Urriak Uruk
Gaming is fun, and fun is for everyone
When you're someone like me and my group of RPG-ers, it's hard to learn a second game system. We have pretty busy lives, and the fact we all find the time to sit down and play D&D is pretty miraculous. Asking us to pick up another game like Call of Cthulhu, or Starfinder, or City of Mists... none of us has the time to be able to pick up another system, despite the strength of those games.
However, sometimes we get the itch to play something that isn't swords, sorcery, dungeons and dragons. Sometimes, we want smoke-filled rooms of gangsters, or the smuggling spice across galactic borders. And believe it or not, you can play D&D just fine with them!
So here are some of the tips and tricks I've learned when running games set in modern/sci-fi sessions. Check out Dimension 20's "Unsleeping City" for a great example of player's using the 5E system to play in a modern setting (the fantastical New York City):
1. The only "new rules" you need are in the DMG
The first concern I always get when people ask "how can you do modern," is "what about the GUNS." And the Dungeon Master's Guide is already there for you. Page 268 has rules for weapons from Renaissance, Modern, and Futuristic eras, including muskets, pistols, automatic rifles, lasers, you name it. Pretty much every weapon you need to get a game started is right there for you, ready for use.
2. Balance is already built in; the baddies have access to just as much as the PCs
This is the second concern I get. People see that a shotgun does 2d8 damage and say, "Wait! I can't give my player that, they'll mow down enemies with ease!"
And this may be true. However, if the PCs get guns, so do all of the NPCs. And as excited as your players will be to have new dangerous tools, they should be a lot more concerned when they learn that the enemies have the same resources.
For example; I ran a session where the PCs were an "Ocean's Eleven" style screw, ready to rob a casino that was owned and operated by gnolls. Having guns doesn't really help the PCs much here; after all, the gnolls also have guns. They aren't as good at using them as the PCs of course, but all it takes is one good roll for a gnoll with a tommy-gun to inflict some serious damage.
The lesson here is that the balance is built in; although the amount of damage the PCs can inflict goes up, so does the amount the NPcs can return.
3. Be aware that at lower levels, encounters can be far deadlier
This ties into the above point, but PCs at lower levels will be in a lot more danger than they normally will be. Imagine if you're running a sci-fi game; a laser pistol can do 3d6 damage. Your PCs also have access to these weapons, but if a goblin with a laser pistol rolls a natural 20, he's landing a 6d6 roll, which can easily be an instant death for a PC.
If that isn't your type of game, consider having your PCs start at lower levels. However, such a game can also be a lot of fun. A goblin getting a lucky shot on someone is actually pretty realistic; guns are pretty life-threatening in real-life, much more-so than the swords and crossbows of medieval times. Sessions can be pretty fun if you're PCs are aware that even encounters with lowly thugs can be deadly.
4. Don't limit the magic; embrace it
You may feel an itch to ban magic, or some of D&D's other less realistic abilities, in favor of realism. Try to resist this. When you start doing that, you really are trying to play a different game than D&D, and I encourage a different system. But if you want Modern D&D 5E, you should keep all of spells and abilities unchanged.
Now, feel free to reflavor all of these abilities however you want. But the mechanics of them should remain about the same; otherwise, you're limiting you're players options in a frankly more dangerous environment. It is a lot of fun to play a "Wizard in Space!" and PCs like to use their abilities in different context's, to different results. By cutting them out, you are definitely starting to fit D&D's round hole into a square peg.
These are the tips I'm thinking of now, but if you have questions on how to run these sessions, ask below and I'll edit my post and give answers!
However, sometimes we get the itch to play something that isn't swords, sorcery, dungeons and dragons. Sometimes, we want smoke-filled rooms of gangsters, or the smuggling spice across galactic borders. And believe it or not, you can play D&D just fine with them!
So here are some of the tips and tricks I've learned when running games set in modern/sci-fi sessions. Check out Dimension 20's "Unsleeping City" for a great example of player's using the 5E system to play in a modern setting (the fantastical New York City):
1. The only "new rules" you need are in the DMG
The first concern I always get when people ask "how can you do modern," is "what about the GUNS." And the Dungeon Master's Guide is already there for you. Page 268 has rules for weapons from Renaissance, Modern, and Futuristic eras, including muskets, pistols, automatic rifles, lasers, you name it. Pretty much every weapon you need to get a game started is right there for you, ready for use.
2. Balance is already built in; the baddies have access to just as much as the PCs
This is the second concern I get. People see that a shotgun does 2d8 damage and say, "Wait! I can't give my player that, they'll mow down enemies with ease!"
And this may be true. However, if the PCs get guns, so do all of the NPCs. And as excited as your players will be to have new dangerous tools, they should be a lot more concerned when they learn that the enemies have the same resources.
For example; I ran a session where the PCs were an "Ocean's Eleven" style screw, ready to rob a casino that was owned and operated by gnolls. Having guns doesn't really help the PCs much here; after all, the gnolls also have guns. They aren't as good at using them as the PCs of course, but all it takes is one good roll for a gnoll with a tommy-gun to inflict some serious damage.
The lesson here is that the balance is built in; although the amount of damage the PCs can inflict goes up, so does the amount the NPcs can return.
3. Be aware that at lower levels, encounters can be far deadlier
This ties into the above point, but PCs at lower levels will be in a lot more danger than they normally will be. Imagine if you're running a sci-fi game; a laser pistol can do 3d6 damage. Your PCs also have access to these weapons, but if a goblin with a laser pistol rolls a natural 20, he's landing a 6d6 roll, which can easily be an instant death for a PC.
If that isn't your type of game, consider having your PCs start at lower levels. However, such a game can also be a lot of fun. A goblin getting a lucky shot on someone is actually pretty realistic; guns are pretty life-threatening in real-life, much more-so than the swords and crossbows of medieval times. Sessions can be pretty fun if you're PCs are aware that even encounters with lowly thugs can be deadly.
4. Don't limit the magic; embrace it
You may feel an itch to ban magic, or some of D&D's other less realistic abilities, in favor of realism. Try to resist this. When you start doing that, you really are trying to play a different game than D&D, and I encourage a different system. But if you want Modern D&D 5E, you should keep all of spells and abilities unchanged.
Now, feel free to reflavor all of these abilities however you want. But the mechanics of them should remain about the same; otherwise, you're limiting you're players options in a frankly more dangerous environment. It is a lot of fun to play a "Wizard in Space!" and PCs like to use their abilities in different context's, to different results. By cutting them out, you are definitely starting to fit D&D's round hole into a square peg.
These are the tips I'm thinking of now, but if you have questions on how to run these sessions, ask below and I'll edit my post and give answers!
