Near Future Fantasy

I've got it in my head to do up a near future fantasy homebrew, and I was hoping people might brainstorm with me or weigh in on how they feel about such a setting. I was always a huge fan of Shadowrun, and have run some pretty successful campaigns under the 3rd edition rules for that game. The game gave me my first exposure to the idea of mixing science fiction and fantasy without compromising either side to explain the other. That said, despite the similarities, I'm definately not trying to recreate Shadowrun (If I want to play SR, I'll play SR).

The general concept is a fantasy world (much like Forgotten Realms, Grayhawk, or any other 'standard' fantasy setting) that has advanced scientifically and socially to what we would consider a near future era. (i.e. the advent of cyberware, sprawling cities, the internet, exploration of the local solar system, and more.)

A couple of the people I've pitched this idea to have implied that such technology would never come about in a world with an active pantheon of gods and the availability of magic. In my opinion, magic doesn't prohibit science so much as it slows it's advance down.

Your typical fantasy setting has architecture, weapons and armor, tools, and other innovations. These things are not (always) the result of magic, so the typical setting has already seen advances is science. Granted, magic will do some things better than technology. Technology may or may not catch up eventually, but in areas where magic excels the relevant science would probably advance much slower than other sciences. A lot of this depends on how prevelent magic is, and what kind of magic is available. I have'nt decided any of that yet. If teleportation (or other transportation type magic) is widely available then transportation technology will not have advanced as quickly or as far as it might have in the real world. If healing magic is commonplace, then medical science will still be fairly crude compared to what we might expect for such a time period in the real world. And so forth...

As technology becomes more advance its popularity increases (since it makes your life easier without requiring the dedicated practice from the average user); and, with that popularity and increased interest, areas of technology that outshine magic would start to advance more quickly and achieve the level of advancement that we might expect in the given era.

Of course magic will still have dominion over some things, and it would continue to be a bonus over and above what technology can provide. (i.e. an enchanted gun is just as much better than a standard gun as an enchanted sword is better than an unenchanted one.)

So the idea, in a nutshell, is a fantasy world that has evolved into the near future. A world where elves and goblins are not newly awakened, beings from other worlds, or shadowy beings who's true nature can only be seen by a select few.

I'm aware that others have run with this concept already. I've heard great things about Dragonstar, which could likely be scaled back to the technology level I'm looking for... but I'd prefer to start from scratch (the d20M SRD, unearthed arcana, and a few other choice pieces of OGC) and work the concept out the way I envision it.

Comments are welcome. So are links to other discussions of a similar nature (I'm sure this sort of thing gets discussed weekly on various gaming boards). Thanks!

Of course it depends on the setting, but magic, especially high level spells need not be common in a medieval setting, so wouldn't be that more common in a modern setting. So there is room for technology; only a rare wizards will use teleportation, while most other will get on by car or train.

You could use both the DnD wizard and d20 Modern AdC mage. The former are very rare individuals who devote their lives to the study of an ancient art in a near monastic way. The latter are more modern scholars with an interest in magic but also living with their epoch. Also don't forget that d20 Modern mages have much more hit-points, hit-dice, skills, and feats than wizards. So don't boost them!

Lets say that all magic-users are nonetheless monitored in this modern society, not by the inquisition, but by the government...

Have you looked at Arsenal or Factory by [edit]PERPETRATED Press? They seem like they'd be right up your alley. Plus, they're pretty good, too.

Zoatebix said:

Have you looked at Arsenal or Factory by Privateer Press? They seem like they'd be right up your alley. Plus, they're pretty good, too.

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You know, I remember hearing about them when they came out and thinking they sounded neat. At the time I was running a vanilla fantasy game and couldn't afford 'frivolous purchases' on other material. I may have to look into getthing those now.

I think that if technology advanced to the point of using "energy" that the most available energy would be "magic" and people would fina a way to harness and store magic for their vehicles and weapons. But I guess that would be the Everstone game.....hmm its hard to reason out why energy tech and fantasy magic developed apart from each other. The "best tech" which stays around and becomes widespread. Those who would develope tech to make money (only real reason in an industral world) would attempt to use magic as a power source instead of going the way our own inventions did (using coal and large bulky furnaces, to chemical burners).

That would make sense. Everybody could use a pistol that fires magic-missiles, but only one who has got proper training can fire magic-missiles without a gun (i.e.: cast a spell instead).

Take a look at GURPS Technomancer, which also has a nifty setting that combines magic and technology - and magic and technology are far more integrated than in Shadowrun.

It also has some nifty ideas and spells for magical genetic engineering...

GURPS setting books tend to be really useful resources all on their own, independant of any game system. Even though I don't have any experience with Technomancer, I thought it'd be worth mentioning that, just so Jürgen Hubert's advice doesn't get dismissed out of hand.

Zoatebix said:

GURPS setting books tend to be really useful resources all on their own, independant of any game system. Even though I don't have any experience with Technomancer, I thought it'd be worth mentioning that, just so Jürgen Hubert's advice doesn't get dismissed out of hand.

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Indeed. GURPS is the grand master of the "crossover" genre - mixing and matching wildly diverse ideas and genres. The old GURPS Grimoire (and presumably the new GURPS Magic edition that will come out for GURPS 4E soon) had quite a few spells that were explicitly dealing with high technology - "Machine Possession" (how to make your soul inhabit a motorcycle, for example), "Awaken Computer" (turning your computer into an artificial intelligence), or "Draw Power" (how to use electricity to power your spells and magic items - or how to power your appliances with your own innate magical powers"). There are spells for detecting, removing, and spreading radiation (along with rules how radiation will affect humans - or any other kind of living being). There are spells for creating and shaping plastic - and stats for plastic golems!

In short, GURPS has a long history of mixing magic with technology, and it shows.

Zoatebix said:

Have you looked at Arsenal or Factory by Privateer Press? They seem like they'd be right up your alley. Plus, they're pretty good, too.

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You know I've been hearing a lot of great things about these books and now I have to have them. However, Zoatebix you sent me on a wild goose chase trying to find these books on Privateer's website(s). I posted on their boards about these books and got a response about them saying they are done by Prepetrated Press.