Re: Starwars d20

Ch0k0r wrote:


As for the star wars rulebook!
It names the planets in the universe but doesn't say what's on
them, what they produce or what kind of tech level they are at.

It mentions Tie interceptors in information about Tie fighters but then
doesn't show information for the interceptor!

I couldn't find how to make a lightsaber or how hard it would be,
And the are a lot of spelling mistakes!

Now I can get over all of this crap but I have a feeling this has been
done on purpose to make me shell out for more books. I'm gonna have a
look on lime wire later tonight and see if anyone has put them to
Pfd's, as has happened with other rulebooks I've seen.

Others have answered your particular conundrum with the Jump skill so I won't go into it here. Suffice to say that I think that the d20 system is quite neat and efficient at handling:

-opposed checks, where two people are trying for the same outcome
-tasks not worth rolling for (Take 10, or DCs of 5 or less)
-repeat tries at a repetitive task until you succeed (Take 20, the classic D&Dism being picking a lock!)
-flexibility when it comes to factors modifying the check (on a moving vehicle? Wind in your face? Not the right tools?)
-uniformity. *All* rolls are on d20 + modifiers to beat a DC.

Where it *can* fall down is that, since the scaling of skills and DCs, plus dice roll, is linear, that at high levels you can end up with each roll being pretty much a given success. That's partly because, though, not everyone modifies playing style for high level play where in reality it operates under different assumptions. Not sure how true this is of SW d20, though.

Another point is that the d20 system is highly customisable. The Force rules for SW d20 are a very different system to the magic rules of D&D, for example, and SW uses a different wound record system. The Unearthed Arcana rulebook presents a sort of kit of alternative rules (you can find a lot of them free at www.d20srd.org) which you might want to check out once you're a bit more familiar with the basic system, in case you want to change the way some things work.

As for the missing details, yep, they want you to buy more rulebooks. For planetary details, though, you could do worse than check through the Databank over on starwars.com. There may not be game statistics but it's a good encyclopedia for who lives where, what they trade, what that planet's geographical schtick is, etc.
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