Credits
Author: Scott Lynch
Publisher: Cryptosnark Games
Deeds Not Words
Deeds Not Words
| Author | Scott Lynch |
| Series | Deeds Not Words |
| Publisher | Cryptosnark Games |
| Publish date | 2003 |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | XXXXXXXX |
| OGL Section 15 | dnw |
Product Description (From the Introduction)
In late July of 2002, I released a 318-page commercial PDF called Deeds Not Words– my treatment of super-heroes for the d20 system. I spent nearly a year in the research and production of DNW, and on the eve of release I was a nervous wreck, half-convinced that nobody would spare half a glance at the darn thing. As it turned out, DNW attracted more attention and praise than I had ever thought possible (in fact, more
than I think it even deserved considering how obvious the inexperience of its writer and designer was), making it possible for me to support the game with three supplements and even branch out into other PDF game releases, which have since become my primary means of making a living.
If nothing else, this is a testament to the forgiveness and generosity of DNW’s online fan base, and to the unexpected power of the PDF format to turn ambitious goofballs into profitable online micro-publishers.
What is Revision 1.1?
DNW Version 1.0 has been available for nine months as I write this, and it has been a pleasant nine months, but the time has come to update the system for everyone’s benefit. Although I spent nearly a year of intense study on DNW 1.0, there are serious gaps evident in my understanding of the d20 system within its pages. Many game terms and concepts are misused, and there are enough glaring typos and editing mistakes to dishonor my family ten generations backward in time.
However, the most important factor in my desire to revise DNW is the fact that its initial system was so limited in so many ways. Although it was the best I could do at the time, and hardly a disaster, I soon realized DNW 1.0 was a system that could be improved upon in a hundred different ways. That’s exactly what I set out to do with the revision you’re currently reading– take the good parts of DNW, discard the crap, replace it with a more robust and flexible system, and create something that I would be happy peddling and supporting for many years rather than a few months.
Revision 1.1 is a hefty book, packing another 60+ pages onto a document that was never slender to begin with. This is partly because I’m a rabid completist working in a medium with fewer page-count limitations than print, and mostly because I just don’t know when to stop. My initial design goal, way back in 2001, was for a book with 20 new or original feats. Revision 1.1 contains more than 200 new and original feats out of the 300 or so it describes. This sort of thing happened to every single section of 1.0 and 1.1 alike. By most standards, given the number and depth of the changes made, Revision 1.1 should be called a “second edition” of Deeds Not Words, but I have avoided the use of that term for one primary reason. My license agreement with customers specifies that “all revisions” of DNW are free in perpetuity, from Revision 1.1 all the way to Revision 1.99999, heaven forbid I should ever update the bloody thing that many times. I felt that my customers were owed the “perfected” version of my ever-growing project at no further cost (save to their printers and paper supplies). After all, it’s their (magnificent,
wonderful) fault that I’m able to do this at all.
Now quit reading this, and start throwing Buicks through brick walls!
Yours,
Scott Lynch
St.Paul, Minnesota
April 2003
Open Game Content
- What's New, What's Different
- Ability Scores, Races
- Super-Heroic Origins
- Super-Heroic Complications
- Super-Heroic Advantages
- Super-Heroic Classes
- The Adventurer: A restless soul seeking risks and rewards by living a life of danger and excitement.
- The Armor Adept: A high-tech hero clad in an amazing suit of powered armor.
- The Champion: An iconic, flamboyant fighter for a cause, a nation, an institution, or an ideal.
- The Martial Artist: A fast-moving, hard-hitting master of unarmed combat.
- The Mercenary: A sly, worldly super-heroic warrior fighting for rewards, not for ideals.
- The Mystic: A master of ancient lore, forgotten knowledge, and powerful sorceries.
- The Operative: A versatile secret agent, government-trained and government-backed.
- The Playboy: A playboy uses his position of wealth and privilege to launch a career as a super- hero.
- The Psion: A subtle master of extrasensory perception and other superhuman mental disciplines.
- The Rogue: Swift, sly, and flashy, the rogue is adept at going where he is unwanted and accomplishing the impossible.
- The Savage: The savage is a tough, keen warrior from a culture that finds the modern world an utterly alien place.
- The Sleuth: The sleuth is a sharp and relentless super-detective, skillfully following every lead and trail of evidence.
- The Sidekick: The sidekick is the ultimate team player– a perpetual monkeywrench in the works of a villain’s plans.
- The Tech: A past master of quirky technology, incredible chemistry, and amazing inventions.
- The Vigilante: To protect, to serve, and to punish, the vigilante has taken the law into his own hands.
