RoleplayBooks.net :: True 20

True20 Adventure Roleplaying - Review, part 1

Game Mechanics

The system is based on well known d20, but heavily modified. The purpose of these modifications is minimizing the metagame elements and helping the narrative kind of players. The name suits perfectly, because there is only one dice - the D20. So you won't roll 4d6 to create your character, instead you have only basic stats modifiers, which all start at +0 and there are 6 points to distribute. Of course you can subtract points from these basic zeros and have from -5 to +5. There is one restriction: None of your starting modifiers can be more than +5. This somewhat reminds me of the Point Buy system in d20.

The classes are reduced to three - Warrior, Expert and Adept. They differ in saving throws, combat progression and the number of skills. The feats in true20 are divided in 4 groups - common, battle, expert and supernatural. One can easily guess that the common kind is available to every class, and other three are intended for each of the three classes.

If you ever have been confused by the d20 skills system, you are lucky. True 20 offers very simplified approach to skills and you just pick "class skills" where you have 3+class level ranks (maximum ranks). Every time you gain new level, you can pick new skill. Simple, isn't it?

Magic system is also reorganized, it is based on skills (those supernatural skills) one could cast as many spells per day, as he wishes, except those supernatural skills that cause exhaustion. The DC for the exhaustion check varies according to the number of spells cast in this hour.

The combat system is where most of the modifications are done. For instance the discrete health metering is gone. There are four conditions: injured, immobile, dying and .... Dead. For this mechanic to work there is one new saving throw - Toughness Save. It is sum of Constitution, armor bonus and other modifiers. Base DC is 15+damage bonus of the opponent attack (which is weapon damage bonus + Strength). Weapons doesn't deal damage dice, but give damage bonus +1 to +5. It really sounds confusing, but it works better than the old d20 way.

Only Dexterity is needed for attack rolls, which is somewhat logical, but confusing for experienced DnD players. Every class has its own Combat modifier which is added to attack rolls, and the usual size modifier, or other modifiers. Defence works mostly the same way we know from d20. For characters with great Strength there is special melee ability Parry, which replaces the Dodge bonus and is equal to Strength, but can also be modified from feats.

This concludes first part of our review, check soon for the second part - The Game World