Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mrdoobie Aug 03, 2009 22:01:23	So my one friend became interested in playing a semi-futuristic version of D&D, however, he was not very pleased with the d20 Modern Campaign settings. He wanted something a bit campier, grungier, dirtier, more cyberpunk, and so, using the core 3.5 D&D rules as a base, we began creating our own campaign setting. Our inspirations for this setting lie in both post-apocalyptic B-Movies, and dystopian sci-fi, my friend (who's DMing the first campaign in this setting) also added in a dash of Repo! The Genetic Opera for good measure. Setting: It is the near future, and our characters began the game along the coast, which is a massive, industrialized dystopia with barely an inch of green. The gap between the rich and the poor is wide, as displayed by the pseudo-mercenary companies called "Streetsweepers" employed by the rich to keep the poor and unfavorable out of their sections of town. Currently, our characters are in an as-yet unnamed city, and we've started in the poorest section of town, called "Cheapside", where drugs and cheap sex are rampant, and the hub of all this is "The Old Cabaret", a bar and inn inside a, you guessed it, old cabaret building. It has become the latest fashion for the very rich to get many surgeries and operations which gift them with longer life-spans and improved physical and mental operations. Oftentimes, in order to continue looking natural, these operations are transplants, and so, to get their surgery fix, those who indulge in this trend often pay the poor to be willing donors. In response to this fashion, a new counterculture movement has arisen, "the Modders", who get purposefully grotesque mechanical implants in mockery of the trend. Worldbuilding is still being done, a lot of this is being invented on the fly, we're really just doing this for fun... Classes Smuggler - Only very slightly modified rogue. Smugglers very often act as drug and organ runners. Soldier - Fighter. Raver - Based on barbarian, though changed very heavily, ravers are those that spend their nights partying, driven by large amounts of amphetamines. Among other abilities, a Ravers most valuable attribute is the increased benefits they gain from drug use, especially uppers. Modder - The counterculture movement described above, Modders replace existing body parts with mechanical implements, gaining benefits from them. Rockerboy/Riot Grrl - Bard. Only instead of arcane spells they gain the skill progression of a Rogue. Mechanic - Like a wizard, only instead of spells, they merely craft really cool gadgets. Actual arcanists are rare in this campaign setting and are not available for PCs. Other classes in development... Races Thus far, we've only really introduced humans and creepers (ghouls) as playable races, though the other races are still in development... The Party Thus Far... Saxon - A level 3 CN human smuggler, Saxon is steadily working his way up as a drug and organ runner for Nikolai, a mysterious Bavarian modder. Maggot - A CN level 1 rockerboy/level 1 modder/level 1 creeper, Maggot (real name Nigel) is a second rate punk rocker performing in a band called "Maggot Love" (based off the Sex Pistols, Maggot is based off of Sid Vicious). Maggot is a fierce member of both the punk and modder subculture, and is very proud of his undead nature. As one tattoo on his back reads, "DEAD IS THE NEW ALIVE". Cocoa - The Nancy to Maggot's Sid, Cocoa is a CN level 3 human raver, a major drug addict (she also got Maggot into the stuff), and a groupie for Maggot Love, Cocoa has fallen hard for Maggot, and is determined to follow him wherever. The two are not yet officially a couple, though that may soon change. Comments, questions, suggestions?
#2 pyromancer999 Aug 05, 2009 17:17:04	This is the 4e forums. If you have anything concerning 3.5e, or other previous editions, you should put it in the Classes & Class Features forums.
#3 zackblack Aug 05, 2009 18:29:41	The game system you are looking for is called shadowrun. It's cyberpunk with all the fantastic creatures and magic of D&D. Much simpler than trying to homebrew D&D into something it was never meant to be.
#4 Cyvaris Aug 05, 2009 20:56:00	I hate when my ideas for literature a stolen so easily, (tin foil hat away). By the way I hate that all futureistic/cyberpunky ideas all get the stygima of being ripoffs of shadowrun.
#5 protosswarrior Aug 05, 2009 23:10:36	Well, if you're willing to learn the system, you might want to take a look at GURPS. Basically the system works like this: you have a core set of books that offer a little bit of everything (standard fantasy, historical, sci-fi, superhero, psionics, etc) with expansion books going into more detail for specific fields. In addition, the way in which the system is designed means that you can literally make almost any character you could possibly want. *I'd like to take this time to apologize in advance if this post ends up opening a can of worms.
#6 mrdoobie Aug 12, 2009 12:18:06	The game system you are looking for is called shadowrun. It's cyberpunk with all the fantastic creatures and magic of D&D. Much simpler than trying to homebrew D&D into something it was never meant to be. What's so wrong with homebrewing D&D into a Cyberpunk campaign? D&D is supposed to be fun, and if we're having fun, what's so wrong with that?
#7 squidyak Aug 13, 2009 5:05:41	What's so wrong with homebrewing D&D into a Cyberpunk campaign? D&D is supposed to be fun, and if we're having fun, what's so wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, I think that was actually more of a helpful suggestion than criticism. Star Wars D20 (not Saga) actually might have some classes that'd fit in well. The Fringer, Scoundrel, and Noble (social elite) especially.
#8 gorditobandito Aug 13, 2009 12:37:39	My only advice, and it seems like you are at least moderately already doing this, is that reflavoring goes a long way. you don't need to reinvent the wheel when you can just dress it up as a hovercar ;). As for playing other games, if D20 label (3.5, star wars, 20 modern etc.) is your favorite game then by all means play it. But I think looking at these other games is a good idea, you might like the game itself more or at the very least, walk away with some cool ideas. Anyways, good luck, its a pretty rad premise
#9 Ka_D-Argo Aug 13, 2009 16:47:17	I hate when my ideas for literature a stolen so easily, (tin foil hat away). By the way I hate that all futureistic/cyberpunky ideas all get the stygima of being ripoffs of shadowrun. Had to look it up to be sure, but interesting to note... Cyberpunk came out before Shadowrun yet, like you say. It seems that Cyberpunk is often considered an offshoot of Shadowrun (which I thought it was, as I was introduced to it after a Shadowrun game).
#10 talaxar Aug 14, 2009 17:23:05	Shadowrun is the king of old-school cyberpunk (thats the genre), but its rules were horrid. We always hashed it up as a d20 game, and loved every minute. I have my own cyberpunk world as well. Inspired by shadowrun, star wars, and the original works of William Gibson the man who coined the phrase cyberspace. Mine is 4 edition though, so if anybody's interested I can explain it. It's not finished, but it is all original and exciting.
#11 brokenjade Aug 28, 2009 15:39:29	hell yeah I am always interested in hearing others take on the Fantasy Cyberpunk genres