Tech Level?

I am thinking the base tech level will be modern. No lasers. No spaceships. No light sabres. Just Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane.

RE: Magically enhanced technology.

The way I am going to run this in my game will be similar in a way to D&D. Enchanting an item is not terribly difficult - however like in D&D - only Masterwork items can be enchanted.

The caveat here is obvious - mass-produced items such as guns, computers, cars etc can't possibly be of masterwork quality if they are mass-produced on an assembly line or in a factory. The level of craftmanship required for a masterwork item is considerable - only the finest materials, worked with care, and handmade. So finding a handmade gun or a handmade computer or a handmade car is very rare and very expensive. Most people who would have or use a piece of enchanted tech have needed to get it handmade for them, and it is most likely a unique item.

I like it this way because in a way it allows the obvious thing people think of - woohoo keened vorpal bullets fired from a hasted minigun - but without making it a game breaking, fiend-insta-kill, munchkin machine. And it allows for all of the normal D&D items that would still be present somewhere in the planes, so you don't have to totally nerf the campaign or limit the PCs to mundane items.

One more thing: This is more related to magic than tech, but I am also thinking I will make Cleric, Sorcerer and Mage NPC classes. High level spells exist and are available somewhere, but not to the PCs. Only classes from the D20 books are allowable for PC classes.

Thanks!

Another idea I had today was to add something similar to Arcane Spell Failure Chance to it.

So perhaps there could be some technomagic that was available for cheap, but it tends to be kind of bodged together and inelegant. So you could get an Icy Burst Shotgun without breaking the bank, but give it 25% Arcane Failure Chance like with a Mage or Sorcerer wearing armor. Maybe even throw in something like 5% chance the arcane energy hurts the wielder instead, just to be evil.

*sees avatar icon* Fellow Fallout Fan!

I did say it has to be handmade - it isn't just a matter of quality. A Mercedes is a higher quality car than a Kia Sephia, but neither one is handmade. Now a Rolls Royce? There's a handmade car, and the price reflects that.

So in the same vein, a titanium, laser-sharpened longsword with a silk grip would be a very nice sword - but would it be considered a Masterwork item? Not if it was produced on an assembly line somewhere. Only if it was handmade. In any case, the rules for enchanting swords in D&D are already pretty straightforward. So really it's just taking the D&D rule for only being able to enchant a masterwork item and trying to find a way to apply it to modern technology.

So I guess I'm just saying that we agree with eachother. Being handmade would give it that spark.

Maybe there needs to be a name for this handmade, enchantable tech quality then? I was thinking Masterwork could be the term, but I think you two are right. Masterwork might not be specific enough for exactly what would need to be done for enchantment to be possible. It would need to be specific enough that in-game mechanics wouldn't be slowed down by the DM or Player trying to figure out if a weapon or other item was enchantable.

I think for regular melee weapons like swords and daggers and things like that, Masterwork as a name and a quality would be sufficient just like it has always been. But for cars and guns and laptops, maybe a name like "Eldritch Tech" or "Arcane Capable"? This term would mean that it was made by hand of the finest materials for the express purpose of being enchantable. It would be ridiculously expensive and rare. Like if that very nice titanium sword is a Mercedes, Eldritch Tech is a Bugatti Veyron - to continue the car analogy.

Heh. Yeah. I like simple. Hand-Crafted works for me. The opening to the Magic Items and Equipment section could have a little blurb that says what the term means in-game.