4th Power is my attempt to mash-up 4e and d20 Modern into an RPG that I want to play and run campaigns in, leveraging the stuff I like from both, along with other elements that try to fix what annoyed me about both systems.
Well, on Halloween, I ran the first ever playtest. I designed all the characters, constructed a scenario, recruited members of my regular D&D group, and GMed the game.
I am definitely happy to report one thing: the game didn’t combust in on itself…
…but the scenario did end in near TPK, and a total objective failure for the PCs.
Still, I was heartened to find that the system does work. The powers need tweaking, the selection of at-wills continues to be challenging (especially for mental stat-focused characters), and the amount of HP that each PC possess takes some adjustment, but overall, the core of the system is solid and that’s something to be thankful for.
What’s the next step? The one thing that’s definitely true is that I need more powers written. As before, the best way to drive me on is to have a goal in mind, and thus to that end, I’m going to run another playtest, with higher level characters, aiming to run around Xmas time. I have a specific, pre-written adventure in mind from another system. Unlike the 1st level game I ran, it will be less focused on survival, so it has a much greater chance of running all the way through.
Powers are not the only thing that still needs to be developed. Two pieces that still need sub-systems are:
- Extended Actions (which resemble rituals, though might fall closer to Martial Practices) for things like hacking, making cover identities, setting up a business, that kind of thing. I have some ideas, but need to work on it a bit more.
- Wealth. From my experiences with d20 Modern (and from some of your comments), this is the elephant in the room of d20 Modern and modern gaming in general.
My current thought on wealth was sparked by a chat (as it were) with my friend Phil, who was working on his own system for eliminating micromanagement of cash in 4e. I too don’t want players to be managing the exact amount of money in their bank account and their credit score and so on.
As part of those conversations, Phil proposed a skill to manage wealth, which is somewhat how d20 Modern handled it. Well, I already have a skill to handle it (Business). And I know already that I wanted to track social class alongside the system. Thus it made sense to combine it with another system that moves up and down over time based on skill checks.
Yes, I’m making Social Class a Disease.
Eventually I will develop a track, that goes from Destitute to Billionaire. Each one will cover a range of expenses that you can reasonably cover: middle class means you have a decent place to live and can afford reasonable meals on a regular basis. Buy something more extravagant (like a sports car), and you make a Business check. Succeed, and you manage to move your finances around in such a way to cover it. Fail, and your class shifts lower. There will be some bonuses and penalties depending on the situation (time involved, how familiar you are with the area, etc.) Voila. That’s my thought right now.
As I said, I have a new goal in mind, so my guess is that I won’t be updating as much on a weekly basis while I work my way towards my next playtest. I will try, however, to create a collection of everything I’ve developed so far for better reference, and add to it when I come up with more. And as always, if you have any questions or comments, lemme know.
Love the idea of Wealth being a disease! I guess it’s a matter of perspective as to which end of the scale is the fatal one 😀
I’m a fan of d20 Modern’s Wealth system (and, by extension, Mutants & Masterminds too which is pretty much the same expect you can also buy equipment with Character Points as well) but agree it’s not universally popular. Like anything else though (*cough* 4e D&D *cough*) most of the folks who dislike it are those who haven’t actually tried it.
Interested to see where you do with this one, Dave.
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I liked a lot of the thinking behind it, and I never ran into the players trying to be abusive with it, but explaining it to the players and explaining the consequences when they bought things always was problematic. I guess that’s another aim: abstract wealth that’s easy to manage.
This would also open up options for feats like ‘Old Money’ which gives you a saving throw any time you would be forced down a rank on the status scale, or ‘Business Acumen’ which gives you a bonus on those big purchases but doesn’t help you move up the finance scale. I also thought ‘Miser’ would be an interesting feat: It gives you a bonus on checks to improve your social status rank but a penalty on those individual big purchases.
HartThorn: Having feats/backgrounds to improve your initial social class was definitely part of the plan, but those feat suggestions to work with the system even more are great. I think that was another issue with d20 Modern’s wealth system: there wasn’t enough done with it for character options, and those are a great way to integrate them more into play.
How do you move up the scale? Business checks during downtime?
How does loot factor into it? If you make a big score, does that trigger a Business check to see if it moves you up a level, or if you squander it on ale and whores?
Have you checked out FantasyCraft yet? They have a really interesting system for wealth and gear. I think it still needs some tweaking to really sing, but it solves a lot of problems. (FantasyCraft also has the dramatic conflict system, which is awesome for extended contested checks, like hacking.)
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