Pathfinder 1E [Battlefield Press] Pathfinder Modern Ready for Playtest

[joela]

From the Paizo boards:

Hey, I'm David Schwartz, lead author of BPI's Pathfinder Modern. Jon is man of few words, so I thought I'd fill you in with...

Five Things to Know About BPI's Pathfinder Modern.

1. Our Modern is completely compatible with the Pathfinder RPG. We haven't just slapped new grapple rules on a previous Modern system. You'll be able to mix-and-match fantasy and Modern elements without translation.

2. This is not a universal system. It is design to replicate the ensemble action-adventures stories of popular media. Such stories just happen not to be tied to any specific time or place.

3. This is not grim-and-gritty. The game is not set in the real world, but the reality of the action-adventure stories. The characters in such stories regularly defy gravity, survive mortal wounds, and make fireballs using only sulfur and bat guano, and never once do they blame a wizard.

4. On the other hand, characters do not start out as heroes. First level characters are little better than those around them, though some X-factor marks them for greater things. Only through group adventures and their own personal journey do the characters rise above the everyday.

5. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Just as divine and arcane magic are transparent, so is high-tech and fringe science to the existing magic rules. If it can be done with magic mechanically, then it's treated as magic, even if we don't call it that.

If you'd like to get involved, feel free to comment/question here, or visit www.battlefieldpress.com.

Sweet!

 

[Aeson]

Is the biggest and best change Pathfinder made to how grapple is handled? I know it's off topic but it's mentioned in the post. I've seen and heard others use it as a selling point. Sometimes the first one. Just curious.lol

A new modern system could be cool. It's worth checking out.

 

[Skytheen]

Holy crap! That seemed fast. Didn't this just start?

 

[Azgulor]

Unfortunately, #2, #3, & #5 of the designers points put this into the "low probability of liking" category. I'm not saying a Modern RPG has to take the opposing viewpoint, but it should be flexible enough to do so. When I think of Modern RPGing, Modern Fantasy is at the bottom of my list. Sci-fi, action-adventure, pulp adventure, horror, technothriller, espionage, modern combat/warfare, etc. all rate much, much higher on my modern preference scale. YMMV.

Best of luck to them though.

 

[davidschwartznz]

Hi, I'm the quoted David Schwartz...

Is the biggest and best change Pathfinder made to how grapple is handled?

Absolutely not. But it's become the accepted shorthand. I blame WotC's marketing department.

Unfortunately, #2, #3, & #5 of the designers points put this into the "low probability of liking" category. I'm not saying a Modern RPG has to take the opposing viewpoint, but it should be flexible enough to do so. When I think of Modern RPGing, Modern Fantasy is at the bottom of my list. Sci-fi, action-adventure, pulp adventure, horror, technothriller, espionage, modern combat/warfare, etc. all rate much, much higher on my modern preference scale. YMMV

Certain assumptions are built into the d20 system, such as hit points, classes, and levels. I like those things, and I decided I wasn't going to write a Modern game that tries to apologize for those systems. Instead I embraced them. The physics of this system is not that of the real world, but of a Bruce Willis movie.

If you want to play a no magic game (and this is the default assumption), your characters will still get mechanical bonuses and abilities equivalent to magical effects baseline PF assumes. It's a necessity to maintain game balance, but more to the point, it's the nature of the action-adventure genre. Movie heroes don't get shot by mooks, or if they do, they don't get sepsis and die.

So, all going going to plan, you will be able to play many of the genres you mention. But the focus is on creating heroic journeys, not on making gunshot wounds realistic. If you favor the former over the latter, I hope you'll give us a look.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Anyone care to contrast this with Crafty Games' Spycraft 2.0, or at the least Master Craft, for pulling off the professed targeted type of modern adventure stories?

 

[mikelaff]

hey - sorry for thread necromancy.
Any chance of any update?

 

[TreChriron]

I am also interested on the status. And play testing if you're still looking for people.

 

[ffanxii4ever]

I too am interested in the status of this project.

 

[HyrumOWC]

On the Paizo boards Jonathan Thompson said that the project has died.

Hyrum.