[D20 Past] The 1800's.

[TheAuldGrump]

Technologically, 1860 has a lot more in common with the twentieth century than it does with the 19th.

*Cough* 1860 was the 19th century. Most of the infrastructure was being built well before 1840, let alone 1860. The Industrial Revolution had already given way to the Industrial Age.

What you may mean is people's image of the 19th century... which is largely wrong.

The Auld Grump

 

[The_Universe]

*Cough* 1860 was the 19th century. Most of the infrastructure was being built well before 1840, let alone 1860. The Industrial Revolution had already given way to the Industrial Age.

What you may mean is people's image of the 19th century... which is largely wrong.

The Auld Grump

Right - but it began to become available to the general population in 1860, as prices dropped, etc. Though many of the technologies had been around for quite some time, they didn't enter general use until a spate of wars across the world made their use more desirable (in the case of North America, the American Civil War).

But yes - what I was generally referring to was the "image" of the time period, since obviously the time period does have a set meaning. However, just like the common conception of "the '80's" is an amalgamation of stuff from about 1984-1994, so too can the image of the "19th Century" and the "20th Century" fail to reflect all that they actually were.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Does D20 Past look like a good ruleset for Masque of the Red Death campaign?

 

[qstor]

Does D20 Past look like a good ruleset for Masque of the Red Death campaign?

I think its a good start but IMO you'll need Urban Arcana and the Menace Manual for more monsters and magic rules and the old boxed set for more background.

A lot of people on the boards recommend the Psyhic (sp?) Handbook by Green Ronin. I don't own it, but if you're just using the WOTC material for d20 modern then Urban Arcana has a mystic PrC that should work.

Mike

 

[The_Universe]

Does D20 Past look like a good ruleset for Masque of the Red Death campaign?

Yeah, but I wouldn't use it alone, as others have mentioned. I'd add Sidewinder: Recoiled for some of the more mundane options of the time period, along with Urban Arcana and the Menace Manual.

If you want to depart from standard D&D style magic a little bit, I'd use Grim Tales. It's worked for me, so far, and thought I'm not running Masque, it's in a contemporary time period.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I think its a good start but IMO you'll need Urban Arcana and the Menace Manual for more monsters and magic rules and the old boxed set for more background.

I do have Urban Arcan and the MotRD D20 system take on it done by Sword Sorcery. Just hopw ncessary do you think the Menace Manual is? Being that I have the MM and Lords of Madness, wouldn't that be enough?

 

[Gomez]

How hard would it to get a group to play in an 1800's time period game? There seems to be a lot of information on the time period that would be required. While the time period really fascinates me and I am a big Victorian age fan it would seem to have a steep learning curve for your players.

 

[Stormborn]

How hard would it to get a group to play in an 1800's time period game? There seems to be a lot of information on the time period that would be required. While the time period really fascinates me and I am a big Victorian age fan it would seem to have a steep learning curve for your players.

That depends on your group. In my group, I am 33 and the youngest. 3 of us have master's degrees, all in geeky stuff like history and library sciences. All well read, 3 of the 4 fans of League of Extrodinary Gentleman (the comics) and all 4 fans of the source material.

The first game I ran for the group was Steampunk.

So with my group no problem at all.

If the group has a passing familiarity with the fiction of the era, and you can give a hand out maybe on prominent events of their life time, I think its no worse than playing Eberron or FR. Easier in someway actually.

 

[Desdichado]

It's surprisingly hard to find a good source for political maps of the late 1800s and early 1900s, though, without picking up historical atlases. Anyone know any good links?

 

[Rafael Ceurdepyr]

It's surprisingly hard to find a good source for political maps of the late 1800s and early 1900s, though, without picking up historical atlases. Anyone know any good links?

A good place to start is the Perry-Castaneda Map Collection

There's also an 1895 Atlas . Scroll down to the bottom for the menu of states. Large scans.

That oughta be a good start anyhow.

**The Research Monkey**