Modern Enemies
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Doug McCrae
Legend
Daleks or other aliens, triffids, giant monsters a la Cloverfield or Megashark vs Giant Octopus, cyborg animals created in a government lab a la We3, terrorists, spies, corporate bastards, military (national armies, mercs), the Russian mafia, maniacs on a killing spree (we had a couple of these very recently in the UK), and doomsday scenarios - disease, environmental catastrophe, tsunami.
Not HR Giger aliens, or the Cthulhu mythos, or killer robots from the future, they're dead to me!
Just watch the news or see a recent action movie or genre TV show. Plenty of bad guys there.
Not HR Giger aliens, or the Cthulhu mythos, or killer robots from the future, they're dead to me!
Just watch the news or see a recent action movie or genre TV show. Plenty of bad guys there.
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I once sketched out a plotline that had great animated stone constructs built by Aztecs destroying a modern city - basically, giant killer robots from the past. Would they be dead to you?
coyote6
Adventurer
In addition to what Doug wrote, there are gangs, (more) organized crime groups from practically any ethnicity or nation, serial killers, vampires, werewolves, vampiric werewolves, skinwalkers, wendigos, mutants, black hounds, Lemurian serpent folk, reptoids, psychotic mimes, renegade military units, corrupt cops, corrupt Feds, uncorrupt cops that misunderstand the situation, uncorrupt cops who understand that the PCs are criminal bastards just fine, Nazis, supremacists, Fascists, anarchists, supervillains, Grays, evil psionic conspirators, wizards, Deep Ones, the Sidhe, ghosts, mercenaries, evil roller derby teams, disco aficionados, hippies, smugglers, evil rock bands, dragons, robots (terrestrial, time-traveling, from outer space, from alternate dimensions, or otherwise), cyborgs, AIs, yuppies, stalkers, demons, nihilists, shapechangers, pod people, agents of SPECTRE/HYDRA/Cobra/Kobra, crazy ex-boy/girl-friends, and more.
What kind of campaign are we talking about? "Modern" is kind of broad.
What kind of campaign are we talking about? "Modern" is kind of broad.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
I stole the advanced animal template (forget it's name now) for 3.x and applied it to Modern creatures. For instance, I would apply it to a dog and call it a Doberman/Pit Bull cross. Said template gave extra Hit Dice, stats and especially natural armor (a little too much for Modern, actually).
I avoid magic, but am not above using mutants. Or weird class-combos. (For instance, a Smart/Strong/Techie who uses APs to soup up his weapons, always for extra damage.)
I avoid magic, but am not above using mutants. Or weird class-combos. (For instance, a Smart/Strong/Techie who uses APs to soup up his weapons, always for extra damage.)
malcolypse
First Post
how about another team of modern adventurers with nothing to engage in epic battle with, so they start stalking the your group, and eventually propose nemisis-ship when confronted? i think coyote covered about everything, really.
Ed_Laprade
Adventurer
Nazi's still make good enemies. Commies, not so much any more. (Replace the KGB with the Russian Mafia though, and you're good to go.) But Coyote's list is hard to beat!
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Sharktopus.
Pelgrane Press's Esoterrorists game has a fantastic, creepy book of modern horror enemies out. Worth looking at.
http://www.pelgranepress.com/site/?p=439
Pelgrane Press's Esoterrorists game has a fantastic, creepy book of modern horror enemies out. Worth looking at.
http://www.pelgranepress.com/site/?p=439
A
amerigoV
Guest
Nazi's are the only real world socially acceptable modern enemy that won't offend any. Well, that and white males in general. So I guess the old "He-man woman-hater club" is an "ok" target. Just make sure Buckwheat and Stymie are not around
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Easiest way to get a copy?
The SRD on the WotC website
d20 ModernSystem Reference Document
Thank you, Jonathan Tweet.
(Miss the pictures? the art gallery is here http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/article/20030923a)
Krensky
First Post
Well, I'd say that Nazis are the easiest. After all, everyone hates Nazis (at least anyone who I'd want at my table does). Tyrannical conspiracies, and terrorists work too, but you can run into issues if you always expect the PCs to chase them, and they might seem blase.
Similarly, street gangs and organized crime is easy to use, but can run into issues if someone views them from a sociological perspective rather then a villain one. Typically the trick is to have them kick a puppy and threaten the PCs sense of power somehow.
Faceless mooks work too.
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
Bankers and politicians.
Well, it is nazis, zombies and robots.
Modern game, I would look at corps. Big business or a shadow government that are the powers that be, you know, the guys that start wars just to get a pipeline built or so they can dig dimond mines. They are the mover and shakers of the big five:
- Energy
- Drugs
- Weapons
- Human Trafficing
- Water Rights
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
During Hitler's disastrous march into the USSR, there were Nazi elements that got left behind, but survived in secret across the Soviet countryside. When the USSR fell, disaffected Soviets spread out from Moscow, and many of them fell in with these hidden Nazi camps. Over the last few years, they've integrated, perfecting their blend of evil to form...
COMMIE-NAZIS!
COMMIE-NAZIS!
Scott_Rouse
Explorer
Zombie Nazis...and while you're at it, Zombie Ninjas.
Mutant Life forms, natural or man made
Alien life forms, especially those yoinked from older sources, like Triffids.
Variants of Dr Who villains
The REAL creatures behind the monsters of myth and legend- like "elves" who are actually crashlanded alien Greys with stasis tech: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks meets Underhill meets X-Files.
Other-dimensional creatures, such as you'd find in Clive Barker's Imajica or Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.
Mutant Life forms, natural or man made
Alien life forms, especially those yoinked from older sources, like Triffids.
Variants of Dr Who villains
The REAL creatures behind the monsters of myth and legend- like "elves" who are actually crashlanded alien Greys with stasis tech: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks meets Underhill meets X-Files.
Other-dimensional creatures, such as you'd find in Clive Barker's Imajica or Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.
arscott
First Post
IIRC, the MSRD only contains the monster statistics, which is only a small part of what makes the book cool. It's chalk full of organizations and NPCs suitable for a modern campaign. I'd recommend the Menace Manual, if you can find it at a decent price, for any modern game regardless of system.
Agreed on the Menace Manual. That's got plenty of adversaries to get you going with some X-Files style paranormal action, and they have the equivalent of the old "Ecology" sections to help you figure out why this or that thing that shouldn't exist is present.
A decent amount of the fluff is taken from Dark*Matter, but there's plenty of new stuff as well, and I doubt there are many copies of D*M floating around these days, so it's the best way to get the material.
A decent amount of the fluff is taken from Dark*Matter, but there's plenty of new stuff as well, and I doubt there are many copies of D*M floating around these days, so it's the best way to get the material.
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