How would you do Clerics in the Modern Day?

[skymage]

why on earth

Why is it that all modern d&d games have to take place on earth. Why can't you have forgotten realms with modern day technology. With gods intact everything is the same. Except that gnomes have built cars. Maybe you can add in some new skills like computer and science. Maybe new classes like doctor that are for those ever expanding dead magic zones. How much damage does a nuke do. What effect would radiation have on psions. I don't see why all modern games have to take place on the real earth or a planet very similar to it. I like the idea of having an underground new york type drow city. Or dragons being hunted down with ground to air missiles. Can you imagine what modern science could do if magic was real. It's just the way I look at it.

I can understand the why would any one be a doctor when the local cleric can just cast cure light wounds or why learn to build a plane when the local mage can teleport you, but I like my magic and I don't see why everyone always thinks it has to change or become scarce just because science has learned how gunpowder works and why we die when we get old.

Thats just the way I look at it. After all aren't the people in all the books I read smart enough to figure out the same things we have in reality or are all wizards doomed to be slain by a sword.

 

[Crothian]

That's an option, but I find it easier to use a modern day version of Earth.

 

[DreamChaser]

I guess the most critical question before I can answer this is what type of modern game are you talking about?

1) Is it a world where magic/gods/psionics/etc have always existed and it is now a modern age (such as modern FR mentioned above)?

2) Is it a world that is just like our modern world but there are magical things that happen (and have always happened) without most people knowing (kinda like the WOD games by White Wolf)?

3) Is it a world where magic has recently lept onto the public scene? Everyone knows about it but it is new, so the world evolved without magic, but now has to deal with it

4) Is it a world where magic is nothing more than a form of science or technology?

There are probably other options too. But each of these would have a different versions of wizard, cleric, sorcerer, bard, psion, etc.

From your first post, it sounds like you want this to be more like option (1) in which case, doctors might be special kinds of clerics (who worship the science of medicine or a diety or saint of healing), priests have always had spells (regardless of denomonation--although so iconoclastic/puritan faiths might reject or deny magic), and the world works fine.

Option (2) would have most priests just like in the real world but some are special ones who can use magic (regardless of the reason). They are careful to keep it hidden because people are not able to really understand. On the rare occasions that people do see magic (be it from a priest or other spellcaster) they tend to assume it is a miracle or an accident.

Option (3) would be social chaos. Magical thieves have learned to turn invisible and now murder can be performed without ever getting near the enemy. Many plagues have been brought under control (late stage AIDS patient? heres a Cure Disease. Cancer? no problem). The world is completely unprepared for the magical onslaught caused when a circle of powerful Wizards from the west Coast of the United States develop ways of mass producing and mass marketing magical items (*grin*) which is helping and hurting at once. Priests suddenly find their prayers answered in a very real way, which leads to major disruptions in everyday life for them. And so on and so on.

Option (4) actually looks like a cross between options (1) and (3) to me. It is a new field of science that has lead to miraculous things. Most people don't fear it much but it is requiring laws, cultures, and societies to change to adapt to the new capabilities it produces. In this option, there is no room for clerics as they currently exist without changing the common definition of the word "priest" in significant ways (which is okay too).

Hmmm...those are my thoughts. I had to run through them when I started planning my next game which is a late Final Fantasy-esque Sci-Fantasy setting. Same issues arrise.

Hope this helps.
DC

 

[LoneWolf23]

In a modern-day setting (or any other setting, for that matter), it's not certain that every ordained priest will be a spellcasting, Undead-turning Cleric. It's quite possible that the vast majority of Priests will be Commoners/Aristocrats/Experts, and that Magic-Using Clerics will be rare champions of the Faith, either working openly or secretly.

...One exemple of Modern-Day, Magic-Using Clerics that I can think of is Antarctic Press' Warrior Nun Areala, which features an order of Magic Priests and Warrior Nuns (Basically all-male Clerics and all-female Paladins) who serve the Catholic Church in defending the people of Earth from Demonic invaders. The magic and sword wielding Priests and Nuns are supported by numerous mundane priests, who seem to include Experts, Aristocrats and Commoners, as D&D categorizes the Classes. Maybe you could use a similar pattern for your campaign.

One thing I would add, however, are two Feats from Swashbuckling Campaigns, which support Priests of all classes:

Ordained (General)
You have obtained a position in the Church of the Prophets or similar religious order, a position that brings you a great deal of influence and advantage (most likely that of a priest, though we leave that detail up to you and your DM).
Prerequisites: lawful alignment, Int 13+
Benefits: You recieve one rank in the Knowledge: Arcana (Edit: I'd make it Religion) skill for free. You also gain +4 circumstance bonus in all social situations with characters who are adherents to your faith (with the DM's discretion, of course). In addition, being a member of the Church means you get three square meals a day, a stipend of 30g per month, and all your basic needs attended to.

Priest (General, Profession)
Priests are the foundation of a strong religion, in one form or another. They provide comfort to grieving practitionners and answers to those who seek enlightenment. Someone with the Priest Feat isn't necessarily ordained (and vice versa), but he or she has a strong grasp of what it takes to become one. You must still purchase the Ordained Feat in order to be a priest.
Prerequisites: Profession (priest) 4 Ranks
Benefits: The following skills are considered class skills for you regardless of your class: Knowledge: Religion, Diplomacy, Alchemy, and Diplomacy.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

For inspiration on how to use D&D magic in the modern world, I actually would look to two products that aren't related to D&D or d20 at all:

GURPS Technomancer: The "blatant magic" approach. When the first nuclear bomb is tested in 1945 at the Trinity site, it accidentally creates a "hellstorm", a permanent magical storm that sends mana-active radiation all over the southern USA and Mexico. Magic is back in the world, and soon the Americans (and other nations as well) figure out how to use it. The setting describes an interesting blend of magic and technology (enchanted firearms and computers are easily possible), and mostly sticks to the "magic as a science" principle.

But hell, throwing in D&D-style clerics into the mix wouldn't be difficult at all. Just let the scientists claim that they actually gain the energy from their spells from alternate universes shaped by the personal beliefs of the "clerics", while the "clerics" (not neccessarily ordained priests - just anyone who can cast cleric spells) claim their power comes from God/Allah/Satan/Santa Claus/Elvis Presley...

GURPS Cabal: The "secret magic" approach. Magic is real, but there is a big conspiracy of mages, undead, lycantrophes, and other monsters who see the supernatural as their own private playground, and work to keep it secret. PCs are usually assumed to be members of this organisation. How much Angst is involved in this background is entirely the choice of the GM.

Magic is largely based on traditional hermetic occultism (and the author, Ken Hite, definietly knows his stuff) There are four Realms of Existence. The "mundane world" has the least magic, and spellcraft checks would be appropriate to cast magic at all. And remember never to cast spells in front of mundanes! Not because of "Paradox" or anything like that, but because then you'd probably have to kill them to keep the secret - and missing bodies only raise more questions...

D&D clerics could be worshippers of mighty spirits from Briah, the Iconic Realms - and these beings often call themselves "gods" (and are so powerful that most mortals learn not to argue...). Indeed, most of the deities from Deities & Demigods probably exist out there somewhere - and given the amount of emotional attachment some role-players have to their favorite settings, even the Greyhawk deities might exist as lesser spirits.

A very cool crossover of GURPS Cabal with another GURPS book (GURPS Reign of Steel) is Reign of Fire, a setting where on a future Earth, powerful dragons have taken over and killed or enslaved most of humanity. The author explicitly mentions D&D as an option for the game system...

(This setting exists as a Pyramid article, so if you haven't subscribed to it, you can't read it. But do subscribe - there's lots more there worth $15 a year apart from this article, and remember to give your referral bonus to "jhubert"... )


Reviews of GURPS Technomancer can be found here, here, here, here, and here.

Reviews of GURPS Cabal can be found here, here , and here.

Go check them out! If there are better attempts of mixing "standard" fantasy magic with the modern world, I am not aware of it...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Oh, yes, and in GURPS Technomancer, you get these:

C'mon - how can you miss out on this?

 

[Celebrim]

"1) what D&D PCs do (go into some person's or creature's home, kill them and their families and steal their belongings) violates just about every capital offense on the law books. (example: fireballs equal felony arson, not to mention the Murder charges because of who you were throwing the fireball at.)"

I just want to point out that this ALSO violates just about every capital offense on the law books in almost every setting whether fantasy or modern. I don't understand how or why you make the distinction.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

"1) what D&D PCs do (go into some person's or creature's home, kill them and their families and steal their belongings) violates just about every capital offense on the law books. (example: fireballs equal felony arson, not to mention the Murder charges because of who you were throwing the fireball at.)"

I just want to point out that this ALSO violates just about every capital offense on the law books in almost every setting whether fantasy or modern. I don't understand how or why you make the distinction.

And anyway, the question was on how to adapt the rules about a D&D cleric to a modern-day setting, and not the usual D&D cleric's behaviour...

(Speaking of which, the LG cleric of Lathander in our Forgotten Realms campaign was convicted of arson in Waterdeep once... Teaches him not to throw around flame strikes in wooden buildings. )

 

[Jack Daniel]

It's not difficult to convert magical classes to a modern earth setting at all. Wizards would remain unchanged: people who can cast magic, a talent that would be considered very normal, if rare, in a modern fantasy setting (Final Fantasy VII is very good here). Bards would be magic-users who also happened to be rock stars. Clerics characters could represent those few Christian priests and ministers, evangelical faith-healers, Muslim clerics, Jewish rabbis, Hindu brahmins, Shinto animists, Vodun priests, Native American shamans, etc, etc, who actually had the power to work miracles and prophesy. Monks would be Buddhist priests who were well on their way to achieving Nirvana (level 20, Perfect Self ). Druids could easily be converted to Wiccan priest types. And of course, all of these people would represent the exceptional few: most clergy would belong to NPC classes (commoner for deacons, expert for theologans and most clergy, warrior for fighting monks, aristocrats for noble clergy or politically influential members of a hierarchy).

One thing I highly reccommend in a magical alternate earth is to eliminate tennants from modern religions that condemn magic, with a simple retranslation. What if the King James Bible had never mentioned sorcerers and magicians, but specifically condemned demon-summoners and black mages? That sort of historical redirection might even be the reason wizardry exists in the campaign: the world never forbade its practice. On the flip side, divine magic (which is better called divine miracle, trust me, my campaign world uses all of these pointers I'm describing) would naturally be very prevalent in a world where the forces of evil have magic on their side as well as everthing else. It balances the scales. If demons and vampires exist, people who can turn them must also exist. Thus, it even makes sense from a theological perspective.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

It's not difficult to convert magical classes to a modern earth setting at all.

Actually, I think it is very difficult. Not the actual rules part, mind you - but figuring out how all this magic changes society, law, and technology.

A simple invisibility spell, for example, could make many, many security systems obsolete - as would a knock spell. And how about all the theological implications of a ressurection spell? Do you give vampires and liches human rights? How can you keep spies or criminals out of your country if they can just teleport in? And how can you testify in court when there are all kinds of mind control spells - and there aren't enough wizards to cast detect magic on everyone?

You'd better have answers for all of these questions when your players ask them - and they will ask them.