Sup hivers and fellow RPG lovers!
Some friends told me if I try to post different kind of blog posts, I could interact with more people. So, I will try to do that before take my steps into the lands of horror.
With this post, I want to share my overall d20-system experience, and it will continue with other systems aswell.
When I first start this hobby in 2001, I was knowing nothing at all. In time, all I could learn was basic D&D, mostly because of me and my cousins with same age were watching our older cousin playing Baldur's Gate, and you know, it's based on 2nd Edition of D&D. After that, around 2004, I've heard that there is a Player's Handbook in my native language, but it's a limited print, so it was rare to find. Somehow I've found it, but there were two issues. First, it was a translation of 3rd Edition, and in 2004, Wizards of the Coast decided to release a revised edition of 3rd Edition, called 3,5E. That means they added lots of new things, changed the description of everything (like spells and how they work), and they fixed a lot of typos. So, it was an outdated version of the game. The second issue was about the language. They used Old Turkish to give a mystic impression. Old Turkish, known as Ottomanish is kinda mixed-up with Persian and Arabic language for that era. And it was kind of not understandable, also the translation was poor. But we managed to stick with that book until late 2008.
The year of 2008 was critical for me, because I've met lots of different people that year and finally started to play and run games outside of my inner circle. I've learned about lots of different games, aswell. Like World of Darkness settings, Deadlands, Paranoia, Cyberpunk etc. Also, had some chance to try different d20 games.
The games I could remember I tried were; Dungeons & Dragons, Gamma World, Alternity, Star Wars SAGA Edition, Warcraft, Diablo and Pathfinder 1E. I have to say that the application of d20 mechanics to modern era was kinda weird for me. Because, i.e. in Star Wars, armors have damage reduction, laser pistols have d6 kind of damages, skills are mostly the same, class and leveling are mostly the same. While trying different games gave me different kind of perspective and thinking about mechanics, trying the same thing on different genre pushed me to think differently within a limited border. And I have to admit that thinking in a limited border and try to get a different outcome wants and improves creativity. And if you want to be a good gamemaster, or if you want to develop your own game, you should try this!
What I Like
What I like about playing/running d20 games is, people demand that. And that means, you can experiment whatever you like, and your players will still enjoy the game, because they won't need to learn a whole system, they will only learn and experience your customization on theri already-known game. Consider it as a video-game mod.
What I Don't Like
What I don't like about d20 is, basically, it's based on Dungeons & Dragons, and D&D is based on a miniature wargame, and the whole combat resolves around this fact, and it kills the narrative mood. At least, for me. Also, I don't like micro-calculation and resource management much. And this affects character creation and loots during the game. My focus is giving impression on the moment. Like, if I could give the thrilling moment to my players, I win the game session; or, if my roleplay attracts my party members and/or GM, I win the game session again.
That's all for now. I hope you enjoy the content I'm creating. If there's any request or suggestion, I'll gladly consider.