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

Are there any science fantasy or S&P resources out there for 5E yet?
Primeval Thule has Lovecraftian cosmic horror/monsters in it, and the equipment section includes a raygun. The setting itself is Earth after the fall of Atlantis, so the possibility of lost advanced tech is very real.

The PT 5e Player's Companion also includes a Narrative (which are like Backgrounds, but more robust in their benefits) for a Time Lost Adventurer, basically someone from another time period, our own time, Stone age, whatever you want) that gets stuck in the setting. That could also work for you.

On the dedicated Thule forums here there have been discussions about reformatting magic to a system of feats and other low-magic, Sword & Sorcery type campaign options, which you might also find useful.
 
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There's some modern and futuristic technology in the DMG. Beyond that, I'm not sure what "sword & planet" means. Don't most D&D games take place on a planet?
 


There's some modern and futuristic technology in the DMG. Beyond that, I'm not sure what "sword & planet" means. Don't most D&D games take place on a planet?
Possibly not in the minds of the inhabitants, who may figure the world is solid, unmoving, and the heavens move - nor in their reality, since it is a magical world and just might be flat and carried on the backs of 4 very large elephants.

Sword & Planet is a pulp sci-fi sub-genre, started by ERB's 'A Princess of Mars' c1918. As the name implies, it's tropes include anachronisms in both choice of weapons (people using swords even though ray guns are available) and culture (with empires and kingdoms and city-states more typical of antiquity on an alien world). Could also be called science-fantasy, though actual magic isn't usually part of the equation. Also called 'Planetary Romance.' The (relatively) recent Avatar is arguably an example of the sub-genre, and even Star Wars supposedly lifts elements from it. D&D's Dark Sun setting is supposed to draw on the sub-genre for inspiration, as well.
 

I love sword & planet pulp, and am currently planning a campaign in the genre, albeit using the Fate system (Spirit of the Century is pretty close already) rather than D&D. Each of the nine planets (yes, nine, dammit) has its own race and themes and feel.

Since I'm using a different system, I don't have much advice on D&D rules, but here's a handy random weapon name table. Pick one from column A and one from column B.

[table="width: 500"]
[tr]
[td]1. C-Beam[/td]
[td]1. Blaster[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2. Electro-[/td]
[td]2. Cannon[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3. Energon[/td]
[td]3. Carbine[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4. Graviton[/td]
[td]4. Cutlass[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5. Laser[/td]
[td]5. Disruptor[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6. Magnetic[/td]
[td]6. Hammer[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7. Negatron[/td]
[td]7. Lance[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8. Positron[/td]
[td]8. Pulser[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9. Seismic[/td]
[td]9. Rifle[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10. Sonic[/td]
[td]10. Spear[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11. Thermal[/td]
[td]11. Sword[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12. X-Ray[/td]
[td]12. Whip[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
 

I would avoid using the futuristic weapons in the DMG; they're vastly overpowered, and are meant to be treated as super-rare, almost artifact-level mojo. That seems very different than the ubiquitous blasters of planetary romance. If I were creating stuff for this genre, I'd just reskin crossbows, but have them deal radiant, fire or sonic damage, and make them all simple weapons (yes, even the hand crossbow -- it becomes the blaster pistol, the other two are light and heavy rifles). This produces a game where classes like Cleric and Sorcerer and Rogue will prefer blasters, but Fighters can dish more damage overall with melee weapons. There may also be practical reasons for melee weapons, like they may be quieter, more easily concealed, and not run out of ammo or jam or become "drained of charge" or whatever.

Vehicles! Weird vehicles, like rocket-sleds, jet-packs, and airships, seem like a common part of the genre. I'd definitely include rules for some of those. Wireless communication was a thing, but it's the kind of genre where you might find couriers and messengers to still be used quite heavily (maybe the wireless is short-range and low-quality). Exotic mounts are also cool, like pterodactyls and giant lizards or insects. Matching these crazy conveyances should be terrain that is just as extreme, like sheer cliffs a mile high, or subterranean swamps, or an ocean with a storm that never stops (but the eye of the storm is a peaceful island paradise!). In a way, you can be more creative with that kind of stuff in planetary romance than you can in standard fantasy, because you can use retro-future technology to explain away any difficulties ("What do the people who live on the cliffside eat?" "...Hydroponically grown plants and miniature animals.") Somehow handwaving that stuff as "magic" always rubs me the wrong way, but hand-waving it as corny sci-fi seems ok.
 

If you want rayguns to be weird and mysterious why not treat them as wands? There are different ones with different effects, there is a chance of them running out of charge, and it takes a long time to recharge them even if they didn't run out for good.
 

I am inclined to avoid blasty caster types as a way to stay in genre where wit, grit and brawn tend to lead to victory rather than simply superior firepower. I want blasters to be ubiquitous but not obviously superior, so the best choice is probably reskinning various ranged weapons with "superior" versions working as wands or magic items (extra d6 of fire damage or whatever). And maybe the best way to emulate Earthmen from various eras* is through backgrounds?

*my idea is the scientist/technomancer/whatever who created the gate to summon help did not realize that while his end was anchored in linear time, the Earth-end was simultaneous in all times, so a cavemen was as likely as a knight or a gunfighter.
 

*my idea is the scientist/technomancer/whatever who created the gate to summon help did not realize that while his end was anchored in linear time, the Earth-end was simultaneous in all times, so a cavemen was as likely as a knight or a gunfighter.
How do the caveman, the knight, and the gunfighter not collide and go splat?
 

How do the caveman, the knight, and the gunfighter not collide and go splat?

The off-world end isn't instantaneous, it is linear relative to the time of its creation. So the caveman might appear ten minutes after it was created while the gunslinger 10 years.

In other words: magic.
 

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