Forgotten Realms:Modern

Nekulor · Post by **Nekulor** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:01 am

So, I was in the shower and this idea came to me. What if we fast forwarded the FR universe 2000+ years into the future? How would it look? What would have changed? Stayed the same? The idea hit me that one could create a cyber-punkish or steam punk version of the FR universe. A world where magic and technology meet, meld and complement each other. In a cyber punk FR, the gnomes would be building AI constructs made of typical FR resources (think electronic golems or electronic warforged). The Drow, with their paranoid schizophrenic socio-economic hierarchy would evolve into a highly technical society of religious fanatics. Using their technology, they would sow discord and strife in the Underdark and on the surface with techno-propaganda campaigns to inspire fear. Lightweight organic armor would shield them from sunlight and augment their physical capabilities.

I'm thinking of writing a few stories in this modernized universe just to test the waters a bit. I know some of you will think it isn't a good idea, but I'll do my best to logically advance the FR canon without making it too sensationalist. Realistic high magic fantasy in a modern setting would be my goal with this little experiment. If it doesn't work, I'll forget the whole thing.

Thoughts?

Sandermann · Post by **Sandermann** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:33 am

I think if you look back 2000 years in Toril's history, you'll find it pretty much the same as the current "137x" setting, or 5,000, or even 10,000. Borders come and go and some races wax and wane, but its still swords and axes and armour and magic.

Id extrapolate that access to such high "magic" stagnates technological development, so you'd never get steampunk, or lasers, or giant mecha ninja robots. If the best minds are all concentrated on the next new spell, then whos gonna think about inventing the internal combustion engine. If you can teleport across the world then youre going to look for ways to make that ability easier and more accessible, not invent powered flight. If you can throw a fireball powerfull enough to knock down a castle wall, who needs artillery?

But in the end, the golden rules applies: "It's your world"*

*unless of course you're doing anything that makes a profit, then its most definately the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast

Brokenbone · Post by **Brokenbone** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:40 pm

There's plenty of interesting steampunkish settings to read up on to get your inspiration. Good example which I'm still meaning to play, is Iron Kingdoms ( http://www.privateerpress.com/ironkingdoms/default.php )

Sure there's a ton of rules on all the "new stuff" which is mostly mechanical and firearms related, but maybe it'd give you inspiration for your homebrew "advanced FR."

Or maybe you'll just discover a new setting and try that out, heh. Gobbers with jumbo wrenches cursing and beating at at mechanika to make 'em work, stuff like that.

HATEFACE · Post by **HATEFACE** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:55 pm

I had an idea like this a while back. I was building a d20 modern module about Maztica a.k.a. Anchorome continent being the Faerunian modern day equivalent to America founded by Waterdeep, Amn, Tethyr and Neverwinter but later rebelled against their ruling states and united. I wanted the players to be associated with a group that is under the jurisdiction of something similiar to the department of homeland security that has to deal with ancient evils and lore left over from "present day" Faerun. The gods would have remained the same except I did a one-eighty with the drow. They reclaimed the surface and are equal to "present day" elves. Ellistraee is the head goddess a new Drow Seladrine consisting of new drow deties. Lloth is still around but more cultish. The dwarf, halfling, gnome, & human dieties are not fudged with. The current Seladrine elves became the reclusive ones after the butthurt they recieved over deforestation and retreated to Evermeet permanently not to mention they're technophobic and a semi terrorist state using magic to accomplish their goals. Its like PETA except they don't apply their ethics to humans or anyone else for that matter. Did I mention they eat other humanoid races and now freely mix their blood creating Fey'ri?

The Lords Alliance is more like the U.N. (doesn't accomplish jack.)

Some bad guys would be Calimshan and Evermeet, but Calimshan participates with the Lords alliance though the Pasha often double-talks.

I wanted something like the x-files but with terrorism, internal state strife, magic vs technology (sorta like acanum), and torture. The group would have government oversight that they would have to deal with. (like x-files)

The group can act in any means necessary to accomplish its goals but will accept the consiquences of their actions.

Nalo Jade · Post by **Nalo Jade** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:06 pm

Sanderman has a good point.

If you are gonna use logic to show the advance of technology, then it would seem to fit that the major advancements in tech would be the obvious Gnomes, and then any race that has limited magical means...

Orcs?
Dwarves?

I doubt any Elvish civilization (even the Drow) would use Tech.

Barbarians?

however if Magic died for say 2000 years then all the races would be forced into developing tech, When Magic returns after 2000 years tech would be too established to fade.

White Warlock · Post by **White Warlock** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:50 pm

The old argument, which was repeated in the Planescape writings, was that the 'laws of physics' in this universe is minutely different, creating fundamental changes in genetics, energies, and even life/death.

Nekulor · Post by **Nekulor** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:01 am

White Warlock, is there enough canon on the "Science of FR" to pull together and make a coherent canon future where tech expansion has led to a magic/technological fusion?

Xzan · Post by **Xzan** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:44 am

It may not be forgotten Realms, but Shadow Run is a good future based PnP that used the same races and such in a modern world with moder weapons. check into it for some ideas

White Warlock · Post by **White Warlock** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:42 am

Unfortunately no Nekulor. But, Xzan is correct. Shadowrun is an excellent example of what FR may look like in the future. It was a very popular next generation rpg, and there is still a strong fanbase.

Zelknolf · Post by **Zelknolf** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:14 pm

Might be tricky to convert between the "fistful of d6s" system of Shadowrun and the "d20 (and a fistful of d6s)" system of D&D, mechanics wise, but I think there're some good ideas there if you're willing to tackle the "how would these ideas work together?" question.

That said, most of Shadowrun is poached pretty shamelessly from William Gibson (especially Neuromancer, bein' that the book more or less defined the intellectual half of cyberpunk for us, and then Burning Crome and Johnny Mnemonic because we ended up with that quirky Gibson fanboism of the late 80's/early 90's, also when Shadowrun was rampaging through versions and revisions, probably not by coincidence) -- might make for some good reads, which I'd reccomend over Shadowrun (save for Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, which are pretty overtly in a different genre... ya might still like 'em, but they'll be horribly off topic.)

Xzan · Post by **Xzan** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:13 pm

Sorry for the double post, had a internet malfunction

Xzan · Post by **Xzan** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:15 pm

The change over probably wouldn't be as hard, considering there are many D20 moder supplements books available to convert the D20 system to such a futuristic system. Also they are good references

Nekulor wrote:I'm thinking of writing a few stories in this modernized universe just to test the waters a bit. I know some of you will think it isn't a good idea, but I'll do my best to logically advance the FR canon without making it too sensationalist. Realistic high magic fantasy in a modern setting would be my goal with this little experiment. If it doesn't work, I'll forget the whole thing.Thoughts?

If you run into any problems and want some ideas, im all game, send me a PM id be happee to help

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:51 pm

D20 Modern with all its supplements has modern gear, magic and monsters. That would probably be the best place to start.

Or, forget about converting and just play Shadowrun.

/Always wanted to do a "Steampunk Shadowrun" - magic and tech, but the tech and society would be pseudo-victorian/georgian. Not unlike deadlands or Castle Falkenstien (two very nice RPGs set in that perioud with magic and steam-tech) but concentrating more on the dark underbelly of victorian society, drawing inspiration from such sources as Gallows Thief (Bernard Cornwell) and The Great Train Robbery (Michael Crichton).

Mikayla · Post by **Mikayla** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:04 pm

The D20 book Urban Arcana was basically designed around the concept of "modern world" meets classic "D&D world" - the drow examples were (1) a chick with prestige/advance class of "Speed Demon" who rode sport-bikes, and (2) a powerful drow matriarch running a global media company. And of course, there were many other interesting examples (a mind-flayer mob boss, the now-iconic gnoll pimp, bugbear cops, etc.)

I started down this path a few years ago when I was putting together my "2090" game (a fantasy-future game). Ultimately, I set it in a fantasy version of Earth (New Orleans and San Francisco to be exact) but originally it was set in Waterdeep in the 2300s. I called it "Future Realms" instead of "Forgotten Realms." But basically, all the info you need is in D20 Modern and Urban Arcana. Unfortunately, they don't really support those products anymore, but they are a great start. I was an absolutely avid Shadowrun player in the 90s (its all we did in the Army in our spare time) and its got the right mix (magic, fantasy races, hi-tech) but I just could not get my head to accept Shadowrun rules in a D&D world, so I left it behind - when I finally made the move from "Future Realms" to earth, I was already too deep in planning/preparation to move from D20 to "fistful of D6s" as one person said. C'est la vie.

It was fun though - my favorite moments? The running gun battle that took place on a train - the PCs were on the train ... the mutant biker gang was on the high way next to the train .. and the fiendish tyranasourous rex (straight out of the D&D minis game) was on the other side of the train. Assault Rifles .. shotguns .. cars .. trains .. dinosaurs .. magic .. what more could you ask for?

ThinkTank · Post by **ThinkTank** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:32 pm

Why were you thinking about FR in the shower?