"target 20" modern

This is an idea I've had for some time. It's a silly idea, but that's rarely stopped me before. Back in high school I played a lot of d20 Modern, at least until my friends and I collectively realized that the game was kind of a mess and d20-system combat and character creation was majorly in the way of the way we actually wanted to play.

This is an attempt to strip as much of the cruft from that game while leaving parts of it recognizable. A lot of the mechanical inspiration here is due to the Target 20 system on the one hand and UVG's SEACAT system on the other. Revisiting d20 Modern I was struck by how many fiddly mechanical choices there are, in the forms of talents and feats and skills and advanced classes, and how little most of that stuff matters. Most abilities boil down to a small modifier on certain saving throws or skills checks. I only bothered importing interesting rules as Target 20 Modern's talents.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the thing.

Core Mechanic

If a hero might succeed or fail at a certain attempt, roll 1d20 and add the relevant stat, their skill bonus (if it applies) and the circumstance modifier. The circumstance modifier ranges from 8 for the easiest tasks that someone might reasonably fail to 0 for the hardest tasks that they might reasonably succeed.
A check made to avoid danger or some other consequence is called a save. The circumstance modifier for a save depends on the consequence being averted: 4 for death, 2 for incapacitation, 1 for injury and 0 otherwise.
The stats are:

• STR is used for tests of physical strength and for close combat attacks.
• DEX is used for tests of agility, fine motor skills and for ranged attacks.
• CON is used for tests of endurance, health or stamina.
• WIS is used for tests of empathy, insight and perception.
• INT is used for tests of knowledge, reasoning and strategy.
• CHA is used for tests of charm, leadership and persuasion.

To generate stats, roll six dice. For each 1 rolled, write down a zero for a stat, then reroll the other dice. For each 1 or 2 on the second roll, write down a one for a stat, then reroll the remaining dice. Continue in this way, increasing the threshold with each roll, until a value has been set for each stat. At the Referee's discretion, you may reroll if the total of all your stats is 7 or lower.

Stats can be reduced by spending or losing stat points over the course of adventuring. A night of rest in a safe place allows a hero to recover a stat point.

Level

As a hero gains experience, they gain levels and become more confident and skilled. Experience is gained from solving mysteries and facing danger. Solving the mystery of a death is worth 100 experience, while a disappearance or theft is worth 50 for every concerned party (to a maximum of 1,000). Every danger braved is worth 20 experience plus 10 times its level.

The following table summarizes advancement:

XP	Level	Skill	Nerve
0	0	1	1d6
200	1	2	1d6+2
400	2	2	2d6
800	3	2	3d6
1,600	4	3	3d6+2
3,200	5	3	3d6+4
6,400	6	4	3d6+6
12,800	7	4	3d6+8
25,000+	8	5	3d6+10

The Nerve dice indicated for each level are rolled whenever the hero rises after a night of rest in a safe place. They may use their current Nerve or the new roll, whichever is higher.

A hero gets one talent at first level, and one for every level thereafter. No hero may have more talents associated with a stat than their maximum value in that stat. See below for a list of talents.

All heroes have at least three skills (including languages). They can gain an additional skill with every odd-numbered level thereafter.  If a hero has a skill that applies to a given roll, they may add their skill bonus to it.

Skills can be anything the player wishes, although they should be of medium specificity; that is, "fighting" is somewhat too broad, "fighting with my grandfather's cavalry sabre" is somewhat too narrow, but "sword-fighting" is a happy medium. This is down to the Referee's discretion.

Nerve and Injury

Nerve represents a combination of grit and luck that is used up in dangerous situations. Taking a rest to eat and drink something can restore up to a point of Nerve. A night's sleep, even in a strange and upsetting place, can restore up to 2 points of Nerve.

If an attack is successful, or a hero fails a save against some hazard, roll to determine its Threat and subtract this from the hero's Nerve. Improvised (including unarmed) attacks have 1d3 Threat and weapon attacks deal 1d6 threat. Only extremely serious dangers (a nasty fall, a raging fire, and so forth) have two or more d6 Threat.

If Threat exceeds the hero's remaining Nerve they are injured, and lose stat points equal to the excess; if they do not have that many stat points, they are killed outright. Otherwise, a hero may make a save against death.

Action Sequences

In the ordinary course of adventuring and investigating, there is no need to track the heroes' movements exactly. In an action sequence, however, divide the area into zones and time into rounds. In a round, a character may do two of the following things: enter an adjacent zone, aim a ranged weapon, make an attack or other check. Movement is the only one of these a character can double up on.

A character's Profile is a measure of how vulnerable they are to attacks. This is used as the circumstance bonus for attacks made against them.

Profile	Close Combat	Ranged
8	Taken by surprise, undefended	Entirely exposed
4	On-guard or armored	Half-covered or concealed
2	Guarded by a shield or other defensive weapon	Exposed enough to take a shot
1	Shielded and armored	Very little target exposed
0	The toughest imaginable guard	Known, but totally covered or concealed

Although concealment is only mentioned for ranged attacks, it can apply (for example, in the dark) on close combat.

Close-combat attacks can only be made within the same zone. If one is menaced by two or more characters in close combat, one must chose one of them; the others have advantage on their attacks against the outnumbered fighter. Anyone fighting in close combat has at least a half-covered Profile against ranged attacks.

One cannot take aim at a foe in the same zone. If the target has moved since aim was taken, their Profile is always 0. A shooter can fire multiple shots per round if their weapon is up to it; for each shot after the first, increase the attacker's skill on the attack by 1 (to a maximum of 5).

Others

Characters other than the heroes do not need to be fully statted out if the Referee does not wish to do this. Simply determine their level and use the large bonuse for things they are good at and the small bonus for things outside their specialty. Injury deducts points of the small bonus instead of stats.

Level	Bonus	Nerve
0	4/1	1d6 (3)
1	5/2	1d6+2 (5)
2	5/3	2d6 (7)
3	6/3	3d6 (10)
4	6/4	3d6+2 (12)
5	7/4	3d6+4 (14)
6	8/4	3d6+6 (16)
7	8/5	3d6+8 (18)
8	9/5	3d6+10 (20)

Non-human creatures of higher levels may have much more Nerve. Feel free to use continue adding dice after level.

To determine how others react to a hero, make a CHA check for them with the circumstance depending on how someone would be likely to interpret their actions from 8 (most innocent) to 0 (most suspicious). On a success, they will be impressed with the hero and inclined to listen to them.

The Referee should assign others Hostility and Suspicion numbers from 0 to 19, with Suspicion always being greater than Hostility. If the d20 roll is not greater than their Hostility rating, they'll be actively hostile and try to harm or thwart the hero. If the roll is not greater than their Suspicion, they'll be suspicious.

Talents

Adrenaline Rush [CON] - The hero may spend a STR, DEX or CON point to raise that stat to 5 for the rest of the sequence; no additional points of that stat can be spent until the end of the sequence.
Blast Resistance [CON] - The hero ignores 1 point of Threat from dangerous blasts. They can spend a CON point to ignore up to their CON from a single blast.
Blind-Fight [WIS] - The hero may spend a point of WIS to ignore foes' concealment when determining close combat bonuses for the rest of the sequence.
Burn Resistance [CON] - The hero ignores 1 point of Threat from acid, cold, electricity or fire. They can spend a CON point to ignore up to their CON from a single burn.
Captivate [CHA] - The hero may attempt to hold someone's attention with their speech and actions. If 1d20 + the hero's CHA and level is at least 10 + their level, that person will not pay any attention to anything but the hero (within reason).
Cleave [STR] - When the hero makes a successful close combat attack that drops a foe, they may immediately make another close combat attack on a foe within range.
Combat Improvisation [INT] - The hero's improvised weapon attacks are 1d6 or their INT (whichever is lower) Threat and are not considered improvised.
Combat Martial Arts [STR] - The hero's unarmed attacks are 1d6 or STR (whichever is lower) Threat and are not considered improvised.
Combat Reflexes [DEX] - When a foe within close combat range makes an improvised attack, attempts to disengage, takes aim with a ranged weapon or otherwise leaves an opening, the hero may spend a DEX point to make a close combat attack before they can do so.
Defensive Stance [DEX] - The hero may reduce their attack bonus for a round to a mimimum of 0 to reduce their Profile by the same amount (again, to a minimum of 0).
Extreme Effort [STR] - The hero may spend a point of STR and a few moments of preparation for advantage on any feat of strength.
Expert Healer [WIS] - If the hero tends to a friend's hurts, the friend may recover a stat point when resting in a strange place. A friend may only benefit from this once before returning to safety.
Faith [WIS] - The hero may spend a point of WIS and take no action other than prayer or shouted words of encouragement to give a friend advantage on one roll.
Favor [CHA] - The hero may spend a CHA point to ask a minor favor from anyone they met before and who is not suspicious of them. As long as the favor doesn't put the person in any danger or cost them a great deal, they will grant it. If the favor is against the person's interests but the hero does not know this, the point of CHA is wasted.
Frightful Presence [CHA] - The hero may spend a point of CHA to intimidate their foes. Any foe of lower level than the hero within close combat distance of them has disadvantage when attacking them for the rest of the sequence.
Harm's Way [WIS] - If the hero is adjacent to a friend in danger, they can spend a WIS point to put themselves in that danger instead of their friend.
Ignore Hardness [STR] - When striking a hard object, the hero always does at least STR points of Threat, regardless of the object's hardness.
Improved Disarm [DEX] - Instead of dealing Threat on an unarmed close combat attack, the hero may snatch a weapon or other item from their target's hands. This attack is not considered improvised.
Laceration Resistance [CON] - The hero ignores 1 point of Threat from blunt, cutting or impaling wounds. They can spend a CON to ignore up to their CON from a single wound.
Linguist [INT] - The hero may make an INT check to understand or speak any language related to one they speak or have studied. The circumstance bonus depends on the closeness of the relation.
Nonlethal Force [INT] - The hero may, when attacking with any weapon other than a firearm, attempt to subdue a foe without hurting them. The hero must declare the intention to do so before rolling for Threat; if attack exhausts the foe's Nerve, they must save against incapacitation rather than death.
Plan [INT] - Before an action sequence, the hero may make an INT check to plan (circumstance bonus of 1 for every minute of preparation). For the first three rounds of the action, anyone sticking to the plan gets advantage and may use the hero's INT instead of their own stat on one roll per round.
Power Attack [STR] - The hero may choose to reduce their bonus on a close combat attack, to a mimumum of 0. If the attack is success, they deal bonus Threat equal to the amount of the reduction.
Reassurance [WIS] - Anyone whom the hero checks for injury and comforts in the aftermath of an action scene may recover up to the hero's WIS in lost Nerve.
Robust [CON] - Whenever the hero rolls their Nerve, they add their level to the total.
Scientific Improvisation [INT] - By spending a few minutes improvising common objects, the hero may make an INT check (circumstance bonus of 1 for every 10 minutes of preparation) to improvise tools or other gear. On a success, they can improvise what is needed to avoid disadvantage for themselves or a friend on any one check.
Sharp-shooter [DEX] - As long as a foe has less than total cover, the hero may make ranged attacks against them as though they were one step more exposed.
Soup-up [INT] - If a device or machine has mechanical or electrical components, the hero can get maximum performance out of it with a few minutes of tinkering. Anyeone it for a check has advantage, but after either of the dice show a 1 the enhancement becomes a bug and any further checks with it have disadvantage until it can be properly repaired.
Sow Distrust [CHA] - Whenever earns an impressed reaction from someone who can understand them, they may instead earn an uninterested reaction and make them suspicious of a third party.
Uncanny Dodge [DEX] - When a foe would make a close combat attack with advantage the hero may spend a point of DEX to duck and weave to a position that denies them advantage.
Talk Down [CHA] - The hero may spend a CHA point to immediately re-roll reaction for one person who can understand them, even if they are hostile.
Trick [CHA] - The hero may attempt to trick a foe who can see or hear them. If 1d20 + the hero's CHA and level is greater than 10 + the foe's level, that foe loses their next action. The same foe cannot be tricked twice in a sequence.