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

[Bupp]

D&D should contain a splash of sci-fi. A lot of magic items are really just reskinned technology.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clark

 

[Staffan]

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.

Spelljammer is also awesome. But yeah, it's not sci-fi. It's fantasy in space, which made some of the people writing for it insert sci-fi-ish concepts, but at heart it's very much on the fantasy side. I mean, you have wooden open-decked ships sailing through space and maintaining an air envelope because it's awesome.

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.

To expand on this point, somewhere deep below Glantri there is an ancient crashed spaceship whose fusion engine somehow got connected to the planet's magical field and/or the Sphere of Energy. At least two beings have used this connection to become Immortals (basically gods). The connection between the nuclear power and the magical field is called the Radiance, and wizards using secret techniques can tap into this and create very powerful effects. However, doing so slowly exhausts the engine, and with it the whole magical field.

The Wrath of the Immortals campaign is caused by senior Energy immortals telling Rad (one of the Radiance-created immortals) to knock it off with his Radiance experiments, because they will exhaust their sphere of Power. Rad tells them "Eff you, you're not the boss of me!" which leads to a whole lot of conflict all over the place (because as immortals, they mostly fight by proxy).

 

[Mercule]

Spelljammer is also awesome. But yeah, it's not sci-fi. It's fantasy in space

I believe it falls into the "space opera" genre, which also includes Star Wars. Really, Star Wars is just fantasy with sci-fi window dressing, if you think about it. They explain almost none of the tech -- and fail when they try (midiclorians). It may as well be magic. Flash Gordon is in there, too.

I don't mind space operas. I also don't mind a lot of the specific implementations of "future-magic". I mind it, though, when it feels tacked on. I've rarely, if ever, seen it done well in a game, so I tend to avoid it. I think it's the nature of the medium.

 

[psiconauta_retro]

you rock!

WOW, thanks to everyone, so many sources, so much to read and so little time:

Barrier Peaks
Dark Magic
Tale of the Comet
Eberron
Iron Gods
Chaositech
Wrath of the Immortals
Iron Kingdom
Zeitgeist
Dragonstar

Without having read any of them the one that appeals to me the most right now is Tale of the Comet, and the one that sounds the least attractive is Dragonstar (for some reason I feel that dragons in space is way too much, it is over the top, its a clash of fantasy & sci-fi that I cant bear, but on the other hand a group of technocrat draconians from outer space would make a lot of sense to me, don't ask me why).

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Another of the old D&D modules, CM4: Earthshaker, features a gigantic (and I mean, ridiculously gigantic... like 1200 feet tall or some such) robot.

As already stated, the whole of the Known World/Mystara setting, and it's companion Hollow World features a lot of "sci-fi" elements (I put it in quotes because to me there is no difference between fantasy and science fiction beyond how you choose to explain the unreal elements) sprinkled here and there throughout.

 

[CaptainGemini]

If you want to build your own module with a mixture of sci-fi, just take a look at the DMG. It includes laser weaponry and a write-up on how to do alien technology.

 

[Space Jockey]

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.

Wait, what? What sneak peek are you talking about?

 

[psiconauta_retro]

This one:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...Oh-My!-Chris-Perkins-New-Adventure-Sneak-Peek