d20 Future: A d20 Modern Rules Supplement [Hardcover]

When d20 Modern came out, one of its clear limitations was that it contained little if any material for gamers who wanted to go beyond near-future settings. While you could run an interesting dark urban fantasy, or an adventure-movie themed game, or any number of interesting sci-fi scenarios with it, if you wanted to get into something a bit more exotic you were pushing the edge of the system. (The fact that the first setting released for d20 Modern was Urban Arcana, a game blending magic and the modern world ala Shadowrun, emphasized this.) I know a lot of people poured over 3rd party releases for SF rules and used them in their games, and I also know that older TSR/WOTC releases like Alternity were poured over for conversion.

So the release of d20 Future fills a niche and does so quite effectively. There's a lot of material here... so much that I almost think it would have been well-served with a page count upgrade and a price bump to $39.95. (It's rare that I advocate an increase in price, but in this case...) Since this product is intended as a supplement to an existing rules system, I understand why they didn't, but the campaign settings alone could have used about twice the room. There are nine of them, and they could use more fleshing out. Highlights include Genetech (seen in more detail in Dungeon Magazine), Mecha Crusade (Ditto) and old favorites Star Law (the original Star Frontiers setting for old curmudgeons like me) and Star*Drive. Really, I would have loved to have seen more of these.

The book has good chapters on FTL travel, technological development, robotics, nanotechnology, and so on. I'd almost recommend buying it just for those. It has not gotten rid of the Wealth system, so if you hate that, that's still here. Art is good. Really, it's a typically excellent product. Whoever chose to include the Alternity and Star Frontiers races as playable options deserves a big wet sloppy kiss.

d20 Future includes a range of futuristic campaign options for adventuring in sci-fi settings. There are a lot of different ideas for campaigns, including Bug Hunting, Post-apocalyptic, mecha wars, and a return to Star*Drive. Fortunately the campaign settings are only introduced for gamemasters to elaborate on.

A number of prestige classes, building on the d20 modern characters, are included. There are even campaign-specific prestige classes (such as Nuclear Nomad or Bughunter). Of course, there is also gear, and chapters on a number of different futuristic technologies.

The use of a tech level for sci-fi settings helps establish what kinds of gear and tech is available, ranging from near-future to near-godlike. The tech level includes low-tech levels as well, so a gamemaster can easily set the tech level of various planets that starships might visit. In most of the chapters, the technology is kept "real", but a few references to fantastic science are included.

The chapters on different teechnologies really make up the bulk of the book, and provide the most game material. The chapters cover Engineering (including genetic and nanotech), traveler science (space and dimensional travel), starships, vehicles, mecha, robotics, cybernetics, and mutations. A final chapter covers aliens, including some old character races from Star Frontiers.

The starships section was a little confusing in parts, requiring a few rereads. The standard d20 size ratings are not altered for starships, meaning most ships fall into the Colossal range. On the good side, Ship combat is wisely adapted from the standard personal combat rules. I'm not sure whether these rules are compatible with the Star Wars starship rules, but if not, a conversion guide might be nice.

The mecha in the book are more bipedal tanks (similar to Battletech) than anime-style mecha. While this isn't a bad thing, I would have liked to see some reference to more fantastic mecha (even if it was a refence to the d20 mecha book from Guardians of Order).

The mutations chapter covers a range of mutations in classic Gamma World style. Mutations are given a point value, and characters who start out as mutants must balance positive and negative mutations. Unfortunately, its not clear whether a mutated human counts as human for the purposes of bonus feat and skill points. Furthermore, it would be nice to see some sort of scale to let players start out with a slightly more powerful mutant character, setting 10(?) mutation points equal to +1 Level Adjustment, for instance.

One glaring missing chapter was a section on cyberspace and netrunning. Hopefully WotC will address this omission in a future supplement.

A final missing section would be experience adjustments based upon what the characters are facing. How much experience does a character get when facing a 5th level mecha pilot in a Tech level 8 gargantuan mech? It obviously should be more than facing the same mech pilot outside of his mech, and an adjustment based upon different tech levels should also apply - tech level 6 characters should get more XP than a tech level 8 character for facing the same opponent.

Aside from these lacks, the d20 future book is a good resource for gamemasters and players alike.

This is an expansion sourcebook for the d20 Modern system. It provides information to run a campaign in the near or far future. The book has 13 chapters - characters; campaigns; gear; environments; scientific engineering; traveler ecience; starships; vehicles; mecha; robotics; cybernetics; mutations; and xenobiology. The first five chapters describe future ages - the knowledge, technology, places, weapons, and character occupations. In short, we get many possible settings and a few generic campaign ideas. Chapters 7 - 9 add starships, futuristic vehicles, mecha, and robots. The last portion of the book adds cybernetic implants, mutations and mutants, and aliens.

The book is pretty well done and enjoyable. As I was reading it I recognized the genres where the information originally came from - X-Files, Predator, Cyberpunk, Robotech, Battletech, Terminator, Traveller and so on. d20 Future kind of had a GURPS-like quality to it.

This book had its unique starships and mechs, and simple rules to make them fight. (What more do we need to conquer the galaxy?) I was also pleased with the futuristic gadgets and enhancements for player characters. The thing I liked the most about this book is how it showed what items are used at different tech levels. this opens up all kinds of possibilities.

I have two criticisms of the book. First,the book contains a lot of information, making campaign ideas limitless, but the reader is given only a few small idea kernels. The chapter on campaigns comes too early in the book - before you're introduced to all of the cool gadgets, ships, and mecha. Second, is it could have given more information on integration with other d20 products. Chapter 12, Xenobiology, does a fantastic job of crosslisting creatures from D&D Monster Manuals, d20 Modern, Menace Manual and Urban Arcana that would be suitable in a d20 Future campaign. Why weren't the other chapters, especially the ones on characters and campaigns (Ch 1 & Ch 2), as integrative? How can I bring my d20 Modern Smart Hero Appraiser into this campaign?

In summary, I really enjoy this book and recommend it. This book is a nice addition to the d20 universe.