Monks suddenly look like a better option. Going to rules, then - is there any reason to change the way classes work in some basic ways, to reflect game balance (or at least, equal levels of fun) in a modern setting? For instance, we might be in the sort of game where turning up wearing full plate armour with a greatsword on your back in downtown Seattle is at least socially unacceptable, lacking in sneakiness, and yes, illegal. The lines blur a lot these days, after all - sometimes, the only difference between urban fantasy and supers is the lack or presence of a Masquerade. I've already half-joked about doing a supers game with 5E - if you just tweak it to 'supers, but the only powers available are those covered by 5E classes and subclasses' and you're in some Scion/urban fantasy/fantasy supers goodness. Or go straight JRPG/anime fantasy where everyone has smartphones, trains, skyscrapers, firearms, airships (not strictly modern, but you know what I mean) but also has character classes, magic, and big swords for some reason.Īnother is a version of our world where the rules have changed, and using 5E is a good way of modelling the PC types who would emerge. One option is basically a modern-tech level version of a standard D&D setting, so Faerun 2000 (or 2019), if you want.

So, let's say we want to keep all that goodness, but in a modern (or sci-fi, if you like - we can do Mass Effect and Star Ocean if you want) setting. The way I see it, the great stuff about 5E is 1) its simplified 2E/3E-but-better basic ruleset, and 2) all the awesome subclasses, that let you play such a wide range of characters without waiting a whole bunch of levels to get into prestige classes and the like.

But, as far as I know, using the core rules and UA only (and thus not counting third-party stuff such as Ultramodern 5E or the 5E sci-fi games, let alone Saturday Morning Tabletop), has anyone tried to use 5E for games in a modern setting? I've been thinking about how to use 5E in a modern setting - after all, there was that ill-conceived never-seen-again Modern Magic thing in Unearthed Arcana, and of course the DMG has rules for guns (and laser guns, for that matter).

Dmg guns