D20 Future (SRD) what's (not so) good and what can be improved (and how)?

[Cergorach]

So now that the D20 Future SRD is available to the general public, what are the opinions on the rules and systems in the D20 Future SRD? Are there alternatives (that are better), and how can the material in the D20 Future SRD be improved (and why)? Oh yeah, if your listing alternatives be sure that they are OGL (for reasons of using those rules in other publications).

My own first impressions after skimming through the document (as i've not yet ordered the D20 Future book itself).
Feats, advanced classes, 'monsters', etc. are not that interesting imho, these are most easily changed to fit individual tastes (or used from other splat books). The systems and rules for manifesting the sci-fi 'feeling' is something i find a lot more interesting, although i must admit that i was not expecting that much from D20 Future (D20 Modern wasn't all that it could be imho).

So far i must say that it is pretty... nifty. Concepts are explained pretty well, i like the idea of a general 'toolbox' to create your own setting (and technology level), i think that D20 Future (SRD) works very well in that regard. But it's strength is also it's weakness, it's very generic and lacks detail, although most of the basics you would expect are there. Something i missed (and hope that is in the D20 future book itself) is the lack of guidelines for mixing technology (or atleast the mentioning of flexible technology levels).

-Mutations
-Cybernetics (alternatives: OGL Cybernet)
-Environments (alternatives: Traveller T20)
-Mecha (alternatives: D20 Mecha, Armageddon 2087)
-Progress Levels (alternatives: Traveller T20)
-Robots
-Scientific Engineering
-Starships/Traveller Science (alternatives: Traveller T20, Blood and Space)

I probably missed a lot of alternatives (and specifics), but this is what i thought of from the top of my head. Haven't really compared the alternatives with D20 Future (SRD) yet. With one exception though, i have been looking for a 'hard' mecha system (along the lines of Battletech or CAV) and think that Armageddon 2087 fits the bill better then D20 Future (SRD) or D20 Mecha.

 

[sinmissing]

Anybody know how d20 Gamma World compares to d20 Future in regards to mutations?

 

[Gomez]

Anybody know how d20 Gamma World compares to d20 Future in regards to mutations?

I really like the d20 Future mutation rules. You basically have to balance positive mutations with negative ones. To get a 4 point good mutation you have to purchase it with 4 points of bad mutation(s). And as for the number of mutations, the few pages in d20 Future seems to have as many or more mutations that the d20 Gamma World Players book. Generally I like the d20 Future mutations better.

I have been thinking of putting together a Gamma World type game using d20 Future. But it will take alot of work as d20 Future is just a tool box of rules.

 

[Masada]

The d20 Future SRD is fabulous! The whole purpose behind SRD is to lack detail. It's a posting of the game mechanics for developers to add their detail. I'm personally shocked that WotC released it so soon after publishing.

There's a lot of stuff that GM's can take, leave or modify. But now there is a large pool of information to start with and all for FREE. I don't think you could ask for more (realizing that more is always nice to have ).

Thanks to WotC for getting this out so quickly for developers to come through with new material!

Thanks to EN World for giving us a free place to talk about it and announce development!

 

[sinmissing]

And as for the number of mutations, the few pages in d20 Future seems to have as many or more mutations that the d20 Gamma World Players book.

:shocked: This is very surprising to me. I thought the d20 Future coverage of mutations was elegant, but broad stroked. Again, I'm really surprised that a product that focuses on genre wouldn't have more info.

 

[Gomez]

:shocked: This is very surprising to me. I thought the d20 Future coverage of mutations was elegant, but broad stroked. Again, I'm really surprised that a product that focuses on genre wouldn't have more info.

Well I am a big fan of Gamma World. My first RPG was Metamorphis Alpha back in the day. (Man that was along time ago! ) I was pretty excited about the d20 Gamma World book. Well, I sold it one week after I had purchased it. It pretty much stinked in my opinion. One of the main reasons I got rid of it was the treatment of mutations. Very skimpy and uninspiring.

 

[kingpaul]

I really like the d20 Future mutation rules. You basically have to balance positive mutations with negative ones. To get a 4 point good mutation you have to purchase it with 4 points of bad mutation(s). And as for the number of mutations, the few pages in d20 Future seems to have as many or more mutations that the d20 Gamma World Players book. Generally I like the d20 Future mutations better.

Have you looked at RPG Object's Darwin's World? There's a whole suite of mutations there. And if you advance one of your beneficial mutations, you have advance on of your defective mutations.

 

[Emiricol]

I really like the d20 Future mutation rules. You basically have to balance positive mutations with negative ones. To get a 4 point good mutation you have to purchase it with 4 points of bad mutation(s)

Yes, that's the route Darwin's World II took when it came out last year. The book has 20+ pages on mutations, which was nice. I think the Mutations section might be a cheap PDF as well at RPGNow.

I liked it when Darwin's World II did it (not that they were the first!) and I like D20Future's section on mutations as well. I think the Darwin's World version is significantly better for post-apocalyptic style play, but D20F is a toolkit for multiple genres so that's probably unavoidable.


EDIT: Aiee! Kingpaul posted before I did, with links! *fistshakes*

 

[Zethnar]

Personally I'd love to see a well thought out starship combat system. Not that the one in D20 Future wasnt well thought out, its just that "Lets keep it simple so that it meshes well with everything else" isnt the line of thinking I want to get into.

The only one I can currently think of (that I've seen) that works reasonably well is the Revised Star Wars space combat system. It somewhat resembled the Modern Vehicle combat rules in that you had to move and you could perform stunts etc to alter your position in space. These generally required pilot rolls and it still had the unfortunate consequence of leaving some people with nothing to do.

But then finding the perfect system would be insanely dificult unless you had a group of players whos characters were set up to all work as a unit in space combat.

 

[Voadam]

Not having seen d20 future before I was hoping for more creatures than two templates plus renamed brown mold and green slime. The arcana and menace srd entries were fabulous, these didn't seem to add much for alien critters.