For those DMing d20 Modern: How different do your players act than in "normal" D&D?

[VirgilCaine]

For one, incarceration is much easier in modern times than it is in fantasy worlds. Teleportation, mind-control, and illusions are pretty hard to come by in our world, but they're low-level spells in D&D. It's a lot harder to contain criminals when they can use magic to bypass walls and guards. When it becomes possible to send the Big Bad to prison forever, you no longer feel such a need to kill him.
Also, the Western/American modern legal system tends to err on the side of caution when it comes to punishment. In the old days (heck, even in the old west), you'd be a hero if you shot a bank robber. Nowadays, you'll probably go to prison (or be executed) yourself. Having those consequences looming overhead probably sways a lot of players from being overly trigger-happy.

Just my $.02

Spider

I have to disagree.
With the legal system the way it is, actual criminals are more likely to be released on parole and people who have drug charges kept in.
So the "Big Bad" isn't in prison forever, unless he did some VERY bad things and the PCs have some really tight proof.

As for shooting bank robbers, if you are carrying concealed legally in a bank (which might be impossible, because either the local regs or the bank has a sign up) and you stop a bank robbery--which is a felony, IIRC, and you would be within your rights in at least some states to attempt a citizens arrest.

Now, given, you would probably face some heat for shooting a bank robber, but if you warned the person, and he was obviously armed (no fingers in jacket pockets) and you were carrying legally otherwise, you would be in fear for your life and it would be a clean shoot.

I'll have to find some sources for this...

 

[takyris]

I have to disagree.
With the legal system the way it is, actual criminals are more likely to be released on parole and people who have drug charges kept in.

That's why your characters need to carry small bags of marijuana with them, so that they can plant them on the bodies of captured bad guys. "Okay, so that's assault, battery, resisting arrest, AND HEY, several ounces of the Devil's Weed! All that other stuff was like 8 months, tops, but that's 10 years, mandatory!"

So the "Big Bad" isn't in prison forever, unless he did some VERY bad things and the PCs have some really tight proof.

Well, there's reality, and there's reality. I'd be inclined to go with "rich white guys can always get charges reduced" as a rule of thumb. The big bad guy might spend two months in a minimum-security prison for illegal weapons charges, the only stuff that actually sticks with him despite everything that might have happened in the adventure.

So yes. Agree.

As for shooting bank robbers, if you are carrying concealed legally in a bank (which might be impossible, because either the local regs or the bank has a sign up) and you stop a bank robbery--which is a felony, IIRC, and you would be within your rights in at least some states to attempt a citizens arrest.

However, a Rich White Guy (according to movie rules, not any real-life political rules) can still make your life miserable.

1) The "bank robber" was a mentally distressed man with a wife and children, and the PCs killed him when that level of force was not necessary.
2) In the shooting, bystanders were injured, and the BBEG is funding group charges against the PCs for inciting violence when the bank robber hadn't fired yet.
3) The PCs are charged with carrying weapons illegally, as noted by others.
4) The PCs are charged with endangering children, since there were children nearby when they started shooting.

I'm not saying that I believe this would happen in real life, although I believe that each of these legal countermeasures have been used individually by defendants. This is in no way related to real-life politics.

But in the movies, when the heroes take out the bad guy's henchman, the rich white old bad guy can always put some kind of legal hurt on the PCs. Those are just the "sort of legal" methods. In movie-methods, the bad guy can make the henchman's gun disappear from evidence and have it replaced with a squirt gun or cap gun (if the bad guy got a chance to shoot) painted black, and then claim that, as gun afficianados themselves, the PCs would obviously have known that the gun was fake and chose to fire anyway. The villain can even pay the medical bills of an injured witness, provided said witness comes forward and says, "Yes, it was clearly a fake gun, I was there nearby, and when he fired, it sounded no louder than a starter's pistol, but those maniacs just started shooting..."

 

[Asmor]

It means if anything, selfish, self serving and unpredictable. It means you will work together with a group for survival!!

I've always viewed selfishness as the quintessential evil trait. Evil characters are in it for themselves. I view the good/evil axis as selfishness vs selflessness. Chaotic on the other hand to me means more of a loner attitude and general disinterest or even disdain of organization and tradition. Slitting a throat for revenge is very much a chaotic or even neutral evil thing to do. A chaotic neutral I think would only do such if the sleights were especially personal, but would be more likely to simply leave the group.

Just my $0.02

 

[slingbld]

I would love to see your notes on that... I'm about to start a Spycraft/Dark Matter game.
--sam

I actualy am taking most of the ideals jonrog1 titled:
DarkMatter D20: Drunk Southern Girls with Guns, Zombie Toddlers ...

here's the link:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4912

This guy is creative & twisted

 

[Von Ether]

You know in some ways, games like Urban Arcana are more old school than some of the stuff out there:

Old School GM : "Okay, you defeated the beholder, now in the next room is a medusa!"
Old School Player : "Ha! I knew polishing my silver shield would come in handy some day! Wow! This is just like the Greek myths!"
O.S. GM : "uh, yeah, right."

Old School GM : "Okay, you defeated the beholder, now in the next room is a medusa!"
New School Player : "What? Why didn't these next door neighbors kill each other?!? According their motivations and ecology, this set up has no realism at all!!!"
O.S. GM : "uh, yeah, right."

Urban Arcana GM : "Okay, you defeated the beholder mafia boss, and now in the next room a medusa meth dealer!"
Urban Arcana Player : "Hmm, I bet they both got discounts on their rent. It must mean their landlord is a Shadow critter too. He's next on our list!"
GM : "uh, yeah, you are completely right! Saw right through me there!" *Starts scribbling quick notes about the landlord for next week's game.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I killed a Palladin in one game because his holy-er than thou attitude got the group in trouble more than once. I slit his throat in his sleep, he insisted on sleeping away from the group, next to the horses.

Killing a companion in cold blood in his sleep? CE in my book, all the way. All the way.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Killing a companion in cold blood in his sleep? CE in my book, all the way. All the way.

Yea, same here. I've been dealing with somebody playing a CN character in my Sunday D&D game. We kept clashing over the evil acts he wanted to do, classifying them as "personally selfish, suspicious, but not evil". Eventually we just retired the character for the sake of game/player/DM balance and enjoyment.

--fje