New modern game

[palleomortis]

I plan to start a D20 modern game with my group. Granted, I have little to no knowlede (more on the "no" side), of how the d20 modern system works. This being a first time, I though I would ask you guys what usually makes for the best games and campaigns. Should I include modern day events (I.E. modern wars), or leave them out? Should I let them meddle in "politics" (mess with government people ), should I be reletivly close to modern-day gun control, regulations, laws, or should I bend them a little? Basically, I'm more woried about how to build the world, I figure the gaming and the plot will evolve with the players as we begin to figure out what we like about the system. Any comments?

 

[Herobizkit]

The easiest answer is "the world's already made for you". Use real-life places, events, holidays, people, pop culture, science... d20M is limited only by your own imagination. Assuming you're using only the base classes (ie no Magic or Psionics classes), you can do everything from Rednecks to Superspies to SWAT to "Papers & Paychecks" (although the last one might require a BIT more imagination - you're all white-collar lawyers or computer programmers or some other kind of cushy deskjob workers).

In short, the less you have to invent, the more you can focus on learning the system at large. The system tries to be more skill-centric, but since it's D&D at its core, the base assumption is lots of butt-kicking. Guns are lethal at low levels, less so at mid- to higher levels. Cross-classing is enforced as the highest level any class can get to is 10. With clever selection of Professions, any class can pretty much have any skill.

IMO, it's what D&D should have been, or at least, the concept of Professions should have translated to "d20 Fantasy".

 

[BiggusGeekus]

IBasically, I'm more woried about how to build the world, I figure the gaming and the plot will evolve with the players as we begin to figure out what we like about the system. Any comments?

When I run d20M I say that it takes place in "alternate Earth". Very, very similar to our own world but some of the details ... like all the ones that can turn your game into a political yelling fiasco ... are changed. Don't make a hard list. Just make it clear to your players that you want to game, not debate.

I set my game in DC and never had a problem with a group of players of mixed political backgrounds. Why DC? If you look at a DC metro map, you'll find that the blue line goes into Arlington Cemetery, with lots of buried dead just waiting to be necromancer'd. Good times!

 

[masshysteria]

You will probably get a better response if you post in the d20 Modern, d20 System & OGL Games located here: http://www.enworld.org/forumdisplay.php?f=9 Perhaps a moderator will be kind enough to move the post there.

With that said, I find it is best to pick a theme for your modern game (horror, super spies, crime, military) and go from there. That will determine how much you want to get into real world politics and current events. Most people I know like it when the campaign is set in their back yard. Using known locations and people can be a lot of fun.

If you plan on having plenty of combat in your game, a strict enforcement of local laws is probably not going to be a good thing. Purchasing guns with waiting periods, trying to clean up after a gun fight, and dealing with the black market presented realistically can be quite the pain.

Besides, the PC are hardly going to be realistic. Even with the massive damage threshold they are nearly super human. A punk with a gun isn't a big threat to a 4th level PC.

 

[Stormborn]

As others have said, it all depends on what you want to do. Just saying "I am going to run a modern game" isn't enough. You want to discuss these issue with your players and see how it might fit into your campaing. You will be suprised what can cause problems.

For example, I had a player who hated modern games and whose reaction to everything was "I call the police" or "I inform my superiors." He also hated games where the PCs were part of the mafia or any kind of organized crime. I finally did run a modern game that he enjoyed by telling them to make PCs that were all involved in the forgeing or smuggling of antiquities and had a loyal to a central NPC. He got to play a white collar academic criminal involved in a gray area of international law.

I also had a player who did all this reserach on motorcycles and wanted to build a PC who had one - mainly just for flavor, she was a computer expert. She did all this before I explained about Wealth and how it works.

Basically the main pitfall of a modern game is a lack of focus for the campaign and a lack of cohesion for the PCs. I recommend deciding on overall direction and then have a reason for the PCs to be together and to adventure. While mechanically they wont be of any use to you GURPS books are absolutely great sources for a wide vareity of Modern (ish) games and with little effort you can either adapt or find a d20 M rules set to go along with the campaing/setting material you find in GURPS.

The other way to run a modern game is choose a setting from some form of media and immulate it. In some cases someone may have already done any add ons or modifications to the system for you.