Ravenloft Modern

[tec-goblin]

swashbuckler is in the modern SRD. I don't remember where (possibly Urban Arcana), but you can also find him here:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.p ... 877&page=1 (scroll down)

musketteers, ships etc are in the d20 Past supplement of d20 Modern. It is just published, fresh and lovely!

[The Nightmare Man]

Isn't there a swashbuckler class in d20 Past also?

[tec-goblin]

Nope - there are infos about swashbucklers (feats etc) but there is only the musketteer class - it would be silly to reprint the swashbuckler

[Rajak]

if plannin on using the d20 modern rules, the d20 future book has a excellent section on Mutation that would work well as an option to customize a char's Caliban

[tec-goblin]

Interesting....

[The Nightmare Man]

Nope - there are infos about swashbucklers (feats etc) but there is only the musketteer class - it would be silly to reprint the swashbuckler

Are there feat-tree for the classes? I remember reading something in the previews on WotC about feat-trees or paths for some of the classes.

[tec-goblin]

Well, I still wait for it here in Athens. I'll tell you in a few days

[Jasper]

Nope - there are infos about swashbucklers (feats etc) but there is only the musketteer class - it would be silly to reprint the swashbuckler

Are there feat-tree for the classes? I remember reading something in the previews on WotC about feat-trees or paths for some of the classes.

There are talent paths for the base classes. Every odd level the PC can pick a new talent from the classes telent tree if they met the prerequisite talent for that tree.

For Ex: The Strong hero has three trees- Extreme effort, Ignore hardness and Melee smash. At 1st level he picks a tier one telent from any of the three trees. (lets say he picked Melee smash) At level 3 he can either pick another first tier choise from the remaing two or pick the tier two talent under Melee smash (Improved melee smash) .

The only drawback to this is that when on odd numbered levels you get your bonus feats yo can only pikc from the list associated with your class (Ex the dedicated class is the only one who can take the surgery feat)

This way you get more varied powers in each base class and not any cookie cutter PCs.

The advanced classes however work just like any 3rd ed Prc with a new power each level.

[tec-goblin]

Oh, I knew this, I thought he was speaking about new feats and talent trees in d20 past.

[tec-goblin]

I got it! The first impressions: awesome.
It has probably the best layout I've seen in a book - the pages are all illustrated and have a satin feel, the fonts are lovely! The rules are very clear, well organised, compact and quite playbalanced - I'm still in page 20, but I've already seen lovely rules about firearms - rules that feel right, that make you really feel you hold an historic unreliable matchlock musket in your hands. The firearms are quite deadly (even one well-placed shot from the musket mentioned above can throw a character at -1 hp, considering d20 Modern's massive damage rules), but still a really skilled archer is much more effective - exactly as it should be.

It has even stats for ships, rules for naval combat, rules for navigating ships and much much more. Open it in a bookstore and look at it for 5 minutes. If you don't get to like it, shoot me.

More coming soon...

[tec-goblin]

Chapter 4 - Shadow Stalkers has many similarities with Masque of the Red Death. The mesmerist and spiritualist advanced classes are perfect examples on how rules of MotRD could be and are not (unfortunately IMO).

[Coan]

Hmm this brings things into an interesting perspective.

Ravenloft Future?

The Dark Powers now expand their playground to the Milky Way galaxy as their dark tendrils permiate the fabric of space.

Dark Lords become agents of Darkness with elderitch powers. The question would be 'In a galaxy where science can accomplish so much, how can you make the Dark Lords and evil unexpected?'

I'll think of a way.

[VAN]

.Dark Lords become agents of Darkness with elderitch powers. The question would be 'In a galaxy where science can accomplish so much, how can you make the Dark Lords and evil unexpected?

I think that it can happen very well. If you get as example our age, how many famous criminals we know, I think that they can be considered Dark Lords, of course they will have more powers, since we're talking about a game.

As about the evil, I think that in an age with advanced science the evil can be everywhere. I mean how many crimes happen every day and maybe the science, if used in the wrong way, can help this crimes happen. Unfortunately the evil will be present in any age, despite the evolution, science etc.

[tec-goblin]

The concept will be not to physically restrain darklords, though, but to restrain them within a particular system. It doesn't matter much if you are restrained in New York when you can spy and destroy emails from all over the world, destroying relationships etc. The concept is that darklords will have to be restrained in some other way (someone will never leave his room, some other will never be able to hold financial success and will be left out from all clubs or something else)

[The Nightmare Man]

Actually, I just picked it up myself a few days ago. In fact, I received two copies in my mail-order bag... for the price of ONE!

Anyways, I'm amazed at the broad nature of the mechanics involved. I was hoping for something a little more specific at first, but as I read through the rules-set I came to understand why the system was so generalised. You can really do a lot with the tools they've provided in this book, and the amazing quality for most of the material to have some relevance to many different genres of campaign setting means it doesn't necessarily have to remain as a Modern product.