D20 Modern is basically D&D-like cyberpunk, so it's kind of a fair question. ๐คทโโ๏ธ
this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2026
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I gotta say, I've never actually found a D20 Modern game in the wild.
No shortage of WoD, GURPS, Call of Cthulhu, Alternity, Shadowrun, Battletech, Kids on Bikes, Big Eyes Small Mouth... But I've never seen a D20 Modern at an actual tabletop before. Might have just been on the wrong side of the GenCon convension floor. But I've been around playing these games for a while. I've never actually seen anyone do it.
Try a masochism convention.
Thanks, I'll give it a shot.
This is exactly how i feel anytime i hear the phrase souls-like
Bah! Dark Souls isn't a souls-like!
It's a Dark-like! ๐คฆโโ๏ธ
Same. I feel souls-like now just means kinda hard bosses and you have to run back to your corpse or else you lose you money.
So Shovel Knight is a souls-like, understood.
JUST BECAUSE IT'S BASED ON THE D20 SYSTEM DOES NOT MEAN IT'S LIKE D&D BRIAN
sigh
I take off my robe and wizard hat.
Okay, but if your cyperpunk RPG has "d20 plus modifier vs target number" action resolution, 4-8 ability scores, skill bonuses, feats, classes, races/ancestries/backgrounds... You're going to need to explain how it's NOT like D&D. And if you proceed to describe PbtA, I will laugh at you.
I won't shame you for being like D&D. I will shame you for pretending you're not.
That's why a proper cyberpunk RPG needs to be entirely D6. So many D6s that you need both hands to roll them all, and a baking sheet to keep them from rolling off the table.
Og cyberpunk used a d10
PbtA
Pathfinder, but towards Argentina?
Peanut butter the Archmage?
Powered by the Apocalypse
No I think viking hippie was right
It depends what you mean by "like d&d". I've heard the phrase is used by different groups to mean:
- Has a generic fantasy setting
- Has similar mechanics to d&d
- Has bad mechanics
- Has dice mechanics
- Is mostly about fighting
- Is a trad game
- Is not a story game
- Is an RPG
- Is not cool
For me, at least, "like D&D" can mean a lot of things. There are some games where you can tell their starting design point was just D&D, and everything else is either a tweak, a replacement or an addition. It doesn't matter what gets changed, so long as it's obvious what it was changed from.
The Fantasy Age system does a lot of things differently, but you can still tell they were working with D&D as their base design. You roll 3d6, but you still add your ability (and a skill bonus if you have the skill) and compare it to a target number.
FYI your line breaks get collapsed. Don't worry, it's still comprehensible. Formatting tip: bullet lists would've worked here. Alternatively, for a single line break you can end the line with 2 spaces or a backslash (\)
Thank you! Must be an mbin/lemmy diference cause it was correctly formatted for me. I just made it bullet points so it's clear for all.
The d20 System, used as the basis for D&D 3rd edition, was in fact explicitly made to accommodate different settings and additions.
nah its just piles and piles of d6s and 9 in-game seconds of combat take 3-4 hours of irl time (and 2-3 months off GM lifetime) guess what are we playing ๐
No need to guess - it's Shadowrun, chummer.
I knew it was too easy
Specifically 2nd edition
Warhammer
That's grimdark, not cyberpunk though
D12 is objectively the best dice and I need to find a system that'll let me use them more.
D4 is objectively the best because you can use them as dice and weapons.
Daggerheart is a 2d12 system for players, but it remains a d20 system for GMs
One Ring is 1d12 + d6. TN is based on the characters attribute score. It creates a system where a lot of actions are only possible on critical success for anyone who doesn't specialize in the skill. 11 is crit fail, so your non-crit maximum is 10+skill*6. Even with one skill level in something associated with an attribute you are weak in, you may have a max of 16 and a TN of 18, making it impossible unless the DM adds a modifier.
Each 6 on a roll lets the player add a little subtle magic to the result though, which is a cool way to implement magic being everpresent and a result of getting really good at ordinary things.
GURPS would like a word.
honestly, this is fine. I think people within the rpg space forget that the general public largely has no idea that the space exists. they have never heard the term "tabletop role-playing game," but they have a vague impression that "d&d" means nerds sitting around rolling dice and pretending to be in a fictional scenario, so if your game is anything like that, "kinda like d&d" is a fine descriptor for that audience
or as the famous tweet says: "guy who's only ever seen Boss Baby watching a second movie: kinda getting Boss Baby vibes." inaccurate or ridiculous as it may seem, if that's the only exposure someone has to the concept of a "movie," then using that as a jumping-off point to explain that other stories of different types can be told by pre-recorded moving images is still useful. you have to introduce the medium in general before worrying about genres within the medium, or works within the genre
the general public largely has no idea that the space exists
Idk, man. Like, 20 years ago? Maybe.
But not knowing about D&D in the modern day feels a bit like saying you don't know about the NBA or you've that you've never heard of Disney World.
you have to introduce the medium in general before worrying about genres within the medium
I think the thing that makes "Like D&D" annoying is that it's really the only easily accessible TTRPG franchise. It feels like you're watching the Olympics while people keep shouting "Oh, so how is this different from Football?" at every event.
For sure. If someone says "like d&d?" I take them to mean "is that a ttrpg like d&d is a ttrpg?" and not "is it a ttrpg that is similar to the ttrpg d&d?"
Like 40K?
As someone who recently started a GURPS game set in Cyberpunk 2077... nope! Been some really rough spots introducing it to my table that's been running Pathfinder for over a decade
Has it been a fun campaign? Been kind of scared of GURPS but I love the idea. Tried Fate as universal system but it's not that great.
s/Harry Potter/Bridge to Terabithia
Same message without the TERF taint.
So, like Gamma World?