D&D 5E 5E for Sword and Planet Adventures

[Reynard]

I am considering making my next 5E convention campaign a sword and planet one a la Burroughs, Brackett and others. Those genres are deep in D&D's roots anyway, even if they have been forgotten by some, and I like mashing up genres (hence the Gamma World Death Machine on my Isle of Dread).

So, to do S&P 5E what do you need? Would you make any human characters natives of Earth and use other races as natives of your Mars or whatever, or would you have the PCs come from a D&D setting? How would you stat up heat guns and bolt throwers and the like so that they work and are fun but don't kill the "sword" part of the genre? Just re-skin crossbows and the like?

Are there any science fantasy or S&P resources out there for 5E yet? I know Pathfinder has the Distant Worlds book. Are there any other PF or 3.x resources good for conversion?

 

[DM_Jeff]

There was a Kickstarter to get Legendary Games' "Legendary Planet" Adventure Path for 5e started, and the first couple of adventures are currently out:

http://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/welcome-to-legendary-planet/

Each adventure also contains unique equipment to the genre, races and the like, with an option of either starting as the regular races and then getting swept up in the adventure and then creating new characters from among the races presented.

There are also rules for Sci-Fi type weapons in the 5e Dungeon Master's Guide, they provide a good starting point..

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I've been thinking about doing the same one day. Really, I think you just need to add the laser rules from the DMG and build the world as you see fit. Some of the older 2e Spelljammer resources might be handy.

I really like Carcosa, for Lamentations of the Flame Princess/OD&D. It's quite a bit darker than most Sword and Planet, but is still quite creative and awesome.

 

[Ath'kethin]

I also vote Spelljammer. I think a lot of people poo-poo it because it isn't all serious and angsty, but for a Sword & Planet type adventure or campaign I think it would work really well.

 

[S'mon]

My Wilderlands game has heavy Sword & Planet influence. I recommend the 3e Wilderlands box set, you can get the pdf on RPGnow. The Player's Guide also worth getting.
For weapons tech, the DMG high tech weapon stats work fine. For high tech slugthrowers you can boost damage & capacity a bit (eg the Giff Arquebus IMC is a high-tech shotgun doing d20 damage). Part of Sword & Planet is that tech firearms are seen alongside medieval weaponry, so both should be viable.

I do allow Earthling as a background option, but players generally prefer to play natives of the
Wilderlands IME (currently only the Giff is non-native). There are a few Earthling NPCs, as well as ones from other worlds (eg Golarion).
I find it's more about the look & feel, eg I have Brian Blessed 'Flash Gordon' Hawkmen, rather than beaked Aarakocra.

 

[Jediking]

For heat guns and the like, I think using cantrips as a baseline is a good idea to prevent them from being overpowered. A heat gun could be Poison Spray that does fire damage, or a Time Dilution Gun is Ray of Frost with force damage. Unless you give them set charges or limited ammunition, but then treat them as the appropriate level wand or staff. Looking at stuff like Ratchet and Clank could help give you ideas.

Play with the natural laws of the world. Maybe one planet every PC is under the effects of Boots of Striding and Springing, or they face small but strong creatures due to the increased gravity. Maybe they get their Water Environmental Tube suits (Cloaks of the Manta Ray) and find a planet that is all water.

Look at Spelljammer (as has been said) and Planescape. The DMG has good tables for wilderness hazards and environment effects. Reading through the Planes and their optional effects could be a baseline for different planets, or different areas.

 

[Reynard]

For heat guns and the like, I think using cantrips as a baseline is a good idea to prevent them from being overpowered. A heat gun could be Poison Spray that does fire damage, or a Time Dilution Gun is Ray of Frost with force damage. Unless you give them set charges or limited ammunition, but then treat them as the appropriate level wand or staff. Looking at stuff like Ratchet and Clank could help give you ideas.

Play with the natural laws of the world. Maybe one planet every PC is under the effects of Boots of Striding and Springing, or they face small but strong creatures due to the increased gravity. Maybe they get their Water Environmental Tube suits (Cloaks of the Manta Ray) and find a planet that is all water.

Look at Spelljammer (as has been said) and Planescape. The DMG has good tables for wilderness hazards and environment effects. Reading through the Planes and their optional effects could be a baseline for different planets, or different areas.

I wasn't really thinking about multiple planets, but I really like the idea of modelling environmental effects as if they were constant spell or item effects. Maybe I will go with multiple moons, each a different environment, orbiting a Super-Earth or gas-giant. I want to keep it D&D in most ways so maybe I will use gates rather than vessels and make sure the tech is on the downslide.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I am considering making my next 5E convention campaign a sword and planet one a la Burroughs, Brackett and others. Those genres are deep in D&D's roots anyway, even if they have been forgotten by some, and I like mashing up genres (hence the Gamma World Death Machine on my Isle of Dread).

Dark Sun is essentially a fantasy take on the S&P sub-genre. So, yeah, sure, why not...

So, to do S&P 5E what do you need? Would you make any human characters natives of Earth and use other races as natives of your Mars or whatever, or would you have the PCs come from a D&D setting?

PCs could come from Earth, from Earth in an historical period - or, if your Barsoom has magic instead of 'sufficiently advanced technology,' from a more conventional D&D world. Re-skinning some races, or giving them new sub-races could work. Orcs could grow an extra pair of arms, elves could be red... it could work.

How would you stat up heat guns and bolt throwers and the like so that they work and are fun but don't kill the "sword" part of the genre? Just re-skin crossbows and the like?

You could look to cantrips. A 'wand' that lets the user cast Fire Bolt as an action, at his character level, could be a 'heat ray,' for instance - and a 'fighter' would still have good reason to use a sword in spite of having such a gun.

Are there any science fantasy or S&P resources out there for 5E yet?

None that I'm aware of.

A big question would be whether/how you re-skin casters, and which of them you bring over. The game needs at least one class analogous to Cleric/Druid/Bard or Paladin and another along the lines of Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlock. The former could be some sort of psionic or hardwired-to-nature native or jedi knight or whatever and the latter re-skinned as a mad scientists, for instance. Or it could just be fantasy world with magic and the usual classes with their usual fluff, but culture/setting/theme more in keeping with S&P.
Then there's the option of the Mystic class...

 

[FXR]

So, to do S&P 5E what do you need? Would you make any human characters natives of Earth and use other races as natives of your Mars or whatever, or would you have the PCs come from a D&D setting? How would you stat up heat guns and bolt throwers and the like so that they work and are fun but don't kill the "sword" part of the genre? Just re-skin crossbows and the like?

In the campaign I'm planning, characters races are amazons, droids, humans, saurians, thri-kreen and zhamoreans (pseudo thielfing/red martians). Except, perhaps some droids, none of the races are native of the Forgotten Planet (lame name, but bear with me), but all characters are since the planet has been inhabited for centuries, so there are no Earthmen à la John Carter.

As far as rayguns go, I use the stats provided by the DM Guide. However, in my campaign world, these guns are artifacts who are cherished by their owners and ammunition is rare and expensive. So, they're not unlike magical items (albeit, low powered ones). You can't buy them in the stores but a crimelord or a noble might have a few which are lent to trusted henchmen or elite soldiers.

 

[Jediking]

I wasn't really thinking about multiple planets, but I really like the idea of modelling environmental effects as if they were constant spell or item effects. Maybe I will go with multiple moons, each a different environment, orbiting a Super-Earth or gas-giant. I want to keep it D&D in most ways so maybe I will use gates rather than vessels and make sure the tech is on the downslide.

Some of the higher CR monsters in the MM have Lair Actions and environmental effects. Even if you ignore the monsters themselves and just use the lairs as a seed for the moons or whatever, that might help describe the type of effects and obstacles the PCs might encounter.