I like the d20 resolution system and it works for D&D and the d20 modern. The best thing is it is easy to teach anybody who has played D&D. The prestige classes are very cool, from mages shamans to media stars to gunslingers and martial artists. Very interesting but a hard sell for gamers on my island. Thier is a lot on developing an Urban Arcana campaign, think D&D fantasy in modern, instead of a medieval setting. but with a bit of imagination you can develop any charcter type in a modern setting you can think up. The d20 Modern character classes seem a little bland and many gamers I know have a problem with it. I like the d20 modern as well as Star Wars d20, which I found out is the basis for the Knights of the Old Republic x-box game.
Having said that, I think it's a great game system for one shots or for a gaming day of something completely different. Our campaign got put on hold while we concentrate on D&D, but when we need a break from D&D, I'll run d20 modern for a few months until our batteries are recharged. I'm tinkering with a d20 modern campaign right now in my spare time when the mood strikes me. Avoid them and pick up something with more focus from a 3rd party publisher. D20 future tries to do too much by covering every possible aspect of SciFi while mastering none, but it is well written and if you're planning on running a semi-futuristic modern campaign, it's worth picking up, but isn't necessary.ĭ20 past and D20 apocalypse try to cover way too much territory with the word count they were alloted. I did buy the d20 past (mediocre) and d20 future (pretty good) and d20 apocalypse (mediocre) supplements. The d20 modern core book is pretty comprehensive and if you're willing to invest some effort into campaign prep, you don't really need to buy anything else.that's real nice. However, there are lots of 3rd parties supplements out there to make your game as gritty and realistic as you like. Heck, they have bugbears described in the d20 modern book.why would I want that? If I want bugbears in a d20 campaign chances are I play D&D anyway so I don't see why they had to be included.lots of other D&D style monsters and classes in d20 modern as well. Things I don't like: the core classes (a bit bland), all the emphasis on running a modern arcana campaign (I was shocked to find dozens of spells and the mage class described in the d20 modern book). Things I like about d20 modern: massive damage rule, the prestige classes, the car chase rules, the total compatability with every d20 product, the action points and wealth system (very elegant mechanics) Unfortunately, our GM gave up RPGs altogether after only a few sessions, so we haven't played it in about a year.
It's very cinematic, even more so than D&D. I like it-we converted an old existing Star Trek FASA campaign to a d20 modern variant utilizing the d20 future supplement.