character creation

The other bonus of squares is that monsters that are bigger than 1 square still tessolate perfectly with others of their kind, as well as their smaller prey.

With hexes it can still be done, but you end up with some odd shapes. A 10 x10 critter would be more triangular than circular.

****

Of course the best thing to do would be to ditch the grid entirely, use circular bases, and get out the tape measures....
 
Mayhem said:
The other bonus of squares is that monsters that are bigger than 1 square still tessolate perfectly with others of their kind, as well as their smaller prey.

With hexes it can still be done, but you end up with some odd shapes. A 10 x10 critter would be more triangular than circular.

****
Of course the best thing to do would be to ditch the grid entirely, use circular bases, and get out the tape measures....
Many RPG also used hexagones: Dragonquest (an old SPI game), but also Rolemaster (look at Sea Law and War law for example) or D6 Star Wars.
It is not that important the way critters look like in this case but this is more a representation of the space they take. DragonQuest had taken size into consideration, whereas a horse was 2 hex deep, an elephant took 4 hex (2 hex large and 2 hex deep). The fact is that this works pretty well for movement or facing.

I also remember (oh my!) that magical cones (or dragon breath) work best with hexes. Also ranged fighting is excellent with hexes because you can clearly count the distance and appreciate any possible obstruction of the line of sight.
And don't forget scattering of missiles (like vials of oils).

In fact I stopped gaming with ADD for 12 years (and then we still used the rules of the 1st version). I just came back with the D20 system because of Conan RPG. So imagine my surprise. :shock:
There a lot more to remember than before but the best improvements are IMO feats, skills and critical hits. Difficulty Class is also excellent are simplier that the old THACO.
 
Mayhem said:
With hexes it can still be done, but you end up with some odd shapes. A 10 x10 critter would be more triangular than circular.

Is a triangular horse that much worse than a circular horse?

:D :D :D
 
Great Question sbarrie...

to like or dislike a game system because of this seems ...well...silly.

Of course, that said, I myself am such a d20 snob that I can't even look at d6 games...like the new Lord of the Rings games (despite my love of all things Rings...) I have the book, but can't get past the system...
 
all game systems have good and bad points but D20 has become more difficult because they took into consideration almost all the problems that were underlined by the fans. I still can remember one typical ADD argument: can we set something afire with magic missiles? :D
Moreover the integration of skills and feats into D20 isn't as easy as with other systems because here you don't buy skills or feats with experience points (as with D6 or gurps) or when you use them successfully (as with Basic RPG like Cthulhu, Stormbringer) but receive or augment them as you increase in levels.

In fact I would say D20 wanted to be the perfect system and integrates therefore the classical "level progression" with the skills and feats that were used by other systems.

The Wizards succeeded somewhat because almost everything is now covered by the rules but the game grew thus far more complex than before. Then it is always the point if you have the willpower and/or the time to learn a new system.

It makes me remember of an old board wargame from Yaquinto: "88" on tactical combats in North-Africa where you could determine the damage done on a tank after considering the caliber of the firing gun, the armored protection of the tank and the angle of penetration of the anti-tank shell (that why some tanks had later inclined armored plates rather than vertical). :lol:
 
Well, I don't use maps and minis, though some of my players will set them up rather informally just to keep their heads straight. And we do just fine.

Attacks of Opportunity take a while, but once you get used them it's hard to go back. They're just to interesting a combat option.

If you don't want to run it on graph paper and need to go with Attacks of Oppotunity you just need to get used to players asking if they risk them or can deal them and making the judgement call.

The table listing the actions that provoke them is very important, though I wouldn't go so far as to memorize it you might want to keep a photocopy by your side for the first few games and take some time to remind players of helpful things like reach, tumbling, and casting spells defensively.
 
If you don't use any maps or minis it must be quite difficult to figure a fight, especially if you take all the technical rules into consideration such as 5 ft move, opportunity attacks, etc.
 
Nah. We only use figures and a grid for about half of the fights. Attacks of Opportunity aren't hard to figure out for small fights - don't turn your back on the guy you're fighting, don't charge the reach weapons, and generally don't do anything stupid.
 
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