Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana Takes on Modern Magic

This month's edition of Unearthed Arcana from WotC's Dan Helmick takes on the topic of Modern Magic! Following on from an earlier column about d20 Modern items using 5E rules, this article "presents new rules for expanding the repertoire of spellcasting characters in a modern setting."

"A few months ago, Daniel Helmick described his adaptation for d20 Modern in a Behind the Screens article. He expanded on the rules for using firearms and explosives in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Now, what if we extended the D&D rules to cover a campaign not only touched by, but actually set in a modern era? The newest iteration of D&D features various archetypes, traditions, domains, and other options for the base classes, all of which present opportunities for customization. With that in mind, this article presents new rules for expanding the repertoire of spellcasting characters in a modern setting."

Find it here!

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[Yaarel]

Especially for the modern setting, with modern spiritual traditions, it is necessary to remove gods from D&D.

The Cleric class must be able to function in any kind of setting.

 

[hejtmane]

They did have one back in the day when it was TSR Hobbies called Star Frontiers I still have the books some where it was a flop by the way

 

[MReav]

I'm a little worried about Chained Device. Given that the system prevents any other sort of multiple concentration checks, I'm a little worried that it might create some confusion on the matter. I'm guessing the intent is to have the device take over concentration, so you don't have to worry about losing concentration when you get stabbed or shot (unless the stabbing or shooting attacks the tablet too), but I wish they'd be a bit more clear on the matter.

 

[Yaarel]

There can still be more articles to come.

Bard the rock star, Bard the cantor, Bard the lawyer, Bard the professor, Bard the archivist.

Paladin the cop.

Ranger the marine.

Druid the bioscientist.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I hate to be the one who comes in here just to complain about this month's article, but I'm just really disappointed with it (I've enjoyed most of the UA articles).

While the content itself seems fine, the connection to the previous firearms rules really bugs me because I hated those rules. The reason being that they weren't compatible with the firearms rules in the DMG. They were some sort of poor man's d20 Modern. That's not the same thing as D&D, and really belongs somewhere else on the website, or in a book, whatever. This article doesn't have that incompatibility issue, but it, again, isn't D&D and needs to be in its own thing, not in the D&D content.

But that's not the most disappointing thing. I don't mind them putting out material I'm not personally interested in. What bothers me the most is that there is significant material that was apparently slated for the DMG that didn't make the final cut—and we still haven't seen it. I just don't want any more of this wacky experimental stuff until we get the stuff that some of us have been looking forward to for a year.

Maybe that stuff is all going to come out in the "converting from other editions" material (who knows what that information is actually going to entail) that was held up by jury duty and other things, and which they are (wisely) making sure is properly refined before released.

There are some people who didn't even pick up 5e because the DMG didn't have as much of the kind of content we expected. Then there are those like me who are playing 5e, but frustrated that we don't have the stuff we know they were working on that we really wanted for prior playstyle support.

Yeah, I'm just bitter that I'm still waiting for my AD&D-inspired gestalt multiclassing rules…and waiting…and waiting…and waiting…

At least we got a good start to the psionics playtest last month.

/rant

They did have one back in the day when it was TSR Hobbies called Star Frontiers I
still have the books some where it was a flop by the way

Apparently this is authorized and legal:

http://www.starfrontiers.com/Rules/

 

[Atlatl Jones]

Fascinating stuff. The traditional D&D classes can work, with the addition of modern-day Backgrounds and some new proficiencies.

 

[mykesfree]

The Techno Organic Virus for the Warlock made me giggle. I guess Dan Helmick is a New Mutants fan.

 

[Remathilis]

Hmmm....

I was hoping I could mine this for a potential Masque of the Red Death conversion to 5e, but it went the complete opposite direction; TOO modern and TOO gonzo.

Good for what it is, but I don't think I'll be using it anytime soon.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

This seems like an inverted Shadowrun, cyberpunkisms superimposed on a tolkienesqe setting. Not really what i'm looking for in my modern gaming. *shrug*

 

[Uchawi]

They would need an equivalent modern heroes that greatly expanded on what martial classes could do and maybe they would finally develop a system for maneuvers.