Time Travel 3e Questions

[winter]

I am thinking of starting a 3e d&d campaign and then having my party, after a couple levels, time-travel and planeshift to other worlds. It's not meant to be especially deadly or wierd, more on the lighthearted side.

I was thinking of using d20 modern and/or d20 cthulu as some source material and additional rules (ie what happens when a rogue, a barbarian, a paladin, and a wizard get plunged into the middle of "Saving Private Ryan," "Alien Resurrection," or "The Brady Bunch".)

My players are ok with (even enthusiastic about) this silly, anacronistic crazy campaign idea. None of my players are 'hardcore' (ie rules lawyer) 3e players, but they all like 3e d20 and are willing to try new things in the name of laughs and good times.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions with d20 modern and/or extending d&d ito parallel (more modern or postmodern) planes?

please keep in mind that my take on this is angled toward fun and ease of preparation, rather than total realism.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I suppose I can get away with a shameless plug for this; the Second World Sourcebook should be in stores after Christmas or by the beginning of January. It's a dual-world multi-genre setting and has about 30 pages towards the beginning of the book devoted to customizing alternate worlds. There are rules for setting different technology levels, including some stuff on how to set strange technologies, and a selection of optional game mechanics that you can use for different worlds without having to change stuff on character sheets. That part includes rules for changing the magic level, psionic level, or lethality level based on the particular plane you're in.

edit: also, it uses both the d20 Modern rules and the standard rules and includes details on how to merge a d20 Modern with a fantasy campaign.

 

[Alzrius]

If you have d20 Modern, why not try the new fan-made "Terminator: Future Fate" supplement? Even if you don't have d20 Modern, its 99.9% useable with the D&D Core Rulebooks anyway. Though it is fan-made, its still top-notch quality, and best of all, its totally free! Check it out here: http://members.toast.net/talien/pdfs/terminator.pdf

It fits the paradigm you want, and even when the PCs get out of there, they may still not be totally safe, since Skynet is experimenting with time travel as well. Your players will never know when "he'll be back." All that and more is in there. Check it out!

 

[thundershot]

I have a couple players that are leery of modern characters (after over a decade of playing fantasy), so my first modern campaign will have two modern PCs and two fantasy ones. They're found by an organization that knows that the world is leaking fantasy elements, and the four of them will seek out and stop the evil... It should prove interesting. I don't forsee many balancing issues between D&D and d20M classes, for the most part.


Chris

 

[s/LaSH]

d20 Modern should cover most bases... but what about that Brady Bunch reference? If PCs ever got plunged into that continuum, there'd be some weird results. The BB Universe obeys some totally different narrative laws, which (as I'm sure you know) are more powerful than the laws of physics.

The Universe itself would stop people going on killing sprees. Even the scariest monster is reduced to little more than growling in an intimidating fashion, because it knows that if it tries to bite the little boy it'll catch a cupboard door in the nose instead, and if it breathes fire it'll just set off the sprinklers. I suspect that gargantuan or bigger creatures may be able to resist this effect; the Tarrasque could easily rampage through the Brady's backyard, but the PCs would be almost powerless to stop it (OK, even more powerless than usual).

Imagine a showdown with a villain in the Bradyverse. Or running into a horrible monster who just wants to be freed from this horrible plane, where it can't rampage (and can't plane travel to escape; perhaps it was exiled). Or the aforementioned stop-the-Tarrasque scenario. It's a pretty total change of pace. Maybe too silly for some, but if Ravenloft is the demiplane of angst and horror, the Bradyverse is the demiplane of the opposite. I think it fits in the cosmic scheme of things.

 

[jasper]

decades ago I ran my players into modern day.
I use the flow chart from the S3 for them to firgure out modern equipment.
basically save vs fear um will saves the first couple of times they see modern cars etc. One guy jumped from the overpass stop himself with a leviate. Only to get smack by mack truck.

First decide if the gods and magic is still around. I don't d20 modern or Call so if this is handled go with the flow.

If it is modern day with out the movie/show references grab a map from a nearby city and go to town.

Cops should 1 rank of warrior per rank.
Military grunts should be fighters the rest experts with free weapon feats for military weapons.

have fun and give us a update.

like the brady bunch universe. Run away!