Modern gaming -- but not as we know it

[d4]

Does anyone run their d20 modern game in a world that is decidedly different from Earth, but has enough commonalities that familiar chargen bits still apply?

i haven't in some time and i haven't seen it done very frequently. it seems we're most comfortable describing "alternate" worlds only if they resemble our past (or nothing at all), rather than our present.

people don't blink twice over settings like Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk which have superficial resemblances to past Earthly eras, but a totally new alternate world that was at the same technological and societal level as modern-day Earth probably wouldn't sit well with a lot of people.

i tried it once, but for some reason it was much harder to design a fictional "modern" world than a typical "fantasy" one.

 

[buzz]

Does anyone run their d20 modern game in a world that is decidedly different from Earth, but has enough commonalities that familiar chargen bits still apply?

Do PA settings like Darwin's World or Gamma World count?

Anyway, I don't see why this would be that hard. I mean, Dark City is basically a modern elsewhere, right? The Matrix? Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? Equilibrium? 1984?

 

[Piratecat]

Anyway, I don't see why this would be that hard. I mean, Dark City is basically a modern elsewhere, right? The Matrix? Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? Equilibrium? 1984?

Gilligan's Island?

 

[d4]

Do PA settings like Darwin's World or Gamma World count?

i don't think that's what he's going for.

Anyway, I don't see why this would be that hard. I mean, Dark City is basically a modern elsewhere, right? The Matrix? Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? Equilibrium? 1984?

those are all set on Earth, or at least have some connection to Earth.

can you think of any "modern"-style settings that have absolutely no connection to Earth, the way the Forgotten Realms/Greyhawk/Eberron/etc. have no connection to Earth?

 

[Olive]

can you think of any "modern"-style settings that have absolutely no connection to Earth, the way the Forgotten Realms/Greyhawk/Eberron/etc. have no connection to Earth?

You thik Greyhawk, FR etc have no conenction to earth?

Wierd...

 

[Psion]

i don't think that's what he's going for.


those are all set on Earth, or at least have some connection to Earth.

I wouldn't say no connection to Earth is a neccessity.

Significant altered history and, ergo, room for creating new political bodies, etc., could work.

Though Earthlike-but-not-Earth could work, too.

 

[thol]

The thing is, the beauty of using Earth as the setting for a Modern game is that the players have a vast knowledge of their surroundings, as would most characters in a modern society. This adds a whole new depth that you can't get with a fictional world too far from modern Earth norms.

People enjoy adventuring in a familiar environment, and it allows players to more easily immerse themselves in the game and be proactive with the DM rather than being reactive.

While i agree this can limit people from thinking outside the box to come up with new and interesting elements, there are still plenty of interesting and intriguing elements to be had.

Even coming up with an alternate modern world tends to lend itself to being a derivative of Earth, as that is what we know of the "modern" world. Altering things too radically takes away that immersion. it also creates a lot more work for the DM. Earth is a fully developed setting for the taking. You can call the planet "Grog" or "Mars" or "Alpharn", but if it looks like Earth, feels like Earth, and tastes like Earth, it's probably Earth. You can make At War Earth, Flooded Earth, Nuclear Earth, Meteored Earth, Matrix Earth, or Pulp Earth. They are all different in some way than what we know, but the basis is still there for players and DM alike to draw from.

Players tend to gravitate towards mapping gaming situations to real-life, movie, or book situations that are similar so as to identify with them. Why make it harder for the players?

Are there any specific examples of a world that would be so different from an Earth-like modern world?

 

[Krieg]

In a hellish city of danger, in a time of secrets and prophecy, a sorcererss and a Marine quest for the truth and combat an army of mutants intent on destroying humanity.

Holy crap!

 

[Morgenstern]

Hey Psion ! I wish I could say more at this point, but try to remember this conversation when we do the first full announcement for "C:S" (likely powered by Spycraft) next year . Alex Flagg has come up with a truely mighty alternate history as the setting for a game that takes place in 2005... Just not our 2005 8).

 

[Turanil]

Does anyone run their d20 modern game in a world that is decidedly different from Earth, but has enough commonalities that familiar chargen bits still apply?

If I had to run a d20 Modern game, here is what I would do:

1) From beginning, players suspect this is all about Conspiracy theories (all this boring stuff about the "Illuminati" being behind everything evil that could happen anywhere). As such, the players are pretty damned sure they play d20 Modern, and that they know what's going to happen (i.e.: they are going to oppose the Illuminati). This beginning allows all the weird plots described above.

2) When the players are beginning to become bored of this Conspiracy stuff, many things happen that are illogical. For example: a sorcerer casting spells in a world with no FX until then; a NPC being shot in the head but who continues acting as normal because he still has hit-points left; etc. All of this to tell them they are not in a "normal" world.

3) Players dicover their PCs are in fact in the Matrix! As such, from that time on, I can use both d20 Modern (inside the Matrix) and d20 Future (outside the Matrix).