If you’re anything like me, the post title alone should be enough to get you excited!
I was a huge fan of d20 Modern back in the day, so I was delighted to hear that it was returning for a 5th edition revamp. Dave and Jeff at Evil Genius Games reached out to me a few weeks ago and very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions about their upcoming Kickstarter. Read on for their responses! (PS: Jeff Grubb was one of the original game designers on d20 Modern. And you know the Forgotten Realms? He co-created it.)
Hi Dave and Jeff. Thanks very much for reaching out to me about Everyday Heroes and for agreeing to answer some questions about it. Such an exciting project! I can’t wait to see how this game turns out. What changes should long-time fans expect in this 5th edition update? Is there anything that you feel didn’t quite work in the original d20 Modern?
We loved the original d20 Modern so much that we wanted to keep a lot of the elements that made the game so good. That being said, we also love 5e and thought that the game could really benefit from a 5e refresh. So just modernizing the system will be a huge improvement. The one universal criticism about d20 Modern is the wealth system. In the old wealth system, you had a roll to acquire any weapon. If you wanted a crow bar, you had to roll. If you wanted to buy a sandwich, you had to roll. It was overly complicated.
Is there anything in the 5th edition rules that you’re planning to move away from or expand?
There were several fundamentals shifts away from 5e. Probably the most notable change is around armor class. People don’t walk around in chainmail in the modern day. So we needed to find a new way to calculate AC.
It’s been 20 years since d20 Modern was released. A lot of RPGs have come out in that time! Are you taking inspiration from any of them?
We love so many RPG systems. Dune Imperium RPG is such a gorgeous rulebook. The Alien RPG does a great job dealing with the mortality of player characters. Pathfinder has some of the best world-building. We are trying to take the best from all of these systems.
The original d20 Modern included three campaign settings: Shadow Chasers, Agents of PSI, and Urban Arcana. Can we expect these to return in some form?
There were actually eleven expansions which introduced several playable settings. We absolutely plan to introduce our own set of worlds so people can play in their favorite genre. Nothing we can announce yet, but Urban Arcana seems to be a fan favorite.
d20 Modern led to a whole series of rulebooks: d20 Future, d20 Past, Urban Arcana, the Weapons Locker . . . Where would you like to go next after Everyday Heroes?
We definitely plan to create a Weapons Locker expansion. That way, we can dive deep on firearms and other equipment. We also plan to launch a book on Vehicles in very much the same vein. The last book we’ve announced is one on Military. We wanted to do a book that honors the women and men in the military.
Everyday Heroes is a Kickstarter project. Will there be stretch goals? Can you give us any teasers?
Absolutely, there will be stretch goals. Some will be traditional like new character classes. Others will be unexpected. For instance, we write two systems for professions. They were both good, but we could only pick one. Therefore, we will release the other professions system as part of the stretch goals.
Finally: what next? Where can fans sign up to follow this project?
We have lots of breaking news planned, so I hope everyone stays tuned. If you are excited about this project, please sign up for our newsletter at www.evilgeniusgaming.com/subscribe.
What are your memories of d20 Modern? What do you hope for in this Kickstarter? Let us know in the comments below.
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