The Campaign Builder's Guild

Would anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic?

Kinda like Shadowrun but not.

Anyone?

To make this a little bit more clear, I'm thinking about a setting where we combine magic users (priests, mages, etc) with high class technology (bionics, weaponry, star ships maybe)for now I'm going to call it Magic Punk, (a play off of cyber punk) whether or not this will be similar to cyber punk or not I haven't decided yet. All I want to know, is there anyone interested in reading about this, and are there any suggestions of requests?

Quote from: GnomemasterWould anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic?

Kinda like Shadowrun but not.

Anyone?

What's wrong with Shadowrun? :?:

I don't know if it has magic, but this is a d20 cyberpunk setting. Given the highly modular nature of the d20 system, one could easily incorporate magic. ;)

Quote from: GnomemasterTo make this a little bit more clear, I'm thinking about a setting where we combine magic users (priests, mages, etc) with high class technology (bionics, weaponry, star ships maybe)for now I'm going to call it Magic Punk, (a play off of cyber punk) whether or not this will be similar to cyber punk or not I haven't decided yet. All I want to know, is there anyone interested in reading about this, and are there any suggestions of requests?

(Took me too long to dig out that link. :-| )

If you're looking at a system that uses the "normal" classes but adds technology and stuff onto it, what do you think about DragonStar?

I will tell you exactly why I will only use those sources (DragonStar and Shadowrun) for inspiration and not just play them. Because that's not what we are about, we are about creation not just using what is tossed at us by companies. Thank you though, that dragonstar site is almost exactly what i was talking about.

...Almost.

Quote from: GnomemasterTo make this a little bit more clear, I'm thinking about a setting where we combine magic users (priests, mages, etc) with high class technology (bionics, weaponry, star ships maybe)for now I'm going to call it Magic Punk, (a play off of cyber punk) whether or not this will be similar to cyber punk or not I haven't decided yet. All I want to know, is there anyone interested in reading about this, and are there any suggestions of requests?

It's a good idea, with a really bad name. Now, don't take what I just said to be a reflection upon you. it is not meant as an insult of any kind . But the name magic puck just doesn't have a nice ring to it. If I may make a suggestion about the name, i have been working on this type of stuff for a few years now and I have been calling my work techno-fantasy, you are free to use that name if you wish, for your work. But the name of a work or body of works, should give the indication of the elements that the work contains, again that is just my opinion. I just wanted to throw my two cents in.

But we're also not about reinventing the wheel at every opportunity. ;)

If you have any other suggestions or inspirations regarding that topic (and there is much to discuss, I think...), by all means, let me hear it.

:D

Quote from: Ra-TielBut we're also not about reinventing the wheel at every opportunity. ;)

Ah, welcome to the CBG. You must be new here?

[spoiler=Kidding!]Seriously, though, we reinvent the wheel constantly 'round these here parts, whether we really need to or not. And I don't think that's a bad thing. In fact, it would be a totally awesome thing if any of the reinventions ever actually got completed. :)

Which reminds me... I should probably work on Triad System a bit.[/spoiler]

QuoteWhich reminds me... I should probably work on Triad System a bit.

Yeah, you darn well should!

On a more relevant note, I'd certainly be interested in such a setting, and the more it's less like Shadowrun, the better.

Quote from: GnomemasterWould anyone be interested in a setting that combines futuristic cyberpunk with magic?

Of course! They're my favorite type of setting. Someone mentioned "techno-fantasy." I've been throwing round the term sci-fantasy myself. A bit of semantics I know, but techno infers recognizable technology to me, so it may work for you. With sci-fantasy I see a setting with advanced gadgets that evolve out of rational magic use. Wands instead of guns, magic plate armor instead of power armor, etc.

Are you going to have psionic flavor, or is it going to be predominantly arcane?

Well, I guess some of the ideas I am going to work on tonight (and I will start an actual thread for this since I am getting good vibes) are:
 

In this universe characters take control of heroes who can wield magical weapons and faster than light starships powered by magic.

There are going to be several powerful factions, but some of the major groups include the Empire of Man, The Alliance (a collection of alien zealots), and the Warped (demon worshiping raiders) to name a few.

Magical guns, magical star ships, robot characters, and chainsaw swords. Need I say more?

Some of my inspirations include  

Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune, and Warhammer 40,000.  [/list]

This is not Techno-fantasy, actually I see it more like Science Fantasy. It Combines themes from both, it is a mash up of galactic proportions.  

You will see some more later. Let me know what you think of this.

The Nomad rocked hard as missiles exploded against its shields. Aroton's knuckles were white from the death grip he had around the arms of his chair, sparks flew from the nearest console as the ship rocked again.

'Shields are down to 32%' the tactician wizard barked in between chants, his Staff of Shielding was shimmering with arcane might as he tried to repair the damage. Blood trickled from his nose as the mage strained to raise the shields. The ship began to whine as it shuddered violently; the mage fell back into a coma.

'Gods save us!' Aroton shouted. 'How soon until we can make the jump to warp speed?' Artoton turned to Siron who was kneeling on the ground before a small engine shrine clutching his small holy symbol.

'It will take a minute; Vanic must plot our course lest we fly into an asteroid or planet.'

'Well pray harder damnit! The Raiders are coming!' as soon as the words had left his mouth, a deep thud sounded above the bridge. A cutting laser slice through the bulkhead and opened a 4 foot hole. A landing pod had attached itself and formed a magnetic lock, and from within the pod the Raider leapt down. His skin was white a sickly and his teeth had been sharpened with a file resembling the mouth of a lamprey.

In his hand was a chainsaw sword still wet with the gore of a kill, a heavy blaster was in his other hand. He swung his blade at the closest target, a young junior officer, and squeezed the trigger of the weapon. The loud engine drowned out the screams as blood and guts splattered across the deck. That was all the time Aroton needed to activated his personal shield and leap at the intruder. Plasma blasts launched from the raider's pistol and were absorbed harmlessly by Aroton's shield. The captain tackled the Raider and knocked the behemoth over, sending the firearm sailing. The chainsaw was brought down on the captain's shield, causing it to shimmer with strain. Aroton wrestled the blade from the raider's hands and raised it high.

'Do it.' The raider's voice was deep and oily; it made Aroton's flesh crawl. He brought the chainsaw down on the raider's head and pulled the trigger, praying brains and skull fragments all over his chair and uniform. Aroton could feel the ship make the jump to warp speed and he sighed with relief, praying to Vanic quietly.

'Praise to Vanic.' The chaplain breathed as he rose to his feet. 'The god of star travel has truly blessed us this day.' Aroton stared hard at the gore covered weapon in his hands, it whispered dark thoughts into his mind.

Kill the crew.

Aroton dropped the weapon to the bulkhead and shook his head. 'Send this thing and it's belongings out an airlock, it will not taint my ship.' Aroton rose as a few of his men dragged the body away. 'Set a course for the Phosta system.'

You mentioned shields. Well, alone there are several options you'd have to consider.

Option 1
Do shields function like in revised d20 SW, where you have a separate pool of "shields points" that refresh with time?
+: easy mechanic, sort of "realistic" where several weaker weapons can wear down even a powerful shield system
-: bookkeeping, shields effectively worthless when under fire from multiple enemies unless you have a rediculous amount of shield points

Option 2
Or do shields merely add a "shield bonus" to the ship's AC/defense like in DragonStar?
+: very easy mechanic, no additional bookkeeping required
-: "unrealistic", impossible to wear down the shield with continuous fire, either on or off

Option 3
Or do shields grant DR/hardness to the ship like with the droid shields in revised d20 SW?
+: quite easy mechanic, no additional bookkeeping required
-: effectiveness depends on enemy weapons, if enemy has weak weapons shields are "teh uber", if enemy has strong weapons shields are more or less worthless, also impossible to wear down with weaker weapons

Then you mentioned FTL travel. Also, there are countless possibilities that affect the flavor and theme of your setting.

Option 1
Can ships move at FTL speed from anywhere, like in SW and ST? If so, do they need to wait for a computer to plot a course (SW) or can they simply "make it so" ( ;) )?
+: characters are free to move as they wish, "random encounters" are possible
-: hard for the DM to motivate characters to follow a certain path if they don't want to, possibly avoiding important plot hooks or evens as they literally "fly around them", can require added mechanics for plotting the course

Option 2
Do ships require a special gate system to travel at FTL speeds, similar to B5, Fading Suns, or Freelancer? If so, is travel only from gate to gate, or can they move anywhere with this technology?
+: easy travelling, potentially less dangerous, DM can easily put storyelements into the characters' way
-: limited freedom of movement, limited possibilities for "random encounters"

Option 3
Does FTL travel take place in normal space (ST) or in some sort of "hyperspace" (SW, B5)? If so, is this other dimension save to navigate (SW) or are there potential hazards like getting lost (B5) or radiation poisoning? Can this space be entered from anywhere (SW) or does it require special "jumppoints" or "jumpgates" (B5)?
+: additional storyelement ("saving lost ship", "invaders from other dimension", etc), allows for "random encounters"
-: requires additional mechanics for moving and navigating in other space, possibly too dangerous for low-level/low-equip characters

Option 4
Is FTL travel [almost] instant (SG) or does even travelling by wormhole take quite a long time (Blue Planet)? If it is instant, does it have any negative consequences, like eg aging the travellers, giving them a radioation poisoning? If it takes time, does it require the travellers to enter some sort of cryostasis (Lost in Space, Blue Planet), or can the crew and passengers be awake during the journey?
+: if instant, easy way to travel around, no time lost to moving from A to B, little break in the action
-: if stasis required, possibly long breaks and downtime (in Blue Planet making the journey from Earth to the other world takes with all pre- and postflight processing included almost a whole year!)

I hope you see it's not that easy to come up with the mechanics for a cyperpunkspacefantasy setting. Each of the above options, while being thematically and mechanically more or less related, substantionally alter the settings flair. ;)

I never said it would be easy, but to address some of your questions:

1. I prefer the wear down your shields method. In my opinion, that is the way to go (like Star Trek). Shields are controlled by wizards who cast spells similar to Mage Armor, this is just one of the many ways a wizards can upgrade and enchant a spaceship.

2. FTL is brought to you thanks to Vanic, god of star travel. Priests pray to Vanic, who blesses the priest with navigational skills as well as the ability to travel faster than light speed. If you remember, it is impossible to go faster than the speed of light. So there fore, without having to use a whole bunch of technobabble about subspace and so on, I use the idea of magic. Vanic allows humans to travel faster than the speed of light. Every ship has at least one wizard or priest. I see these characters as being able to upgrade weapons, vehicles (both ground vehicles and starships) etc.  

For now I am going to say that these ships are traveling through normal space, the only thing saving them from crashing into each other is the holy might of Vanic, only a powerful omnipotent god could keep track of billions of starships in the universe.