This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly
d20 Modern Roleplaying Game
Written by Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, and Charles Ryan
320-page color hardcover; $39.95
What's familiar?
Some d20 System games targeted at non-fantasy settings "tweak" the system significantly to fit the target genre. That being the case, you might wonder what is essentially unchanged between Dungeons & Dragons and d20 Modern.
It appears that in many ways, Wizards of the Coast has been significantly more conservative when adapting the d20 System to a modern setting. d20 Modern retains many elements that other modern and ultramodern games dispense with or modify, such as iterative attacks and hit points. However, d20 Modern uses some aspects of the game that appeared in the d20 Star Wars game, such as Reputation and intermediate saving throw categories.
Basic Classes
One of the most significant changes to the system is the handling of character classes. d20 Modern divides character classes into basic classes and advanced classes. Basic classes are similar to the core classes of Dungeons & Dragons in that they have no prerequisites that must be met before taking the class, while advanced classes (like prestige classes) do have prerequisites.
The fundamental difference between the approach to classes and the corresponding D&D classes is that the d20 Modern classes are much more general. d20 Modern advanced classes are as general as D&D core classes, while d20 Modern basic classes are more general than either. There are six core classes, and each . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: November 13, 2002
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