Testing Water - d20 Modern Scenario

[Scion2]

Having had zero luck with most of my friends who seem inundated with real life (bar one, who I think will probably join in here) and zero luck with the pbem scene which seems to be completely dead, I thought I'd gauge interest here :)

I'm planning to run a close ended, high thrills and atmosphere driven scenario using the d20 Modern SRD as a framework. I say framework because this shouldn't be misconstrued as a d20 game. It isn't. It's an imagination driven, roleplaying scenario which uses the d20 rules to ensure fair play. So if you don't like or don't know d20 Modern, don't let that put you off!

If I lay out the premise, perhaps you'll let me know if you're interested, and if enough people are, I'll start up a game using FG. I'd like 4 to 5 players with good character ideas, and I'm in the UK for time zones but can be pretty flexible. Game will be all keyboard no microphones as I'll probably be playing in the dead of night and I have kids asleep in bed ;-)

Thanks for your time!

--Cell ~ The Opening Gambit--

You wake up to find yourself lying on a cold hard floor. You have no memory of anything around a couple of months before this point, though you know who you are and remember the details of your life.

You're inside some kind of huge dome filled with grey buildings. Your ankles and wrists are bound with strange metal hoops furnished with flashing lights. There are others nearby, also lying down, also bound with the same wrist and ankle cuffs.

Powerful halogens in the hemispherical roof illuminate the place, but you can't see any doors or windows in the bulkhead of the dome. There seem to be doors in some of the buildings, big metal things, similar in appearance to submarine doors. The buildings don't seem to have windows either.

Nearby is a circular pool surrounded by a low retaining wall. The mast of a submersible looms out of the water. As you're coming round you see the hatch on top closing. Froth bubbles around the edge of the sub and it lowers into the water then disappears. A horizontal steel door closes over the pool and shuts tight with a loud clang.

The cuffs binding you beep and spring open, allowing free movement.

A quick inventory reveals that you're dressed in black combat fatigues, bullet proof jacket under a cargo vest with lots of pockets; cargo trousers and heavy boots.

Nearby is a black backpack (empty), one for each characer. On your head is a comm headset attached to a three channel transceiver with battery. In your pocket is a gizmo, like a mobile phone, that shows a display with a map of the buildings within the dome, doors into the buildings seem to be marked and there's a clock that says 12:00am. There are three buttons next to the display marked: PA, PL and DL.

A klaxon sounds. The halogens dim then brighten again. From somewhere in the dome you hear an echoing click.

[VenomousFiligree]

Like it :)

However... I've recently dropped out of another game for a couple of reasons, one of them being 3.5e/D20...

[Scion2]

May I ask what the problem was with these systems? Not to dispute validity of d20 but merely so I know why you 'd prefer not to use that system here. I'm totally open to disregarding d20 Modern as I've had nothing but negative feedback from friends about it. I only went with it because it's so close to D&D and would therefore be intuitive for me to run.

I'm quite open to the idea of using a simpler system of my own devising or some other modern based system if you have any suggestions :-)

[VenomousFiligree]

I will always promote Savage Worlds as my first "mainstream(ish)" system of choice

I wanted to perform "an action" (RP heavy) that wasn't covered by the rules, and felt that a lot of time was spent by the GM in trying to work out what was going to be the outcome. This wasn't a problem with the GM, but the expectation of him from the "rules" by the "players".

[Scion2]

I'm totally up for an RP heavy scenario, but there are certain elements, combat for example, or the resolution of skill/ability based actions that I think lend themselves best to a system. Like trying to jump across a wide gap. It seems fair to give this to the mechanics of a system rather than the whim of a GM. So I'd definitely like to use a system rather than a purely abstract storytelling method.

I'll check out Savage, but for now and for purposes of testing water for others who might be interested I'll stick with d20 Modern. Just so long as everyone remembers it's a 'framework' mechanic, not the be-all and end-all of the game. I suppose the *impolite* way of saying that is: no rules lawyers please! hehe.

[VenomousFiligree]

I agree, I think you misunderstand (or more likely my initial explanation wasn't great :) ).

I was playing a druid and was in animal form. I was hidden in the bushes to the side of a road where some kobolds were shooting arrows at the rest of the party. I wanted to leap out of the bushes rushing past the rear of the attacking kobolds, attempting to knock them down, then disappearing into the undergrowth on the other side.

There then followed a (fairly) long discussion on whether it was a charge, a knockdown, a bull rush, a stampede, a grapple, a whatever! :)

In Savage Worlds this would have been easy (imo), an agility trick combined with a run.

[Scion2]

Ah right. Yeah ;) . I find the same problem with 3.5/4. Playing a tabletop 3.5 game at the moment in which one player wanted to hide in a building, hold his crossbow out the door and shoot at the enemy then pull in when they responded. The DM refused because he said there were no rules for that contingent and also it meant, if players could do it, the enemy could too and that would result in frustrating battles.

I suppose a possible solution within the rules would be for an attack of opportunity on any enemy you passed on your way with bonus modifiers to enemy AC if the kobolds succeed a Reflex check. I might also suggest that any Kobold succeeding a Reflex check would also have an option to attempt to trip or grapple you.

I'm not a fan of this kind of adherence to the rules, however. I prefer to use rules as a *guideline* and let players do pretty much what they want to do whether the rules allow it or not. For example, why not have a battle of hidden combatants? Makes it more interesting, IMO. Nobody will hit anything if everyone is hiding and firing, but eventually one side is going to have to make some kind of move. The trouble is, that kind of thinking doesn't lend itself well to battlemap combat within a rigid melee system.

Anyhow. I think I'll stick with d20 Modern as the basis for the game as I know it and would rather not learn a whole new system.

Shall I colour you interested? Anyone else?

[VenomousFiligree]

Colour me interested, subject to dates and times. :)

[devinnight]

I'd really like to say yes, but I don't think the timing would work for me. I have a pretty small window of times available.

But I like the idea, and your intro is great. I also prefer playing with the rules in the background. I hope you can find enough players. I have had my own modern theme running in the back of my head for a couple years now. I just haven't had the time to put it onto paper yet.

[Scion2]

Ok, just to give some indication of session windows. These times are based on London GMT.

I'm free for late sessions, 12pm until 2am if that helps players across the pond or in Europe. My preference, however, would be for Thursday evenings from 10pm (after my kids have gone to bed) until midnight (end time will probably be organic and based on when players want to finish on any given evening, ie, we can finish early or later respectively).