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Magic & Technology (In need of your advice please.)

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:52 pm
by Naleax
I'm running a C&C Swords & Sorcery themed sandbox campaign for my Friday night crew. (Players please stop reading now.)

The campaign takes place in my home brew milieu and I've already added a science/fiction - technology feel to an area of the sandbox that was briefly touched on before the players took the game in a different direction.

I've been thinking about adding another location in the sandbox that shows a similar influence of alien technology, where the PCs may encounter the bizarre, but this time the technology will be wielded by primitive descendent's of an alien space faring race.

Does anyone have experience with C&C or D&D type campaigns that mix the two genres and can offer up any advice, or know of any web or published material I can glean ideas from?

I'm considering the possibility that PCs may carry away technology. Specifically, I would like some advice on how this may impact the world and future adventures. Obviously a PC carrying a ray gun or some other form of advanced technology is out of the ordinary in a fantasy/swords & sorcery campaign and will have an edge against the primitive medieval technology common throughout the world.

Any advice or product referals would be greatly appreciated. Especially any sci/fi rules supplements that would merge easily with C&C

Naleax

p.s Is star siege compatible with C&C, can elements of that game be easily merged with C&C rules for the purpose of merging sci/fi with fantasy?

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:16 pm
by Joe
Sounds like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. You can at least lift ideas if not run the module as written.

Your welcome to borrow mine if you don't already have one.
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 8:42 pm
by Naleax
Joe wrote:
Sounds like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. You can at least lift ideas if not run the module as written.

Your welcome to borrow mine if you don't already have one.

Thanks Joe. I think I have a copy of that module i'll check and make sure tonight.

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:28 pm
by Traveller
Expedition is probably the best in regards to knowing what to do with the technology. But I can say it in one word.

Blackmoor.
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:00 am
by Relaxo
Expedition to the barrier peaks for the win.

FUN FUN FUN module.

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:05 am
by CKDad
Long, long ago in a high school not so far away, my DM introduced us to a tribe of orcs dressed in loose black clothing, wearing conical reed hats and sandals with soles made from a firm-yet-flexible black material, wielding strange objects which spat flame and killed from a distance. Sadly, the brain cells holding the details of how that worked perished in a haze of Jack Daniels and/or Captain Morgan in the 80s.
I do recall an article in the Dragon sometime in the early 80s about a DM that landed a Traveller group into what turned out to be a D&D world. He had issues scaling the effects of weaponry appropriately, as I recall them dispatching progressively tougher monsters from a bandit gang up to a fully-grown blue dragon without difficulty - at least until the ammo ran out.

On a more mundane note, if you have access to the first Best of the Dragon volume, there's a nice article about a combined Tractics/fantasy miniatures game (what was the TSR mini game made for D&D called?) in which a German patrol entered a strange area only to encounter an evil high priest and his minions. It included rules for integrating the the effects of WWII-era weapons and magical effects. (The image of the flaming chunks of post-Panzerfaust troll has stayed with me for decades!) While not exactly what you're looking for, it might give you some points of inspiration.

There's some links to merging Classic Traveller with D&D over at the Citizens of the Imperium forum if you're interested.
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:14 am
by serleran
I'll sum it up in one word, too, Traveller: Arduin.
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 1:46 am
by Traveller
Yeah, that's another good one.
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:48 pm
by Joe
Thats two words though. and aren't those gaming artifacts of extreme rarity?

Theres also Modern Weapons or something like that. I got it a few years back in the heyday of d20 glut.

Basically the weapons boiled down to so many dice of damage. I was not impressed. With the results but it made me realize, if you want to keep it simple and balanced, you will be looking at the same sort of thing.

Realism really isn't there in my opinion, but does it need to be? Trust me, If I swing a broadsword down on you, or if I shoot you point blank with a hollowpoint .45 the real damage is going to be much more devastating than 2d6.

My suggestion is scrap the concept of "realism" right now and just go for science fantasy.

I also have a Goodman Games module I cannot remember the name of but it has aspace ship that crashed on a fantasy world. Not as classic as barrier Peaks, but may have something you can lift.

Years ago we did some sort of planeshifting type game. We had a colt 223 automatic rifle that became...

A wand of automatic missile fire!

Kicks a$$ until the clip...err charges run out.
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:15 pm
by Treebore
There is a lot of 3E Blackmoor that can be found on the cheap. At least it was cheap when I found it and bought them up. Zeitgeist games produced them, I believe.

As for Arduin a new grand tome compilation has been recently released, and if I didn't already own several copies of everything I would buy this one too.

Edit:
http://empcho.bizhosting.com/arduin_eternal.html

Realize you actually get two books for that price.

Blackmoor 3E:
http://www.nobleknight.com/ViewProducts ... _GenreID_E
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:06 pm
by Naleax
Thank you everyone!

I have all the Dragon's from 46 up in hard copy and the Dragon Magazine Archive so i'll look for those articles CKDad mentioned.
Quote:
Expedition is probably the best in regards to knowing what to do with the technology. But I can say it in one word.

Blackmoor.

I don't own any new Blackmoor stuff but i do own all four of the DA series modules from primordial times. Are those the ones you are referring to Traveller?
Quote:
I'll sum it up in one word, too, Traveller: Arduin.
Quote:
As for Arduin a new grand tome compilation has been recently released, and if I didn't already own several copies of everything I would buy this one too.

As much as i would like to reference Arduin, I don't own the books and would have no idea which one to purchase over at Emperor's Choice Games. Woo Arduin Eternal is expensive to, but that looks really cool?

Thanks for all the cool suggestions i have a lot of researching to do.

Naleax

Judges Guild?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:08 pm
by Naleax
I seem to recall Judges Guilds New Wilderland Products from old had some sorcery and science, with the Markrab and other space faring alien races. Does anyone know if any product put out by Judges Guild had magic and technology?

Naleax

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:28 pm
by serleran
First Fantasy Campaign, which is Blackmoor by another name.

There are also several games that combine the two, such as Magic and Machineguns.

Another thing, if you can find it, the module The Keep by Mayfair. It is AD&D, involves time travel and lots of magic... and there is plenty of technology. There are a few other modules that mix the two as well, but I would recommend checking out any Gamma World modules as one can easily replace the mutations with spell-like abilities.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:32 pm
by koralas
Another way you can take it also would be with the 1st/2nd/4th Edition Gamma World rules, or the d20 Gamma World stuff if you can't get/don't have the early TSR GW. Also, the Mutant Future rules from Goblinoid Games is a retro clone of 1st Ed. Gamma World. http://goblinoidgames.com/mutantfuture.html

Just realize that the TSR GW will bring with it high lethality with the higher end weapons. I mean a laser pistol does 5d6, a blaster (pistol) 7d6 damage. Slug throwers do quite a bit less damage, from 1-3d6, derringer to a .38 special, and a .45 magnum.

d20 Modern/Future/Gamma World would be a good source, you can get the GW books from RPGNow at 1/2 price. http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=262

And don't forget to take a look at StarSIEGE. While not 100% compatible, you could convert over most of what is there fairly easily.

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 1:23 am
by anglefish
On a personal note, I introduced "spellware" from DragonStar in a game of mine. You can't use magical items when they are magical cyber implants. (Spellware made the user pay the XP cost and it took up a slot)

d20 modern might be a place to look into melding tech and magic.