Thomas Bowman
First Post
With a liberal sprinkling of D20 Modern and Future, do you think this could be a viable setting?
Thundarr the Barbarian as a D&D setting
- Thread starter Thomas Bowman
- Start date
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Just as soon as I figure out what a Mok is.
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
I have done that very thing, actually. Thundarr was one inspiration among many, but the setting was post-apocalyptic Earth and featured orc motorcycle gangs prowling what's left of the highways and ruined cities infested with aberrations and undead.
The Crimson Binome
Hero
It's a Wookiee
Thomas Bowman
First Post
I think I would like to reimagine it a bit, keep the basic idea, but make it more serious, less Saturday morning cartoonish perhaps. The sorceress looks like a member of the Fantastic Four, I'd say get rid of the spandex, it just doesn't belong in a Post-Apocalyptic setting, don't you think? How about using a weren from D20 Future, bugger tusks, but basically the same thing. A weren is basically a bigfoot or a sasquatch. Might have been the result of a genetic experiment, this is 500 years in the future after all. If you saw the cartoon, the "comet" which did this was as big as a planet, maybe a plutonid for something. Basically its Dungeons and Dragons, with cities of ruined sky scrappers replacing dungeons and castles, some of the old tech works as well. There are three main characters: Thundarr, Ookla, and Princess Ariel. Ariel is a sorceress, Thundarr and Ookla are Barbarians. There are lots of barbarians in this setting, and also rogues, monks exist, as do rangers, fighters, paladins, I would throw in Druids and clerics, not because they are in the cartoon, but because there is no reason not to have them, its pretty much anything goes. The setting is basically there to introduce anachronistic technological gadgets into the setting, and basically anything could exist up to and including spaceships, if they have a Mok, then some aliens must have been visiting, perhaps they came from the rogue planet which caused the cataclysm in the first place.
The answer is yes, you could do this with those supplements.
Bugbears would make a decent Mok stand in, but the other D20 products do stat out Yetis and Sasquatches. I believe there’s a race in the D20 version of the Alternity setting called the Weren, which could also work.
Bugbears would make a decent Mok stand in, but the other D20 products do stat out Yetis and Sasquatches. I believe there’s a race in the D20 version of the Alternity setting called the Weren, which could also work.
Thomas Bowman
First Post
This is a hex map of Europe which could be used in such a campaign, it is a 12th century map, but the terrain the hexes show would be the same, forests that were clear cut would grow back in 500 years after all.
And this is a Hex map of North America, Thundarr I believe lives in North America, so this would be his turf:
All that remains is the place the city ruins in all the proper places, and of course there are the active settlements as well. Remember the intro to the show? A giant comet passed close to the Earth, more like a rogue planet to show the tidal effects in the opening sequence. My guess is, for the purposes of this campaign, the "comet" was no ordinary comet, the disasters shown were only the tip of the ice berg, the comet opened up a rift with other dimensions, and when that rift opened, some other creatures stepped through and magic was unleashed unto the world, this also had a detrimental effect on technology, and for a while this technology ceased to operate, this caused the death of billions of people, from which only a few survived, because without the technology and the transportation networks, most people starved to death, some of whom survived by cannibalism, and the descendants of those people still live today. Some people, such as Ariel's people learned to use magic. After a decade or two technology became functional again, but by that time it was too late, the damage was done, the World had reverted to savagery.
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
I have been looking for something like those maps for years! Thank you so much for posting them!
Thomas Bowman
First Post
It was easy enough to find. I am working on improving the map.
The Black Ferret
Explorer
Oh, absolutely. My group and I were considering doing one a few years ago. The different races and mutants are easily enough made up, and as long as the system has the ability to do both magic and high tech, and make it balanced, it should run fine.
darjr
I crit!
http://crawlingunderabrokenmoon.blogspot.com/
Apologies, it isn't 3.5 but may be good for mining other setting materials or adventure ideas.
Apologies, it isn't 3.5 but may be good for mining other setting materials or adventure ideas.
Thomas Bowman
First Post
The setting of Thundarr is very similar to GammaWorld, but I would like to use the D&D 3.5 game and combine it with D20 Modern and Future I would take the premise of the cartoon, but put it together in a more logical fashion than the slapdash of the animated series and the GammaWorld setting does. For example in the cartoon, the main characters travel to the ruins of many recognizable cities, remember this is 500 years later. The fact that their are standing structures indicates with was not nuclear war which did in civilization. There is a series of books written by SM. Stirling called the Change novels, the first book in the series is Dies the Fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire
In this book technology more advanced than that of the standard D&D campaign stops working, the result of this happening is mass starvation. A lot of the ruins left by the Change in Dies the Fire resembles the ruins of various cities shown in Thundarr the Barbarian, basically the cities look abandoned, they were blasted by nukes or anything else like that. The cause of the collapse of civilization in Dies the fire was the failure of technology that billions of people depended on to stay alive, cars wouldn't run, guns wouldn't shoot, no trains, planes fell out of the sky etc. I would guess in the case of Thundarr the Barbarian, these effects were only temporary, they lasted long enough to destroy civilization and kill billions of people, but then technology started working again, guns would shoot, cars would run, electronic devices would operate, but humans in many cases have adapted to a nontechnological world. Thundarr is representative of that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire
In this book technology more advanced than that of the standard D&D campaign stops working, the result of this happening is mass starvation. A lot of the ruins left by the Change in Dies the Fire resembles the ruins of various cities shown in Thundarr the Barbarian, basically the cities look abandoned, they were blasted by nukes or anything else like that. The cause of the collapse of civilization in Dies the fire was the failure of technology that billions of people depended on to stay alive, cars wouldn't run, guns wouldn't shoot, no trains, planes fell out of the sky etc. I would guess in the case of Thundarr the Barbarian, these effects were only temporary, they lasted long enough to destroy civilization and kill billions of people, but then technology started working again, guns would shoot, cars would run, electronic devices would operate, but humans in many cases have adapted to a nontechnological world. Thundarr is representative of that.
Excellent series. Well worth the read.
Aldarc
Legend
If you are considering using 3.5 and d20 Modern to create a Thundarr-inspired setting, then I would recommend taking a look at Grim Tales or Trailblazer by Bad Axe Games. Grim Tales uses the d20 Modern model to create a stripped-down version of fantasy d20 play, but it may be more difficult to get a copy nowadays. (It was niche even during d20's 3.x heydays.)
If you are willing to consider non-3.5 systems that would work well for Thundarr, then I would look at Savage Worlds.
Whatever your system of choice is for a Thundarr game, you will probably need to either (1) cut down the power level of magic, (2) restrict its use, or (3) both 1 and 2. From what I recall, Ariel is the sole good-aligned mage in the show. Most mages in Thundarr are the villains, as per almost standard sword & sorcery.
If you are willing to consider non-3.5 systems that would work well for Thundarr, then I would look at Savage Worlds.
Whatever your system of choice is for a Thundarr game, you will probably need to either (1) cut down the power level of magic, (2) restrict its use, or (3) both 1 and 2. From what I recall, Ariel is the sole good-aligned mage in the show. Most mages in Thundarr are the villains, as per almost standard sword & sorcery.
I would go with something that is more alien: e.g., (1) a map of earth where the poles have shifted; (2) a map where the ice caps have melted; (3) a map from prehistoric times but with overlaid with "modern" places.
Thomas Bowman
First Post
Ariel may have been the only good-aligned mage, but she was there with them on every show, and since the bad guy mages kept on being defeated on every show, you need more of them, works pretty much the same in a standard D&D campaign, also in a standard D&D campaign, you need a balanced party, Thundarr's party consists of two barbarians and a mage. I would make Ariel a sorcerer as per the D&D 3.5 class Sorcerer, but I would allow sorcerers to pick from two spell lists in the player's handbook, either from the sorcerer/wizards spell list or the list of cleric spells.
A sorcerer can cast cleric spells just as if they were sorcerer spells, in that way, a character like Ariel can heal damage, which is a realistic campaign will be needed quite often, because characters will take damage. Their won't be actual clerics that can cast spells, and since their won't be clerics, we won't need gods either!
The magical radiation which caused the civilization ending disaster also gifted some people with the ability to use magic, this is an inborn trait, kind of like a mutation.
I also don't expect magical items to be very common, technological artifacts kind of replace them, such as Thundarr's glowing sword. So lets review the character classes that exist, they are Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, and Sorcerer. I put a question mark next to Paladin, they don't seem to fit in. I think one can argue for the other classes. Thundarr is a Barbarian, I think people even in post apocalyptic times will have an appreciation for music, and hence Bards, Bards are like Sorcerers in that their magical abilities are inherited from their parents rather than learned.
Druids worship "Nature", there is no specific god of Nature, but somehow they have a way with nature, can communicate with animals, and some can turn into them, you might call that a mutation. Like Barbarians we also have Fighters, kind of hard to tell one from another, but perhaps fighters are a bit more educated, and have more experience with artifact weapons, the weapon types a fighter can use is expanded, they can shoot laser rifles for example, they are familiar with all things combat, they can pick up a gun and shoot it, barbarians aren't as familiar with those types of weapons.
There are Monks, always were Monks actually, some of them have gained some abilities members of their order didn't have prior to the end of civilization, but they have carried on their traditions and practices nevertheless. The Paladin is a bit iffy. No particular reason why their shouldn't be Paladins, but they seem to be specific to a medieval setting with notions of chivalry and all that, not sure this world has a lot of that, its only been 500 years since the end of civilization. A Ranger fits in better, there is a lot more nature since the end of civilization, more forests too. 500 years is plenty of time for new forests to grow, and their is not as much land under cultivation as their used to be, the unused land grew back into forests as they once were. Rogues exist because their are always people who steal things and who have developed a set of skills to accomplish larceny. And their are sorcerers but no Wizards. Magic is an inborn trait on this world, one is born with it, learns how to use it, but first of all one must be born with it. Magic use is a kind of mutation, one can develop that skill with practice and experience, but one must first be born with the necessary trait.
A sorcerer can cast cleric spells just as if they were sorcerer spells, in that way, a character like Ariel can heal damage, which is a realistic campaign will be needed quite often, because characters will take damage. Their won't be actual clerics that can cast spells, and since their won't be clerics, we won't need gods either!
The magical radiation which caused the civilization ending disaster also gifted some people with the ability to use magic, this is an inborn trait, kind of like a mutation.
I also don't expect magical items to be very common, technological artifacts kind of replace them, such as Thundarr's glowing sword. So lets review the character classes that exist, they are Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, and Sorcerer. I put a question mark next to Paladin, they don't seem to fit in. I think one can argue for the other classes. Thundarr is a Barbarian, I think people even in post apocalyptic times will have an appreciation for music, and hence Bards, Bards are like Sorcerers in that their magical abilities are inherited from their parents rather than learned.
Druids worship "Nature", there is no specific god of Nature, but somehow they have a way with nature, can communicate with animals, and some can turn into them, you might call that a mutation. Like Barbarians we also have Fighters, kind of hard to tell one from another, but perhaps fighters are a bit more educated, and have more experience with artifact weapons, the weapon types a fighter can use is expanded, they can shoot laser rifles for example, they are familiar with all things combat, they can pick up a gun and shoot it, barbarians aren't as familiar with those types of weapons.
There are Monks, always were Monks actually, some of them have gained some abilities members of their order didn't have prior to the end of civilization, but they have carried on their traditions and practices nevertheless. The Paladin is a bit iffy. No particular reason why their shouldn't be Paladins, but they seem to be specific to a medieval setting with notions of chivalry and all that, not sure this world has a lot of that, its only been 500 years since the end of civilization. A Ranger fits in better, there is a lot more nature since the end of civilization, more forests too. 500 years is plenty of time for new forests to grow, and their is not as much land under cultivation as their used to be, the unused land grew back into forests as they once were. Rogues exist because their are always people who steal things and who have developed a set of skills to accomplish larceny. And their are sorcerers but no Wizards. Magic is an inborn trait on this world, one is born with it, learns how to use it, but first of all one must be born with it. Magic use is a kind of mutation, one can develop that skill with practice and experience, but one must first be born with the necessary trait.
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The Black Ferret
Explorer
Ariel wasn't the only good spell-caster. There is one episode where they meet a couple teenage heroes; a female barbarian and a male sorcerer, so like Thundarr and Ariel, but with a gender swap. Still, both good and evil magic-users were uncommon and certainly not a wizard on every corner. The frequency might be about the same as force-users in a Star Wars setting. Also, a number of the evil wizards used technology to augment their powers and some seemed to be based solely off of using technology.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law
Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law
Also:
[video=youtube;iI7227GHvQY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI7227GHvQY&sns=em[/video]
[video=youtube;iI7227GHvQY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI7227GHvQY&sns=em[/video]
Thomas Bowman
First Post
Well the fact that magic-users are born rather than trained may be used to keep them rare, but not too rare. if there is a PC magic user, then he or she will need a challenge. I think a Sorcerer would fit more into this setting than a Wizard, and the lesser magic users, bards, rangers, and druids can fit in there as well. I'm not sure, but I don't think clerics have a place in this setting, after all their ancestors are us, and I think that in the wake of a global disaster people will tend to cling closer to their established religions and in North America, those are likely to be existing religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and other than that, I don't want to touch this. I'm not prepared to have gods walk this Earth an have people worship them. Maybe villains that want to be worshipped as gods, but not actual gods. We'll need some healers, so I guess we can transfer some clerical healing spells to sorcerers, bards, druids, and rangers, and not get very specific with religion in general. I think summoning demons doesn't fit in this setting either. Magic and science are related in this setting, there is a lot of superscience in this setting as well as medkits which is perhaps an alternative to clerical healing spells as well.
