If we are talking about literature that would make a good D&D setting, I have two ideas. One is the urban fantasy world of The Dresden Files, and the second is the high fantasy of the Stormlight Archive.
I'd argue that the Dresden Files would be a very poor choice to turn into a D&D setting. Magic works dramatically different (something that gets lampshaded a few times), plus it's already got an officially licensed RPG. I think a setting where magic is more commonplace and integrated into society would probably work better for a D&D setting.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
If we are talking about literature that would make a good D&D setting, I have two ideas. One is the urban fantasy world of The Dresden Files, and the second is the high fantasy of the Stormlight Archive.
I'd argue that the Dresden Files would be a very poor choice to turn into a D&D setting. Magic works dramatically different (something that gets lampshaded a few times), plus it's already got an officially licensed RPG. I think a setting where magic is more commonplace and integrated into society would probably work better for a D&D setting.
Magic in the first few books definitely isn't D&D magic. But the later you go on, the more fireballs and lightning bolts you get, and the magic becomes more D&D'ish. It is a relevant point though. Your other points are very valid.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
Honestly, I think an original urban fantasy setting would be a better idea than adapting an existing license.
WotC had the Urban Arcana sourcebook for D20 Modern for this kind of thing in 3rd edition. Something like that seems unlikely for 5E at the moment, but still more likely than a contemporary urban fantasy setting sourcebook (never mind one for someone else's IP). You'd need new skills, feats, backgrounds and equipment regardless, and arguably some of the classes (and certainly subclasses) would need to be looked at as well. Too much work not to go the whole distance.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Yeah. Though D20 Modern was not exactly a popular setting. I barely saw it in stores or Dragon magazine and never once encountered anyone who'd played it (or at least felt like it was worth mentioning that they'd played it).
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Yeah. Though D20 Modern was not exactly a popular setting. I barely saw it in stores or Dragon magazine and never once encountered anyone who'd played it (or at least felt like it was worth mentioning that they'd played it).
You have now, if not in the flesh. It wasn't very popular, no, but it got played. We combined Urban Arcana with Delta Green (the D20 version of Call of Cthulhu, which was also moved to a contemporary setting). Good times, but indeed not a lasting system for us. I recall it having a dozen or so WotC supplements, can't have been a total bust.
I think I've mentioned before, I am a fan of the Gothic Earth setting, and it occurs to me that a pretty cool idea for urban fantasy D&D would be to take that same setting and fast forward 100 or so years to the present. It wouldn't be a flawless transition; the gothic horror themes would need to have a serious update, and the relatively low-magic nature of the original setting might need additional consideration, but there might be potential in the notion.
D20 Modern was excellent. I had a number of great times playing it. There was so much room for growth but it got caught up in the 3/3.5 bloat. Also take a look at the SpyCraft/D20 Stargate books. They use the D20 modern rule set (with some changes) and it was done very well. The real problem with a Dresden RPG is that up until the most recent books they were really detective stories with a wizard. The magic was a story element not the central theme. Harry being a wizard was the way to set him apart from those around him. The current Dresden RPG is weak. It tries to capture Butcher's writing style and fails... and don't get me stated on Fate or Fate Core. I can't get into those rules at all. If Wizards did a new D20 Modern I would buy it in a heart beat.
If we are talking about literature that would make a good D&D setting, I have two ideas. One is the urban fantasy world of The Dresden Files, and the second is the high fantasy of the Stormlight Archive.
I'd argue that the Dresden Files would be a very poor choice to turn into a D&D setting. Magic works dramatically different (something that gets lampshaded a few times), plus it's already got an officially licensed RPG. I think a setting where magic is more commonplace and integrated into society would probably work better for a D&D setting.
Magic in the first few books definitely isn't D&D magic. But the later you go on, the more fireballs and lightning bolts you get, and the magic becomes more D&D'ish. It is a relevant point though. Your other points are very valid.
I'm not familiar with that series, but the problem I see with modern settings is not the magic, it's the non-magical combat. Swords an armor just aren't a thing in a modern world of guns and bombs. Melee combat is not a major factor in modern warfare. If you use 5e's combat, every turn for a non-magic character would be "I make a ranged attack." You'd need a massively revamped combat system to give more variety to ranged combat. There are probably other systems better suited for urban fantasy.
If we are talking about literature that would make a good D&D setting, I have two ideas. One is the urban fantasy world of The Dresden Files, and the second is the high fantasy of the Stormlight Archive.
I'd argue that the Dresden Files would be a very poor choice to turn into a D&D setting. Magic works dramatically different (something that gets lampshaded a few times), plus it's already got an officially licensed RPG. I think a setting where magic is more commonplace and integrated into society would probably work better for a D&D setting.
Magic in the first few books definitely isn't D&D magic. But the later you go on, the more fireballs and lightning bolts you get, and the magic becomes more D&D'ish. It is a relevant point though. Your other points are very valid.
I'm not familiar with that series, but the problem I see with modern settings is not the magic, it's the non-magical combat. Swords an armor just aren't a thing in a modern world of guns and bombs. Melee combat is not a major factor in modern warfare. If you use 5e's combat, every turn for a non-magic character would be "I make a ranged attack." You'd need a massively revamped combat system to give more variety to ranged combat. There are probably other systems better suited for urban fantasy.
A lot of modern magic settings take a couple different tacks on combat. Some go with the ol' reliable technology and magic don't mix, forcing people to use medieval weapons. In other cases, something like a handgun isn't going to be terribly effective against a dragon. A high powered anti material rifle is probably needed, and that might not be available to the general public, forcing the characters to improvise. There is also always tight spaces (like a dungeon) where a rifle is going to be unwieldy. I do agree with you that if a modern setting is ever made, a firearms overhaul would be necessary. I might make modern firearms rules myself, just for fun.
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A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
So far no proposed new setting sounds half as interesting as Planescape to me. However, I think an Adventure Time campaign setting would be fantastic. A lot of my players are already invested in the Land of Ooo and the show's D&D roots are well known. Give me a setting where our imaginations can run wild versus something that feels mundane and limited.
So far no proposed new setting sounds half as interesting as Planescape to me. However, I think an Adventure Time campaign setting would be fantastic. A lot of my players are already invested in the Land of Ooo and the show's D&D roots are well known. Give me a setting where our imaginations can run wild versus something that feels mundane and limited.
Heh. For my taste, Forgotten Realms is already too much Planescape for me. But to each their own.
Planescape is moreorless a closer look at the Wheel of polytheism that is already part of Forgotten Realms. Essentially, it is a regional setting within Forgotten Realms.
Mordenkeinens Tome is essentially Planescape. In a way, it is already published.
That said, more products like Descent into Avernus, so as to explore other places in the Wheel, seems inevitable for the Forgotten Realms setting.
So far no proposed new setting sounds half as interesting as Planescape to me. However, I think an Adventure Time campaign setting would be fantastic. A lot of my players are already invested in the Land of Ooo and the show's D&D roots are well known. Give me a setting where our imaginations can run wild versus something that feels mundane and limited.
Heh. For my taste, Forgotten Realms is already too much Planescape for me. But to each their own.
Planescape is moreorless a closer look at the Wheel of polytheism that is already part of Forgotten Realms. Essentially, it is a regional setting within Forgotten Realms.
Mordenkeinens Tome is essentially Planescape. In a way, it is already published.
That said, more products like Descent into Avernus, so as to explore other places in the Wheel, seems inevitable for the Forgotten Realms setting.
I think I just sustained 10d10 psychic damage. What? No! What?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
So far no proposed new setting sounds half as interesting as Planescape to me. However, I think an Adventure Time campaign setting would be fantastic. A lot of my players are already invested in the Land of Ooo and the show's D&D roots are well known. Give me a setting where our imaginations can run wild versus something that feels mundane and limited.
Heh. For my taste, Forgotten Realms is already too much Planescape for me. But to each their own.
Planescape is moreorless a closer look at the Wheel of polytheism that is already part of Forgotten Realms. Essentially, it is a regional setting within Forgotten Realms.
Mordenkeinens Tome is essentially Planescape. In a way, it is already published.
That said, more products like Descent into Avernus, so as to explore other places in the Wheel, seems inevitable for the Forgotten Realms setting.
I think I just sustained 10d10 psychic damage. What? No! What?
I believe they were trying to say that they weren't actually familiar with Planescape.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I feel like every edition has had its setting. 1 had Greyhawk, 2 had Mystara or Birthright, 3 focused more on the Forgotten Realms and later had Ebberon, I don't know much about 4, etc. But I'd love to see not only a new 5e setting, but I'd love it to become like 5e's new "main setting" (for want of a better term).
Also sign me up for Urban Fantasy setting that does sound dope. While Dresden Files aren't my favorite books out there, anyone can recognize how promising of a setting it has.
Reading through this thread makes me appreciate the approach of Monte Cook Games with the new Cypher setting books. Rather than basing their books on one big setting, they have theme books that guide you through building your own setting of a certain genre. Their "Stay Alive" book, for instance, introduces modules for many different horror sub-genres including new mechanics to simulate suspense and escalation.
You can take any setting from an older edition and convert it to 5e. I was able to make a full Ravenloft Campaign where the players went to 5 different Domains of Dread just from using a few old 2e books, it took a little effort to convert, but the amount of information available is staggering. I could easily do this for Birthright, Mystara, Lankmar, Planescape, Greyhawk, Al Qadim and that is just Second Edition. Almost all this stuff can be found online for very cheap and converted with very little effort. There are stacks and stacks of Modules and Lore books that would provide many campaigns' worth of material and 99% of that stuff will not be spoiled by people online or on message boards.
I actually prefer the minimalist approach that 5e is going, one core setting with a few offshoots and let the DM and players use their imagination to flesh out their own versions of those worlds. My next campaign will have all the players be plane-touched and will take place in The Outlands and Sigil, 5e has all the races I need already, Aasimar, Tieflings, Genasi, Eladrin, and Gith to name a few, basically, any race on the list can be justified, it is the Outer Planes after all. I look forward to letting them explore the Gate Towns, places like Plague-Mort or Ribcage with the local fiendish tavernkeepers that may not be on the up and up, and all this information is in 2e Planescape books that I will convert.
We need a 5e Spelljamming book, and perhaps open-world campaign books set in other planes, like the Feywild or Shadow Fell. (Maybe a campaign built entirely within a sentient plane)
There might also be value in a campaign book based on very, very tiny creatures, where a large forest is treated like its own continent.
I would LOVE something set entirely in the Feywild or Shadowfell! I am currently running the party through the Moonshaes and there are countless references to both, yet it is hard to get a good feel for those two realms.
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I'd argue that the Dresden Files would be a very poor choice to turn into a D&D setting. Magic works dramatically different (something that gets lampshaded a few times), plus it's already got an officially licensed RPG. I think a setting where magic is more commonplace and integrated into society would probably work better for a D&D setting.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Magic in the first few books definitely isn't D&D magic. But the later you go on, the more fireballs and lightning bolts you get, and the magic becomes more D&D'ish. It is a relevant point though. Your other points are very valid.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
Honestly, I think an original urban fantasy setting would be a better idea than adapting an existing license.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
WotC had the Urban Arcana sourcebook for D20 Modern for this kind of thing in 3rd edition. Something like that seems unlikely for 5E at the moment, but still more likely than a contemporary urban fantasy setting sourcebook (never mind one for someone else's IP). You'd need new skills, feats, backgrounds and equipment regardless, and arguably some of the classes (and certainly subclasses) would need to be looked at as well. Too much work not to go the whole distance.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Yeah. Though D20 Modern was not exactly a popular setting. I barely saw it in stores or Dragon magazine and never once encountered anyone who'd played it (or at least felt like it was worth mentioning that they'd played it).
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
You have now, if not in the flesh. It wasn't very popular, no, but it got played. We combined Urban Arcana with Delta Green (the D20 version of Call of Cthulhu, which was also moved to a contemporary setting). Good times, but indeed not a lasting system for us. I recall it having a dozen or so WotC supplements, can't have been a total bust.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I think I've mentioned before, I am a fan of the Gothic Earth setting, and it occurs to me that a pretty cool idea for urban fantasy D&D would be to take that same setting and fast forward 100 or so years to the present. It wouldn't be a flawless transition; the gothic horror themes would need to have a serious update, and the relatively low-magic nature of the original setting might need additional consideration, but there might be potential in the notion.
D20 Modern was excellent. I had a number of great times playing it. There was so much room for growth but it got caught up in the 3/3.5 bloat. Also take a look at the SpyCraft/D20 Stargate books. They use the D20 modern rule set (with some changes) and it was done very well. The real problem with a Dresden RPG is that up until the most recent books they were really detective stories with a wizard. The magic was a story element not the central theme. Harry being a wizard was the way to set him apart from those around him. The current Dresden RPG is weak. It tries to capture Butcher's writing style and fails... and don't get me stated on Fate or Fate Core. I can't get into those rules at all. If Wizards did a new D20 Modern I would buy it in a heart beat.
I'm not familiar with that series, but the problem I see with modern settings is not the magic, it's the non-magical combat. Swords an armor just aren't a thing in a modern world of guns and bombs. Melee combat is not a major factor in modern warfare. If you use 5e's combat, every turn for a non-magic character would be "I make a ranged attack." You'd need a massively revamped combat system to give more variety to ranged combat. There are probably other systems better suited for urban fantasy.
A lot of modern magic settings take a couple different tacks on combat. Some go with the ol' reliable technology and magic don't mix, forcing people to use medieval weapons. In other cases, something like a handgun isn't going to be terribly effective against a dragon. A high powered anti material rifle is probably needed, and that might not be available to the general public, forcing the characters to improvise. There is also always tight spaces (like a dungeon) where a rifle is going to be unwieldy. I do agree with you that if a modern setting is ever made, a firearms overhaul would be necessary. I might make modern firearms rules myself, just for fun.
A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots.
My Improved Lineage System
My favorite modern magic setting is: magic is a sufficiently advanced technology.
he / him
So far no proposed new setting sounds half as interesting as Planescape to me. However, I think an Adventure Time campaign setting would be fantastic. A lot of my players are already invested in the Land of Ooo and the show's D&D roots are well known. Give me a setting where our imaginations can run wild versus something that feels mundane and limited.
Heh. For my taste, Forgotten Realms is already too much Planescape for me. But to each their own.
Planescape is moreorless a closer look at the Wheel of polytheism that is already part of Forgotten Realms. Essentially, it is a regional setting within Forgotten Realms.
Mordenkeinens Tome is essentially Planescape. In a way, it is already published.
That said, more products like Descent into Avernus, so as to explore other places in the Wheel, seems inevitable for the Forgotten Realms setting.
he / him
I think I just sustained 10d10 psychic damage. What? No! What?
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I believe they were trying to say that they weren't actually familiar with Planescape.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I feel like every edition has had its setting. 1 had Greyhawk, 2 had Mystara or Birthright, 3 focused more on the Forgotten Realms and later had Ebberon, I don't know much about 4, etc. But I'd love to see not only a new 5e setting, but I'd love it to become like 5e's new "main setting" (for want of a better term).
Also sign me up for Urban Fantasy setting that does sound dope. While Dresden Files aren't my favorite books out there, anyone can recognize how promising of a setting it has.
Reading through this thread makes me appreciate the approach of Monte Cook Games with the new Cypher setting books. Rather than basing their books on one big setting, they have theme books that guide you through building your own setting of a certain genre. Their "Stay Alive" book, for instance, introduces modules for many different horror sub-genres including new mechanics to simulate suspense and escalation.
You can take any setting from an older edition and convert it to 5e. I was able to make a full Ravenloft Campaign where the players went to 5 different Domains of Dread just from using a few old 2e books, it took a little effort to convert, but the amount of information available is staggering. I could easily do this for Birthright, Mystara, Lankmar, Planescape, Greyhawk, Al Qadim and that is just Second Edition. Almost all this stuff can be found online for very cheap and converted with very little effort. There are stacks and stacks of Modules and Lore books that would provide many campaigns' worth of material and 99% of that stuff will not be spoiled by people online or on message boards.
I actually prefer the minimalist approach that 5e is going, one core setting with a few offshoots and let the DM and players use their imagination to flesh out their own versions of those worlds. My next campaign will have all the players be plane-touched and will take place in The Outlands and Sigil, 5e has all the races I need already, Aasimar, Tieflings, Genasi, Eladrin, and Gith to name a few, basically, any race on the list can be justified, it is the Outer Planes after all. I look forward to letting them explore the Gate Towns, places like Plague-Mort or Ribcage with the local fiendish tavernkeepers that may not be on the up and up, and all this information is in 2e Planescape books that I will convert.
I would LOVE something set entirely in the Feywild or Shadowfell! I am currently running the party through the Moonshaes and there are countless references to both, yet it is hard to get a good feel for those two realms.