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Use as Misdirected (D20 Modern) $2.29
Average Rating:3.8 / 5
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Use as Misdirected (D20 Modern)
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Use as Misdirected (D20 Modern)
Publisher: LPJ Design
by Shane O. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/28/2006 00:00:00

Use as Misdirected is a Modern d20 supplement from LPJ Design. The zipped file is somewhat greater than half-a-megabyte in size, and contains a single PDF file. The PDF is thirteen pages long, including half-a-page for the cover, and a page for the OGL. There is no table of contents, nor bookmarks.

The book?s only true illustration is the image on the cover, which is largely made of gray dot-imaging. The title is made of white letters on a black and red background. This black and red pattern is repeated as a border on alternating sides of each page throughout the product. Other than headers, feat names, and vehicle names being listed in red, this is all the artwork you?ll find here. This makes the lack of a printer-friendly version largely forgivable.

Use as Misdirected is based around the (true) idea of making weapons and utility items from the things you already have around your home, or at least can easily buy at the store. The book lists forty-eight different items that can be made as such, covering a wide range of things from boilerplate armor to potato cannons, from home-made napalm to a personal submarine. After that are sixteen feats that specialize in things related to the aforementioned items, such as being an expert demolitionist to knowing how to hotwire a car easily.

While Use as Misdirected is predicated on a great idea, it doesn?t live up to its potential, as many entries are missing crucial information. For example, the aforementioned boilerplate armor doesn?t actually have an armor bonus given. Oxygen rockets have no damage listing, etc. While the majority of the items here have all of their relevant data given, enough are missing crucial bits like this that it cripples the product to a significant degree. It?s a related issue that the table near the end of the book, listing the size, weight, purchase DC, and restriction for the various things in the book, only covers twenty of the four-dozen items given here.

Ultimately, this book is one that needed to go back through editing another time to add in the various missing values for several of its items. Likewise, the table needs to cover everything in the book, even if some of the items (such as coin razors) would have insignificant stats on it. That level of completeness is what?s necessary to turn this product into one that?s great, not merely good in spite of its errors. The bottom line is that Use as Misdirected needs some direction itself. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This book contained ideas for a great number of things that can be easily made by characters in a Modern game. This is a very cool idea, and the book is usually good about quantifying things in d20 stats.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are too many cases here where important figures such as damage for weapons and bombs isn't given at all. Also, the table of items near the end of the book should include all of the items in the product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Use as Misdirected (D20 Modern)
Publisher: LPJ Design
by Andrew B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/28/2006 00:00:00

Remember how the A-Team always managed to rig up some kind of armored vehicle out of the random debris they found in the garage? Or how MacGyver could stop a radiation leak with a bunch of candy bars? Use as Misdirected deals takes the concept of turning common items found in every garage in America into useful tools and weapons in a d20 Modern game.

This book is basically the Anarchist's Cookbook of d20 Modern supplements. It reads like a menu of improvised destruction, with items such as articulated scrap armor, camera tasers, and coin razors. Each entry contains a brief description, the required time and materials, and associated DCs for crafting the equipment. There are a wide variety of items presented, ranging from weapons to armor to tools. The authors seem to have come up with a list somewhat stream-of-consciousness, then fleshed it out after that. This isn't a criticism, merely an observation. Some things are obviously more useful than others. I thought that the various improvised armor rules were cool, and the disposable camera stun-gun is a neat concept. On the other hand, how much use is your average gamer going to get out of rules for crafting an improvised crack pipe?

Also, not all of the items are as detailed as they should be. Anti-freeze, for example, is mentioned as an effective poison. The rules explain the flavor, application, and detection of anti-freeze. They don't, however, list the game effects. The DCs and damage are apparently up to the reader. Another item that lacks needed stats is the car bomb. The author notes that each additional car bomb placed in a vehicle increases the damage inflicted by one die. Unfortunately, there's no mention anywhere of how much damage the bombs do in the first place. Maybe the authors meant to reference rules from the modern core book. If they did, they don't say it in the text.

Besides the improvised weapons, Use as Misdirected presents a handful of associated feats. These are right up the alley of your average paramilitary fighter or urban mercenary. The list includes Anti-Tank Warfare, Field Mechanic, and Pyromaniac. Like the improvised equipment list, the feats section is full of good ideas. The rules are solid as well and don't suffer from the lack of detail that hinders the rest of the book.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I really like Use as Misdirected's feel. Its a laundry list of mayhem, with enough tools and tricks to keep a party of malicious MacGuyvers happy for several adventures. Makeshift helicopters, oxygen rockets, and the medicinal use of superglue are great additions to the d20 Modern game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Good ideas need to be supported by great rules. Unfortunately, Use as Misdirected often lacks needed details. How much damage does a soda-bomb inflict? What components are needed for an improvised compass? If everything were described as needed, this would be a four star product. The good ideas that are here keep it from falling as low as two, but its a shame that this book doesn't live up to its full potential.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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