Quote from: Emperor Norton;671703You are going to have to do an overview of what you consider a d20 game, because all the ones listed are very d20.

I think to qualify for the d20 license your game had to reference the D&D Players Guide. So technically their are no d20 complete games except D&D itself.


As for the best OGL game, I think Mongoose Conan is at least worth a mention.

Munchkin d20.

OGL Conan is actually a great game.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;671703You are going to have to do an overview of what you consider a d20 game, because all the ones listed are very d20.

It uses the D20 licence not the OGL. Its clear in each case, though the "substance" does overlap considerably.  Not at least because WotC gave favourable treatment to themselves and certain other 3PP that breached their own D20 licence

FWIW Mutants and Masterminds is OGL, FantasyCraft is OGL, and Star Wars Saga Edition is technically d20, but only because of the favourable treatment noted above. It wouldn't have been possible under the d20 licence otherwise.

I do think that the question was posited in a colloquial manner, not a legal manner. Only lawyers need to concern themselves about which license it falls under. When someone says "d20 game" I, and I think most people, care whether it plays like d20, not whether it fits into a specific license.

M&M and FantasyCraft are d20, whether they fit the license is irrelevant to me, they use the d20 system and everyone knows it.

I never encountere a D20 game that wasn't done better by another system

Star Wars d20 < Star Wars D6
Mutants & Masterminds < Marvel Superheroes/DC Heroes
D&D 3/3.5 < AD&D
Cthulhu D20 < Call of Cthulhu
Etc

That said, I.'d say Call of Cthulhu D20 was the 'best' of a mediocre system.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;671732I do think that the question was posited in a colloquial manner, not a legal manner.

That may well be true. I can't speak for the OP.

The d20 licence was more restrictive than the OGL, so it did have an impact on the design of the game itself in most instances, not just from a legal perspective. However, OGL licence games span everything from something that would almost be allowed under the d20 licence to things like FATE.

They all sucked because they all tried to shoehorn games that didn't necessarily fit the d20 mold into the d20 mold.

I found that D20 Star Wars (Revised) sucked less.

Quote from: Skywalker;671737However, OGL licences do span everything from something that would almost be allowed under the d20 licence to things like FATE.

Except FantasyCraft is very clearly d20, while FATE Is very clearly not.

I think when discussing d20 games people mean games that use the d20 system, not whether they fit the license. And as you said, saying best OGL game would include lots of things that aren't intended by saying "Best d20 system game"

Quote from: TristramEvans;671736Star Wars d20 < Star Wars D6

I found that Star Wars d20/Revised were both kind of crap, but I preferred Saga Edition to d6 myself.

I think now I would probably run Star Wars using something else entirely though. Maybe Savage World or FATE.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;671740I think when discussing d20 games people mean games that use the d20 system, not whether they fit the license. And as you said, saying best OGL game would include lots of things that aren't intended by saying "Best d20 system game"

As you have said. The OP may well have intended the term to mean as you have said, but I can't speak for the OP.

That is a really hard question. Could be M&M3 or Radiance or even Everstone: Blood Legacy. If I *had* to make one pick... I'll go with Radiance if just for the Shapeshifter class.

Quote from: Tetsubo;671744That is a really hard question. Could be M&M3 or Radiance or even Everstone: Blood Legacy. If I *had* to make one pick... I'll go with Radiance if just for the Shapeshifter class.

Everstone: Blood Legacy is one of the little known hits of the d20 game market IMO.

Seconding Conan d20 by Mongoose.

Oh yeah, Slaine was a bunch of fun as well.

Quote from: Skywalker;671747Everstone: Blood Legacy is one of the little known hits of the d20 game market IMO.

Yep. Folks should pick that up, just for the ideas alone.