Slayers d20 Review.
May. 5th, 2004 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyes(Crossposted to personal LJ, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
absoluteslayers, theslayers)
Guess who got the Slayers d20 roleplaying book today! And, being the know-it-all that I am, I'm gonna give you my review:
For those of you who don't game, d20 is the generic name for the D&D version 3.0/3.5. Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns the rights, made most of the rules -- with a few vital exceptions -- free for use by other companies. Guardians of Order, which got the rights to market all Slayers RPG products in English, decided it would be sickly appropriate to do a d20 version of Slayers.
First of all, due to the Open Gaming Liscence, the Slayers d20 book requires a D&D Players Handbook (henceforth called a PHB). Among other things, you can use it to get the Human and Elf racial templates out.
It is also worth nothing that there are many (black and white) pictures, and they are usually particularly apt for the text.
Races: Well, this surprised me. Not only do you have human, beastman and (golden) dragons (with a suggestion for how to convert a golden dragon to an ancient dragon) , but you also have rules for creating chimeras, copies, and even for powerful mazoku to make a charcater half mazoku. Technically, there is even a note for playing mazoku -- namly that most of them can step on normal humans, but if you really want to... The downside is that most nonhumans have a hefty level adjustment -- a 1st level Dragon character is counted the same as a 7th level human or beastman character, or a 3rd level human/troll/demon chimera character. Actually, my D&D geek friends were surprised a Slayers Golden Dragon was that cheap... an adult D&D golden dragon, even without levels in a class, would be the equivalent of Lina Inverse.
Classes: Well, it seems like far too many classes were patterned after one or two characters... but D&D people shouldn't have a problem with them, as many of the abilty sets look familiar. What D&D people WILL have a problm with are that a lot of the class names overlap. And be ready with your PHB, as many abilities are detailed as "See your PHB for details'.
The Prestige Classes make the book... not only do they include the good spellcasting classes, they also include a lot of weird things patterned afterfunny beloved Slayers characters, such as Gourry (Swordsman), Jillas (Pistoleer), Prince Phil (Warrior of Justice), and even those twins from the Otomo no Inori episode (Martial Artist).
Skills: New uses for the social skills in battle is mentioned, but as a reference to a later chapter. New skills include a way of buying up one's reputation, and various slayers-specific magicy things. You can also taunt your opponents.
Feats: Gasp and forsooth! Slayers d20 has made a number of feats stronger... by adding a catch. For example, you could take Great Fortitude and add a +4 (as opposed to a +2) to your Fortitude saves... but you now eat like Lina and/or Gourry. Iron Will now reflects an obsessive personality (like Amelia, MArtina, or Zangulus), Lightning Reflex characters may overreact for comedic results, and characters with the Toughness feat (now +1 hit points per level) now can be a bit absent minded. Yeah, hi Gourry. In a more serious game, GMs may wish to allow both options of a feat (aka you can have the +2 free or have the +4 with the penalties).
New feats include a way to distinguish Beauty or Cuteness from a high Charisma (Thank the Lord of Nightmares!), more stuff to do with this Psychological Warfare business mentioned in skills, Martina-style curses (yay!), and other things. Most of these feats are powerful with a downside, which I would like to see in game, especially with the twinks I've had.
Magic and Religion:
This section has the weakness that Guardians of Order does not have the rights to use any OAV, manga, or novel-exclusive information, or anything else that is not stated or implied in the TV series. Thus, for example, though five mazoku lord lieutenants of Shabranigdo are mentioned, only Gaav and Phibrizzo are referred to by full name, and Zelas is addressed only as Lord Beastmaster.
The magic rules are different than in D&D or say Final Fantasy. First of all, any character with a 12 or more Intelligence can learn a spell or two -- just not many. Instead of having a fixed number of spell points or spells, you can cast all day... except... you have to make a save against Fortitude to cast the spell and another to avoid taking nonlethal damage from the spell. When your nonlethal damage reaches your HP, you are exhausted and are done, unless you want to risk injuring yourself for one more spell. It's kind of like the Star Wars d20 RPG.
One of my friends once told me that he thought the Star Wars d20 Force rules was wonderful... except it didn't feel like Star Wars. These rules feel like Slayers.
Oh, and That Time of the Month is an optional rule. Female spellcasters get a bonus spell-related feat in exchange for spending part of the time under a massive casting penalty. Happy?
Regarding magic items.. here you might need the Dungeon Master's Guide for d20... or just download the rules, since all of the item stuff is Open Game Content.. but I have D&D characters drooling over the Sword of Light... does the phrase +6 ghost touch long sword (plus other abilities) mean anything to you D&D geeks?
BTW, I <3 the description for the Giga Slave. Everything in the area of effect is destroyed. No saving throw. Yeah, no PC (unless I let someone play Lina) is ever getting that sucker.
Psychological Warfare: Namely that names DO hurt people. Basically this lets you use your social skills to confuse, embarrass or frighten your enemies. Again, with my comments about how much I think this RPG feels like Slayers. Heck, you can even cause nonlethal damage with taunts, if you are that good. And an overly embarrassed or frightened character can faint -- especially if they roll a 1 on their save against this.
Other things: A nice bit explaining how one can have a Good-aligned character casting black magic because of the difference between Western and Eastern thought on the nature of power.
Stat Blocks:
Again, I like. Most (even minor) characters at least get a paragraph, while some minor and all reoccurring characters get a stat block. The major characters get one for every season they are in -- well, except Xellos, who does not get more powerful from NEXT to TRY (thank GOD). For your information, by the end of TRY, Lina, Gourry and Zel are all level 23 characters, Amelia is a level 21 character, Filia is a level 18 character, Sylphiel is level 17, Martina is level 8, and Xellos is effectively a level 45 (!) character, though most of that is because of his mazoku nature.
My only bogglement is why is Prince Phil on a higher level than Lina!
If you are a D&D player or GM, or any sort of tabletop gamer, BUY THIS BOOK! It is so worth it. If not, if you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area this fall, I will be running a game...
And, you can expect me to start adapting manga/OAV/novel stuff ASAP.
absoluteslayers, theslayers)Guess who got the Slayers d20 roleplaying book today! And, being the know-it-all that I am, I'm gonna give you my review:
For those of you who don't game, d20 is the generic name for the D&D version 3.0/3.5. Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns the rights, made most of the rules -- with a few vital exceptions -- free for use by other companies. Guardians of Order, which got the rights to market all Slayers RPG products in English, decided it would be sickly appropriate to do a d20 version of Slayers.
First of all, due to the Open Gaming Liscence, the Slayers d20 book requires a D&D Players Handbook (henceforth called a PHB). Among other things, you can use it to get the Human and Elf racial templates out.
It is also worth nothing that there are many (black and white) pictures, and they are usually particularly apt for the text.
Races: Well, this surprised me. Not only do you have human, beastman and (golden) dragons (with a suggestion for how to convert a golden dragon to an ancient dragon) , but you also have rules for creating chimeras, copies, and even for powerful mazoku to make a charcater half mazoku. Technically, there is even a note for playing mazoku -- namly that most of them can step on normal humans, but if you really want to... The downside is that most nonhumans have a hefty level adjustment -- a 1st level Dragon character is counted the same as a 7th level human or beastman character, or a 3rd level human/troll/demon chimera character. Actually, my D&D geek friends were surprised a Slayers Golden Dragon was that cheap... an adult D&D golden dragon, even without levels in a class, would be the equivalent of Lina Inverse.
Classes: Well, it seems like far too many classes were patterned after one or two characters... but D&D people shouldn't have a problem with them, as many of the abilty sets look familiar. What D&D people WILL have a problm with are that a lot of the class names overlap. And be ready with your PHB, as many abilities are detailed as "See your PHB for details'.
The Prestige Classes make the book... not only do they include the good spellcasting classes, they also include a lot of weird things patterned after
Skills: New uses for the social skills in battle is mentioned, but as a reference to a later chapter. New skills include a way of buying up one's reputation, and various slayers-specific magicy things. You can also taunt your opponents.
Feats: Gasp and forsooth! Slayers d20 has made a number of feats stronger... by adding a catch. For example, you could take Great Fortitude and add a +4 (as opposed to a +2) to your Fortitude saves... but you now eat like Lina and/or Gourry. Iron Will now reflects an obsessive personality (like Amelia, MArtina, or Zangulus), Lightning Reflex characters may overreact for comedic results, and characters with the Toughness feat (now +1 hit points per level) now can be a bit absent minded. Yeah, hi Gourry. In a more serious game, GMs may wish to allow both options of a feat (aka you can have the +2 free or have the +4 with the penalties).
New feats include a way to distinguish Beauty or Cuteness from a high Charisma (Thank the Lord of Nightmares!), more stuff to do with this Psychological Warfare business mentioned in skills, Martina-style curses (yay!), and other things. Most of these feats are powerful with a downside, which I would like to see in game, especially with the twinks I've had.
Magic and Religion:
This section has the weakness that Guardians of Order does not have the rights to use any OAV, manga, or novel-exclusive information, or anything else that is not stated or implied in the TV series. Thus, for example, though five mazoku lord lieutenants of Shabranigdo are mentioned, only Gaav and Phibrizzo are referred to by full name, and Zelas is addressed only as Lord Beastmaster.
The magic rules are different than in D&D or say Final Fantasy. First of all, any character with a 12 or more Intelligence can learn a spell or two -- just not many. Instead of having a fixed number of spell points or spells, you can cast all day... except... you have to make a save against Fortitude to cast the spell and another to avoid taking nonlethal damage from the spell. When your nonlethal damage reaches your HP, you are exhausted and are done, unless you want to risk injuring yourself for one more spell. It's kind of like the Star Wars d20 RPG.
One of my friends once told me that he thought the Star Wars d20 Force rules was wonderful... except it didn't feel like Star Wars. These rules feel like Slayers.
Oh, and That Time of the Month is an optional rule. Female spellcasters get a bonus spell-related feat in exchange for spending part of the time under a massive casting penalty. Happy?
Regarding magic items.. here you might need the Dungeon Master's Guide for d20... or just download the rules, since all of the item stuff is Open Game Content.. but I have D&D characters drooling over the Sword of Light... does the phrase +6 ghost touch long sword (plus other abilities) mean anything to you D&D geeks?
BTW, I <3 the description for the Giga Slave. Everything in the area of effect is destroyed. No saving throw. Yeah, no PC (unless I let someone play Lina) is ever getting that sucker.
Psychological Warfare: Namely that names DO hurt people. Basically this lets you use your social skills to confuse, embarrass or frighten your enemies. Again, with my comments about how much I think this RPG feels like Slayers. Heck, you can even cause nonlethal damage with taunts, if you are that good. And an overly embarrassed or frightened character can faint -- especially if they roll a 1 on their save against this.
Other things: A nice bit explaining how one can have a Good-aligned character casting black magic because of the difference between Western and Eastern thought on the nature of power.
Stat Blocks:
Again, I like. Most (even minor) characters at least get a paragraph, while some minor and all reoccurring characters get a stat block. The major characters get one for every season they are in -- well, except Xellos, who does not get more powerful from NEXT to TRY (thank GOD). For your information, by the end of TRY, Lina, Gourry and Zel are all level 23 characters, Amelia is a level 21 character, Filia is a level 18 character, Sylphiel is level 17, Martina is level 8, and Xellos is effectively a level 45 (!) character, though most of that is because of his mazoku nature.
My only bogglement is why is Prince Phil on a higher level than Lina!
If you are a D&D player or GM, or any sort of tabletop gamer, BUY THIS BOOK! It is so worth it. If not, if you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area this fall, I will be running a game...
And, you can expect me to start adapting manga/OAV/novel stuff ASAP.
