D20 Modern Help

[Azreal]

So I'm going to be running a D20 Modern game but I'm not allowing my players access to anything Sci-Fi beyond what would naturally be available to most human beings.

Should I compensate for that somewhere, or is that perfectly okay and won't weaken them?

[Mutazoia]

So I'm going to be running a D20 Modern game but I'm not allowing my players access to anything Sci-Fi beyond what would naturally be available to most human beings.

Should I compensate for that somewhere, or is that perfectly okay and won't weaken them?

Ok...so...is it a Sci-Fi campaign? If it is then yes...yes that will weaken them. If not then No...no it won't. Are you running a "Falling Skies" type campaign then the answer is, it works for the 2nd Mass so I don't see why your player's can't make do.

[Jeraa]

The core d20 Modern rulebook doesn't have anything I would consider sci-fi in it. All the equipment can be found in the real world right now. Laser weapons, giant mecha, cybernetics, and other sci-fi stuff like that is all in a completely optional add-on book (d20 Future).

Unless you count psionics as sci-fi. But thats optional stuff anyway.

[Azreal]

I haven't dug through d20 modern too much so I wasn't aware that sci-fi type stuff wasn't in the core. Thanks for the help. ^.^

I'm running a campaign that runs into a second fantasy based campaign. The basic gist of this first one is the players are chosen by blood to reconnect Earth with the other planes of existence. So D20 works really well because magic does exist but it's rather weak in a lot of ways, but once we reconnect to the multiverse there's a massive time skip to a Pathfinder campaign using the descendants of the first character group.

[Fouredged Sword]

Consider getting and reading through D20 future and D20 past as they are very nice supplemental books that you can add material from without changing the nature of the game. D20 urban arcana is also a great supplemental book.

[Sir_Mopalot]

Definitely look into Urban Arcana, then. It gives characters wanting to play with magic a lot more options than in core, and it gives you many more enemies to throw at your group. Plus it gives rules for magic items and weapons using the Wealth system.

[Azreal]

Well I wanted to give magic as an option but I want it to be more of a support role since magic is definitely weaker without access to the elemental planes, but I'll definitely look into Urban Arcana though. I don't plan to use magical creatures much if at all, but maybe I'll center an arc around existing Magic or something similar.

[Fouredged Sword]

Magic, even in urban arcana, is much weaker than magic in 3.5. You cen't get any magic without at least 4HD, and even then, you get to about 5th level spells (I can't remember off hand).

Really, you feel like a character who has a touch of magic and some power, but not a world shattering wizard. The guy with doubletap, a barret 50, and the ability to always go first is much more dangerous.

[Bogardan_Mage]

Magic, even in urban arcana, is much weaker than magic in 3.5. You cen't get any magic without at least 4HD, and even then, you get to about 5th level spells (I can't remember off hand).
That's correct. The caster classes (like almost every class in the game) are 10-level classes with prerequisites that can't be met before level 3 (usually by requiring 6 ranks in certain skills). There are some Background feats in Urban Arcana that give you 0-level spells at level 1, but broadly speaking it's level 4 for your first spell and no higher than 5th level spells in total.

[Azreal]

Alright keeping that in mind is.magic still useful in Urban Arcana?

[Fouredged Sword]

Yes, but only because you still have access to your attributes, and the wealth, feat, and skill system that the game draws most of the character's power from. In D20 it is more about the skill checks you can pass, the equipment you can carry and the base attributes you have.

You don't get much from spells, but the cost of taking a spellcaster level over another random class is less than in 3.5.

[Azreal]

So basically less dedication to just spell casting at the cost of less spell power?

[Fouredged Sword]

The system itself is lower power, and characters keep many of the benefits from their base classes even after they multiclass.