Arcane Punk

[NotcZombie]

I've only DM'd a few campaigns so far (a total of 3), and all my party members always pick the same boring ass classes (fighter, rogue, cleric, etc.). To combat this, I have an idea for a Steam Punk campaign, but magic instead if steam. The goal is to get them to get out of their comfort zone, pick classes they would not normally pick, and create more unique characters. Some of the ideas I have are; rearranging skills (Ex. Thievery for picking locks would instead be an Arcane check), modifying some weapons and/or abilities to fit the universe.

I realize that some of this will be homebrew, but I don't want it to be so homebrew that it's stupid and becomes animu faggotry.

Any tips, suggestions, or criticism would be helpful and appreciated.

 

[Celebrim]

I doubt it will work. Probably you'll just end up with a fighter, rogue, cleric, etc. in an Arcane Punk setting.

The way this is usually done is to select a subset of classes you actually want to appear - Investigator, Occultist, Gunslinger, Mechanic, Juggernaut, etc. - as archetypal to the setting and then force them to select between those classes.

I would think that 4e has comparatively little support for stretching the setting outside its default comfort zone. That said, I actually don't know what 4e support materials are out there. My gut instinct though is this would work better with a different system - maybe something like N.E.W/O.L.D/N.O.W where you could easily mix and match setting elements. That would certainly get people out of their comfort zone. But even switching to 3e would allow you almost certainly more realm to buy 3rd party supplements meant to support a Steam Punk type campaign.

 

[Samloyal23]

Switch to 2E and start requiring kits that are designed to fit your setting...

 

[MoutonRustique]

I've only DM'd a few campaigns so far (a total of 3), and all my party members always pick the same boring ass classes (fighter, rogue, cleric, etc.). To combat this, I have an idea for a Steam Punk campaign, but magic instead if steam. The goal is to get them to get out of their comfort zone, pick classes they would not normally pick, and create more unique characters. Some of the ideas I have are; rearranging skills (Ex. Thievery for picking locks would instead be an Arcane check), modifying some weapons and/or abilities to fit the universe.

I realize that some of this will be homebrew, but I don't want it to be so homebrew that it's stupid and becomes animu faggotry.

Any tips, suggestions, or criticism would be helpful and appreciated.

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