As a DM how do you combine Sci Fi and Fantasy?

[Voadam]

Hey guys
so i have a setting im putting together for a game, which is half scifi half fantasy. Think privateers/mercs/smugglers in their ship crashing onto a somewhat traditional fantasy style planet.

I guess im wondering how people suggest handling it in terms of rules. Like having some equipment salvageable from the ship, they grab what energy weapons, comm units etc they can and venture out into a world of medium magic users and swords/dragons etc.

Im wondering what systems out there could work for this, ie the laser pistol totting merc goes up against a sorceror.

Id like to use 4e if it would work since ive heard its a nice simple system, but would 3e or d20 modern be better suited?

Also just wondering if anyones tried it out before and run into any issues i should check out?

thanks for the help guys

In 4e you could have the smuggler pirates be pistol totin rangers (I'm not sure how well rogues do ranged stuff in 4e). Ranged striker role seems fine, high damage but crumple when in melee with brutes.

There are two 4e things that provide gun rules that I've seen advertised, both 3pp things. Scarrport which has a steampunk and guns seedy trade port city setting, a $9 pdf.

Also there is Amethyst by Dias Ex Machina Games and which will be published by Goodman Games. They put out a 3.5 setting/mechanics book of high tech and high magic clash and have been working to update it to 4e.

In 3e there is Dragonstar from FFG which had D&D in space rules, including a galaxy empire that was both high tech and high magic and had elements of integration of the two (digital spellbooks, cyber-spellware, etc.)

There was the above mentioned Amethyst.

There was a bunch of d20 modern and future stuff that can be slotted directly into 3e D&D if you want ray guns designed specifically to fit with 3e. Check out 1001 Sci-Fi Weapons for example.

Also a ton of sci-fi settings were adapted to d20. See Trinity d20 or Fading Suns d20 for examples. Also Star Wars, Babylon 5, Stargate, Wars, Farscape, Starship Troopers, etc. Some go a little different using vitality and wounds instead of hp but most are basically 3e.

 

[Festivus]

I thought the flow charts in Expedition to Barrier Peaks was a fun way for them to discover how to use the items (or have them break). In terms of balance, I used magic items that already existed and reskinned them as scifi. I did this in Age of Worms campaign as a little tribute to Gary Gygax when he passed away.

 

[Raven Crowking]

It is my intention to include a "Planetary Romance" appendix in RCFG, which would help to deal with this sort of thing.

Using 4e, you might want to create a new power source (Science?) and create classes based around that. Using 3e, get a copy of Gamma World d20, mix, and voila! Instant coolness.

Either way, have fun with it!


RC

 

[Andor]

Id like to use 4e if it would work since ive heard its a nice simple system, but would 3e or d20 modern be better suited?

4e is sort of a nice simple system from a GM prep standpoint, but I think that beni goes away if you have to design an entire tech base and some tech oriented classes for it.

I'd suggest that using a system that already covers everything you want to do is a lot less work.

d20 modern, future tech, etc is one good option.

A generic game like Gurps, Hero, Savage Worlds or BESM might work for you.

Or there have been plenty of games that had both tech and magic in the base book. The Palladium system. Manhunter. Shadowrun.

Any of the Star Wars games might work if you substitute "Wizard" for "Jedi".

Good Luck!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have to mention Dragonstar by Fantasy Flight Games. its pretty old now, it was for 3.0, but it featured a galactic empire run by dragons using high-tech and DnD rules. Very cool setting.

Gah- I can't believe I forgot to mention that one!

FWIW, another D20 sci-fant setting is Dragonmech.

 

[Voadam]

Gah- I can't believe I forgot to mention that one!

FWIW, another D20 sci-fant setting is Dragonmech.

I forget, does Dragonmech steam tech cover guns or just mech tech?

 

[Mallus]

I think the most important thing to remember in this kind of scenario is the technology needs to lead to interesting gaming challenges. For instance, weapons with limited and irreplaceable ammunition are boring (and once it's gone you're back to a standard fantasy campaign)

Better to have energy weapons that recharge in sunlight (eventually), or slug-throwers with ammunition that can be made locally, albeit only by the King's own smith, or the elves with their knowledge of star-metals, etc. Ditto for the non-violent tech. It should confer a significant advantage, but using/maintaining it should take thought and work, and lead to all sorts of challenges/adventure hooks.

And personally, it should be better a little better than the local variety of wahoo (ie magic). If there's nothing special about the PC's tech, why include it? It'll just be abandoned in favor of more effective tools.

re: using 4e... it work pretty easy to mock-up a wide variety of SF items. Gravity weapons do damage + push/pull/slide. Stunners produce daze/stun effects. Lasers/modern guns do a lot of damage and have long range, possibly ongoing damage. As for non-violent tech... nothing beats a combination of skill bonuses and pure hand-waving --either "the scanner adds +10 to Notice" or "it does this".

 

[hexgrid]

d20 modern, future tech, etc is one good option.

This is how I'd do it. d20 Modern/Future characters could be dropped into a D&D 3e world with almost perfect mechanical compatibility.

The PCs would be completely out of whack with regard to challenge rating, but that's to be expected.

 

[brewdus]

Mutants and masterminds is a very versatile system. You could set the power level to 6 or lower, and use the warriors and warlocks book for the fantasy options.

 

[Herobizkit]

I love crossover Sci-Fi/Fantasy so much that I simply can't DM without at least a little crossover seasoning to taste.

If anything, I would not base an entire campaign around the "fish out of water" concept. Nothing irks me more as a player than to make a modern character only to have him stuck in a low-tech setting. The suggestion of having the sentient computer adapt to the environs and provide PC's with scaling tech as it goes is a very good one.

Two TV series in particular addresses this concept extremely well: Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis. In the former, modern-day marines find and maintain a portal which can open to all sorts of worlds, very few of which are superior to current Earth technology. The latter show deals with a different team of marines and scientists deposited into an ultra-high tech facility in the middle of a massive ocean with no idea how it works and (at first) no way to return home.

Another fantastic idea comes from Beast Wars, an alternate Transformers CG cartoon. Two teams of robots crash land on a planet that contains a massive source of energy in pure, crystalline form (picture large, glowing, purple quartz deposits like you might see on a geode). The crystals produces radiation so intense that prolonged exposure forces the robots (and other machines) into "stasis lock" (a coma-like state). What's more, the crystals are quite volatile; any major bump will set them off like nitro. This concept could carry over to the PCs as they try to discover how to make use of the energy to power their devices while finding areas devoid of the crystals to set up base camp.

Mecha can even work in said setting. Check out the anime series Escaflowne for a good example. There was also a really good book here on EnWorld that offered suggestions of different types of fantastic mecha engines and energy sources... ah, found it -- Steam & Steel: A Guide to Fantasy Steamworks.