''d20 Past'' is a d20 based

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

released by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

in 2005. It was meant to be a supplement to ''

d20 Modern ''d20 Modern'' is a modern fantasy role-playing game system designed by Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, and Charles Ryan. The system's core rulebook was published by Wizards of the Coast on November 1, 2002; by 2006, ten additional supp ...

'', providing framework and new rules for campaigns based on historical events from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, including new character options and rules for early modern firearms. It begins with an exploration of the historical period between 1450 and 1950, then provides rules for creating characters and campaigns that blend realism and fantasy. ''d20 Past'' also presents alternative campaign models, along with all the rules needed to play swashbuckling pirate adventures, Victorian horror investigations, thrilling Pulp Era escapades, and more, including three ready-to-play campaign modules.

Synopsis

The book itself is divided into an introduction and five chapters: * Chapter One - How Real Is Your Past? is a short essay on the different views on history and a discussion of the different modes of playing historical games. * Chapter Two - Rules Components provides player and games master with the specific new rules and deviations from established ''Modern'' rules for a historic setting. * Chapter Three - Age of Adventure provides d20 fantasy in a

swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...

setting. * Chapter Four - Shadow Stalkers does the same thing to a setting combining elements from

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

, H.P. Lovecraft and the American

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

. * Chapter Five - Pulp Heroes is the third setting provided, it enables the player to be a more contemporary hero and take on anything from

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s or

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

's F.B.I. Further period background information was made available as a Web Enhancement.

Progress Levels

According to Wizards of the Coast, a Progress Level (PL) is an indication of the state of technology that exists in a particular society or an arbitrary measurement of how advanced a culture is, based on developments in

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

and

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. The concept was introduced in

d20 Future ''d20 Future'' is an accessory for the ''d20 Modern'' role-playing game written by Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker. It facilitates the playing of campaigns in the far future, using elements such as cybernetics, mecha, mutat ...

(and even earlier in TSR's

Alternity ''Alternity'' is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) published by TSR, Inc., TSR in 1997 in games, 1997. Following the acquisition of TSR by Wizards of the Coast, the game was discontinued in 2000 as part of a broader rationalisation of T ...

manuals by

Bill Slavicsek Bill Slavicsek (born October 6, 1971) is an American game designer and writer who served as the Director of Roleplaying Design and Development at Wizards of the Coast. He previously worked for West End Games and TSR, Inc., and designed products ...

) to describe both the level of technology in the campaign as well as the technology levels of other species comparative to the human one. They are similar to the Tech Levels in

GURPS The ''Generic Universal Role Playing System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by St ...

. Progress levels of six and higher were studied in ''d20 Future'', with the default ''d20 Modern'' setting encompassing progress level five. In ''d20 Past'', two progress levels are available such as: Progress level three (the age of reason) and progress level four (the industrial age).

Skills and feats

Skills and feats have deviated remarkably from their ''d20 Modern'' standards to accommodate for the differences in technology. For example, certain uses of a skill that were acceptable under a modern standard may no longer apply to a campaign setting where the technologies to perform these actions may not have been available. Similarly, some feats may represent modern knowledge or techniques that were not available to people centuries prior. It also includes new uses of skills and feats that might be more appropriate for a historic campaign.

References

External links

Wizards of the Coast - product infoRPG.net - review
{{d20 D20 System publications Historical role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2005