After my Kingmaker game this afternoon, one of my players suggested another get a copy of Gameroom Creations' The Modern Path, so he could make a character for my Sci Fi play by post.
The other player immediately suggested "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to play a modern game, but, instead of setting it on Earth, set it in 'modern' version of Golarion?"
Wow. What the heck would that even look like? I mean, assuming magic dwindled (almost necessary for a modern feel, IMO), but was still accessible, what the heck would the world of Golarion look like in a thousand years or so? I mean, we already have Gunslingers, so the idea of .45s and nine mils is a pretty easy leap.
So, if I went the Battle Star Galactic route (new series), and made the characters look and feel essentially Terran, but with a different belief structure, what would it look like? What nations would survive to become super powers, which ones would just get by, and what nations would be lost to history? What would politics be like?
I'm not saying I'm ever going to actually run this, but does anyone have any ideas?
I can warn you having read the modern path to be careful right now the gun rules really give high dex full base attack character since burst and semi shots give extra attacks per attack so a burst weapon grants 3 attacks per attack at a penalty.
I was thinking about this but maybe taldor would fall. I have an interesting idea sinc you are playing kingmaker if you finish it have the player created nation be the super power.
Also they have a magic book out if you want to keep magic in the game.
... have the player created nation be the super power.
Yes, this is definitely the direction they'd want to go, I'm sure. I think Cheliax would either have to fall, having been destroyed by other nations, or go "underground", which it's evil heritage became rumor. Then you could have conspiracy theorists saying "Cheliax made pacts with demons", and have the government saying "No, those guys are nuts!" but in reality retaining the status quo.
I'm guessing since many of the nations of Golarion are real-world surrogates, I could just sort of take many of the nations and place them in a similar political situation to their counterpart. For example, making Minkai similar to modern day Japan.
I also imagine such a project would require an intimate knowledge of Golarion up to this point, in order to be able to extrapolate a fake "history" of the next few hundred years. It really seems like an intimidating project.
Another idea, maybe borrow a page from Dragon Age, and have the elves enslaved by humans at some point in history. it would be over by the "Modern" era, but that history would still be there.
I'm thinking with the advent of technology, gnomes would have all faded or escaped back to the First World. Dwarves would have dug deep, but maybe still have some contact with human society. Not sure what to do with halflings, not to mention all the humanoid races.
you could give a 1980's feel and have Cheliax substitute for the Soviet Union. then there are a multitude of adventure possibilities as the PCs are involved in proxy wars between the "good" superpower of choice and Cheliax.
Great idea! my brain was churning along those lines, but hadn't quite gotten there yet.
If I take the location of the PC kingdom in Kingmaker as the other "super power", the proximity to Cheliax is similar to central Europe and the Soviet Union.
If I kept that metaphor, does anyone have any idea what Golarion nation could be a "United States" equivalent? It would have to be a decent distance away from Cheliax, preferably across an ocean. Maybe a colonized Sarusan?
Maybe have Andoran colonize Arcadia(which is the America equivlent)?
...Arcadia(which is the America equivlent)?
I did not know that. Went and read the PF wiki on Arcadia as soon I read this.
This is a really neat idea. I like the idea of dual super power states facing off.
OR
Go for a "Days of Future Past" feel where the player-created country WAS the dominant super power, but by the time the players start the "modern" game this country has falllen and is only an entry in the encyclopaedia, has just recently been destroyed, OR (my favorite) is being invaded (possibly subjugated?) by the political entity that was an antagonist in the fantasy game. Then the PCs could fight to liberate their country.
Also a great possibility. If Arcadia is now a dominant power, while the PC nation rose to a great empire and then fell over time, Cheliax could well be in a position to threaten the PCs land.