Post originally by Banshee at 2004-07-20 19:06:40
Converted from Phorums BB System

Well, as I mentioned, I'm running a Swashbuckling Adventures game, using the SA rulebook in the 7th Sea setting.

It plays very differently than D&D. There's no knocking down doors, jumping off cliffs to get somewhere faster because you've got hitpoints to spare, or anything like that.

The game includes firearms, which are lethal even to medium level characters....high damage, high crits, and armor is useless.

It does use feats etc.....but the game *feels* very different. The use of feats and prestige classes to generate fencing styles etc. is pretty cool. It's not a complete departure from D&D though...you still have your six ability scores....but the changes/tweaks that they've done make it very different.

I've heard that Stargate and Spycraft both feel and play very differently as well, though I don't own those books.

I think that OGL Ancients from Mongoose makes it fairly different too. I took a flip through it, and I think it even has alternate ability scores.

Fantasy Flight Games made the Midnight setting, which is very D&Dish in many ways, but far darker. And more interestingly, they've changed the magic system. Anyone can use it if they have the right feats, but it's very rare.

I've heard that Guardians of Order, who are creating the Game of Thrones D20 adaptation, are making a lot of changes....to magic, removing hit points, changing the way armor protects characters, etc. It hasn't been released yet, but I've been reading snippets on their boards. Many of these changes seem to move the game away from standard D&D.

I have other stuff I've been looking at, but can't write more tonight. I will say that though the first few years were filled with tonnes of D&D clones/adaptations, I've been starting to hear more and more companies innovating.

Banshee