Star Wars

Star Wars is the game world in which I have played the most, and have had the most enjoyment. It is probably one of the best science fantasies, and also has so many auxillary works to flesh out it's galaxy, that the possibilities for adventures is nearly endless. Even if you don't want to have the characters being rebels versus the empire, you can have it the other way. Or perhaps they want to be a band of pirates, seeking danger and great rewards on the space lanes. Want more altruism than piracy? They can be bounty hunters, bringing depraved citizens of the galaxy to justice. No matter what background they come from, or whatever goal they have, Star Wars has proven to be a truely diverse world.

So why is not all my gaming in d20 Star Wars? Quite simply, I don't particularly like how Wizards of the Coast handled the game mechanics. The only real useful non-force using classes are Scoundrel and Soldier. Noble can work too, but you better know how to use their class features to compensate for their drastic shortcomings. If you simply want a diplomat, Scoundrel is still the better class; it's pretty hard to beat 8+int mod in skill points each level. But wait! Even if you want to use the force, my entire gaming group aggrees that the best way to make one, is to use one of the jedi classes until you have the three basic force feats, and then multiclass into Scounrel. With Control, Sense, and Alter, your force skills are always class skills, making the Scoundrels high number of skill points very advantageous.
There's also the fact that I GMed a lot in West End Games d6 Star Wars, where you weren't limited to how often you could use the force. Now, being as that the force can be really powerful, and you don't see the characters in the movies using it all the time, it's perfectly reasonable to put restraints on it. However, having it drain your health is a little...awkward, to say the least. The space combat also falls a little shy of my expectations for the system. Perhaps I expect too much? Somehow, I don't think that's the case, as the others at my table also feel the same. Add in the fact that the different alien species are really not that balanced, and you have a system begging to be abused.
Is my solution to throw the whole thing out the window? Hardly! It has some great information and ideas in there, I just feel the mechanics are needing a litle tweeking. How do I plan on doing that? By incorporating it's elements into d20 Modern.

Main

Ewoks have been slimed by Hutts.

    Being that they both are based on the d20 game engine developed for Dungeons & Dragons, you'd think that the transfer was easier than eating pie. Sadly, that's not quite so. Star Wars was designed with the vitality/wound point system, where d20 modern is hit point based. While that slightly complicates weapons, it does make it so that force skills and feats, as they are, cannot be directly transfered. I thought of having them do non-lethal damage, as in D&D it adds up and so would achieve a similar effect, but alas, non-lethal damage in d20 Modern is all or nothing. I've heard that people have used the Psionics Handbook for the force, even in their Star Wars mechanic campaigns, and have ever since that book came out, but I feel it does not capture the essence of the force as much as the skills and feats already given. However, there were some ideas that I took from the Psionics Handbook... namely, power points.
     The usage of power points, or as they can be re-named for in Star Wars, Force Points, makes for limiting the use of the force, while making it so that they are not burning their health to do so. Now, not every class will get these points. That would be a headache to make, and also leads to the whole Scoundrel scandel listed above. As many advanced classes in d20 Modern can be taken at 4th level (assuming the player thought ahead for their character), making the jedi classes into advanced classes became an obvious solution. What about force adepts though? Hesitantly, I've decided they need to be a seventh base class. This will allow begining players to be force users, and also gives an accessible class for those unable (for moral or practical reasons) to join the jedi order. Thusly, I am able to incorporate the force feats and skills directly from the pages of the d20 Star Wars books.
     Starships are a bit different of a gundark to tackle. With the d20 Future book, you gain equipment, ships, and starship combat rules. The drawback is that to use only the d20 Future book, you'd have to re-create all the ships for star wars. You cannot just drop the ships directly between systems; the stats vary by too wide of a margin to even allow complex conversion charts. In all actuality, re-building the various ships in d20 modern is not impossible, if you consider a few points. No-where in the movies do they list any stats, or comparisons between, the various ships, aside from the fact that the Falcon can go 0.5 past lightspeed (I've alsways wondered what is meant by that statement...) and that Han and Lando both boasted that it was the fastest ship in the galaxy. As far as that boast is concerned...well, I'm sure it's fast (it does outrun imperial ships afterall), but it sounds more like an actual boast than full-told truth (otherwise why didn't Han become a famous starship engine scientist?) The Falcon aside, you can't build straight from the movies, but the older game information seems to have little importance. If you go to other sources, such as the program Behind the Magic (from Lucasarts) and the various fighter sims (such as X-Wing Alliance and Tie-Fighter, both also from Lucasarts), there is some information given for various space craft, but you run into a little snag here. At times, the information conflicts, especially when considering the older West End Games materials. I remember that YT-1300 transporst were almost half the speed of Y-Wings, but now they are the same speed? When in doubt, I go with what is most 'canon'; in this case, products released from Lucasarts beat those from Wizards of the Coast.

Enough jabbering, tell me what's what already!

    Most technology in the Star Wars universe falls into d20 Future's Progress Level 7, with high end military gear taken from PL 8. Fortunately, this does make equipment a cinch to incorporate. Lightsabers are the one main peice of equipment that doesn't follow the standard PL of the galaxy. A thing to remember in their case is that occaisionally an invention comes about that is ages ahead of it's time; we can assume that a lightsabe is one such item. As for why they are considered outdated in the classic trilogy? They aren't nearly as powerful as many hand held ranged weapons, and so aren't nearly as much of a threat in tactical warfare.
     And now for the breakdown list of what's what:
    Lightsaber: Best represented by a beam sword. In fact, the increase in purchase DC can even be left in, as only the Jedi Order had any on hand. Most are made by their user, and their parts (whatever they may all be: sources conflict on that) are not readily available.
     Blasters: Military versions, such as those in use by the empire, are best if considered to be plasma weapons, with civilian versions being their weaker laser counterparts.
     Thermal Detonator: Best represented by the PL 8 singularity grenade. Again, keep the +5 to the purchase DC for the advanced tech level, as these are rare and illegal (if not downright needing to be constructed by the owner; Jabba does comment "inventive", though whether that's for the 'negotiation' technique or the granade itself, I am not sure).
     Vibro-weapons: Look to the high frequency sword for an example. A simple way to create more is to increase the damage die code one step, and increase it's base PL to 6.
     Droids: These are a little tricky. Assume that they are bioroids, but lack the lifelike appearance. We can assume the Galactic Republic and later Empire had laws regarding this, so that it's citezens could easily distinguish from other citezens and property (a droid has no further rights than a walking blender in most cases, after all).
     Vehicles: Landspeeder, airspeeders, swoops, and the like, can all be taken from the vehicles chapter of the d20 Future book, or easily modifed from them at the very least. Walkers are best dealt with as mecha, but keep their manueverability down...this is Star Wars, not Neon Genesis Evangelion.
     Armor: Aside from stormtroopers and bounty hunters, almost no-one seems to use armor in the movies. That said, the description of PL7 medium combat armor describes stormtrooper armor quite well, and the PL7 space combat suit would work well as spacetrooper armor with the addition of a couple weapon gadgets.
     Bacta: The universal healing agent. Being as there's no real equivalent, I've had to make some rules for dealing with this neccessary element.

    Starships: Hyperdrive systems and travel times are right out of the d20 Star Wars book. The Navigate (hyperspace) skill replaces the Astrogate skill, but all difficulties and modifiers remain unchanged. As there are many types of spacecraft, each type warrant's it's own seperate table. These will be posted and updated as time allows.
     Starfighters: A-Wings to Z95 Headhunters, these superiorty fighters (and inferiority death-traps) are what claim the skys in battles.
     Light Transports: When you need to get a small amount of cargo somewhere specific, these are the best option.
     Heavy Transports: When commercial enterprise hits a system, these are among the first visitors. Useful for coporations, but not many others.
     Capitol Ships: Frigates, carriers, and command ships; these create the backbone of any organization that requires military might.
     Stations: Whether refining ores or being someones home, these can be found in many systems; sometimes as the only point of interest.
     Containers: Not very flashy, but you don't want your things just floating in the dead of space.

Classes:
     Character classes should come straight out ot the d20 Modern and Future books, with a couple exceptions. Being as I'm taking the rules for the force directly from the d20 Star Wars materials, I've had to create classes that fit within the d20 Modern system. The force now expends force points instead of vitality, which serves two purposes. For starters, it allows there to be a limitation on force useage that does not compromise ones state of health. Secondly, it increases the importance of force using classes for force users, as those are the only way to gain more force points (currently at least. I might introduce a feat that grants bonus force points, but it has so far not been needed). Below are the various force using classes that have become needed in my campaigns.
     Force Adept - Basic class, suitable for starting characters
     Jedi Consular - Advanced class
     Jedi Guardian - Advanced class