INFINITE: Epic Modern

[shadow]

It's 28 pages of crunchy goodness.

Chapter One: The Hidden Masters
The basics of the campaign --- larger-than-life heroes in a struggle against a secret cabal of immortal masterminds. Think Planetary meets Wold Newton. Also includes the Chosen, a new template for heroes destined for greatness.

Chapter Two: Epic Basics
Rules extending the basic classes to 20th level, with new epic talent trees and bonus feat lists, and general rules on epic level, 20 Modern style.

Chapter Three: Epic Feats
A whole slew of them, along with a list of feats from the Epic SRD that can be used as-is.

Chapter Four: Epic Prestige Classes
- Some new epic prestige classes. Unlike most prestige classes, the hook here is not so much what the hero can do...it's why he does it. Allegiances are the most imporant prerequisite.
The Adventurer - In pursuit of fortune, glory, and danger
The Avenger - Searching for the Big Payback
The Champion - Dedicated to a personal code or cause
The Discoverer - Uncovering mysteries of man and nature
The Mentor - Training the next generation of heroes
The Paragon - Seeking to perfect his own abilities
- The Legacy, a non-epic prestige class for heroes following in the footsteps of giants.
- The Immortal, the prestige class that put the infinite in Infinite

Chapter Five: Campaign Options
Thoughts on optional rules --- psionics, ultratech, magic, mutations --- and ideas for running Infinite as a stand-alone or as an add-on to any ongoing campaign.

DanMcS --- Most of the special abilites fall somewhere in the Doc Savage / Jet Li / Batman range. This isn't supers --- it's the peak of human abilities. No breaking the laws of physics, but you can bend the hell out of them...

Wow! You really got my interest. I've been wanting to do an epic Modern game for some time. Although 28 pages sounds a bit short, the contents listed seem to be what I've been looking for.

My biggest question is how generic are the rules? The info on chapter one seems to imply that there is some sort of default campaign setting. Will the rules work equally well for Pulp, Sci-Fi, or Martial Arts.

Also, do the campaign options in chapter 5 include rules for unique, legendary abilities (Think of Highlander immortality, Terry Gilliam's Adventures of Baron Munchausen, or any of those "tall tales")? For example in the said Pulp/Sci-Fi campaign I've been thinking of, I have a NPC known only as "The Wanderer". The Wanderer is an immortal gunslinger that has been wandering the planet for over 700 years. He gained his immortality after defeating death in a dual. However, as a punishment for messing with the natural order of things he is cursed to continually wander the earth unable to die until he is killed by a superior opponent in a fair dual - but with over 700 years of experience in battle, it seems unlikely that he will be killed anytime soon. Can INFINITE emulate the character concept that I'm thinking of? (ie - Immortality with a curse, the best gunslinger on the planet, etc.)

 

[Cheiromancer]

The "Hidden Masters" are ageless, and so are some of their favored underlings. Their opponents the Prometheus society enjoy a certain amount of longevity, but don't have the secret to immortality.

However, I don't see any reason why there couldn't be a few other immortals out there. Give him 60 or 70 character levels and he'll be hard to defeat in battle.

 

[JPL]

My biggest question is how generic are the rules? The info on chapter one seems to imply that there is some sort of default campaign setting. Will the rules work equally well for Pulp, Sci-Fi, or Martial Arts.

I think that just about any campaign using the d20 Modern engine could use these rules, as long as you're interested in having PCs who are the Best There Is. The default campaign setting is meant to have everything from Jules Verne to Doc Savage to Remo Williams to Alias at its core, but with pretty much any other element of any sort of adventure fiction --- Cthuhlu, or time travel, or aliens --- potentially out there, too.

As for martial arts....I'm a big fan of "Blood and Fists" [author Charles Rice was kind enough to offer some suggestions for INFINITE] and I would really love to run a 25th level tournament fighter one-shot. I'm fiddling around with a Grandmaster epic prestige class...

The Campaign Options in Chapter V talk about using optional rules --- like magic or psionics or future-tech --- to make unique characters. INFINITE is a game where, hopefully, people will whip out their Book of Exalted Deeds, and say, what if we use exalted feats, and my character is the greatest living Enochian mage? Or what if we use d20 Future, and he's the last sasquatch? Or what about an otherdimensional being pulled from the Monster Manual, a la Hellboy?

Now imagine a danger so great that all of those guys have to team up to fight it.

That's INFINITE.

 

[Alzrius]

Just wanted to mention that my review is up. Five out of five stars!

 

[RangerWickett]

Just read the review. I'll be giving the book a look.

And, *chuckle*, it does amuse me that you pimped Blood and Vigilance instead of EN Pub's own superhero rulebook. Now I'm going to have to look at that and see how it is.

 

[Roudi]

RangerWickett, you haven't seen Blood & Vigilance yet? Oy, you're missing out. Great work from perennial favourite Charles Rice.

JPL - I admit, I wasn't very interested in this when I first saw it advertised. Heck, someone had already promised MODERNIZED an epic take on the d20 Modern rules for an upcoming issue. But after seeing your approach to the subject through this thread, I am definitely more eager to see what INFINITE is all about.

 

[JPL]

And, *chuckle*, it does amuse me that you pimped Blood and Vigilance instead of EN Pub's own superhero rulebook. Now I'm going to have to look at that and see how it is.

B&V is good stuff --- and the only d20 Supers system I'm really familiar with. No slight to any other d20 Supers game intended. I'm looking forward to d20 Spectaculars, too.

I think relatively low-key super powers fit nicely with the neo-pulp feel of Infinite --- something like "Unbreakable," or even the cinematic X-Men, or D.P.7 [there's an obscure reference] or "JSA: The Liberty Files" [which is exactly how I picture the Golden Age supers in this setting]. Like it says in the minigame, though...this is a world where things tend more towards "mystery men" than "super heroes," for purposes of power level, fashion sense, and general vibe.

The main thing with any of these optional rules, I think, is that if it exists anywhere in the universe, the Hidden Masters are on top of it already. If you allow psionics, then assume that the Masters have psis among them. If a player runs that Enochian mage, then the Masters have diabolists among them. As GM, I don't think you really need to decide going into an INFINITE campaign how much of this stuff exists in your particular campaign --- all the PCs will know for sure is that so far, THEY'VE never seen a werewolf, or a Grey, or a guy who can fly. But once they realize that an alliance of immortal masterminds has always secretly controlled the world...well, they realize that maybe the world is more fantastic than they ever expected.

Just wanted to mention that my review is up. Five out of five stars!

Many thanks. Glad you liked it.

 

[barsoomcore]

Just to add to the self-horn-tooting (mm, that sounds a little racier than I meant), I want to say that I've been excited about this project since JPL brought it to me, and that his delivery exceeded my expectations. I'm very proud of all three EN Mini-Games, and I think this one actually raises the bar already set pretty high.

We're holding steady with four- and five-star reviews across the board for our products, and stay tuned for a FREE Infinite adventure in a month or so -- JPL and I are cooking up a corker!

With a hottie. An EPIC hottie.

 

[JPL]

And if you buy a copy, I will let you hold my baby. It will give me a chance to go outside and finish off any wounded dingos. I generally stomp them to death. Gotta conserve ammo.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Well the timing of this book just happens to line up with the release of Beastmen for Darwin's World, so I'll probably check it out soon.