The World at War

[cjwillet]

So we've all seen iconic war scenes like the siege of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers or the Battle of Thermopylae in 300, but I was watching To Hell and Back, an old move about Audie Murphy, the most decorated serviceman in World War II, starring Audie Murphy. It got me to think about what a world where magic and technology collide would be like? Imagine tanks rolling down the battlefield, belching smoke and artillery fire when a troll comes running up and knocks it over on its side with one swing of its meaty fists. Or fighter planes dancing through the air in a rain of machine gun fire chasing dragons through the clouds. Or a trooper leaping out of a plane in the dark, activating the golden wing harness gliding down behind enemy lines. This would be a setting where magic items are common, most people have access to some form of magic, and technology is comparable to earth in the early half of the 20th century.

Wizards, healing magic, fireballs, steel ships, artillery, planes, submarines, krakens, etc. I'd want it to be reminiscent of Eberron's Last War.

As for the system, I've had an idea for a percentage system for a while. There wouldn't be classes per say like in a regular Dungeons and Dragons game, it'd be more like in Elder Scrolls where you have access to all the different options and build the character you want. The players would be commandos of the Alliance, a crack squad of badasses from all the different Allied Nations. Think Rainbow Six. They'd get involved in every theater of the conflict from land, sea, and air carrying out top secret clandestine missions against the enemy. So tell me what you guys think, does this sound interesting to anyone?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think rw/sci-fi tech vs fantasy can be fun. It always was with Deadlands, Shadowrun & RIFTS.

In your case, I'd draw inspiration from:

1) Harry Turtledove's Darkness novels, in which a semi-typical fantasy world mirrors the events of WW2;

2) C.J Cherryh's Sword of Knowledge novels, which feature a low-magic world similar to the fall of Rome

3) Mary Gentle's Ash chronicles

...and others.

 

[doghead]

So tell me what you guys think, does this sound interesting to anyone?

I like the idea and even started a game here on the boards in a similar sort of setting. I used the D&D 3.5 rules, but with a fairly house-ruled character generation and combat system (Ken Hood's GnG classless Epic 6 to be more specific). That been said, the house-rules largely went to how the game played rather than creating the setting. You could probably do the the same with the 3.5 rules pretty much as is.

My inspiration came, to some degree from the idea of using the magic rules as written, but re-interpreted through the lens of the Industrial Revolution and mass production. So, +2 Fortified Plate Mail with Googles of the Night and Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, for example, became a suit of powered armour.

Visually, I drew inspiration from shows like Last Exile, and movies such as Gin Ryou and a number of Miyazaki's works. My setting was largely human centric, but given that the rules were essentially 3.5, it would be simple enough to incorporate the other fantasy races and creatures.

I didn't do any work on rules for the bigger machines like tanks and planes. For the most part, the characters were not going to interact with them in a way that required rules. Planes featured in the game, but they were just descriptive.

The design thread is here.

Links to the PbP threads can be found here.

thotd

 

[Dark Dragon]

Good idea, me likes it. IIRC, there was one sort-of B movie about modern tech (fighter planes, guns) that entered somehow a fantasy world with magic, medieval fighter types, and dragons chasing that new airplane...

I once made a scenario about sci-fi combined with the Realms. The d20 Modern and Future books give some ideas about developing the scenario. But you need players that like that sort of modern+fantasy combo as well.

We had a lot of fun with that module about the Temple of the Frog placed in Faerûn (I played it twice with two different DMs and it was real fun). Maybe you can get some ideas from it as well.