Machinekng
2011-07-23, 06:25 PM
Introduction
I have recently picked up the Pathfinder system, just in time for an idea to hit me:
"What if I made a Pathfinder equivlent of d20 Modern/Urban Arcana?"
Although there are systems that use this concept (i.e. Shadowrun), d20 Modern itself is out of print, and WotC has not developed a succesor system.
After a bit of googling, I found the d20 Modern SRD, and what do you know, it's all Open Game License, just like the D&D 3.5 SRD, which the good folks at Paizo used to make Pathfinder.
Inspired by them, I present my first major project: Pathways, an adaptation of the d20 Modern system and Urban Arcana campaign setting.
Before I break into italicized prose, a few project goals:
-Complete Compatability with the Pathfinder System: I am trying to create a campaign setting, not a new system. Everything created by this project should be in line with the existing system.
-Balance: Any new mechanics created by this project should be well-designed and balanced. Likewise, any new feats, classes, skills, spells/powers should also be balanced against existing material. I will need the most help in this area.
-Simplicity: All new mechanics need to be edited so they are easy to understand and implement.
Now, without further ado:
Pathways
There are pathways, ones that connect one world to another. They have always been, and always will be. They are constants, in a multiverse of change.
Once, few dared walk across the border between worlds. Only the most curious, the most foolish, and the wisest of being would do so. Of those who went over, only the wise returned, and their lips were sealed on what was on the other side. What lay on the other side... that was not for mortals to know. So, they were forgotten, on both sides of the veil. Their mystery devolved into a curiosity, their legend became children’s' stories, and their importance faded into blissful irrelevance. And so it was.
Yet ink does not forget. It may be faded, the stationary that bears it may crumble into dust, yet it always remembers. And one wise fool wrote down all he knew about the pathways, and what awaited one there, and sealed his foolish wisdom for all eternity.
And one day, thousands of years later, this scroll, which had been preserved against wear and weather, against time and space, was cracked open, by the most foolish of fools. And he, against all odds and tradition, walked the pathway, and tore the veil asunder. And somehow, against all rhyme and reason, he came back, singing of what lay across the grey. And soon, every bard, every minstrel, every merry man in all they world were singing his verse. Singing of a world beyond belief. A world of jarred lightning and iron horses. Of metal birds and towers that touched the sky. A world where milk and bread and honey flow like water, and where no man lives in fear. And when the peasants and commoners of the world heard the song, they asked whether these things are true.
“Yes,” was the reply.
So, the commoners and peasants set out to find a way to reach this new, wonderful world, while the singers went out in front of them, as to find the path first, as to have power over those who wished to part the veil. And so, a great exodus began, and with it, followed disease, and filth, and nightmares, and every monster that they thought they were leaving behind. And on the other side, although they gazed upon the wonders of the world, food and wealth did not flow. They stumbled upon a world too much like their own. A world where fear is a constant, and where the monsters do not have to seem monstrous.
And now, a war rages in the shadows. A war fought by whispers and notes, by high technology and dark magic. A war between those who would cross the veil freely, and those who would have the pathways forgotten forever. And in the shadows of the shadows, darkness swells, and those who revel in it seek to bring forth a night never ending, for both worlds and all worlds.
So, what happens when high technology meets ancient magic? When two worlds collide? When plagues are brought across worlds, and men bind them to their will? When there is no right, and there is no way to win?
What happens, when you walk along a Pathway, and into a new world?
I have recently picked up the Pathfinder system, just in time for an idea to hit me:
"What if I made a Pathfinder equivlent of d20 Modern/Urban Arcana?"
Although there are systems that use this concept (i.e. Shadowrun), d20 Modern itself is out of print, and WotC has not developed a succesor system.
After a bit of googling, I found the d20 Modern SRD, and what do you know, it's all Open Game License, just like the D&D 3.5 SRD, which the good folks at Paizo used to make Pathfinder.
Inspired by them, I present my first major project: Pathways, an adaptation of the d20 Modern system and Urban Arcana campaign setting.
Before I break into italicized prose, a few project goals:
-Complete Compatability with the Pathfinder System: I am trying to create a campaign setting, not a new system. Everything created by this project should be in line with the existing system.
-Balance: Any new mechanics created by this project should be well-designed and balanced. Likewise, any new feats, classes, skills, spells/powers should also be balanced against existing material. I will need the most help in this area.
-Simplicity: All new mechanics need to be edited so they are easy to understand and implement.
Now, without further ado:
Pathways
There are pathways, ones that connect one world to another. They have always been, and always will be. They are constants, in a multiverse of change.
Once, few dared walk across the border between worlds. Only the most curious, the most foolish, and the wisest of being would do so. Of those who went over, only the wise returned, and their lips were sealed on what was on the other side. What lay on the other side... that was not for mortals to know. So, they were forgotten, on both sides of the veil. Their mystery devolved into a curiosity, their legend became children’s' stories, and their importance faded into blissful irrelevance. And so it was.
Yet ink does not forget. It may be faded, the stationary that bears it may crumble into dust, yet it always remembers. And one wise fool wrote down all he knew about the pathways, and what awaited one there, and sealed his foolish wisdom for all eternity.
And one day, thousands of years later, this scroll, which had been preserved against wear and weather, against time and space, was cracked open, by the most foolish of fools. And he, against all odds and tradition, walked the pathway, and tore the veil asunder. And somehow, against all rhyme and reason, he came back, singing of what lay across the grey. And soon, every bard, every minstrel, every merry man in all they world were singing his verse. Singing of a world beyond belief. A world of jarred lightning and iron horses. Of metal birds and towers that touched the sky. A world where milk and bread and honey flow like water, and where no man lives in fear. And when the peasants and commoners of the world heard the song, they asked whether these things are true.
“Yes,” was the reply.
So, the commoners and peasants set out to find a way to reach this new, wonderful world, while the singers went out in front of them, as to find the path first, as to have power over those who wished to part the veil. And so, a great exodus began, and with it, followed disease, and filth, and nightmares, and every monster that they thought they were leaving behind. And on the other side, although they gazed upon the wonders of the world, food and wealth did not flow. They stumbled upon a world too much like their own. A world where fear is a constant, and where the monsters do not have to seem monstrous.
And now, a war rages in the shadows. A war fought by whispers and notes, by high technology and dark magic. A war between those who would cross the veil freely, and those who would have the pathways forgotten forever. And in the shadows of the shadows, darkness swells, and those who revel in it seek to bring forth a night never ending, for both worlds and all worlds.
So, what happens when high technology meets ancient magic? When two worlds collide? When plagues are brought across worlds, and men bind them to their will? When there is no right, and there is no way to win?
What happens, when you walk along a Pathway, and into a new world?