By now I think anyone who read the reviews here at RPG.Net know that Guardians of Order's new Silver Age Sentinels superhero RPG was written for their d10 Tri-Stat System – a system based on the d6 Tri-Stat rules already used in GoO’s Big Eyes, Small Mouth and Hong Kong Action Theater! RPGs.
But SAS also comes in a second flavor: Silver Age Sentinels d20, which was written for the d20 System and released just a few months after SAS Tri-Stat. Unfortunately, I think SAS d20 was overshadowed not only by the Tri-Stat version but also by all the buzz this summer about other publishers’ superhero books and supplements for the d20 System. Even GoO seems to have released SAS d20 as an afterthought and has done very little to advertise it. And that’s a real shame, because for better or worse SAS d20, "the Ultimate d20 System Superhero RPG", deserves a closer look!
SAS d20 begins with a well-written and informative essay on the history of superheroes complete with a timeline of superhero RPGs, and segues into a discussion of just what the "Silver Age" means in Silver Age Sentinels. SAS d20 pays homage to the two-fisted, simplistic good vs. evil spirit of the Silver Age rather than the darker, more pessimistic trend in most modern superhero comics, but unlike Irrational’s computer RPG Freedom Force, SAS d20's campaign setting avoids becoming an outright pastiche of the Silver Age by grounding its heroes in a decidedly modern-day era -- complete with disfigured heroes, abducted children, and serial killers. The results are definitely mixed, but I’ll talk more about that towards the end of the review. You’re probably more interested in reading about the rules themselves!
In SAS d20 the six ability scores progress normally just like they do in D&D 3E, although they do operate a little differently. For example, unlike other d20 System games the damage bonus from Strength is given in dice instead of a fixed number, so that a hero with a STR of 20 has a modifier of 1d6 2 rather than 5. Additionally, because armor in SAS d20 offers damage resistance rather than decreasing the wearer’s chance to be hit, characters don’t get an automatic bonus to hit from their Strength or Dexterity. This bypasses one of the largest fears d20 System players seem to have of a d20 superhero game – namely that classic strongmen such as Superman or the Hulk would have ridiculous bonuses to hit thanks to their high ability scores.
As for character classes, SAS d20 offers nine new character classes: Acrobat, Adventurer, Costumed Fighter, Costumed Wizard, Gadgeteer, Powerhouse, Psychic, Skulker, and Speedster. Now you might read that list and think that the nine classes are somehow limiting, since so few superheroes can be categorized that easily (even with unlimited multiclassing), but there’s more to SAS d20 than just classes.
First, characters may purchase powers and characteristics (Attributes) with a set number of Power Points, with the amount determined by the GM depending on the power level he or she has set for the campaign. How the Power Points are spent are entirely up to the player -- the character’s classes and levels have nothing to do with it -- although the point total with determine the character’s Effective Class Level, a concept familiar to most D&D 3E players. Likewise, while the classes do award Attack Bonuses, Hit Dice and assorted special features at a fixed rate, all of these things may also be purchased separately via Power Points during character creation or later when more PP are earned through experience. Even class levels themselves may be purchased via the "Highly Trained" Attribute. Finally, the Adventurer class is so utterly generic, with no special features other than additional Power Points every three levels, as to make SAS d20 classless for GMs who would just as soon not have any character classes in the game at all. Simply restrict players to this class alone and you’ve got a classless system almost identical to the one already used in Call of Cthulhu d20.
Because it does have classes and levels, SAS d20 uses the standard d20 System experience chart. Beginning characters typically start at 1st level, although again thanks to the "Highly Trained" Attribute and ECLs a 150 pt. campaign could feature 1st level heroes with 150 points to spend on their Attributes (ECL 10) alongside 10th level heroes with just 50 points remaining (ECL 10).
Now anyone who is familiar with SAS d20 has probably already read the most common complaint about the rules: SAS d20 doesn't include Feats, and the Skill list is identical to the one from SAS Tri-Stat rather than the traditional d20 System list. The reasoning behind the absence of Feats seems to be this: anything a character can do that isn’t already considered a Skill is treated as an Attribute, whether it’s based on superhuman powers (E.g. Flight, Telekinesis) or merely the hero’s talents and resources (E.g. Combat Technique, Sidekick).
Attributes are bought with Power Points at a specific cost per rank that varies according to Power Modifier Values that are used to customize variables such as range, duration, progression, number of targets, etc., and there are many different Attributes in SAS d20 for you to customize, since SAS d20 only concerns itself with an Attribute's game effect rather than its cause. And for players who have fantasy supers in mind, and want to introduce spells and magical items from D&D 3E into SAS d20 as "Dynamic Powers" and "Items of Power", a few sidebars provide the simple conversion rules you'll need.
Personally, I feel that swapping out Feats for Attributes increases the flexibility of the d20 System dramatically without losing anything in the process. Whether a warrior gains the ability to fight in poor light because he or she has the D&D Feat "Blind Fight" or the SAS d20 Attribute "Combat Technique: Blind Fighting" seems irrelevant to me if the end result is the same, and I believe that the D&D 3E concept of Virtual Feats backs me up on this. Still, to satisfy those gamers out there who want to introduce Feats "as is" from other d20 System games, GoO created the following Attribute and posted it to their message board:
Feat
Cost: 1 point/rank
Type: Characteristic
Relevant Stat: Varies
Power Modifier Values: None
Progression: Linear starting at 1 Feat (rank 1) increasing to 10 Feats (rank 10).
The character may select any d20 System feat. GMs should not allow players to select the Leadership Feat with this attribute -- players should use the Sidekick and Henchmen attributes to mimic this Feat. Players must meet all Feat requirements as normal.
Skills operate much the same way in SAS d20 as they do in other d20 System games: there are class skills, cross-class skills, and a given number of skill points gained per level (unless the character purchases the "Highly Skilled" Attribute, of course). Yes, the list looks different, but the only real difference that I can see between skills such as Star Wars d20’s "Computer Use" and SAS d20’s "Computers" are the names. The Difficulty Classes remain the same, and by including a Degree of Success chart GoO allows SAS d20 GMs to actually gauge how well your character did (or didn't) succeed.
The Skills in SAS d20 also offer something new that isn't normally available in other d20 System games, and that's Skill Specializations. When a character selects a Skill, he or she may select a Specialization and get an extra 1 bonus when that Specialization comes into play. Take Acrobatics for example, one of its Specializations is Balance. So while a character with 4 ranks in Acrobatics would get a 4 to his Dexterity check while walking along a narrow ledge, a character with Acrobatics: Balance would get a 5 bonus instead.
Players looking for weaknesses to help define their characters will find a large assortment of Defects as well, although players looking for extra points may be disappointed. SAS d20 is not a system in which "overconfident, lazy, stubborn, honorable superheroes" get an excess of Power Points to spend, and for the most part these kinds of flaws come out in roleplaying and not on the character sheet. This is a superhero game, and your character is not here to work through his or her neuroses for free points: your character is here to knock people through brick walls!
SAS d20's combat rules are very much like any other d20 System game, with HP, the standard d20 System die values for weaponry, etc. The only real adjustment you'll need to make if you're using material from D&D 3E is for armor -- as I mentioned already, SAS d20 treats armor as a form of damage resistance, much like Star Wars d20 Revised (and presumably d20 Modern). Players already familiar with the optional Defense Roll rules from the DMG will find it's an integral part of SAS d20, and several new rules have been introduced from the Tri-Stat System as well, such as called shots, Shock Value, knockback, new grappling rules, etc.
Naturally whether you plan on running a "normal" superhero campaign or a fantasy supers one, you're going to want to use material from the Monster Manual and other d20 System monster books. Except for a few small details such as the ability score bonuses and armor, there's surprisingly very little work to be done before an evil costumed wizard awakens an ancient red dragon or a flying saucer filled with mind flayers descends from outer space. In less than a minute's time, and with a little bit of imagination, you can have d20 System monster ready to threaten your superhero's hometown.
That brings me the hometown of the SAS d20 campaign setting, which is centered in Empire City: an alternate version New York City right down to the smallest detail. The Empire City setting features a team of superheroes known as The Guard and their respective archenemies, as well as a random assortment of other heroes, villains, and organizations -- even a fictional country ruled by the world's most powerful supervillain. If you haven't already got a campaign setting in mind when you pick up SAS d20, and want to use Empire City, this book gives you over 100 pages of information about it, ranging from its history to maps, profiles, stats, and short fiction. If I had to compare Empire City to four-color comics, I'd say that it has much more in common with the stoic DC Universe than it does with the comparatively irreverent Marvel Universe. Consequently the characters come across at times like stuffed shirts; there's just no sense of humor here and it would be easy for the whole thing to become camp in the wrong GM's hands. However, in its place Empire City does offer a sense of Silver Age grandeur that many original superhero campaign worlds (and modern-day comics) have lacked, and if you prefer to take superheroes seriously than this may be the world you've been looking for.
With all of that extra information, SAS d20 weighs in at 336 pages. It's a hardback book with gorgeous artwork by Ed Northcott on the cover (unlike its SAS Tri-Stat counterpart). And if the front cover illustration of The Guard doesn’t speak to the same sense of grandeur that I just mentioned, then the color illustration of the Sentinel himself on the back cover will. Is it just me, or is it impossible to look at that picture and not imagine John Williams' theme for Superman: The Movie playing in the background? Sadly, the interior is black and white, and so the illustrations by Northcott and a host of other gifted artists throughout the book lose much of their impact. At $39.95 US, perhaps this was to be expected, but with a limited full-color edition of SAS Tri-Stat available in stores, it’s not unreasonable to ask why GoO doesn’t offer the same format to us d20 System gamers.
SAS d20 is not perfect in other ways as well. In the rush to get it to press, a few typos and omissions slipped past its editors, such as a missing Skill, references in the index to a non-existent Defect, and Tri-Stat System statistics on some d20 System NPC sheets. GoO claims its already working on an errata sheet however, so all things considered it's not a serious problem -- especially when compared to the tremendous amounts of actual rules-related errata in the first editions of D&D 3E and Star Wars d20 (and the amount of time it took Wizards of the Coast to correct it).
Speaking of the Tri-Stat System, GoO has announced that all Silver Age Sentinels supplements will be dual-statted, meaning that every bit of game information in the books will be offered twice, for both the d10 Tri-Stat System and the d20 System. With several SAS products already scheduled for 2002 and 2003, that's good news for everyone, including gamers who play d20 System superhero games but not SAS d20. After all, thanks to the Open Game License all d20 System games are compatible with one another, and GMs and players are free to use elements from multiple games in a single campaign without having to pick one particular rulebook and use it exclusively.
So even if you've already picked another d20 System RPG for your own superhero campaign, or have another game setting in mind other than Empire City, I still recommend that you visit your Friendly Local Game Store and take another look at the Ultimate d20 System Superhero RPG: Silver Age Sentinels d20!
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