(no subject)
So recently I acquired a copy of a little thing called D20 Modern: Solid!.
When I say "a little thing", depressingly enough, I mean it. The pages are slimmer than the hard covers. The fluff is a series of pretty good essays about the blaxploitation genre, but the crunch frankly squishes. The whole thing feels like someone wrote the preliminary outline of a D20 Modern supplement and then published it without writing the supplement itself. It's a shame, because I wanted it to be great.
But there is one point of great hope: as far as I can tell, everything but the pictures and character names is Open Gaming content. In other words, while they have left it up to the end user to develop their outline into a supplement, the end user, having done so, is free to distribute it as he likes.
Tonight: a new rule laying groundwork for further revisions.
New Rule: Genre Bonus
The genre bonus is a nonmagical bonus type which may be granted by equipment, feats, actions, or any other such source. It is similar to a circumstance bonus in that it reflects conditions which make the subject activity work better (or worse, in the case of genre penalties); it differs from a circumstance bonus in that it does not reflect the way the world actually works, but rather conceits of genre. For example, in reality a pink Cadillac with gold trim and fur interior does not handle better in a car chase than a similar but less-cool car. Because of the conceits of the blaxploitation genre, however, the pimp Caddy receives a blaxploitation genre bonus.
Genre bonuses apply only in stories of the appropriate genre. A genre bonus may apply to more than one genre, and a story may exist in more than one genre. However, in such a case, the bonus is not applied multiple times. Unless otherwise stated, all genre bonuses and penalties described for use with Solid! are blaxploitation genre bonuses.
Example: A badass headband may provide a +2 martial-arts genre bonus to Will saves and Intimidation checks and a +2 blaxploitation genre bonus to Intimidation checks and barehanded attack rolls. In a blaxploitation/martial arts campaign, the headband's wearer will receive all three +2 bonuses, but will not receive the Intimidation bonus twice.
When I say "a little thing", depressingly enough, I mean it. The pages are slimmer than the hard covers. The fluff is a series of pretty good essays about the blaxploitation genre, but the crunch frankly squishes. The whole thing feels like someone wrote the preliminary outline of a D20 Modern supplement and then published it without writing the supplement itself. It's a shame, because I wanted it to be great.
But there is one point of great hope: as far as I can tell, everything but the pictures and character names is Open Gaming content. In other words, while they have left it up to the end user to develop their outline into a supplement, the end user, having done so, is free to distribute it as he likes.
Tonight: a new rule laying groundwork for further revisions.
New Rule: Genre Bonus
The genre bonus is a nonmagical bonus type which may be granted by equipment, feats, actions, or any other such source. It is similar to a circumstance bonus in that it reflects conditions which make the subject activity work better (or worse, in the case of genre penalties); it differs from a circumstance bonus in that it does not reflect the way the world actually works, but rather conceits of genre. For example, in reality a pink Cadillac with gold trim and fur interior does not handle better in a car chase than a similar but less-cool car. Because of the conceits of the blaxploitation genre, however, the pimp Caddy receives a blaxploitation genre bonus.
Genre bonuses apply only in stories of the appropriate genre. A genre bonus may apply to more than one genre, and a story may exist in more than one genre. However, in such a case, the bonus is not applied multiple times. Unless otherwise stated, all genre bonuses and penalties described for use with Solid! are blaxploitation genre bonuses.
Example: A badass headband may provide a +2 martial-arts genre bonus to Will saves and Intimidation checks and a +2 blaxploitation genre bonus to Intimidation checks and barehanded attack rolls. In a blaxploitation/martial arts campaign, the headband's wearer will receive all three +2 bonuses, but will not receive the Intimidation bonus twice.