Age of Imperialism d20

[The Shaman]

A fascinating period in history which imho is absolutely ripe with gaming opportunities

I agree.

A couple of months ago I started working on a d20 Modern/Past campaign called Africa Incognita, in which the heroes would be explorers probing the mythic Dark Continent of H. Rider Haggard, C.J. Cutliffe Hyne, P.C. Wren, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Conrad. I sketched out about fifteen or sixteen new advanced classes, a few prestige classes, some fantastic creatures, and so on.

I put it on the back-burner in order to start another Modern campaign (Wing and Sword counter-incurgency in Algeria c. 1956 - see the link in my signature) and research a third (Long Haul, truckers in Siberia c. 2016 - coming in a month or two, I think). While reading background on Central Asia for Long Haul, I decided that Africa Incognita could be expanded to include Asia - China and the Forbidden City, Khyber Pass and Afghanistan, India and the Mutiny, Krakatoa and Abraham Merritt's The Moon Pool,and so on - and the Americas - the American Wild West, the search for the Northwest Passage, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World of South America, &c. - making it a broader, more-inclusive game of imperial adventure and intrigue across the globe.

That's where all of my notes sit at present. I plan to pick them up again after Long Haul is in progress, which will probably be around the same time that d20 Past is released. If d20 Past doesn't provide what I'm looking for to run the game I want to run, then I'll finish my own AdCs, PrCs, and so on.

As I said, I agree with Tonguez - a great opportunity for gaming.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

I love this period

Yeah, there are tons and tons of adventure opportunities.

For other inspirational nonfiction, I'd suggest anything by Peter Hopkirk especially 'The Great Game'. Sven Hedin's 'My Life as an Explorer' is also great. And it's a primary source!

Ken

 

[Aethelstan]

Just to narrow things down a bit, my campaign will draw heavily from the mid/late 19th century British Empire (tech level, geo-politics and flavor). Watching "Zulu" and "The Man who would be King" (both on the same day) got me thinking about all the great RPG possibilies of this era. Has any company (d20 or other) ever done anything relavent?

An couple issues I'm wrestling with:

-Campaign will be low magic but d20 casters seemed gear toward high-magic games.
Any thoughts on making fun, playable but low magic casters?

-d20 does not accurately simulate how firearms rendered body armor (medieval, that is) virtually useless. I considering giving firearms an "armor negation" rating.

-For reasons of flavor, there will be no clerics or other magical healers. How do I keep PCs from dropping like flies or having to rest a week after every fight?

Thanks

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

firearms

Yeah, I'd make changes...firearms are pretty wimpy in D&D.

Off the top of my head, I would probably make it easier to hit with firearms by giving them an 'armor negation' factor -- IE, maybe a pistol negates 4 points of armor bonus, while an elephant gun negates 12 points of armor bonus.

I'd also give them a big crit multiplier, say X4.

Those two things would make firearms fearsome (which they were, historically).

Ken

 

[David Howery]

so, is your newly discovered continent the counterpart of the Americas? If so, you might check out Maztica (2E instead of D20, but some good ideas in it). Or, is it more like Africa? If that, find a copy of Nyambe (D20 pseudo-Africa setting). If it's more like India/central Asia... I dunno...

 

[The_lurkeR]

Just to narrow things down a bit, my campaign will draw heavily from the mid/late 19th century British Empire (tech level, geo-politics and flavor). Watching "Zulu" and "The Man who would be King" (both on the same day) got me thinking about all the great RPG possibilies of this era. Has any company (d20 or other) ever done anything relavent?

An couple issues I'm wrestling with:

-Campaign will be low magic but d20 casters seemed gear toward high-magic games.
Any thoughts on making fun, playable but low magic casters?

-d20 does not accurately simulate how firearms rendered body armor (medieval, that is) virtually useless. I considering giving firearms an "armor negation" rating.

-For reasons of flavor, there will be no clerics or other magical healers. How do I keep PCs from dropping like flies or having to rest a week after every fight?

Thanks

Interesting campaign idea ... it's just calling for some Call of Cthulhu in my mind. You could use the ritual magics of that system?

For the firearms, you could either up the damage, or go with the armor piercing/negation method you mentioned.

As for the healing, you could go with the Vitality / Wounds system from Unearthed Arcana. You could also use the 'Treat Injury' and 'Surgery' skills from the D20 modern SRD to allow people to be patched up after fights.

 

[mmadsen]

Yeah, I'd make changes...firearms are pretty wimpy in D&D.

Especially since this is a genre full of elephant guns...that can kill elephants.

 

[Aethelstan]

Has anyone heard of / used a d20 system that factors in the armor penetrating power of modern firearms?

Also I looking for some good continent-sized maps available on the net. Any ideas?