D&D 5E A modern fantasy setting?

[jgsugden]

I consider Eberron to be a fantasy setting based upon Earth in the early to mid 1900s. It is filled with pulp and political intrigue reflective of the world at that point. Keith Baker has spoken of this being part of the inspiration for his achievement.

Are there high quality 3rd party settings that attempt to do the same things for the modern world (early to mid 2000s)? I'm picturing:

• A world designed to directly, rather than indirectly, address the issues of modern society as part of the setting.
• A world with expansive use of magical technology - with some nations in the world loaded down with techno-magical conveniences.
• A world with wealthy countries where most people have some access to techno-magical equivalents to the internet, cell phones, cars, etc...
• Yet, a world where they have to live in fear of dragons, undead, far realms monsters, and other traditional D&D monsters - as well as setting specific monsters that capitalize upon the modernization of the world.

How about one that wrestles with the last half of the 20th Century?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I have said some times WotC wishes, or it should, the creation of a new d20 modern, but it isn't only to update the weapons and items, but about the broken balance with the high-tech. Driving a truck can be enough to hit a horde of zombies, or with the right weapons you only needs to fire one shot to kill an animal like a bear, a gorilla or an elephant. In the first movie, "Alien, the eight passenger" a xenomorph could almost allmost all Nostromo staff, but in the sequel dozens, maybe hundreds, were killed from other room with a couple of sentinel turret machine guns. In Sylvester Stallone movie "Cobra" the female main character, played by Briddigte Nielsen, couldn't face the main antagonist, the night-slayer, but the action hero, with enough ammo, could kill all the cult of the new dawn in the end of the movie. Survival horror as Resident Evil or the evil within where you need a lot of stealth to avoid the monsters, but later with enough ammo and weapons you become practically an one-man-army.

D20 isn't really ready for a d20 Modern, because someones want something like Street Fighter, Overwatch, Mortal Kombat or Doom Eternal, because PCs and monsters maybe too weak or powerful with the weapons. Let's imagine a d20 version of Fortnite. The first enemie is a robot with only an axe. Easy to be defeated. The next encounter is a robot with the same stats, but this time a sniper from the top of a building. This time is harder, isn't it? Later the bot using a exosuit like the ones from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Practically a mini-boss, but it may be worse. A powered armour, like the ones from Fallout or the javelins of Anthem. This is a boss. The final boss is the same robot as the first one and the all the previous one, but this time within a mecha (Titanfall, B.R.U.T.E) Fortnite. How should be the challenge rating and XPs reward if with the right help it becomes too hard or easy?

* Do you know the comic "Arrowsmith"?

 

[Oofta]

I don't see the same issues as @LuisCarlos17f. Give certain equipment it's own XP and CR if it can be used. Along the same lines, not everyone an use a sniper rifle effectively. Hand a sniper rifle to your average Joe and they'll probably just break their shoulder, it takes a Goblin Sniper to use the weapon effectively.

Change rewarding XP in a similar fashion ... or just get rid of XP. If you use that combine to harvest the zombie horde, you've effectively reduced the threat that you face so you receive less XP. It can be replaced by milestone or story leveling options.

But to answer the OP's question, I don't know of any and wish I did. I do think that certain things could be difficult. I looked at ShadowRun back in the day for example and the biggest issue I saw was that some of the paths were simply too divergent.

I think it can be done, and would really enjoy a new version of modern D20 myself.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Don't know any existing 3rd party settings that deal with those setting elements, sorry.

IMO, an easy way to get around the firearm problem would be special armour that halves damage taken from ranged weaponry, or if that's too much, then maybe subtract a certain amount of damage taken from ranged weapons. Call it "ballistic armour" or something?

Completely crack idea: 5e d20 modern is set on Ortho. Yes, the Harmonium homeworld. Did 2e material ever show it directly? Maybe it went under a major technological modernization since 2e, both due to native advances in tech and imported and reverse-engineered xenotech from other Prime worlds. Could be a place to put those laser rifles from the DMG. Add some Barrier Peaks level of craziness alongside the modern stuff.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

To answer the OP directly, no I don't believe there is an exceptionally high-quality 3rd party setting that is both meant to be modern and 5E.

However, the DMG does provide enough rules to actually start a modern game pretty easily, at least for firearms and other weaponry. Other stuff like cellphones you have to just make up, but it's not that tricky.

With that as a basis, here are some other RPGs you can use as settings, or simply as inspiration for a modern game;

Ivisible Sun (Invisible Sun – Return to the Actuality)

Do you think you live in the real world?
You don’t. This world you see around you is Shadow—a world illuminated only by the Grey Sun. You think it is your home, but that’s because you have forgotten your true self. Awaken, and return to the Actuality and to Satyrine, the city under the Indigo Sun. You are a vislae, a wielder of magic; a shaper of reality; a student of secrets and the real truths that lay hidden within the Actuality. You sought shelter in Shadow to escape the war, but the war is now over and your home has called you back.

The Path of Suns is a representation of the way magic works, the known levels of existence, the stages of a life, and the makeup of the mortal soul, all in one. It is a symbol. A metaphor. A diagram. A map. Each sun represents a different concept, a different “place” and a different fundamental aspect of the universe. These different concepts are signified by the color of each sun, so that color ends up representing the sun and its attendant ideals.

The suns are also planes of existence—literal places that vislae can visit. Each realm reflects the nature of the sun that illuminates it, and is guarded by wardens and peopled by creatures great and terrible, mysterious and, very often, dangerous. Magical power flows like a rushing river from the Invisible Sun through the other suns. (While the main current follows the Path of Suns, not all do.) Powerful vislae travel the Path of Suns to master these different currents and better hone their spells, but to do so they must parlay with the wardens of the Suns and face the perils within their realms.

City of Mist (City of Mist, a noir RPG of modern-day legends)

City of Mist is a game about ordinary, modern people who discover legendary powers within themselves and all around them. As Gateways to a mysterious legendary force – a Mythos – your characters are driven to investigate strange Cases and unsolved mysteries. All the while they are searching for answers to their own questions and trying to keep their personal lives together as their Mythos calls them to break free and give in to its enigmatic power. But there is a mysterious force at work in the City that hides all that is legendary and makes it look mundane – the Myst – as well as a plethora of other awakened legends with their own agendas, working against you. Will you manage to uncover the truth? Will you survive the inner battle of legendary and ordinary - and at what cost? Will your Crew stay together or will your personal goals tear you apart?

From a plumber in whom a mythological primordial lizard resides to a hipster girl with a mercurial ability to bend time, space, and information, City of Mist is rife with legends awakening inside average Janes and Joes. Create your own legend in modern guise, gather your ragtag Crew of conflicted and yet hopeful Gateways, and venture into the dark streets of this strange metropolis to tackle other incarnated Mythoi and to find your answers – or lose everything you hold dear in the attempt.

I'd also recommend classic games for inspiration, like Call of Cthulhu (Achtung is especially modern);

Vampire the Masquerade:

And Werewolf: the Apocalypse

Also look at your classic video games like Resident Evil for example. Love that stuff!

 

[GreyLord]

Not D&D but one of the most famous RPGs with a modern setting but with magic and races like D&D is Shadowrun.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Not D&D but one of the most famous RPGs with a modern setting but with magic and races like D&D is Shadowrun.

Somehow I forgot Shadowrun....

 

[bedir than]

I would love Onward's world (post-film) turned into a d20 system. Maybe Bright would work for a more dystopia vibe

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I would love Onward's world (post-film) turned into a d20 system. Maybe Bright would work for a more dystopia vibe

Bright suuuuuucks. And I absolutely loathe how it portrays orcs = POC.

 

[Mercurius]

I consider Eberron to be a fantasy setting based upon Earth in the early to mid 1900s. It is filled with pulp and political intrigue reflective of the world at that point. Keith Baker has spoken of this being part of the inspiration for his achievement.

I probably don't know Eberron in great enough depth to speak with authority, but I always saw Eberron as more early to mid-19th century, with some affectations (e.g. pulp) of the early 20th century.

As for the topic, I find it more interesting to think in terms of a magical industrial revolution: the ubiquity of minor (mass-produced) magical items, global travel and communication via magical means, etc. I just think that in a fantasy world where magic exists, scientific industry wouldn't develop in the same way it has in our world, that the focus would be on magical development. So you could take the geo-political and cultural aspects of the late 20th century, but translate industrial and computer technology into magical equivalents. So maybe there wouldn't be personal computers and the internet, but there could be 'lore stones' that you can "google" information, crystals that enable communication across vast distances, portals for travel, and so on.