Could be an interesting idea, if they give it more exposure and ways to play seamlessly in 4e rather than porting 3e to D20 Modern like they did before.
I actually liked the idea of D&D races living in the modern world, hidden from the eyes of mundanes because their minds can't conceive of such creatures. Sort of like D&D meets White Wolf's World of Darkness.
But such a campaign setting could lead to bad possibilities if it ever crossed over with other settings. But then again, you could have Ash from Army of Darkness waving his "boomstick" around.
But it´s very difficoult giving credibility and coherence a franchise where there is a lot of suppenatural creatures but almost everbody ignore.
Other problem is the politically correction. Let´s imagine a fan-art story about a radical ulema who decrees a fatwa about the no-muslims genies (djinns, dao, efreeti, jann or madrid) are evil and they have to be terminated....or a female tiefling who is a catholic nun, or a corporation what looking for dragon or elf DNA to get the secret of their longevity. Or a virus escapes from a secret laboratory in North Corea, causing a dreadful plage of undead ghouls in whole Far East (like Resident Evil but because of comunist dictatorship).
Sometimes hight fantasy and real world is a very bad mixture.
I have interest in the return of UA, and I think a TV show of this setting would be a great publicity (We only have to se transformer movie).
But it´s very difficoult giving credibility and coherence a franchise where there is a lot of suppenatural creatures but almost everbody ignore.
Other problem is the politically correction. Let´s imagine a fan-art story about a radical ulema who decrees a fatwa about the no-muslims genies (djinns, dao, efreeti, jann or madrid) are evil and they have to be terminated....or a female tiefling who is a catholic nun, or a corporation what looking for dragon or elf DNA to get the secret of their longevity. Or a virus escapes from a secret laboratory in North Corea, causing a dreadful plage of undead ghouls in whole Far East (like Resident Evil but because of comunist dictatorship).
Sometimes hight fantasy and real world is a very bad mixture.
I'm very used to playing Vampire and Mage and the other White Wolf games. Things like that are absolutely no problem to me at all.
They even said that Baba Yaga herself put up a mystical Iron Curtain around when Russia was the Soviet Union. And that certain factions of the supernaturals that players can play, actually supported the Third Reich during WWII until they realized it was wrong.
And those were just some of the things in the World of Darkness.
Urban Arcana is just probably going to go a lot more light-handed in all of this anyways.
I have interest in the return of UA, and I think a TV show of this setting would be a great publicity (We only have to se transformer movie).
But it´s very difficoult giving credibility and coherence a franchise where there is a lot of suppenatural creatures but almost everbody ignore.
Other problem is the politically correction. Let´s imagine a fan-art story about a radical ulema who decrees a fatwa about the no-muslims genies (djinns, dao, efreeti, jann or madrid) are evil and they have to be terminated....or a female tiefling who is a catholic nun, or a corporation what looking for dragon or elf DNA to get the secret of their longevity. Or a virus escapes from a secret laboratory in North Corea, causing a dreadful plage of undead ghouls in whole Far East (like Resident Evil but because of comunist dictatorship).
Sometimes hight fantasy and real world is a very bad mixture.
Those actually sound like fun settings to play in. :P
India: psion githzerais found schools to training new psionic casters and a lot of India looking for wisdow are admitted. These psionic sects are hard competitor of new religious groups from Githyankis, yuan-ti and Raskasha, who start going round rumors about Hindui children who are kidnapped, abused and/or sacrificed by githzerai sect.
Japan: Yakuza has a problem becuase a new civiten in the city, the Korobokuru and the ratkin/nezumi (from Oriental Adventures) don want paying the tax of prottecion. The leaders ordering their men giving them a lesson but...the teached ones are going to be the thug when the ki-rin take part with help of police.
Africa: A clan blue dragons, with help of a yuan-ti cult, gnolls, flinds, lizarforlk, a some scorpionfolk is starting a genocide against Blackafricans (and other races like the lion-centaur wemic). United Nations loses a lot time of time with diplomacy and good words..(doesn´t it making you rebember the Yugoslav war?). Then a group metalic dragons, the eladrins, elfs and other ones says UN go to hell and they to take the law into one's own hands. The escandal is when a group of drows declaring they are being persecuted by their religious believings or racism...
A group of frost giants (or a new race: the evil iceheart elfs) are the leader of group of neonazi terrorists in Germany and East of Euorpe (included Russia). They want put down the inferior races and infidels but Interpol and police have the tied hand because frost giant group have a cover of new age sect (with some elements from Lovercraft´s myths). They are evil, but it isn´t politically correct reporting them because then you are accused racist or xenophobe (even if you are a hafling or gnome who has suffered some attacks in the past).
Los Angeles, California, goblin bands fights with local gangs to get the control of streets. The family of a half-orc (who was adopted by a married human couple) is killed in a crossed fire. This half-orc became a vigilante who kills members of gangs of all races (goblins, orcs, kobolds, hobgoblins or..... even Latinamerican humans).
China: Their industry suffer a wave of terrorist attacks. the true responsible are a court of lungs or oriental dragonw who don´t like the comunist dictatorship.
North Corea: A experimental virus excaped from a secret laboratory of biological weapon. In the first moment it´s totally harmless but when the infected people are intoxicated with a second toxin (from a new transgenic narcotic) we have a plague of flesh-easter ghouls... In Sourth Corea the population are divided by the people who charge North Corea and who thinks the ghoul epidemic is a Northamerican conspiracy to justifiying a militar intervention in whole Pacific Asian Coast. (The one vancun is made with fangs and spit of....werewolf. can you imagine the double problem now?).
Cuba: A changeling (race from Eberron) is the substitute of Fidel Castro when he dies by age. A day Raul Castro, his brother, kills him in front of multitud. The truth he isn´t the true Raul Castro but a warforged with the power of disguising like the changeling race (or T-1000 from Terminator 2, or the T-X from Terminator 3: the rise of machine).
Belarus: Alexander Lukashenko, their present president is mind controlled by a puppeteer (psionic parasite). Nobody knows Belarus is being governerd by a secret society of illithid/mind slayer by means of loyal pupeteers. (Lovecraft woul feel pride. Wouldn´t he?)
France: A great number of high member of Freemasonry are dissapearing. The main suspects are the member of a secret society founded by Vatican, the Saint Aliance. The truth is the freemason are a daywalker vampires. The Freemasonry is a cover to a secreter society with the goal of eradicating the Catholicism because its faith (holy sybol, piaus people) have the gifht or neutralizing their supenatural powers. There is a real Catholic society of vampire hunter, but they use blessed water from the springs of Sanctuary of Our Lady of Louder. (The sacred music is useful againts the unholy undead, like the Gregorian chant, the religious chirstmas songa, or the original soundtrack of the film the Passion of Christ (by Mel Gibson).
What does it happens if modern weapon appear in medieval-like setting like Ravenloft? (Oh, Strand Von Zarovich is here in the city! Don´t worry, get the mecha and I will ride the hoverbike to help you!!!).
In this timeline the Red Death was defeated by the Qabals sometime around World War I. Except that the Red Death left so many scars on the world itself, it's evil was never exorcised from the world. Groups such as the Final Church and Thule Society prospered on their own without the Red Death's influence. While the remnants of the Qabal joined with groups like the Templars, Rosicurians, and the new emerging Hoffman Institute.
The damage left be the Red Death left many holes in the planar fabric of Earth, letting things from beyond the Shadow able to enter the world. Skip to recent events, there's a phenomenon out there called Dark Matter by the Hoffman Institute that in some ways seems very close to the Red Death defeated by the Qabals from decades ago.
I have interest in the return of UA, and I think a TV show of this setting would be a great publicity (We only have to se transformer movie).
Clearly you've never seen the show Charmed, it's pretty much what a UA campign would be...if it were ran by the WB :P
You know, in most fantasy settings, regions are filled with great beauty and dastardly deeds both -- but the wicked deeds are not always foremost and forefront.
If D&D approaches the "modern world with magic" setting appropriately, then any prior history could be the situation. Any present history could be the situation.
One might imagine a reason for underground labyrinths that delve deep into the world and forbidden skyscrapers sizable sufficient to hold a hundred dragons. Elven flying saucer kingdoms and sahaugin submarines would also be possibilities. Political situations would be on the backburner because for milennia, devils and demons would be conniving to conquer the world and only great heroes could stop their machinations. Undead would be frequent foes of the living or the servants of evildoers.
What we would see then are nations as strongholds, politics as a reaction to incursions from the most powerful of monsters and villains. Yes, there would still be leisure, there would be common conveniences, and yes the Zulu would be a world power as great as Europe. No Soviet Union? Consider instead the descendents of Peter the Great, Attila, and Genghis as your allies! No US? Note that Spanish, Gaul, Dutch, and Camelot colonies are standing in East America while a real Hollywood Xanadu is under the Aegis of united Asian empires.
Beautiful interpetations such as these would work splendidly.
However, I suspect it might all work better not set on Earth but rather a new fantasy world, perhaps a single city that has spread over an entire globe with deep dungeons through the planet and skyscrapers rising past the clouds into the very stars.
I will see the return of Urban Arcana, I´m sure, but we have to wait some years. A new d20 Modern 2.0. would need a lot of playtesting, and now 4th Ed. takes up too attention.
It's a bit easier, I admit, to imagine a UA campaign set in an alternative of the existing world, but it is by no means necessary.
Dave
why not use typical D&D swords and sorcery pulp style.
[snip]
One might imagine a reason for underground labyrinths that delve deep into the world and forbidden skyscrapers sizable sufficient to hold a hundred dragons. Elven flying saucer kingdoms and sahaugin submarines would also be possibilities. [snip]
yes the Zulu would be a world power as great as Europe. No Soviet Union? Consider instead the descendents of Peter the Great, Attila, and Genghis as your allies! No US? Note that Spanish, Gaul, Dutch, and Camelot colonies are standing in East America while a real Hollywood Xanadu is under the Aegis of united Asian empires.
Beautiful interpetations such as these would work splendidly.
I like your conceptions.
Travis
Midle Orient is a land of Catholic-like people (well, my equivalent in muy campaign is named Cruxianism), you can imagine people with turban or Keffiyeh, but nothing of burqas at all, nor chador, hijab or niqab. Women only are covered to protecting herself from sun by own will, but there isn´t religious imposition, nor poligamy laws.
And they are "visited" (or coloniced) by a European-like religious comunity ruled by a "prophet" whos is a mixture of Napoleon, the pirate Francis Drake, Paul Astreides from Frank Herbert´s saga of Dune, Alexander the great, Ming the Merciless (from comics of Flash Gordon), Commander Cobra (from G.I.Joe action figures)....Barbarossa (the Otoman-Turkish privateer) and the present president of Iran, Mahmud Ahmadinejad (please, nobody did feel ofended).
I feel being inspired in the sci-fi TV show from 80s years "V".
The equivalent to Africa will be a tropical continet where the black men are the hegemonic civilation (a mixture of Ancient Egypt, India and Blackafrica) and the "savage" people are tribus of fictionals races like gnolls (and flinds, their warlord), lizardforlks, hobgoblins, wemic (lion-like centaurs)... A villain PnC will be a hobgoblin inspired in General Thade, from the Tim Barton´s Planet of Apes (2001) and Robert Mugabe, the present president of Zimbabwe. (I sure my intention never will be any racist or xenophobe subtext)
Chromatic dragons are dictators in lot of lands..(where, the Far West Empire will be by a bureaucracy of lungs/oriental dragons).
I like your conceptions.
Travis
It's from my campaign setting in construction called Magic America which has much in common with another campaign setting I'm working on called Europa Ea and a smaller setting called The Bridge of Heaven (set in Antarctica). It aims to be big and complex in scope yet with nice simplifications.
I loved UA and D20 Modern. Its all I DMed for a long time. My only complaint with UA was that it was TOO much like WoD. Just secret society hiding amongst and just beneath what we already know... Intriguing? Yes. But just too bland for my tastes. If I wanted to do that, Id play Vampire, Warewolf, or changling.
The vision for my home brew world similar to UA was to make "Shadow" Public knowledge. Everyone knows about it, everyone sees it. There is no hiding the visual evidence of a bugbear walking down the street... so here is my timeline in brief that I hand to my new players: (keep in mind I live in Corpus Christi TX and that is the primary setting of my world)
Post WWI and WWII: After the massive human life losses of WWI, Shadow Creatures make their first appearance in modern times. An Elf by the name of Shayloon Kando appeared one night outside of Paris France without explanation. Magic begins to function, though initial reports are sporadic and document random effects from arcane and divine efforts. Other appearances of Shadow races continued for the next few decades. After WWII and a series of nuclear tests/bombings in Japan, Shadow appearances intensified, and magic began to function on a much more regular and predictable basis.
The 50’s in the US: Segregation becomes quite extensive as blacks are fighting for more civil rights, so too are creatures of Shadow, and native practitioners of magic. Some acts are civilized and go far to promote the agenda of integration. Others are acts of extreme violence. Where the unregulated use of magic is used to destroy property and kill martyrs. Some Shadow Beings do not necessarily join forces with African Americans and fight for social acceptance independently. National organizations such as the KKK change their agenda to fight not just for White Power, but for Human Power over the Shadow Encroachment.
The 60’s in the US: The Hippie movement goes far to gain Shadow and Africans their civil rights. Magically enhanced illicit drugs make their first appearance in the world in the early 60’s, soon after Magic is explored for its potential healing possibilities. Vietnam heats up, and magic is first used in Earthly warfare in 1969.
1967: Congress passes the Shadow and Magic Regulation Act of 1967 (SMRA). The SMRA sets forth initial guide lines for the use of magic, rights of “Immigrant Shadow Races” It further included Shadow Races as protected under the Civil Rights act of 1964. Shortly after, Congress and the President create the Federal Shadow Administration (FSA). The FSA combines the jobs of both the CIA and FBI, in all matters of magic and Shadow.
The FSA: regulates Arcane Spells and their use; catalogues spells, keeps track of all users of magic, and all Shadow creatures (all non-natives, human or otherwise) Enforces Federal Law in maters of shadow and magic, and proposes new law recommendations to both the president and congress The FSA maintains local and independent field offices, to support city, county and state law enforcement where necessary. Most field offices function separately of the main office and are effectively considered local law enforcement agents with federal ties. Only the field director communicates or answers to the regional head offices. All local agents answer directly to the field director. However they are expected to enforce: Federal, State, County and City Law in their particular field area.
The 1970’s & 1980’s in the US. Magic and shadow gain wide levels of acceptance as both enter the workplace. Magic begins being used in construction, cinema, banking/securities, law enforcement, military and shipping. Hate crime levels toward shadow creatures sees steady decline. An explosion of shadow friendly non-profits make their way onto the scene to service the needs of the growing shadow population. Pope John Paul ridicules progressive countries, for making shadow and magic part of their own culture, other religious right leaders quickly jump on the Papal band wagon and declare that Humans and Christianity are God’s only “true design” and all others come from…. Elsewhere. University of Berkley institutes the first Arcane Major Curriculum.
The 1990’s and 2000’s in the US: Magic becomes highly mainstream. Ford Motor Cars introduces their first line of Magical Driven Automobile. Far too expensive to be practical, though it gains great acceptance as a fuel alternative. Catholic Church withdrawals comments of negative opinion about shadow creatures, but still shuns the use of magic. Other religious leaders continue to attack all things non earthly. Bob Stinbeck becomes head of the FSA, the first Shadow sympathizer to hold the office. His popularity is so great that George Bush keeps Bob Stinbeck in office to win shadow votes in his election and re-election bids.
Present Day: Director Stinbeck is head of FSA in Washington; his liberal policies about Shadow make things interesting around the White House and in Congress. Patricia Flanagan is the head of the local field office of the FSA, located at One Shoreline Plaza. Shadow tensions in Corpus are moderate to low and Corpus has a higher than average Shadow population. This is compounded by the fact that TAMUCC is only 1 of 2 universities in Texas where a person can study Arcane Arts and become a Federally Licensed spell caster.
Useing my home town has had many great advantages. I know the lay of the land. I know empoverished areas where low income shadow creatures are likely to congreate. I dont have to invent the local political figures, they are already fleshed out; all I have to do is guess what their stance on magic and shadow would be. I know the fundamentalist religous leaders who would work to subvert all things SHADOW, and I know the people and pagans who would work to support it. I know my local industries and incorporate that into the storylines. I know the local bars where the PCs are likely to go. The list goes on and on.... but you should get the idea by now...
what do yall think?
There was some rumour that the D20 Modern Setting, Urban Arcana, might be getting considered for a D&D 4e setting...
Could be an interesting idea, if they give it more exposure and ways to play seamlessly in 4e rather than porting 3e to D20 Modern like they did before.
I actually liked the idea of D&D races living in the modern world, hidden from the eyes of mundanes because their minds can't conceive of such creatures. Sort of like D&D meets White Wolf's World of Darkness.
But such a campaign setting could lead to bad possibilities if it ever crossed over with other settings. But then again, you could have Ash from Army of Darkness waving his "boomstick" around.
With all due respect to posters here, I hope the rumor is groundless.
If [smallcaps]Urban Arcana[/smallcaps] becomes a 4e setting, it would be a severe setback to d20 Modern. Granted, it was not well-received in the beginning but people are accepting it as time goes on.
And if you're interested in the idea of fantasy races living in the modern world, what are you waiting for? Set aside you misgiving of d20 Modern and play it with the UA book.
The rift, dubbed the "Hellstorm", spewed magic out into the world and fantastic beings came through the portal and the radiant magical energies caused "mutations" in many creatures (including humans) in the area. Their setting goes into fantastic and fun detail describing things like Oz Particles (ie. the stuff of mana), Depleted Necronium Bullets, and suchnot. If I ever get around to running a UA type campaign I think I'd use that as a fantastic variant setting.
Guess it is a good viable explination then. LOL
I dont like the whole paralell world concept, because I have ruled that there is no way for anyone to cross from here to there, and its a complete mystery why it is one way only. and I have NO intention of changing that, I dont want my players just jumping worlds. Plus with the added inconvenience of Shadow creatures/races being stuck here it adds all kinds of social strife. Illegall immigration, hate groups, non-profit shadow assistance orgnizations, Government funded agencies (and all the politics that go with it)... You get the idea
Also, in accordance with the spells, It is obvious that magic can controll or affect technology. So Technology can do the same as magic... I explain this by ruling that magic works/emits certan wave lengths that is generally harmless to humans, This can be detected via specially calibrated Geiger Meeters, and canceled by wave emmitting devices (too bulky to be carried by a person) also there are weaponized versions of this technology for instantanous burst effects (replicates dispell magic) most such weapons are genearlly illegal (cept my lawenforcement and military) but then again, so are the vast majority of damage causing spells with out permits and licenses.
Spells that are overly offensive are illegal (fireball, lightening bolt, etc...) Magic missle is permit required, spells that only have nefarious illegal use are likewise illegal to own.
Spell casters of any class are required to register with the government, allong with any spells capable of being cast. Divine casters are expected to adheare to federal laws concerning the use of offensive spells.
spells that are illegeal can be possessed by collectors, academics, researchers etc..... with extensive background checks and expensive permits (think modern gun laws)...
(I dont do Psions in my game EVER)
any other ideas suggestions, people?
That world didn't have fantastic races as 'creatures of shadow' but rather being born as a result of "mutations" from the Hellstorm. Basically it was just a spin on the old "people got transformed" gimmick FASA used in Shadowrun. Of course if you wanted to keep the idea of creatures of shadow coming across you could either do a blend of the two effects (ie. some elves are born "mutants" and others are from shadow) or just do one or the other.
Going with the standard "shadow beings" explanation in a "known magic" setting would probably give you an effect not untirely unlike the setting for the movie/series "Alien Nation". Could be interesting either way.