D&D 5E (2024) Building A Contemporary Fantasy Setting For 5.5E

[Corinnguard]

For you perhaps. I accept that D&D is not attempting to be a reality simulator. I wouldn't want that for a game as dependent on combat anyway.

Ditto for Social Interaction and Exploration.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Some times when I see some characters from videogames I wonder how would be the D&D version but shooters could break the balance.

And some players and DMs could create homemade low-level antiballistic magic against gunpowders. For example illusory magic working like smoking grenades or creating ectoplasm within enemies' firearms to block canons and to cause dangerous malfuctions. You can shoot that dwarf who was running toward you but he was only an illusory decoy to trick you while the true dwarf is being teletransported toward you, once you are located thanks the noise of the shot.

My own opinion is adventures would rather magitek ray guns because althought they are more expensive they are safer against possible malfuctions.

 

[GrimCo]

IMHO, D&D set in modern time works best in Secret World type setting where mundane world and supernatural one is separated. Dresden Files is prime example of it and with use of magic fries modern tech, it bypasses most of the problems modern tech brings into fantasy game. It keeps tech level in check.

 

[Azzy]

IMHO, D&D set in modern time works best in Secret World type setting where mundane world and supernatural one is separated. Dresden Files is prime example of it and with use of magic fries modern tech, it bypasses most of the problems modern tech brings into fantasy game. It keeps tech level in check.

I agree and would like to see that.

 

[Scott Christian]

Dresden is pretty neat contemporary fantasy.

 

[Corinnguard]

Ditto for the Allison Beckstorm series.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Problem with guns isn't lethality per se. Sword and arrow can kill you as easily as 5.56mm round. It's ranges. Rules of d&d are centered around melee combat. Longbow has 150 feet/ 50m range without disadvantage. Your run of the mill regular 9mm pistol has 75ft/25m. Regular M4 semi auto with ACOG, you are looking at 900ft/300m range without penalties and 1500ft/500m max effective range. With DMRs, anti material rifles or just plain old bolt action hunting rifles, you go in 500-600m no penalty ranges.

This reminds of Dresden Files and talk between Harry and Kincaid. When Harry asked Kincaid how would he take out wizard, he replied : "How would I kill a wizard? I’d do it from a mile away with a high-powered rifle and a scope. You wouldn't even know I was there. You wouldn't have time to put up a shield. You wouldn't even have time to think about a death curse. By the time the sound of the shot reached you, you'd already be dead"

That's why guns in D&D don't work. D&D is based around close ranges. Even ranged weapons and spells are close range engagements in modern terms ( more like point blank engagements, close range are 100-300m). At 300feet range, you use red dot/reflex sights, not acog.

Also, hacking in reality is much more tied to HUMINT than to glowing green terminals and typing like maniac. In CS, human is usually weakest spot in whole system. Reusing passwords, having them on post its on monitors etc. Your best hacker would be high CHA bard with some charm spells and high deception skill.

Now, all that aside, main question of the setting is, how rare are casters? In world with 4-8 billion people, are casters dime a dozen or are they 0.001% of population. Other is, how hard do you need to study to become one? If becoming lv1 wizard is same as getting say phd, while rare ( about 0.5% of adults), it's still numbers in tens of milions, but it's same as phd, distribution is uneven, access to education is uneven. Just enough that they can make real dent on society. With magic that prevalent, tech development would be very different than it is.

I doubt the point is to make a realistical or gritty contemporary setting.

The only times particulars of guns come up in Dresden Files is when Kincaid is around, basically, otherwise it is kept fairly simple. Likewise, only a firearm specialist in a dnd setting needs to care about any level of granularity past the firearms in the phb.

Hacking also involves a lot of loading prorams onto machines, which is easy enough to describe your hacking check as how well you programmed the executable you are launching.

Or you just do it like it is a movie, because the chances that any player will care how accurate or not it is, is quite low.

I mean, there already contemporary 5e clones, and futuristic 5e clones, that are well regarded.

 

[Corinnguard]

Hacking also involves a lot of loading prorams onto machines, which is easy enough to describe your hacking check as how well you programmed the executable you are launching.

The Voidrunner's Codex for Level Up has rules for hacking tech and hacking maneuvers in either a contemporary or futuristic setting:

Hacking | Level Up

a5e.tools

Hacking Maneuvers | Level Up

a5e.tools

Hackers could be a subclass of the Artificer class in a contemporary fantasy setting.

 

[GrimCo]

I doubt the point is to make a realistical or gritty contemporary setting.

The only times particulars of guns come up in Dresden Files is when Kincaid is around, basically, otherwise it is kept fairly simple. Likewise, only a firearm specialist in a dnd setting needs to care about any level of granularity past the firearms in the phb.

Agree. You don't need to geek out on guns, with calibers, balistic trajectories and penetrations. But just giving modern gun real effective ranges changes game drastically. It shifts from up close and personal skirmish game to tactical firefight games with longer engagement distances, even i urban scenarios.

Hacking also involves a lot of loading prorams onto machines, which is easy enough to describe your hacking check as how well you programmed the executable you are launching.

Or you just do it like it is a movie, because the chances that any player will care how accurate or not it is, is quite low.

I would argue that modeling hacking to real world makes it for more interesting game loop. It adds more to exploration/social pillar which are weaker parts of 5e.

 

[WhammeWhamme]

I doubt the point is to make a realistical or gritty contemporary setting.

The only times particulars of guns come up in Dresden Files is when Kincaid is around, basically, otherwise it is kept fairly simple. Likewise, only a firearm specialist in a dnd setting needs to care about any level of granularity past the firearms in the phb.

Hacking also involves a lot of loading prorams onto machines, which is easy enough to describe your hacking check as how well you programmed the executable you are launching.

Or you just do it like it is a movie, because the chances that any player will care how accurate or not it is, is quite low.

I mean, there already contemporary 5e clones, and futuristic 5e clones, that are well regarded.

What are these "contemporary 5e clones"?

(It's proving kinda hard to google and specifically find, y'know, "D&D-ish in a modern setting" rather than other uses of the relevant keywords, so I swear I'm not just being lazy.)