d20 Future
From: Wizards of the Coast
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
d20 Future is a new d20 Modern Expansion Book from Wizards of the Coast (WotC).
Science Fiction is by far my favorite genre in role playing. I started role playing in TSR’s Star Frontiers and tried every sci-fi game that interested me since. When I heard that d20 was FINALLY putting out a sci-fi rule book, I was interested. When I heard that it was going to be an expansion off d20 Modern, I was even MORE interested. When I heard they were including Star Frontiers stuff, I was sold.
Disclaimer Note: I am a big d20 fan. I was a HUGE fan of Star Frontiers as well as Alternity.
One has to remember one thing about d20 Future – it is a setting book for d20 Modern. So it has all the trappings of d20 Modern. With d20 Modern as a starting point, d20 Future adds on a ton of new stuff to start a sci-fi campaign. It’s makes a strong effort to separate itself from other sci-fi d20 games like Star Wars – although most would argue that Star Wars is not a sci-fi game. I tend to agree, but Star Wars does have its sci-fi elements. In places, the book also tries to give the reader a tertiary education on select hard sci-fi subjects like real space travel, gravity induction, cloning and many other interesting subjects. I find it refreshing and very true to the definition of sci-fi. It is also helpful to GMs who are not well versed in many of the standard sci-fi subjects.
Chapter by Chapter:
The Introduction is pretty standard to begin with, but also adds in a necessary section on Progress Level (PL) – otherwise known as tech levels. These are similar to the Alternity progress levels and are used to measure technology in equipment and cultures. PL ranges from 0 to 8 and beyond, although the book covers from PL 5 up to 8. In this section is one of the first attempts at educating the reader with a little side box on Gravity Induction and what it means to sci-fi.
Chapter 1 – Characters: This chapter is an add-on to the character generation section of d20 Modern. It adds on eight new starting occupations – like Colonist, Astronaut Trainee, and Heir – as well as expanding on several skills. It adds 30 new feats like Action Boost (changes action points to d8s), Jack of all Trades (use any skill untrained), and several starship related feats. I like several of them enough to want to work them into my current Star Wars campaign.
Also included are, of course, Advanced Classes. Twelve base advanced classes are presented here, including Ambassador, Dogfighter, Engineer, Explorer (a nice throw back to Star Frontiers), Space Monkey, Tracer and Xenophile. All are well laid out and each is done in typical Wizards of the Coast quality. Other advanced classes are listed with their corresponding campaign settings later in the Campaign Chapter. I like the variety of advanced classes here.
From the back cover : “ The Future is what you make of it.”
Chapter 2 – Campaigns: As any sci-fi fan knows, sci-fi role playing can encompass quite a few settings. What surprised me was how much d20 Future covered. Some choices were downright brave of them. Along with the very honorable nods to Star Frontiers (Star Law/United Frontier setting and the Star Law Office advanced class) and Alternity Star*Drive (Star*Drive Setting with the Concord Administrator advanced class), I was pleasantly surprised with the Dimensional X setting (dimensional traveling setting) as well as the Mecha Crusade setting (battle mechs like Battletech). Both are very brave to take on and are given a fair treatment. Dimensional Travel alone could take up a whole sourcebook and as most know, battle mechs have several of their own games dedicated to the genre.
Between the above notables are other settings like From the Dark Heart of Space, Genetech, and The Wasteland, for a total of eight settings. All but one have an advanced class associated to it (the Mecha Jockey is included in the Mecha Chapter). There is also more in each setting including character templates for ‘franks’ (a type of 0-ECL mutant), Agents of the Void creature template and a menacing alien race in Star*Drive called the klick (similar in appearance to the arachnids from Starship Trooper).
Chapter 3 – Gear: One of the primary attractions to a sci-fi genre is the gadgets. This chapter has to have been a challenge to do simply because of what it had to cover. Spanning Progress Level 5 through 8, it categorizes items in three areas: Weapons, Armor, and Equipment. I can not say I was disappointed, but I can say I was under-whelmed by what was included. It’s enough, but it definitely leaves you wanting more (d20 Future Gear Guide?? Please??). There are, however, some very unique and creative items in the list that I have not seen elsewhere but liked very much – like Phasing Ammunition…. OUCH!.
The value of the chapter comes in the form of the Gadget System – a system that allows modifications and upgrades to the gear. Each modification is like a feat purchased for the particular device. Things like Alternate Weapon, Prehensile Appendage, Expanded Magazine, Video Scope, Self-Repairing, and Chameleonic Surface are available.
Also nice is the further familiar stuff from Star Frontiers like the Polyvox, Tangler Grenade, defensive shields, and Truthtell. Just one question – Where is the classic Ion Bonding Tape, Star Frontiers’ answer to duct tape?
Chapter 4 – Environments: This short four-page chapter covers the rules surrounding different sci-fi themed environments like zero-G, radioactive areas, and the vacuum of space. This includes rules on radiation sickness and effects of high and low gravity and vacuum on characters. It closes with a system to classify star systems along with a short lesson on stellar astro-physics in relation to star types like white stars, neutron stars and red supergiants. I saw this as appropriately short, to the point and very workable in the d20 system. It wasn’t overly physical and scientific but enough to keep it realistic.
From the back cover: “High Tech Meets High Adventure ”
Chapter 5 – Scientific Engineering: This chapter is of a kind I rarely see in other sci-fi games. It goes into areas I have always wanted to see in games, but have not. It primarily covers two areas that a lot of sci-fi now is delving into – genetic engineering and nanotechnology. It delves into specific issues of genetic science and engineering including basic genetic experimenting, designer diseases, DNA manipulation, gene screening, and genetically advanced humans (ala Nietzscheans of Andromeda). This section also includes four genetic engineered templates for characters – Aquan, Healer, Morphean, and Nocturnal.
Cloning is a common sci-fi theme, and for two pages Chapter 5 covers the issues involved in that. From creating spare parts to an army of clones and clone’s rights, it covers enough of the subject to give the GM ideas and information on the subject.
The most unique part of this chapter is the treatment it has on nanotechnology. Although touched on in some games, I don’t think I’ve seen it covered like this – in true game terms useful to a GM or player. It is not an overwhelming section and probably could use more in it, but it does give you something to work with. Basically two full pages, it covers where we are today with the technology and where it will probably go. The chapter ends with a short essay on Matter Replication.
Chapter 6 – Traveler Science & Chapter 7 – Starships: These two chapters are generally related in terms of space travel, but the Travel Science chapter covers more than just space travel. It also boldly covers dimensional and time travel. I am sure the authors probably wanted to dedicate more space to these two subjects, because whole books could be written about both separately, but it does cover it to a degree that gives a GM something to work with.
From the space travel point of view, it divides out the types of space travel as either realistic or fantastic. It also gives one some basic physics lesson in the realistic sections. The realistic section on interstellar travel brings forth the harsh reality that it is unlikely it will be possible through conventional means. The table of Realistic Travel Times is an awesome reference for those that have no concept of stellar distances.
The authors talked about the starship combat system in Chapter 7 in an interview on the WotC site. Their goal was to make it simple and in-obtrusive. I personally avoid starship combat in many of my sci-fi sessions because every system I have tried seems to intrude on the game and take you outside the roleplaying sense of the game and into a miniature war game. This system is simple – basically a scaled up version of personal combat – but it is still one of those that draws the players out of the roleplay and into a larger scale macro-gaming environment. Apparently, this is unavoidable. It’s not a bad system, however. The whole section visually is awesome. The ship drawings, though small, are really good.
The chapter then lists basic starship types, dividing them out into five subtypes (ultalight, light, medium, heavy and superheavy) and supplying a few class templates to improve on the basic types. Following this are the descriptions of starship equipment available – starship engines, armor, defense systems, sensors, communication systems, and, of course, weapons. Within the pages are lots of cool gadgets to play with, but you better have a lot of dice. Damage for these systems are not like Star Wars starship weapons systems. Where in SW d20, you have a turbo laser 5d10 x 5, a plasma cannon in this system (PL 7) does 14d8 damage. There is a good variety of ships weapons here, and I am impressed with that.
Chapter 8 – Vehicles & Chapter 9 – Mecha: The chapter on vehicles is short and somewhat under-whelming. I would have preferred a little more in that section, but it does supply the GM with some vehicles’ stats to work with. Of course, it simply adds on to the vehicles supplied in d20 Modern, so I suppose I should not have expect a lot.
For vehicles, this chapter contains six civilian hover-vehicles, over ten civilian ground vehicles, and five military vehicles. The chapter ends with a list of vehicle gear including Remote Shutdown Systems, Gunner Autocomp, and Anti-Accident Systems (my wife would say I need a home version of the last one for everyday life). I can only hope that d20 Future sells well enough that a vehicle expansion is written.
The Mecha Section is definitely more impressive. I am simply impressed they included it. Because there is so much done on mecha-style sci-fi already, I would be concerned that they didn’t give it the proper treatment in one simple chapter. And to be honest, if you’re looking for something to replace Mechwarrior RPG (Battletech) or Robotech RPG, you are probably going to be disappointed. But for what they wanted to accomplish, I think they did a great job. It supplies a simple mecha building system based on equipment slots and equipment add-ons that are like feats. Equipment Slots are based on body size of the mecha which range from large to colossal. Designing a mech starts with the superstructure, and goes on to arm, and then the equipment. Equipment includes sensors, defense systems, and, of course, weapons. Don’t forget to leave room for the pilot!
The rest of the chapter supplies the reader with rules on mecha combat, mecha-related feats, and the Mecha Jockey advanced class. Overall, it’s a very complete, simple and well-written chapter. There is room for growth, but it definitely supplies the gamer with enough.
My only beef with these two section is that there is not a vehicle modification system. Being a big fan of the classic Star Frontiers Dragon Magazine article “Tanks A Lot,” I had hoped that there would be a system like the mecha construction system where a person could create or modify their own vehicle. It would have been simple enough – just add equipment slots to the vehicles and supply a short list of equipment available for them, but I may be asking too much. I am sure they had to make some hard choices about what to include and not to include.
Chapter 10 – Robotics & Chapter 11 – Cybernetics: When I think robots, I think R2-D2 and C3PO. However, I don’t think the authors were thinking of them when they wrote this chapter. They were more than likely thinking of other robots, like Bishop from Aliens, Terminator and T-2000, as well as the robots from I, Robot. The chapter opens with a short two-page section on Robots as Heroes. A player can choose from an android (C3PO-like) or a replicant (Bishop-like). Character traits are listed like other species. Some games are negligent of this type of character, and I am glad it is included d20 Future.
The Robots chapter continues with a robot construction system similar to the Mecha construction system except robots do not have equipment slots. The basic construction systems starts with the frame, goes to locomotion, manipulators and armor, and then on to software. They give you general guidelines along the way regarding limitations based on frame size, etc.
Cybernetics is another chapter I feel was risky because of expectations based on the over-abundance of cyberpunk stuff out there. Mongoose Publishing released a cyberpunk genre sourcebook for d20 Modern not long ago (which I have and like very much). This five-page chapter gives you the basics. It approaches cybernetics from two approaches – replacement and enhancement. Replacement cybernetics, of course, replace something lost. These inherently give some enhancement simply because of their nature but not quite like enhancement cybernetics. Thirty enhancement implants are listed, including anti-shock implant (classic Star Frontiers item), fortified skeleton, Laser Optics, mindscreen implant and psi implant. All are listed like feats with a benefit and other relevant stats.
One thing missing is a chapter or section on cyber-jacking and virtual reality. As I read the interview with the authors on the WotC site, I found out they had one and it was cut for space reasons. So it is possible to see that in the future.
Chapter 12 – Mutations & Chapter 13 – Xenobiology: Mutations provides a simple system of developing mutated characters. Anything from mutants like X-man to mutated creatures from a post-apocalyptic era can be played. It uses a simple system of Mutation points. The player spends an equal amount of points on mutations and drawbacks to balance things out. This is simple, easy to use and portable to any current d20 system.
The Xeno chapter has to be my favorite chapter but only because it brings back the eight species from my favorite games of the past. Dralasite, Vrusk and Yazirian are back. So are Aleerin (Mechalus), Fraal, Sesheyan, T’sa and Weren. Also included is a list of creatures from d20 Modern Core book, d20 Menace Manual and the D&D Monster Manual that can be used in a d20 Future setting. Also included are two alien creature templates – extraterrestrial and space creature. This is an outstanding chapter with all that I wanted in d20 Future (but I am a little biased).
Layout: The layout is by far one of the best parts about the book. The art is top-notch, typical of WotC work. It is on par with the d20 Modern Rule book.
In conclusion, what I admire about this book the most is its boldness. It covered a lot of sci-fi material – enough to get a GM started in just about any sci-fi sub-genre. I do believe some of the subjects covered need more, but they were all covered enough to give the GMs something to start with. Namely gear, cybernetics, and mecha probably could use more. Also, I was surprised to see no chapter on computers, but as I found out in an interview with the authors, it was one of those things that got cut out due to space.
My only complaint is that they tried to cover so much that some things were not covered enough. I was left with a severe case of wanting more (which was maybe their intent). It is not a huge book, as I had hoped for, but as I have said a lot – it is enough.
Overall, an outstanding book and I would highly recommend it to any fan of d20 Modern or sci-fi role playing games.
For more details on Wizards of the Coast and their new d20 Modern Expansion Book “d20 Future” check them out at their website http://www.wizards.com and at all of your local game stores.
d20 Future
From: Wizards of the Coast
Type of Game: d20 Modern Expansion Book
Written by: Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, JD Wiker
Contributing Authors: Richard Baker, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bill
Slavicsek, Stan!
Game Design by: Christopher Perkins
Cover Art by: Dave Johnson
Additional Art by: Timothy II, Kalman Andrasofszky, Daniel Falconer,
Langdon Foss, Grafikismik, Matthew Hatton, Karl Kerschl, Stephan Martiniere,
Warren Mahey, Christian Piccolo, Joel Thomas, Chris Trevas, Francis Tsai, Ronald
Wimberly
Number of Pages: 223
Game Components Included: Hard cover rule book
Game Components Not Included: D20 Modern Rulebook
Retail Price: $ 34.95 (US)
Item Number: 88597000
ISBN: 0-7869-3423-9
Website: www.wizards.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung