D&D 5E Thoughts on Divorcing D&D From [EDIT: Medievalishness], Mechanically Speaking.

[Baron Opal II]

Indeed.

It reminds me of that scene from Shadow and Bone where the general talks about the declining ratio of magicians vs infantry. It used to be 1:50 when it was swords and bows. Rifles brought it down to 1:10. With automatic weapons it's 1:5 at best.

 

[Yaarel]

Isn't this just a ranged touch attack?

Kinda. But utilizing 5e mechanics.

A main difference from 5e Passive Wisdom (Perception) is, the combat mechanics should avoid the inflated skill math bonuses.

So it is raw Dexterity plus bonuses or Advantage from Cover, Prone, or special bodyarmor (which is effectively a magic enhancement to the saving throw).

 

[Stormonu]

No. I probably should have used "medievalness" instead. I am talking about the medieval-ish tropes and set dressing common in "standard" D&D.

So, can you give a couple examples of what an adventure would be like - just like an elevator pitch of the adventure? (I'm thinking the underlying mechanics of Masque or Modern d20 might what you want, but not totally sure - there was a 2E & 3E version of Masque, they used named classes like "Mesmerist" or "Dilettante" whereas Modern went with classes based on associated ability score, like "Strong Hero" for a Strength-based class).

 

[Reynard]

So, can you give a couple examples of what an adventure would be like - just like an elevator pitch of the adventure? (I'm thinking the underlying mechanics of Masque or Modern d20 might what you want, but not totally sure - there was a 2E & 3E version of Masque, they used named classes like "Mesmerist" or "Dilettante" whereas Modern went with classes based on associated ability score, like "Strong Hero" for a Strength-based class).

Sure.

The PCs are a group of freelance explorers, often hired by upper crust types that like to show off their esoteric collections to their peers. They consist of : a war weary veteran grenadier, a charming fop of a burglar and pickpocket, a faerie-kin magician more curious than greedy, and an orangutan former pugilist turned adventurer.

Their patron -- the thrice widowed Matron DeVille -- has acquired the bloody notebook of another explorer who claims to have located the remote tomb of an infamous warlock who DeVille believes to have been buried with rare arcane baubles she can add to her collection. She hires the PCs, giving them expenses up front and guaranteeing to buy what they find for a good price.

The notebook gets the PCs started and they have to red-line travel to some remote land. Once there, they have to use clues from the notebook to make contact with some locals and get a guide, or otherwise find the tomb themselves. Once they find it, it is a dungeon crawl leading to a confrontation with the wraith of the dead warlock. Sprinkle in some potential bandit encounters and/or rival treasure hunters, as well as some intrigue involving DeVille's own rivals, and you have a pretty standard D&D style adventure with a late 19th century pulpy flair.

Does that help?

(NOTE: This is exactly an Eberron adventure I have run before.)

 

[Gammadoodler]

If anime is any guide, changing from a medieval setting needn't do much in terms of classes, or weapons, and guns needn't be the be all end all weapon of choice..

Watched a show recently that had all the gaslight, steam-powered locomotives, and horse-drawn carriages you could want, and they fought with swords and spells, because you needed magic to breach defenses, and guns couldn't do it (i.e. dune shields but magic instead of tech)

And that's kinda the whole deal with fantasy, it's perfectly viable to start with the elements you want and then stitch together the world logic that yields that result.

So what is the result we're looking for with this exercise? Fewer sets of plate mail? Lower outdoor air quality?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

My intent is more in line with steampunk and pulp adventure, where the things PCs get up to are recognizably D&D, but away from castles, knights, villages, nobles, etc

Which is ironic, because the Victorians loved stories about castles and Knights. The Prisoner of Zenda is set around 1870. I even read a Jules Verne novel written in the gothic style, featuring a castle. I can’t remember what it was called though.

 

[cbwjm]

I'd look back at d20 versions of the game. D20 modern would be a great start for ideas but if you can find them, the old polyhedron magazines had some cool settings, I recall it had a pulp era setting that fits that late 1800s/early 1900s feel.

 

[Stormonu]

@Reynard - thanks! Yeah, Masque of the Red Death or D20 modern (with Past supplement, if you needed the extra detail) or D20 Call of Cthulhu would be able to handle the above easily mechanically. It'd fit right into a Gothic Earth (Masque's campaign setting) thematically. Everyday Heroes could possibly handle it, though you'd have to come up with a magic system (easily stolen from another system, including D&D) and ignore/tweak some of the more modern subclasses.

 

[Stormonu]

BTW, as an example for Masque (the 3E version), the group would likely be:

a war weary veteran grenadier - class Athlete, soldier variant
a charming fop of a burglar and pickpocket - class Sleuth, criminal variant
a faerie-kin magician more curious than greedy - class Mystic, spiritualist variant
and an orangutan former pugilist turned adventurer - class Tradesman, performer variant

 

[GuardianLurker]

@Baron Opal II Wouldn't those be increasing ratios?

Also, stepping outside of 5e, there are tons of systems set to deal with that time period (GURPs [of course], HERO [Justice Inc.], Deadlands, Savage Worlds, etc.).

But year, d20 Modern wouldn't do badly, and from what I've seen of it, Level Up could swing it too.