll still be less high than you'd expect because every race has +2 less to stats in this.
Rule of thumb, 15pf point buy is equivalent to 28 d20modern & d&d point buy, 20pts equate to 32, and 25 roughly to 36-38.
Or maybe this is working as intended - in that case, forge on, I can use the excercise of working with a lower point buy option.
With the gear pick I think wealth is redundant, so any feat that affect wealth would be a waste to pick yes?
Thanks for the pointer, Dragon. Use a 32 point buy, then - I forgot about that difference.
As for wealth feats, if you have something specific in mind perhaps we can convert it to give an extra gear pick point or two. Maybe it turns out you and the quartermaster are old friends, or something.
I was thinking more along the salvage feat, and I think that might be either a bit overpowered or much to complicated depending on how it was handled.
So let's not bother with a workaround for that.
Being that we are all from earth and been "land locked" until now, I think any feat requiring outside influence or other starting locations are out no?
Hmmm, the way I've been phrasing my questions makes me think i should play a...."Freelance peace keeping operative", yes?
Well, there's no starting location other than Earth, that's true. But a feat that involves influence on Earth could be valuable as well. Secrets can't stay secret forever, after all, and being connected could be a real asset in the future.
As far as salvage, don't forget that other worlds could still benefit from having things to barter. The SG-1 gear picks system technically lies on top of a personal wealth score that mostly involves missions on the homeworld, I just didn't see much reason to add the complexity. If you guys feel there's something to be gained by it, I can incorporate that, too.
I am going to make a Charismatic Hero/Ambassador, who is descended from the monarchy of Monaco (The Grimaldis) and who helped to fund the project. They do not care for the Commonwealth all that much, and funding the endeavor seems like a great way to stick it to them. As the youngest daughter of 7, my character would be the one that was sent as a representative of her family. My goal for her is to make her haughty, attractive, and manipulative; I'll know I've done my job if you almost simultaneously hate, love, and fear her.
Just to make sure: The advanced classes in d20 Future are available for us, right? If so, I'm making a Smart Hero/Technosavant.
Any chance of getting to use Partial base attack bonus progression? I know that the save progressions and defense bonuses are a mess, but base attack use regular progressions, and it'd really help out with multiclassing if you didn't lose bab from it.
@Vrog No problem, just make sure there's some reason the family knows about the Deronda Project. Sounds like they might be the kind to keep their ears to ground just in case they find a chance to stick it to the Commonwealth. The other question to ask yourself is whether their anti-government position is about the government itself (a personal grudge), or perhaps a sympathy to some larger movement (anger at the official government line being appeasement of the aliens, or about losing the Systems War, or some similar reason).
@Xynen Characters will start with max hit points. After that we'll do 1/2 HD + 1 + CON bonus.
@Deko All the advanced classes are available unless they use actual magic. Technosavant could be a great asset to the team!
@Dragon Partial BAB progression is fine.
Where do you find the partial bonus rules?
Also, how are we doing our wealth/equipment picks? In case we roll for wealth, here's mine:
Got the crunch done for my character: Jazzming Brokato. Gonna work on the fluff some time tomorrow. Let me know if I got all her crunch done correctly, first time playing in d20-land.
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Okay so this is what I've got so far:
When he left his native El Salvador to study physical sciences, his family advised him to keep his hobby quiet. Most citizens of the world would be disgusted with the idea of trying to re-achieve spaceflight and they didn't want to see him hurt.
He took their advice, and for the next 7 years kept his true ambition quiet. He would study old archives about astrodynamics in a restricted center of the University library in the middle of the night and he rented a house nearby where he built model and prototype spacecraft in the basement.
Unfortunately as school got more intensive, Sergio got more sloppy. Eventually his research was discovered, his University confiscated his prototypes and banned him from the premises. The whole thing was a huge media scandal, at least locally and within the scientific community. Sergio was blacklisted, almost immediately. He received letters daily for 6 months from colleagues, professors, and even hometown friends regretfully severing contact with him, all over fear that their mysterious alien conquerors might come back and finally finish them all off just because of his work.
Then, one day he received a letter with no return address and no name with a set of coordinates and a time to arrive. This was his start with the Deronda Project. Having heard of his work attempting to build his own spacecraft, they had chosen to offer him the chance of a lifetime. He was assigned to a team responsible for designing a fully functional spacecraft and assuring it's safe ascent into space.
Sergio also volunteered for the rigorous training to be a member of the flight team, where he was even given rudimentary piloting training and his history with astrology supplemented his training in navigation.
@GM: I figure they hate the fact that their power was taken away from them by vote, so they've probably been secretly and through various 3rd parties, been funding some of the terrorists. I think it's one of those "ally to your face, stab you in the back" kinda deals.
@Deko Partial BAB progression just means that certain classes gain a fraction of a bonus per level so that multi-classed characters don't miss out on what should be their bonuses.
For example, consider a multi-class charismatic hero/smart hero with one level in each. The character would normally get no bonus because both have +0 for first level. With partial progression, because their BAB table shows they gain +1 every other level, they each technically get 0.5 per level, thus our hypothetical granting a total of +1. Hopefully this makes sense. I know it's not necessarily super clear.
Gear will involve characters earning gear picks and being assigned gear based on the mission. I have a ton of stuff to transcribe from the relevant source book, so the rules aren't up yet. Admittedly I could have done that earlier, but this came together a lot faster than I expected.
I'm willing to bend on this, though. I like the gear picks system for a military organization, but if you guys would rather use regular wealth rules we can do that too.
@Xynen Very nice! It makes perfect sense that delving into forbidden knowledge could lead to people losing family and friends - even if the aliens didn't wipe out humanity in general, just being associated with such things could end poorly (i.e. being converted to atomic vapor). It'll be nice to see how Sergio turns out with the opportunity to be with people who share his goals.
@Vrog Makes sense to me. Royalty, man. Just don't forget that the world's countries still exist, they just have to answer to a higher power now. I have some plans for future plot lines that could make this very interesting.
@All I'll be working on the gear system over the next few days so there should be a big update to the campaign tab once it's ready to go. Take a look at the PL 5 and 6 gear on the SRD, since that's approximately the kind of gear that will be available.
Some things that could be helpful for backgrounds: consider one or two friends and enemies of your character, within the project or otherwise. I'll post small bios of a few people within the Deronda Project and the Commonwealth government, but don't feel confined to the figures.
So I got an alt (for Vrog) made and had my character typed up, but then the forums decided she looked delicious and decided to eat it. I'll get her stats up tomorrow.
Mmkay, so I redid her BAB using the fractional rules. Are we doing the fractional saves as well? Or just the BAB?
Okay, other than her backstory, I have Arianna's alt finished.
Haha, I went the other way, the back-story is mostly done, just need to do the crunch now.
Here's Jazzming's fluffy parts!
I went ahead and added the basic gear rules and some resources, as well as basic bios of some of the people on the Deronda Project. Note that the gear rules are a little rough right now. If you think there's a problem, let me know and we'll figure it out.
@Deko Master's at 19 will certainly get you noticed! The project seems like a perfect fit for her skills.
That's what I was going for. Going to play her a little like a female Tony Stark, mostly with her snarky wit and love of pop culture.
About the equipment picks: So we automatically have the gear in your base equipment list? If so, do we automatically gain proficiency with the armor and weapons? Also, I'm a little unsure about how the gear pick system works. With 2 picks, do we choose two items worth 1 pick/one item worth 2 picks? Or do we spend the picks on bundles?
Gear picks are on top of bundles. So you'll get the basic bundle, some number of bundles depending on the mission, and (for now) 2 picks worth of other gear. You are automatically proficient with the vest and the two weapons in the basic gear, but for better weapons or armor you'll need to have proficiencies (and use gear picks).
Gear's a little bit restricted right now, but that should change as the project, uh, gets off the ground.
Would it be possible to swap out the Tac Vest for the Undercover Vest and gain an extra pick? I just think the Undercover Vest would fit the character more. If not, that's fine as well.
I have Arianna's backstory finished.
@Deko You can make the substitution, but I don't believe an extra pick is warranted in this case. The reason why is because the two armors are equivalent for most mechanical purposes, with a +3 bonus. In fact the undercover vest is slightly superior thanks to having a +5 MDB versus the tac vest's +3.
In the SG-1 system the undercover vest is slightly worse because it's vulnerable against an extra damage type and has a bit less DR, so it's cheaper. That said, tell me if you find gear that doesn't seem to justify its cost in gear picks. Like always, I have no problem negotiating that kind of thing.
@Jonny Great! You'll find a wall o' text in the campaign tab to help you make a character. The party could benefit from a doctor or a scientist type, but you can make whatever you'd like.
@Vrog Looks good to me, though it's the Deronda Project, not the Dekonda Project! I like the idea of the boxes. That should allow for some interesting twists.
@All Oh, since the skill point system is slightly different from the standard, all classes that require a certain number of skill ranks to qualify (which I think is all of them) require two fewer in each skill. So if it calls for six ranks in a skill, you only need four. This won't matter for a couple of levels, but it should help with planning.
Honestly, that was just my attempt to gain an extra pick lol I was hoping for 3 picks so I can get a better laptop. As it is, I went with a survival knife and a science kit as my two picks and I'm happy with them. Thank you for letting me switch the armors around, though!
Oh, was looking at the feats in d20 Future, and noticed there are feats that give you talents from other classes. Are they available for anybody or do you have to be a member of that class to gain the feats? Was wondering cause I was thinking about taking the one for Fast Hero talents. If not, that's fine, just thought I'd throw that out there.
Doh! fixed now.
@Deko Never fear, more gear picks will come about in time! Remember that you are free to change your gear picks any time you are on or have access to Deronda, and you may wish to decide based on the needs of each mission and the bundles available.
As for the feats, I can't find any references to class requirements, so unless someone knows differently I suppose they're open to anyone.
@Vrog Looks great now!
Took another look at the feats, and it turns out you'd need at least one level in the appropriate class. The talents the feats will give you all have prereqs of talents in the paths. Think I might take a level in Fast Hero just for that anyway.
The smart hero feat is an exception to that, by the way.
But, alas, I am a smart hero lol
Aha, I didn't look at the talents themselves, just errata for the feats. Crafty crafty designers....
How much longer is recruitment gonna lost?
I'll give people the weekend to submit characters. I'll probably make a setting post tonight, though, and people are welcome to get started.
Mmkay, looking forward to it. Are you letting everybody who wants to join or only a few people?