D&D 5E D&D fantasy & sci-fi

[psiconauta_retro]

I have seen that the sneak peak about WotC's new storyline points towards "Expedition to Barrier Peaks" so I looked for information about that module and found that it is fantasy + sci-fi. This has made me wonder about which other modules have there been that crossed over fantasy and sci-fi and I found references to "City of Gods". They both sound interesting but I couldn't find any other modules about D&D's sci-fi. Do you know about other similar-themed modules?

I have heard about Spelljammer but I have never looked into it and I thought that those vessels are powered by magic so it is not a sci-fi campaign but a fantasy campaign with space-theme. Spelljammer is sci-fi or not?

How about other approaches of D&D's residents towards science or science-y subjects? I am thinking about Dragonlance's tinker gnomes developing machines to produce electricity to create lightning bolts or some other mechanical devices (I have been reluctant to take a look at Dragonmech, but maybe I should, do you recommend it?).

 

[Kobold Stew]

The fun of the original Barrier Peaks, for me at least when I played it, was having to discover that sf was there. It was completely unexpected and genre-breaking, and that's why it was unforgettable. Players were in a fantasy mode -- trying to interpret things within the framework of the genre, which made the discovery so unexpected.

This was before the internet, of course, and before previews and message boards. It was also before the wide, wide genre choice available in RPGs, and so it offered a taste of different possibilities.

It was a spectacular module, and it came at a time the effect of which cannot, I suspect, be replicated. [/nostalgia]

 

[Green1]

Spelljammer does not count, in my opinion, either.

They have done DnDish genre breaking stuff before. Have not seen any sci fi, but Dark Magic in New Orleans was set in 1800s New Orleans. It was part of Masque of the Red Death setting in print Dungeon.

I personally would friggin love a Gamma World-ish/ DnD/ Star Wars-y cross type sci fi. But, people seem to be very nichey with genres. I one time tried to DM a cross with an older version of Star Wars D20 and 3E. My players hated it and only wanted one or the other. I had to shelve the idea quickly and go back to DMing what they wanted. It might have been the crew I was hanging with. But, I have a sneaking suspicion A LOT of players and DMs are like that and would not want to. That's why we never saw much like that published.

 

[Herobizkit]

2ed had a box set called Tale of the Comet that fully integrated sci-fi into standard D&D.

3e Eberron is set in a high-magic near-Victorian world with Lightning Rails and Warforged, but the world is more magic AS technology instead of strictly sci-fi.

Pathfinder is doing it right now with their Iron Gods adventure path.

There was an adventure in an older Dungeon magazine (#63) where the players had to deal with auto-gnomes (gnome-sized automatons).

Monte Cook wrote a d20 Swords & Sorcery book entitled "Chaositech" which allowed for sci-fi marvels powered by Chaos energy.

 

[Dausuul]

I have heard about Spelljammer but I have never looked into it and I thought that those vessels are powered by magic so it is not a sci-fi campaign but a fantasy campaign with space-theme. Spelljammer is sci-fi or not?

Spelljammer is an odd duck. It's certainly not traditional science fiction; magic remains the motive force and technology does not go beyond late Renaissance (with the exception of tinker gnomes, who are their own little bubble of steampunk). On the other hand, the space-faring setting and the elaborate physics of phlogiston and crystal spheres could be considered sci-fi, in the sense of "fictional science." Spelljammer is a genre-bender.

The main sci-fi/fantasy mashup setting in D&D is Blackmoor, which began as Dave Arneson's personal campaign setting and became part of the distant past of Mystara, the BD&D core setting. Blackmoor was home to a technologically advanced civilization (based on scavenged tech from the spaceship in "City of the Gods") which eventually destroyed itself in an explosion that shifted the planet's axis. Apparently the "Wrath of the Immortals" adventure touches on this.

 

[Mallus]

D&D-style fantasy has a long tradition of mixing in science fiction. Arduin/Blakmoor, notes on visiting Gamma World and the Metamorphosis Alpha generation starship in the AD&D DMG, Greyhawk gods with pistols who conjure fire extinguishers, M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel/Empire of the Petal Throne, set on an alien planet settled far in future by Earth humans and an array of other star-faring species, and so on.

It's a tradition I like and try to honor in most settings. The Dragonborn in our current homebrew are (were) engineers and technologists; the survivors of a steampunk empire built on the remains of an older, 'sufficiently advanced' culture. The adventure site I'm working on has stealth bombers in it, as 'treasure' (maybe?). I'm hoping the players find them and try to get one, or more, airborne. That should be... interesting.

 

[Ahrimon]

Privateer Press' Iron Kingdom settings has steam powered golems, trains, and fire arms. E.N. World has the Zeitgeist setting which includes steam tech as far as I am aware. There was also the 3e setting of Dragonstar. It was full up DnD in space with futuristic technology from what I've heard.

 

[the Jester]

Oh man, I love splashing sci-fi in my D&D. I do it a lot, using things like radiation, networked clockwork horrors, etc. LURVE IT!!

To answer the question, I believe the old DA modules had sci-fi elements. Blackmoor, Temple of the Frog, maybe some others.

 

[aramis erak]

D&D-style fantasy has a long tradition of mixing in science fiction. Arduin/Blakmoor, notes on visiting Gamma World and the Metamorphosis Alpha generation starship in the AD&D DMG, Greyhawk gods with pistols who conjure fire extinguishers, M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel/Empire of the Petal Throne, set on an alien planet settled far in future by Earth humans and an array of other star-faring species, and so on.

It's a tradition I like and try to honor in most settings. The Dragonborn in our current homebrew are (were) engineers and technologists; the survivors of a steampunk empire built on the remains of an older, 'sufficiently advanced' culture. The adventure site I'm working on has stealth bombers in it, as 'treasure' (maybe?). I'm hoping the players find them and try to get one, or more, airborne. That should be... interesting.

Gygax at several points has indicated Jack Vance as the strongest influence, and especially his Dying Earth novels, but also a strong smorgasbord of pulp fantasy/sci-fi. Vance's Dying Earth has a quirky mix of magic dominant and tech (sometimes surprisingly high tech) as a not infrequent counterpoint.

The Barsoom novels of Burroughs are tech dominant, but magic still existing on Mars...

One of the Conan novels by RE Howard includes some obviously technical elements, while others include definite magic.

The whole separation of fantasy and sci-fi wasn't in many of the major influences; it wasn't in many of the pulps, and still isn't separate in the Marvel and DC comics universes. Therefore, one shouldn't be surprised that Gygax and Arneson both incorporated both into their settings.

 

[Mallus]

The whole separation of fantasy and sci-fi wasn't in many of the major influences; it wasn't in many of the pulps, and still isn't separate in the Marvel and DC comics universes.

It's not in more contemporary works like Terry Brook's Shannara Chronicles, either, which first came out in the early D&D era. They're all set in post nuclear apocalypse Earth. Or in Fred Saberhagen's great Empire of the East. Or in Moorcock's Hawkmoon saga. Or in Julian May's "Saga of the Pliocene Exile", which is (nominally) science fiction as multi-volume fantasy epic.

I've always felt the separation of fantasy and science fiction was grossly overstated (with regard to D&D or otherwise).