I started this reply a few days ago but homework intervened. I was able to finish it today.
This is interesting, but problematic.
If you're removing magic entirely, that's a big change right off the bat. Obviously any DM doing this is going to be sensitive to the changes, but if you're making a product out of this, you're going to have to do a lot of work outlining all the changes that need to be made.
And then a big problem: HEALING. In d20 Modern, the Surgery feat (in fact, you don't
have to have the feat) can get PCs back on their feet pretty quickly. In my very first Modern campaign, neither the GM or any players knew of this, so we frequently would have to hole up for days to heal, and even then for plot reasons were probably starting fights while "bloodied". Realistic, perhaps, but not in the least bit fun. Not only does this campaign not have easy healing, but there's no Wands of Cure Light Wounds either for between-combat touch-ups. Also note that if you have a substitute, you need to ensure players and GMs know.
Certainly I will need to have some way of doing nonmagical healing. (there is alchemy and psionics that can heal, but I digress for now.) In a futuristic setting, the necessity of healing to minimize down-time between combat encounters may not be much of a problem because technology can pick up the slack. Spray-on instant bandages, nanotech healing devices, things like that. As well, part of the appeal of having the Alchemist class in the game is that they have access to a lot of "staple spells". For example, Alchemists can create potion-like extracts of things like Cure Critical Wounds, Bull's Strength, Protection From Energy, Invisibility, Freedom of Movement, Tongues, Discern Lies...though in this setting their abilities should be treated as nonmagical instead of as per standard rules where their extracts, bombs, and mutagens are all designated as supernatural effects.
Now, as a GM and setting-designer I would assume any campaign played under these rules would have at least one or two psi-actives in a given party. In Psionics Unleashed there is the power Empathic Transfer (egoist 2, psywarrior 2, 3 PP per manifestation). It enables healing of others for a base amount of 2d10 damage. It augmentable for +1 PP yielding +2d10 healing (maximum of +5 additional PP, for +10d10 maximum additional healing per manifestation). In Psionics Expanded there is the Vitalist which is a dedicated psionic healer/necromantic type. For these reasons, the role of "party medic" could be filled by either an Egoist or a Vitalist.
But, the increased rarity of instant & cheap healing would indeed make the whole feel of combat different. We shouldn't necessarily feel like we have to cling to the same mechanical flavor as the original game though it would be nice to maintain some familiarity. (Iron Heroes, for example, has a different combat flavor, even though it purposefully scales back on the magic items--yet still has an appeal to players willing to forgo them.) If combat in a given universe is more dangerous and if getting hurt a bigger worry for its lasting effects. then adventurers in this universe will not be so keen to (say) fight the dragon head-to-head as they might be to sneak into the dragon's lair and try to cut its head off while it's asleep. But, having less hack-n-slash and more sneak-and-beguile is less a matter of "you're doing it wrong" than it is a matter of "the way this universe works does not suit my particular tastes" (which is perfectly fine, if it's not how you like to play than no big deal).
This is separate from the power scaling issue which you address below, and is certainly one that needs addressing.
Magic items are another issue. In d20 Modern, PCs get Defense bonuses based on level, in flavor terms to represent learning how to parry and dodge, but in meta terms it was to replace the loss of magic item bonuses. In Pathfinder, PCs gain attack bonuses based on experience, but not defensive bonuses. Inherent bonuses are complicated too, as they run into issues with shields, monks, swashbucklers... That needs a general fix, and a specific one for monks and swashbucklers.
Even missing out on Cloaks of Resistance means a monster like a poisonous snake is much more dangerous than they were, unless you have an inherent bonus-style fix for that. (And you don't have Restoration to remove that Con damage without days of rest.)
Well, there's Body Purification which can heal ability score damage and Cleanse Spirit which can restore ability score drain and level drain.
Defense bonuses will need to be added, that's for sure. Thinking about Iron Heroes some more, I may look at their rules to see how they solved the no-item problem.
The loss of "all the usual magical gear" has other implications besides weakening character defenses. Without Bags of Holding, encumbrance suddenly becomes much more relevant. Though again, because this campaign setting is set in a near-future setting, miniaturization and versatility of technology is routine. Think what a smartphone can do for you today besides sending and receiving voice communications. What would you have needed to have on your person 20 years ago that would perform the same tasks? They fulfill the functions of a camera, radio, scanner, calculator, stopwatch, compass, balance bubble, EM field detector, notepad, dictaphone, video recorder, music player (but with the capacity of lots of cassette tapes), and much more. Now try to imagine 20 years from now, what a smartphone will be able to do? (They'll probably be calling them sidekicks, AIs, or something else by then.)
As mentioned elsewhere, the "gaps" left by traditional magical buffs and gear could be filled by sci-fi tropes such as synthetic organs, cybernetic implants, Bioshock-style "plasmids," drones, and whatever else that might pass as believable advanced technology.
Rangers aren't really a hybrid class.
Bards have a variety of sound manipulation, mind control and healing/buffing spells. How would you replicate all of these in a non-FX manner?
I guess I ought to rephrase--those classes with a mix of spellcasting and non-spellcasting abilities would have their spellcasting and supernatural abilities replaced by class features that are more mundane but still useful.
There's no full casting classes. Are you intending to have full manifesting classes? Or will they be the equivalent of 6th/7th-level spell casting classes?
I'd probably keep the psi-active classes as they are, although I may consider inventing a few new psionic powers to make it easier for psi-actives to heal other characters. There may be other issues which traditional magic normally takes care which will need to be handled by psionics, and if Dreamscarred doesn't have any material that is written to cover those contingencies, I will have to create them or find it somewhere else.
However, I don't want the psi-active classes turning into a collective golden hammer. Cleric and Wizard as classes are pretty bad about being able to do almost anything on their own, and I would like to avoid that. I'm not looking to put together a campaign which is only suitable for parties made exclusively of psi-actives.
The list of psionic items in the Dreamscarred source materials is somewhat sparse; it may be necessary to devise psionic equivalents of some of the old standby items that most players take for granted (belts, headbands, gloves, periapts, tomes, manuals, and so on). Only these should be "reskinned" to make them more asthetically similar to the psionic items that already exist. However, part of the mystique that psionics has is that it is not "materially centered". Psionics is about gaining power through enlightenment of the mind and perfection of the body, not through expensive gear. If you try to "fill the gaps" doing the same old thing with fancy pseudomagical items, you've merely gone full-circle and are back where you started from.
But, there has to be a better way, Iron Heroes method or not....even if it means introducing more ability score bonuses instead of having merely a +1 to one score every four levels. Or it may mean allowing save bonuses to accumulate faster, as Armor Class does when you add in level-based Defense bonuses. Instead of +12/+6 for good & bad saves at 20th level, it might be +20/+10. How much of an impact are magic item boosts supposed to have?
I hope one of those archetypes is not psionically flavored. Plain-ol'-Fashioned Fisticuffs never go out of style. The guy who instructs soldiers in martial arts is probably not psychic, he just knows how to break kneecaps and do joint locks.
I'm sure there could be non-psi monks, why not? It's just that from my point of view, Ki and psionics are virtually the same thing, like spells and supernatural abilities are the same but different. Both magical, but relying on different methodologies to warp reality.
At present, the alchemist seems more like a self-mutator than an alchemist, more like a short-term unstable mutant. Which is great flavor, but at this point it shouldn't be called alchemist.
I'm not all that familiar with alchemical items, actually, and many of them could easily be replicated by modern-day science. Alchemist's Fire, for instance, is basically a white phosphorus grenade. There's no mystery in that.
There is some familiarity, yes. (Like, tindertwigs are really just matches.) However, there's some weird stuff in Ultimate Equipment whose behavior doesn't resemble any substance known to mainstream science.
There are special rules in the Alchemist class that prevent them from being "buff factories," churning out cheap potions and buffs for everybody. In a fantasy world these rules might be somewhat reasonable (especially since the alchemist's abilities are ultimately rooted in the supernatural manifestations of his own innate magical ability). But if this class is to exist in some form in a modern or sci-fi setting, these rules for extracts and mutagens becoming inert or non-functioning for non-alchemists won't be believable. In a modern or futuristic setting you would expect an exotic medicine to have the same general effects if applied to both the brewer of the medicine and a test subject, all else equal. Alcohol should always act as a depressant, slow the reflexes, and loosen the inhibitions, penicillin should always act as an antibiotic (assuming you're not allergic or the pathogens aren't drug-resistant), and so on. Alcohol should not transubstantiate into water even if someone who didn't brew the drink tries to drink it.
What I may do is create a modified Alchemist class with a different name and a few tweaks here and there (though proper attribution should be given for the original source material). It might be called the "Fringe Scientist" class or simply "Fringer" class (apologies to Star Wars d20); such a name will be much more descriptive of how I envision it as fitting into the campaign setting. Their extracts and mutagens ought to be nonmagical (all class features Extraordinary) but shouldn't go inert just because they leave their creator's possession. Maybe they expire if left unattended after some time? (This mainly so they can't be stockpiled indefinitely.)
I'm a big fan of technomages. I've read one of the two trilogies featuring them (and seen every episode of Babylon 5 too). They were balanced kind of like Gandalf was, which is to say they worked well in fiction but not in a game. In the first trilogy, technomages had a bunch of "rituals" but in combat were generally limited to creating illusions. Handy, but ... why not just have a bard? Bards can stab things too with their 3/4 BAB.
But I suspect you're thinking of using them for flavor terms. In which case, a class that's kind of similar to the alchemist (in terms of casting limits) should work, but a lot of the flavor doesn't really suit a "technomage".
I was merely mentioning them as examples of the sort of things a Fringer might dabble in--their art isn't supernatural, it just looks indistinguishable from the supernatural because all of their work is so "left field", thoroughly blurring the boundaries between what even the mainstream scientist considers to be possible or impossible according to "nature".
Yes, yes, yes... NO! I was really hopeful for d20 Future before it came out, and was very disappointed when it finally did. My group did one session of it, and it was ... broken. The GM allowed everything in the book, which was part of the problem.
We had mutants, aliens, giant robots, mecha, spaceships (the last two do not belong in the same setting at all!), and of course, horribly overpowered gadgets. Unlike d20 Modern, Wealth is a balance tool in d20 Future. These gadgets are basically magic items, but with fewer balancing tools. You are literally better off designing new ones from scratch. One type of mutations (the ones that aren't bought with feats) were "balanced" by making lots of Constitution skill checks. Not only is this not balanced, but no DM is going to roll 20 Fortitude saves for an NPC before building them. Many (such as the one that gives you Fast Healing 3) were just plain broken for PC or long-term allied NPC use.
I don't have the time to go through everything that was wrong with d20 Future equipment. I can only suggest starting from scratch, or, at the very least, saying these three items are fine.
On that note... guns. What will you do with them? Will you be supporting the gunslinger class? What about bullet-resistant armor? Or will guns generally be used (as main weapons) by fighters and rangers instead?
If the d20 Future gear was never really that well-thought-out, then I'll have to be careful what I include or leave out. The technology is a major source of the flavor of a sci-fi universe, after all, so one has to be careful.
I had been thinking about how to do Armor that is not just a bonus to AC, but do a two-part system of adding both AC bonuses and some DR. There would have to be some way to stop a person with significant DR from being totally impervious to a bunch of light weapons or thrown projectiles.
I also had some ideas for making area effects (such as thrown explosives) easier to survive. An area attack must overcome both a victim's Reflex save and their Armor Class in order to inflict full damage, and half the dice damage is tied to each. So if an area attack overcomes a victim's AC but not their Reflex save DC, or if it beats the Reflex saving throw but not the AC, the victim takes 50% damage. If the victim beats both, he takes no damage. A character with the Evasion class feature automatically avoids the "AC half" of the damage as long as they beat the Reflex save DC too. A character with Improved Evasion avoids the AC portion of the damage all the time.
I hadn't thought about gunslingers specifically but I suppose they'd be included too. Any class that doesn't have spellcasting at all and never has a caster level should be considered. Fighters, rogues, berserkers (barbarians), monks, gunslingers, cavaliers, samurai, ninja*... ironically the Samurai class could fit a cyberpunkish campaign much better than a true fantasy setting set in the Inner Sea.
*Ninja also have ki, so I suppose they count as psi-actives too.
It will be harder to find a niche for the Paladin and the Bard in a modern day setting....religious zealotry is not a popular thing these days, and most professional "bards" nowadays are authors trying to get published online, or doing the stand-up comedy circuit, or trying to find work in Hollywood. Not exactly the adventuring type unless you count the stand-up comedy part.
All of these are cool ideas, but note that some monsters are just not going to be balanced in this new system. In effect, you need a list of what's acceptable, as well as what needs to be changed for "magical" monsters. Obviously damage reduction, insubstantial, petrification...
Absolutely the stated CRs will not apply when all of the normal assumptions do not apply. I expect XP awards and accompanying treasure to be completely improvisational.
I can't imagine anyone would, unless they've got some really neat skill bonuses. And even then, it might not be a good idea to let PCs use such inadequate classes.
Pathfinder and other D&D-like games have the three pillars: combat, exploration, and interaction. I don't think it's a good idea to let a PC play a class that doesn't support all three pillars. A White Collar 3 computer hacker is the kind of PC that supports one or maybe two pillars. They can't take part in combat at all, at least not unless the GM is nice enough to have programmable turrets in every battle.
As NPC classes, those are fine. I don't think they should ever be available for PC use. Players can make mistakes if you give them poor options like that.
Agreed. NPC classes exist to give the stats that power your PCs something to interact with so that positive or negative outcomes of die rolls will seem believable and consistent. Beyond this ,they don't need to be able to compete with PCs for problem solving or survivability.
This is a ton of work. In fact, it's so much work it shouldn't be called Pathfinder Future (or something like that). I would say it's probably easier to use d20 Star Wars as a base, just dropping the Jedi stuff, but I don't think that's legal
Anyone familiar with Pathfinder could learn such a system quickly. D20 Modern/Future has its own issues with players not wanting to pick them up.
Since d20 Star Wars is probably off the table, I would really recommend starting from scratch. Use the PSRD, but make new classes that suit this setting, and new monsters for the setting, plus items (tech and alchemical) just for the setting.
Well, I don't have a big issue with inventing new equipment. It will make the campaign setting more unique, anyway.
