Comments on: True 20 Review: A Better Mousetrap

By: Sungarden

Sungarden — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:18:40 +0000

I have been reading my copy of True20, and I’ve got to say that I’m impressed. True20 is so much easier to use than regular d20. The rules to d20 are so involved that learning to play has kept me from becoming involved. But, the rules to True20 make gaming accessible to those must learn on their own.

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:39:38 +0000

I don’t have M&M to do a comparison, but T20 breaks it down like this:

- You make a damage save vs. a difficulty based on damage dealt.
- Success = No damage taken.
- Fail, but not by 5+ = Bruised. You can rack up multiple bruised results, and each one hampers your performance slightly.
- Fail by 5+ = The first tier of real damage, with other thresholds at 10+, etc.

It seems like there’d be quite a bit of missing, but given the action movie feel of the rules, that seems appropriate: Getting hurt sucks, and jumping around dodging stuff sounds about right to me.

By: Luke

Luke — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:19:14 +0000

Hey, I thought this was a great review. I do have a question for you T20 fans:

I GM’d Mutants & Masterminds once, and I didn’t particularly care for the damage system. The characters did a *lot* of swinging and dealing no damage; it was like everyone was standing around, waiting to get lucky. Is that problem still apparent? Or is it perhaps solely a problem with the superhero genre?

Thanks!

-Luke

By: Zachary

Zachary — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 23:12:55 +0000

Excellent review, Martin. I really like True20 for low-prep and streamlining d20 into something that keeps a lot of what I like.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:42:46 +0000

Rick: You’re welcome — I’m glad my review did the trick for you.

Scott: That’s pretty much what I expected when I picked it up, but after back cover hooked me in I knew I wasn’t looking at alt-d20, but streamlined d20. Let me know what you think once you’ve had a chance to flip through a copy.

By: ScottM

ScottM — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:45:10 +0000

So far, I’ve only played T20 [actually Blue Rose] once at a convention. I could see that there were fun mechanics… but the GM got bogged down in “do what you want”, so we didn’t get to the good part of the adventure. Plus, she handwaved the diplomacy– which I hoped would be a stronger element of the system.

Your review was useful; I’d dismissed T20 as not far enough from D&D for my tastes, but after your review, I’ll at least flip through the book.

By: Rick the Wonder Algae

Rick the Wonder Algae — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:34:11 +0000

This actually sounds like just the book I was looking for for an upcoming project. I’m going to see if my local gamesshop has it. Thanks Martin!

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:28:25 +0000

Nope, I’ve never checked out Blue Rose. The design notes in the front of True20 mention that it’s a reworking of the BR system, with some Aldea-specific elements removed and — presumably — other changes, too.

I believe GR has a free quickstart version of the T20 rules on their site — you might want to take a peek at that, and see what’s changed.

By: Rob Donoghue

Rob Donoghue — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:33:59 +0000

Out of curiosity, did you ever get a look at Blue Rose? I own it, and very much enjoy the engine which, by my understanding, is the core of true 20. The only thing that’s keeping me from sweeping up this book is a concern that I’ll basically be buying a large swath of content I already own.