[RPG]: Trinity d20, reviewed by Bard (3/2)

[RPGnet Reviews]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10804.phtml

Bard's Summary:

The closing book to the Trinity Universe d20 line, Trinity d20 just doesn't hold up against it's Storyteller predecessor. The conversion isn't the greatest at times, and though the book DOES have some good points, the bad ones just keep weighing them down.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10804.phtml) for more information.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Dan at 2004-11-06 07:42:37
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White Wolf doesn't get D20. Seriously. Almost all of the books have serious rules gaffs, not to mention no proofreading. A few typos in the d20 stats makes something basically unusable.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Acid Crash at 2004-11-06 16:13:50
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I don't think anybody understands d20. :-)

joking aside, I have the original Aeon product and when I saw the Trinity d20 book on the shelf the other day, flipped through it and saw all the black and white, saw the price of 35 bucks compared to 30 when I bought the original, and the crappy conversion mechanics inside...

you are absolutely correct in saying that WW should stick to what they are good at, and that's not d20.

Dan wrote:
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White Wolf doesn't get D20. Seriously. Almost all of the books have serious rules gaffs, not to mention no proofreading. A few typos in the d20 stats makes something basically unusable.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Buzz at 2004-11-06 16:48:07
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I agree, though I have haerd some good reviews of their Scarred Lands line. Still, I get the impression that mechanics in genreal are not WW's forte. It's too bad that they couldn't choose to combine some of the great talent they have for "fluff" (i.e., setting and tone) and combine it with some freelancers who know d20.

I dunno. I pretty much stay away from S&SS product; they just don't "get" d20. Don't be dissuaded from buying the products under the S&S *imprint* however. The products Malhavoc, Necromancer, Firey Dragon, and others release under the S&S aegis are generally phenomenal.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Yuri at 2004-11-06 21:28:51
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I remember that somebody at the Wolf (Andrew Bates, perhaps) mentioned that they were going to tighten the backgrounds for Aberrant and Trinity with the new d20 editions?

Do you recall seeing any changes in the history with the new material?

Yuri

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Bard at 2004-11-07 13:00:08
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Not really. It seems that the setting stuff in the front was taken wholesale from the TST corebook. And aside from "The Story Thus Far" making it into the book, and the return of the Upeo getting a one sentence mention on the timeline, I didn't notice anything new, setting wise.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Memorax at 2004-11-07 16:15:07
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They should also have gone completely OGL with the whole Trinity line instead of just making it a straight D20 conversion. In my experience usually straight OGL products such as M&M and other usually do a better job.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Mr. Pappas at 2004-11-08 09:58:00
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Aeon Trinity was one of my favorite games to come out in recent memory. The premis of "something else out there" mixed with cyberpunk was great and offered many opportunities to have some dystopian RPG fun -- either straight up hard sci-fi or toss in a bit of horror too.

The original suppliements were good and the Trinity website was a wealth of information. Then WW did the most bizarre thing and turned the game into nearly a superhero RPG -- which was what Aberrant ended up being. After that they did the usual drop-support and the title faded to the wayside.

a D20 version? Makes a person wonder why there's even a version out there. The original system wasn't that difficult to figure out and worked well -- plus let enough open-ended gameplay to keep things fresh.

I'll stick to my worn spiral-bound edition...

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Bookworm at 2004-11-08 14:20:45
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It just didn't sell in any numbers. Trinity did not, Aberrant did not, and Adventure was just a gracious gesture to a great setting.
If d20 ´does not get better sales numbers, we will probably not see another book for the Trinity-line in a very long time.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Wyvern at 2004-11-08 21:36:05
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<i>At 14th level the character can go up to Gargantuan size, and at any level using Body Sculpt the character gains all the non-magical abilities of that creature, including, god help me, breath weapons (extraordinary special attacks).</i>

I don't know if this is an error made by the reviewer or the book itself, but in D&D, breath weapons are <i>supernatural</i> abilities, not extraordinary.

Wyvern


"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
- William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Milkywaiter at 2004-11-10 05:16:29
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Because it is out of print?

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Bard at 2004-11-12 00:06:14
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It says "extraordinary special attacks", I generally figure that would include breath weapons. It further suggests transferring "supernatural" powers over into psionic equivilants, or allowing the GM to substitute whatever powers he wishes in their place.

I'd attribute my error to the book being a bit vague and the fact that I haven't read the MM in a couple years.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Wyvern at 2004-11-12 21:27:07
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Bard wrote:
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It says "extraordinary special attacks", I generally figure that would include breath weapons.
...
I'd attribute my error to the book being a bit vague and the fact that I haven't read the MM in a couple years.
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Let me refresh your memory then; in the d20 system, "Extraordinary" and "Supernatural" have specific definitions and are mutually exclusive. (Supernatural abilities don't work in an anti-magic field; extraordinary ones do.)

Wyvern


"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
- William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Metaphysician at 2004-11-23 06:31:06
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. . .they should have gotten a M&M license, and used M&M mechanics for the system. Probably wouldn't be too tough to convert.