I have been playing (a)D&D and Paizo´s Pathfinder for the last two decades and as a fan of the Homeworld franchise I went for the Homeworld: Fleet Command board game and also bought a copy of the HW:Revelations 2D20 RPG.
My plan is to create a cross-play between the HW board game and the rpg and after the first gaming-sessions I do like the 2D20 system very much.
But I have a question about the focuses, which tie in with the skills of the player characters: The rulebook doesn´t give much information on how to create focuses (advice for naming focuses and describing focuses…) at all… Did I overlook some passage in the book?
So how do you handle this specific aspect of the game…?
Edit: Are there good references to other 2D20 games and how this mechanic is handled there…?
For examples, have a look at character creation. Steps 3, 4, and 6 grant Focuses and provide examples. They’re a bit scattered around the chapter, but they’re there. Also, have a look at NPC generation and the example NPCs for more examples.
A good rule of thumb is to have focuses be one or two word “fields of expertise”, either as nouns (“higher math”) or gerunds (“woodworking”). You may use job titles or fields of study. Try sentences beginning with “the character is good at (…)”, the brackets leaving space for the focus.
You seem to confirm my impression, that the information about focuses contained in the core rulebook is a bit scattered throughout different chapters. As a 2D20 newbie, I would have preferred a compact introduction on how to deal with focuses.
But at least I seem to have got the concept of focuses right… Coming from DnD there isn’t such a degree of freedom when creating the characters. I like that very much…
Do I get it right, that the bonuses for rolling a natural “1” on a skill check in HW:R do create 2 successes and at the same instance create one further success for being equal or under a skill? So in total that would be 3 successes just with one dice… That seems a bit unbalanced to me… especially if you just “need” 5 successes for the most difficult skill checks to succeed. I think I will make a homerule so that these specific bonuses don’ t stack up.
You can find a (very!) abstract and concise information about focuses in 2d20 in general in the 2d20 SRD that is available for free as part of the 2d20 World Builders Programme. Note that this is a 2d20 document, not a Homeworld-flavoured 2d20 document.
It is indeed not perfectly written. Rules as intended, 1 and a focus don’t stack. The intention is that you have both a crit-range and a complication range at the opposing ends of your d20 values. Per default, both are set to 1, meaning that a (“natural”) 1 is a critical success and a (“natural”) 20 causes a complication. Both ranges can extend up to five: the complication range by (e.g. scene) truths (or complications), the critical success range by the skill connected to an applicable focus.
Read the sentences “each die that rolls (…) scores 2 successes” on p. 9 as “each die that rolls (…) scores exactly 2 successes”.
It becomes more obvious when you read the SRD (p. 7):
I too come from DnD and totally love 2d20 as I’m heavily leaning towards a narrative game-style which 2d20 imho supports perfectly.
BlockquoteYou can find a (very!) abstract and concise information about focuses in 2d20 in general in the 2d20 SRD that is available for free as part of the 2d20 World Builders Programme. Note that this is a 2d20 document, not a Homeworld-flavoured 2d20 document.
Thanks for the advice! I will try to find that document.
BlockquoteRules as intended, 1 and a focus don’t stack.
I am glad, that I interpreted the rules right and that I don´t have to “repair” it by homeruling it (since identical bonuses also don´t stack in D&D I would have gone that way…)
he intention is that you have both a crit-range and a complication range at the opposing ends of your d20 values. Per default, both are set to 1, meaning that a (“natural”) 1 is a critical success and a (“natural”) 20 causes a complication. Both ranges can extend up to five: the complication range by (e.g. scene) truths (or complications), the critical success range by the skill connected to an applicable focus.
Thx for this insight - I didn´t realize the linkage between the critical success and a complication.
Blockquote I too come from DnD and totally love 2d20 as I’m heavily leaning towards a narrative game-style which 2d20 imho supports perfectly .
Using the 2D20 system as a DM creating the central tasks and tests comes very naturally and doesn´t feel clunky - I like that! I intend on running a HW:Revelations campaign for about 1-2 years (and combining it with the boardgame HW:FC).
So: Wait until you got familiar with Truths!
I am curious… Seems I haven´t dug to deep yet concering the concept of truths…
