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D20 Rules Options: Volume #1, Second Edition
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$15.99 $8.00 |
| Average Rating:3.2 / 5 |
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D20 Rules Options: Volume #1, Second Edition
I really cannot say anything good or bad about the 1st edition as I have never read it, but I will say that the second edition of this product is a nice little edition to the gaming material binder. Granted, as with any "rules options" books I do not personally jive well with or plan on using entirely everything in the book, but there were some tidbits that I'll definitely be holding into consideration with my future gaming sessions.
There were two things in particular that I liked: Action points and the body damage system. The action points are kind of close to something that I have used myself in the past... luck points essentially, but I think the way that the action points are thought out and presented are more universal and effective than the luck point system that I used in the past. The second, the bodily damage system, reminds me a bit of the Friday Night Firefight format that was used in Cyberpunk 2013, a game that I've ironically been thinking a lot about lately.
Another point of interest in this product for me was the gangrene rolls. Granted, I may end up tweaking this a bit more for my own house rules. Granted, they've put in a nice way of looking at the issues of gangrene in the game, it is just that I want to expand it to other serious issues.
There were other good points to the game, including the cold damage issues and such forth, but the above mentions were the most likely to be used by myself.
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D20 Rules Options - Volume 1 is a 24-page PDF (21 after cover and OGL) for D20 Modern / OGL 3.5 written by Brian Joseph Baker and published by Stardust Publications Inc. This product “of D20 Rules Options was created for those Games Masters that wanted to add a level of
more realism into their respective games than the base D20 system typically allows.”
The layout is oddly organized in some places, while it is fairly clean the strange organization and lack of clear breaks between sections makes it difficult to read in places. There is no art only text. It lacks introduction, a table of contents or an index.
As it says, there are rules options here: An Action Point System to aid heroes. Massive Damage Rules including Damage Levels (which impose penalties) with hit locations and called shots, Gangrene as an aftereffect of massive damage, and Trauma Effects by damage type. Sort of a skill based spell-casting system. A Critical Failure system for combat (fumbles anyone?). An outline of a revised Armor Class/Damage Reduction system. A set of Experience Point rewards (and penalties!) for low, mid and high level games.
These read like a set of house rules and a set of house rules designed to be explained by the GM of the game for there is no discussion here of why you might wish to use these rules, what effects they are likely to have on a campaign when used or even examples of how they have been used by the author. They are just tossed out there with no context and no support. The rules are not useless, there are interested ideas in there, but they are nearly so and to use them effectively in a campaign would require considerable work probably through trial and error in play.
Lastly, there is the price. This product given length and production value, should never have been priced above $2. Combined with the critique above, I have no choice but to give this the lowest possible rating.
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D20 Rules Options Volume # 1 takes a lot of the good enhancements that have floated around the d20 world, been included in variant 3.5 campaign settings and stored in the house rules of rogue DMs into one 24 page supplement.
Published by Stardusk Publications and assembled by Brian Joseph Baker, Rules Options brings some of the more popular and game changing ideas to your game table, whether it is modern or fantasy. Many of these ideas are not new to DMs, though there are a few new coats of paint on some.
The Action Point system introduced has the facet of similar point systems with the exception of its interaction with initiative and failures. Several optional damage systems are used including a body part variant and a deadly combat variant. Massive damage is given an extensive treatment, providing an alternative massive damage result and a system for rotting off limbs after massive damage. Rules Options ends by introducing an Armor as DR variant, new experience charts for low level campaigns and a way to overcast spells.
For the DM
These are some inventive Massive Damage rules. The system does specific damage to specific body parts with specific results based off of a series of charts.
The Iron Word
Outside of the Massive Damage Threshold rules, nothing in here has not been seen before. The busy layout of many of the pages also makes it difficult to figure out where things are at times. On the first page, the heading says action points but it begins with something completely different. Theres also the problem with not being able to cut and paste, which makes it difficult to take just the pieces you want and put them into your campaign storage. If you are looking for a pick me up for your game and do not have 2 or more of these variants available in other supplements, or you want a good way to avoid the too instant death of massive damage, D20 Rules Options Volumes 1 is a smart purchase.
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