Almost forced back to d20 Fantasy

[uraniumdragon]

I've already used all of the Dark*Matter stuff from the hardbacks, accessories and the Dungeon magazines. I have all of the Alternity stuff - bought them when they were on the shelf. The new book is an conversion of the old book. No NEW data. Only thing I haven't sent them on is Star*Drive material, which is smaller set than the D*M stuff.

For me, d20 Modern isn't as easy to design as D&D. Can't just send the group through the forest and drop in a bunch of orcs. Okay, I can send them through the city and drop in a street gang. But somehow, it just isn't the same. There is no face-to-face combat, all hiding behind corners (for half-cover) and shooting long-range. That single combat alone takes over an hour to resolve.

Am I being picky here? I've taking a few of the Shackled City scenarios from Dungeon and converted them into d20 Modern. But then it goes off into planar stuff which is more difficult to convert. I've tried the Adventure Generators from Modern Dispatch. Came up with a couple half-bottom scenarios, but nothing to hoop-n-hollar about.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

There is no face-to-face combat, all hiding behind corners (for half-cover) and shooting long-range.

Wow, that's just strange. That's never happened in any of my campaigns. Everyone uses cover, and melee doesn't exactly dominate, but you'll find other GMs complaining about how everyone uses melee!

That single combat alone takes over an hour to resolve.

I find combat goes a bit faster in Modern. NPCs can't cast healing spells, and 12th-level NPCs get killed by three gunshot blasts.

 

[BluSponge]

UD,

So why don't you tell us what sort of campaign you'd like to run? Are we talking a D*M game or something else. I'm sure we can throw a few dozen plot hooks your way if we just had an idea of what you were looking to throw at your players.

Tom

 

[jaerdaph]

Well, there's two minutes of my life I'll never get back. :\

 

[C. Baize]

UD,

So why don't you tell us what sort of campaign you'd like to run? Are we talking a D*M game or something else. I'm sure we can throw a few dozen plot hooks your way if we just had an idea of what you were looking to throw at your players.

Tom

That's what I've been waiting for. I'm decent with plot hooks.

Here are a few things that would be helpful to know about your campaign.
What is the focus? (Shadowchasers, Genetech, X-Files, Buffy, Blade, Big Trouble in Little China, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, A-Team, bug hunters, zombies, Urban Arcana, straight military, street rats, high school kids, office workers yanked into something bizarre, mercenaries, Dept 7?)
Do you include FX?
Do you include things like Moreaus?
What kinds of resources do you draw from?
What is the tech level of the campaign (straight PL-5, PL-5-6)?
What assumptions are made in the campaign? (such as the public knowledge of the existence of aliens/shadow critters/professional wrestling is real/stuff like that)

These things would help us to help you, rather than hopscotching with this or that suggestion and a constant barrage of "I tried that stuff"...
Give some info, and we can probably help.

 

[Stormborn]

This may sound like heresy to some (if so get over it), but I have used things written for the new World of Darkness quite succesfully in a d20 Modern Occult Investigation type game, no Vampires, Werewolves, or Mages. Of particular use is Ghost Stories,which has five adventures; Mysterious Places, which has 9 hook laden settings; and Antagonists, which abounds with hooks and NPCs. All of them fit into a dark fantasy/horror/occult d20 Modern Campaign with only a little work.

I agree with the poster who says that you should give us some ideas of what kind of campaign you want, and we can provide ample adventure hooks and summaries for you. However, I find that the best source for such is just modern pop culture. Buffy,Angel, Blade, CSI, 24, anime, comics, novels, even news magazines all are ripe with plot hooks.

For example: a rogue asian state has developed a secret weapon and has been testing it in the Sea of Japan inspite of UN protests. The PCs are sent to investigate. Maybe they are reporters sent by a news service, and unwittingly draw the attention of spies in Japan or California. Maybe they are sent by the goverment to steal/stop the secret weapon. Maybe they are Repo Men sent by a private company that supplied parts to the rogue nation but now wants them back because they country missed the last three payments. Maybe the rogue nation is getting help from a crosstime variant that wants to establish a foot hold in this reality and the PCs are Agents of Cosmic Order sent here to stop transquantum interferance. There. Take it and run.

 

[genshou]

For example: a rogue asian state has developed a secret weapon and has been testing it in the Sea of Japan inspite of UN protests. The PCs are sent to investigate. Maybe they are reporters sent by a news service, and unwittingly draw the attention of spies in Japan or California. Maybe they are sent by the goverment to steal/stop the secret weapon. Maybe they are Repo Men sent by a private company that supplied parts to the rogue nation but now wants them back because they country missed the last three payments. Maybe the rogue nation is getting help from a crosstime variant that wants to establish a foot hold in this reality and the PCs are Agents of Cosmic Order sent here to stop transquantum interferance. There. Take it and run.

Or, each of the PCs is one of the above and end up working together toward a common goal.

 

[Psion]

UD,

Do you have "Modern Backdrops". Its got some good maps and plot hooks.

Mysterious Places sounds interesting as well.

 

[genshou]

Another place I get a lot of ideas from is video games. There are plenty of modern/future games out there to draw inspiration from.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

A really good place to mine for adventures is www.yog-sothoth.net

The CoC community is pretty hard core and has been around quite a while. There aren't many D20CoC adventures around, but CoC adventures are about 90% "fluff" with a sudden "thing that eats the PCs" thrown in there somewhere.

I've used tons of CoC adventures as D*M adventures when I was feeling less than creative. Usually it just involves sticking in a new monster from the Menace Manual or the like or a deranged NPC with some spells.

The difference between a CoC adventure and a D*M adventure is usually, at the end of the day, the D*M characters go home alive and a few clips of ammo lighter.

--fje