d20 Modern Planar Notes

[Moonsword]

I. Introduciton
A. Discussion of magic in d20 Modern*
B. Campaign types*
C. Basic format of planar entries within the campaigns themselves
II. Non-paranormal/supernatural campaign
III. Paranormal w/o magic or psionics
IV. Psionics-only
V. Low-magic
VI. High-magic
VII. Psionics and magic
VIII. Other concepts
A. Examples
B. Other planes*
C. General notes*
(*- indicates an area that still needs to be written.)

I-C: The basic format of the campaign models will proceed with a definition and example, then indirect references to the planes and possibly how to integrate them. Part C will refer to suggestions on which planes to use/not use, and methods of dimensional travel.

II-A: This campaign revolves around 'conventional' themes. Military action, detective work, counter-terrorism missions, and like are all distinct possibilities. Themes drawn from television and thriller novels or movies are all useful tools.
II-B: References to the planes would be minimal. The most common and well-known references would reside in mythology and theology. Fringe paranormal elements could also be a factor, depending on the specific nature of the campaign.
II-C: There are almost certainly no 'planes' per se in this model. However a dream or astral plane could well be a possibility, and might be used by minoor fringe elements to society that most of the world is unaware of.
II-D: This model might be a lead-in to another form of campagin. Adjusting the references accordingly is well-advised.

More to be posted later.

 

[Moonsword]

III-A: This model includes such topics as alien invasions and paranormal investigation (such as tracking ghosts or involving exoatmospheric travel). Sp,e futuristic campagins also fall under this category, as well as extraplanar exploration.
III-B: References to the planes are as II-B, plus covert references to other planes as needed.
III-C: Possible planes:
- Hyperspace/subspace, etc.-travel time is faster than material, probably just fast, but could also be subjective. 5th-dimensional curtain method of travel is well advised for this plane. Could be the medium for spatial tunnels (wormholes, jump point). Possibly a form of the astral plane.
- Ethereal-Could be needed for ghosts or other undead.
- Shadow-As ethereal, plus fun plane to visit (for GMs, not players )
- The elemental planes may or may not be used. Pocket planes could be useful, possibly transit points or holding area. They could also be the home planes of alien creatures.
III-D: A campaign based on planar exploration could involved any planar theme. Some of the elemental planes might be useful, but probably not. Divine planes are highly inappropriate in most circumstances. The potentiel for mishandling this one and offending someone is just too strong. This is not a general rule, but for God to exist without magic/psionics... That implies some things that could be highly offensive to some people. If you do this, be careful, and above all else, KNOW YOUR PLAYERS! Moving on... A form of the ethereal and shadow planes could be useful, as might the astral, as a transit plane.
Any of the environment traits could be used in describing another planet. Temperature and gravity traits would be particularly valuable in such a circumstance.
A good travel method in this model is either 5th-dimensional curtain, or discontinuous existence.

 

[Nifft]

I don't really get what you're doing in this thread. Is this the outline for a book? If so, it looks like an interesting book.

If you want feedback, post what kind you're looking for.

Thanks, -- Nifft

 

[Khorod]

At first glance this looks like a book outline. When I look closer it seems to be the beginnings of a 'choose your own adventure' tree. The DM follows each answer to get what type of planar interaction he's going for.

Well, either way, it looks interesting. I need more to go on.

 

[Moonsword]

Yes, this is an outline. It's not fully fleshed out, yet. What I wanted was just some assurance that it made sense before I typed the other few pages up here (I wrote it all on a yellow legal pad). I prefer to know if I'm going to have to scrap something ahead of time.

 

[Nifft]

I can't judge your outline without knowing more about your terminology, which means that I can't tell you to write more until you write more.

However, what I've seen so far looks interesting and well thought out, especially the implication of low-magic worlds on interplanar travel. So, please write / post more!

-- Nifft

 

[Moonsword]

I'll be happy to. In fact, here's the next part:

IV-A: This model includes such topics as alien invasions, or paranormal investigations (such as tracking ghosts or involving exoatmospheric travel). Some futuristic campaigns also fall under this category, as wellas extraplanar exploration in some cases (Babylon 5, for example).
IV-B: References to the planes are as II, plus covert references to other planes as needed.

See the attachment for more information on the dimensional travel methods. It was originally written by Khorod, and I've expanded on it. I am not the original author.

 

[Khorod]

Hey Moonsword-

I really like that you've taken a dropped Open project of mine and picked it up again, but I'd like some credit somewhere since its going public.

Also, there are a couple references int that document to things that don't exist- like a part of the main netbook that never got written.


On your comments: lots of good stuff. I suggest you take a close look at what terms you want- a few of them still need tweaking. Like Recreation should probably be Re-Creation at least, to make it clear its not transportation by television.

And my stuff needs some editing. I am often wordy...

I'll try to pull out some of my notes on Voids for you, if I can find them...

 

[Moonsword]

Sorry. I did not mean to imply that I was stealing your project. That's just the draft I had at the moment, not a final copy. The SRD reference isn't there, yet, for example. As for the note on the editor, that's an internal note, not something that I would release directly to the public. Again, I'm sorry. You will get credit. I'm not a thief, just a collaborator. I edited the above post to reflect this state of affairs.

Where are those references you mentioned? I didn't see any, but that's an older draft. On my current one, they could be gone, but probably not. (I got rushed, and left my good draft on another system than the one I'm on at the moment.)

I'll catch the other stuff in my next run through it. School's gotten a little hectic, as has driver's ed.

 

[Khorod]

Didn't mean to imply you were stealing. Its just that I was remembering about a solid week I put into it... I would never have dropped it if dev on my campaign setting didn't suddenly become my RPG priority. I tend to cycle through projects and get a few lost in the cracks.

I hear you on school. Last night I was very relaxed- only had to study for a midterm in a class I've been ignoring for a week.