Thatguyoverther
2009-08-02, 02:56 PM
I don't know if this has been done before but I was thinking of creating a pseudomodern setting. I stole the idea from the Magic Time series by Marc Zicree.
The basic idea is that the game would take place in our world, identical in every way until one day theirs a cataclysmic even that causes the laws of physics to break down. Technology just stops munitioning, cars no longer run, watches stop, guns don't fire even incredibly simple machines like steam engines stop working. Food spoils, human civilization as we know it breaks down. To make matters worse people start changing. Thuggish brutish types start outwardly resembling their mannerisms, people shrink and glow and fly, grow scales and breath fire warping into creatures of myth. (Essentially normal people start becoming fantasy races.)
I had a few different ideas on how to run the game but would like feed back from people, as to what they would do or how they would run it.
Ideas
-My first idea was to use mystery damage. It's kind of a headache, but I'd keep track of the players hit points. I like the level of realism it adds to a game, when you tell a player that "your gushing blood" or "it hardly scratched" rather than "you take x points of damage". The drawback being that it's a hassle and more suspicious players might think I was fudging numbers to get the outcome I wanted.
-My second idea was to have the players submit a character background, but not a sheet. Based on their background I'd create a first level character for them using a d20 modern character. From that point on they could take levels in whatever dnd class they wanted. The problem is that I'm not that familiar with d20 modern and I'm not sure how well the two mix. I'd just give the character a level on npc class to start out, but the difference in capability of a 1st level commoner and a 1st level warrior is immense. I could give someone 2 levels of commoner instead of 1 of something else but then advancing the character later might be difficult. I could let them swap out the npc classes of pc classes later but I'm not sure exactly what would be the best way to work it.
-The last idea was to have characters sacrifice a feat to be able to mystically use a type item no longer functions. For example a character might be sacrifice a feat so that he can still use computers, or his electric guitar, or get cars to start. I like the idea because it think it would be cool for one of the characters to be able to drive a semi-truck into that pesky dragon. The problem with this is that I'm not sure how to balance it since the ability to say use a flashlight would be useful, but no where near as useful as being able to drive a car.
Any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated.
The basic idea is that the game would take place in our world, identical in every way until one day theirs a cataclysmic even that causes the laws of physics to break down. Technology just stops munitioning, cars no longer run, watches stop, guns don't fire even incredibly simple machines like steam engines stop working. Food spoils, human civilization as we know it breaks down. To make matters worse people start changing. Thuggish brutish types start outwardly resembling their mannerisms, people shrink and glow and fly, grow scales and breath fire warping into creatures of myth. (Essentially normal people start becoming fantasy races.)
I had a few different ideas on how to run the game but would like feed back from people, as to what they would do or how they would run it.
Ideas
-My first idea was to use mystery damage. It's kind of a headache, but I'd keep track of the players hit points. I like the level of realism it adds to a game, when you tell a player that "your gushing blood" or "it hardly scratched" rather than "you take x points of damage". The drawback being that it's a hassle and more suspicious players might think I was fudging numbers to get the outcome I wanted.
-My second idea was to have the players submit a character background, but not a sheet. Based on their background I'd create a first level character for them using a d20 modern character. From that point on they could take levels in whatever dnd class they wanted. The problem is that I'm not that familiar with d20 modern and I'm not sure how well the two mix. I'd just give the character a level on npc class to start out, but the difference in capability of a 1st level commoner and a 1st level warrior is immense. I could give someone 2 levels of commoner instead of 1 of something else but then advancing the character later might be difficult. I could let them swap out the npc classes of pc classes later but I'm not sure exactly what would be the best way to work it.
-The last idea was to have characters sacrifice a feat to be able to mystically use a type item no longer functions. For example a character might be sacrifice a feat so that he can still use computers, or his electric guitar, or get cars to start. I like the idea because it think it would be cool for one of the characters to be able to drive a semi-truck into that pesky dragon. The problem with this is that I'm not sure how to balance it since the ability to say use a flashlight would be useful, but no where near as useful as being able to drive a car.
Any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated.