Best System for D20 Deadlands?

[Maloch]

Hey folks, me and other quarantine-bound friends wanted to do a bit of the ol' Deadlands, but we'd like to stay to a D20 type of system (we're all older nerds and set in our ways lol). We're also all new to the FG thingy, but I'll be DM so I'll take the brunt of the learnin' and teachin'. Which system would you guys recommend on FantasyPlaygrounds for using? D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, etc? And what modules for weird or crazy science in D20 would go well with it? I'm assuming the Unity is the way to go over Classic as well.

Thanks for any and all help!


EDIT: Or should we just bite the bullet and learn the Savage worlds systems?

[Valyar]

I recommend the Savage Worlds. Especially the new Adventure Edition as they are currently working on KS to revise Deadlands for it and FG will have full support.
Even if you don't want to jump to Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (because the current DL Reloaded on FG is using the Deluxe ruleset), I still recommend to move to Savage Worlds :)

[Granamere]

Welcome!

I would take the new user class at https://fantasygroundscollege.net/. It is free as is all of the courses.

[Trenloe]

I'd recommend going with Savage Worlds. It has so much Deadlands material available for it right now (and in FG too), and more to come. You'd probably spend less time learning Savage Worlds (the system and in FG) then you would trying to make a d20 based ruleset work for the setting.

[Nylanfs]

People may not remember but back in the early days there was a d20 Deadlands (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/1135/Deadlands-D20)

[Maloch]

Yeah Nylanfs, that was initially what I had/have, and was wondering if it could merge with the FG systems (i.e. would the D20 PDF work better with D&D5e or Pathfinder). I could have been more clear about that, but not enough of my blood had been alchemically infused with coffee yet :P

That said, I can see a lot of folks recommending we just learn the Savage Worlds systems and get out of our comfort zone (Grognard smash lol). Thank you for all your suggestions, and thanks for letting me know about that resource Granamere!

I'm going to pull the trigger and go whole hog with the big buy, and play around and see where I want to go with it.

[Trenloe]

Yeah Nylanfs, that was initially what I had/have, and was wondering if it could merge with the FG systems (i.e. would the D20 PDF work better with D&D5e or Pathfinder).
It would fit best with the D&D 3.5e ruleset (possible the PFRPG ruleset that runs on top, as there's more OGL material for that).

But you'd still have to enter all of the material manually, and there's some Deadlands mechanics that aren't part of the ruleset. For a much more complete experience, that will use a lot of the bells and whistles of Fantasy Grounds, I'd still recommend using Savage Worlds - if making the move to a new system is palatable (which it sounds like it is).

[Doswelk]

The d20 modern ruleset still out there?

[Maloch]

This probably sounds silly, but the Ultimate pack, do I still need to buy the base rules for the individual systems like Pathfinder, 5e, etc.? I *think* so ... does the "included in the pack" include those, or just the framework the books will populate? Thank you all again!

[LordEntrails]

This probably sounds silly, but the Ultimate pack, do I still need to buy the base rules for the individual systems like Pathfinder, 5e, etc.? I *think* so ... does the "included in the pack" include those, or just the framework the books will populate? Thank you all again!
FG includes the rulesets for those systems. It does not include the text from the books. But, you do not need to have the books in FG to play the game in FG. 3.x, PF, 5E all include the SRD. 5E also includes the Basic Rules, all in FG format. You can then play any game using FG if you have a pdf, print, or know the rules in your head. But, it's going to take a lot of time to do enter everything.

If you have the FG books (Players Handbook, etc) then it will be much easier in FG (again, not required though). See this thread for more details of how and why you might want some books; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?32987-What-do-I-need-to-play-5e

[Maloch]

Thank you for the explanation and info!