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

[Corinnguard]

What are these "contemporary 5e clones"?

If we were going by the definition of the word contemporary (living or occurring at the same time), a contemporary clone of 5e would be something like Tales of the Valiant (Kobold Press) and Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (EN Publishing). Both RPGs use the 5e chassis, but it might better to say that they are 5e-adjacent because both also contain material not found in the 5e PHB or DMG.

 

[WhammeWhamme]

If we were going by the definition of the word contemporary (living or occurring at the same time), a contemporary clone of 5e would be something like Tales of the Valiant (Kobold Press) and Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (EN Publishing). Both RPGs use the 5e chassis, but it might better to say that they are 5e-adjacent because both also contain material not found in the 5e PHB or DMG.

In the sentence "I mean, there already contemporary 5e clones, and futuristic 5e clones" I was assuming "contemporary" meant "set in the present day".

 

[Corinnguard]

In the sentence "I mean, there already contemporary 5e clones, and futuristic 5e clones" I was assuming "contemporary" meant "set in the present day".

The last time WoTC tried to create an RPG in the present day was back during 3e with d20 Modern and Urban Arcana. It has not recreated either one for 5e

As for 3pp, I don't know if any of them have tried for a contemporary fantasy for 5e.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

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.)

"Everyday Heroes"

"Ultramodern 5"

"Entromancy"

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Everyday Heroes?

 

[WhammeWhamme]

Thanks guys!

 

[CreamCloud0]

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

while i love myself an artificer i don't think tying a significant thematic interaction with a core part of your setting to a single subclass on a single class would be a good idea.

 

[Reynard]

while i love myself an artificer i don't think tying a significant thematic interaction with a core part of your setting to a single subclass on a single class would be a good idea.

Is hacking "a significant thematic interaction" in contemporary or urban fantasy? It isn't Shadowrun. Also, in D&D "significant thematic interactions" are very often gated behind classes.

 

[AlViking]

I would just make hacking a skill or provide a helpful NPC - how often does it really come up? Seems like a role that's not needed for a PC.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Is hacking "a significant thematic interaction" in contemporary or urban fantasy? It isn't Shadowrun. Also, in D&D "significant thematic interactions" are very often gated behind classes.

i mean 'significant thematic interaction' in the sense that if contemporary tech is going to be around then players are going to end up wanting to hack something or other sooner or later, it's basically the lockpicking of the electronic age, and i don't think it would've been a good decision if they'd made it so only thief-subclass rogues ever had the capacity to pick locks.