It should also be noted that all profits from this, the Gamers Against Cancer edition, go to cancer.org. The author has done this for personal reasons, and expresses his sentiments briefly on the last page of the .pdf. I feel it's very kind of him. :)

F20 is a universal system by Flyingmice LLC, the creators of the Starcluster and Blood Games RPGs. It's a settingless, generic ruleset along the lines of HERO or GURPS, and was adapted from the d20 ruleset under the Open Gaming License. Availible only in electronic format from rpgnow.com, the document is very simple in appearance; containing no illustrations whatsoever to clutter up the piece, and totalling a mere 24 pages in length. This isn't a hindrance, however; the book manages to convey a complete ruleset, including character creation, combat, and cool powers all in this neat little package.

Targeted as it is at experienced gamers, the documents wastes no time with introductions and moves on right into character creation. First, we select the campaign's beginning power level (in essence like character levels in d20 system games), which range from -4 to 30, and are seperated into seven pre-set categories for ease of use (with the calculations, on points per level being availible just below).

Characters have twelve attributes divided into four categories: Body, Grace, Mind, and Spirit. They purchase ratings for these with CPs; the number of which is determined by their starting level. If a player so chooses, leftover CPs can be converted to extra OPs (option points), which I'll come to in a moment. Having finished this, one calculates twelve derived attributes (including health ratings, initiative, and dodge). Despite a warning to the contrary, all this is accomplished relatively quickly.

Next we come to the Option Points, which are spent on Skills (learned abilities), Talents (natural gifts), Perks (benefits such as contacts, from one's background, profession, etc.), and Powers (extranormal abilities such as magic, psionics and flight). The latter, interestingly enough, are explained in their own chapter a little later on, which I found a little confusing at first. At this point, we're done creating our characters, and provided with a sidebar on simplified character creation (for those of us who want to get into a game quickly).

Having covered chargen, the text moves on to task resolution. This is based on the familiar Stat+Skill+1d20 vs. a Difficulty Class determined by the GM (a table is provided to help figure these out). In addition, one finds the familiar rules of taking 10 and 20. Effect rolls (such as those for determining damage) are resolved with a number of D6, added together. Because you can end up rolling a lot of dice, replacing each 3d6 with a static 10 is suggested. I liked this idea a lot, though it took my players some getting used to.

In the combat chapter, appearing next, we are given the familiar d20 initiative roll (though we roll at the beginning of each round in F20), an explanation of the three types of action (full, half, and free), movements rules, and finally attack, defense, damage and critical hits (all of which stay fairly close to their d20 counterparts); followed by a page of combat actions and conditions. An interesting note is that unlike most d20 games, Dexterity, as opposed to Strength, is the attribute used to determine the success in a melee attack. In addition, a Coup de Grace requires only a half action to perform.

Following this we have rules for hazards such as fire, falling and electricity, and then the equipment chapter, which is based on the concept of Gear Points determined by the GM. Weapons include familiar stats, such as threat ranges, and armor provides damage reduction, as opposed to "armor class." Interestingly, metal armors have a lower functional damage reduction against energy attacks.

After weapons and armor, we come to the more basic equipment one finds in an RPG. The list provides costs for modern day equipment, with little fantasy gear provided (strange in that ancient armors were statted just a moment before); and then to the afforemention Powers chapter. The powers system is "effects-based," and there is a good amount of cross-referencing going on to explain how certain powers effect one another. Power modifiers are provided, and adjust the cost of the power to which they are "attached."

Finally, we have experience points, awarded in increments of 250, 500, and 1000, which are spent to purchase new powers and higher stat and skill ratings. Buying up stats is expensive, but otherwise, the cost to increase skill, talents, perks, and powers are pretty fair (one should be able to buy up a couple of skills, for instance, after each adventure). Folowing these rules comes the legal text for the Open Gaming License, and the author's comments on making a Gamers Against Cancer edition.

Well, as you may have noticed, this was a playtest review, and so I thought I'd take a few moments to summarize my experience with the game. I ran a high fantasy campaign, a sort of sidestory/conversion from a longrunning homebrew game of mine. The players, seasoned gamer vets as they are, picked up chargen quickly and were done in about an hour (save the player who created a magic-user. He spent an extra half hour fiddling with the powers creation system). The game began with a short flashback scene, and then fast-forwarded to the present, where the PCs found themselves at the center of an intense combat.

Thanks to the easy-to use powers system, I was able to create a few monsters, magic users, and "mecha" all within the timeframe it took the players to make their characters. Determining damage took a little bit of getting used to (as there are three types: Stun, Hits, and Mortal, and there is some "spillover" when large chunks of damage are dealt out), but after that, things flowed smoothly. The game's plot was a mix of action and intrigue (with a bit of romance thrown in), and the skill system allowed easily for transitions from one to the other.

In particular, I had a lot of fun with the fatigue system in combat, as the third session culminated with a desperate, dragged out battle. Though one of the PCs was slain (with a bit of help from the ease of the Coup de Grace action), a great time was had by all, and we've decided to run a followup to the scenario (the playtest was four six-hour sessions).

Well, I hope I've been informative (and maybe even entertaining). In case it isn't clear, my opinion of the game is that you should BUY IT NOW. ;) It's well worth the $3.00, and will provide you with plenty of system to work with.

Cheers!

Esteban

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