Okay, I just have to ask people… Why do so many people hate Modiphius‘ 2D20 system? I know it isn’t your standard “Dungeons & Dragons”-style D20 system, but that’s part of its charm for me. Where D&D asks you to roll a D20, add a modifier, and try to surpass a target number, Modiphius instead asks you to roll against a target number on each die, count up each die that succeeded, and see if the number of successes is enough to accomplish the task.
More complicated? A little bit, but infinitely more interesting and exciting, when you get right down to it!
The 2D20 system usually allows the player to “buy” extra dice from the GM, up to a total of 5D20, to roll for actions that are especially difficult or dramatically important. This is usually on a one-for-one basis… each additional die gives the GM a token, that they can use later in the game to increase the number of successes needed for a task, ratchet up the target number for each die roll, and so forth. In short, these tokens give players easier rolls now, in exchange for more tension and difficulty later in the session.
In short, this system rocks, and lets the GM control the tension in any given scene without having to be a tyrant about it. Whether you’r replaying solo (yes, it’s possible) or in a group, I find 2D20 to be way more interesting than just any old D20 system, including D&D.
So, again, why all the hate? Modiphius has made a bunch of great TTRPGs with the 2D20 system, including “Achtung! Cthulhu”, “Dune: Adventures in the Imperium”, “Fallout”, “Star Trek Adventures”, and so on. There are quite a few other games in this particular line, and I want most of them. But while these games have many fans, myself obviously included, there are many, many others who outright hate them.
I mean viscerally hate them, just for the sin of using the 2D20 system. But why?
I have asked people in the past what they base their opinions against 2D20 on, and it is never anything concrete. Usually just a variation on “It’s too different” or “I just don’t like it”, but that’s not a reason. What exactly is the problem? What is it about this system that makes you so angry?
I think they just hate fun. But hey, that’s just my opinion, and if they can spray their hate all over the Internet, then I can point and laugh at them while they do so.
Talk to me again when you have something worthwhile to say, haters.