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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 2726570" data-attributes="member: 26473">Of course the GM decides on what's in and what's out, and one of the great strengths of d20 Modern is that magic is not integral to the basic character classes, but rather an optional element for inclusion at the GM's discretion.The strong emphasis on FX games doesn't detract from my games directly, since I either don't use it or houserule it to fit, but I do look at the page count devoted to FX classes, spells/powers, and campaigns and wonder, "Gee, would it kill them to include one no-FX campaign model?" I think the sample campaigns, for the most part, offer a good starting-point for younger or inexperienced GMs, and a no-FX campaign model would be a good way to introduce these gamers to the ways in which Modern can be played differently than "Dungeons and Dragons with guns."I disagree with the notion that no-FX games are limited to cops-and-robbers or special commandos. First, "cops-and-robbers" doesn't mean that everyone has to play cops - in our game, The Streets of Seattle, two of the four characters were police officers, one was an investigative reporter, and another was a Hollywood action-movie star with a cop fetish (a particularly inspired character, I thought!).There's also the organized crime game, such as an adaptation of GTA Vice City, or Tony DiGerolamo's d20 Complete Mafia game book.Second, what about games based on movies like National Treasure or Sahara, which I think would make an awesome no-FX "Treasure Hunters!" campaign model? For that matter, take out the last ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and you have a no-FX "Treasure Hunters!" game as well.How about espionage? Could you run a fun no-FX game involving corporate spies stealing trade secrets and fending off rival company agents?I really take exception to the idea that historical games require some sort of FX to be appealing. The idea that the only way to run a swashbucking game is in the style of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl floors me - have you never read (or seen the movies of) Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, Rafael Sabatini's The Sea-Hawk or Scaramouche, or even Robert E. Howard's Black Vulmea's Vengeance? I've been working on a game based on the Zorro stories, again with no-FX - is it really inconceivable to imagine such a game without an abruja Dedicated 3/Shaman 4?Please let me be clear on something: I don't mean to impugn anyone's taste in games. I'm not "against FX in Modern" - as noted two of the five Modern games that I've run so far have included FX elements. What I'm asking for is, if not equal time, then at least a more noticeable nod in the direction of no-FX campaign models by WotC, and slightlyfewer pages devoted to "D&D Modern," of providing more material for the gamer not concerned about making sure that all of the Dungeons and Dragons character archetypes have Modern analogs.I really don't think that's asking for too much.</blockquote>

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