Modern20

I really was one of the people who didn't get into the d20 explosion. When I moved to Texas I had just a few gaming books with me. Its was the 7th Seas core books, Legends of the 5 rings core book, My 3rd edition GURPS core books and the newly released DMG an PH for 3rd edition D&D.

3rd Edition D&D and D20 seemed so promising. Loved the Idea of it. Loved the idea of feats and skills. I had long since stopped playing any fantasy games, Let along D&D.

By the time I found a gaming shop and gamers to play with d20 was rolling strong. But the only players I could find that played it were massive power gamers. The way they played was not the style I wanted to run so I really didn't get anything rolling with 3rd edition. Instead I got into a group oF GURPS players. GURPS was all I really played through out the next 5 years or so.

So Its funny that now, after all the hype over d20 is mostly over that I now own so many systems derived from d20. True20, Mutants & masterminds, and Castles & Crusades. I still take issue with feat overload. But that is nothing a little house ruling cant fix.

I'm glad to add one more version to my collection.

I have actually had Modern20 for a little while now. But just recently got a chance to look through it in depth. While I have read through a lot of games derived from d20 that were basically the OGL with house rules I have to say Modern20 is a bit of a redesign.

The math is about the same. The structure is d20. But the character side of things is totally redesigned. Characters are designed using backgrounds, occupations, and class. There is no need for prestige classes because character development is open enough to build the character you really want to play.

One innovation I think is weapon skills. From having weapon skills you get better with the weapon in way beyond just a to hit bonus. For firearms this means better at making multiple shots or called shots. For melee weapons this could mean improved parry, Shield training, or two weapon fighting.

I think Modern20 is great. I'll be using it here soon for a few games.

I picked up the PDF but I think ill be picking up a print copy here soon.