Urban Arcana conversion - Page 2

WaterAndWindSpirit · 12-02-2014, 10:54 PM

Hello all!

I've been thinking about converting my favorite D20 setting, Urban Arcana, to GURPS.

Urban Arcana is a D20 Modern setting, which is what happens if the D&D world starts leaking in the modern world. Your typical D&D mage who has to prepare his spells every morning (now he's not using a book, but a smartphone with a "Spellbook.PDF" file in it. :P ), your typical cleric with the ability to Turn Undead, but new classes like a pilot with a supernatural ability to meld his mind to the vehicle he's piloting and an uncanny ability to wreck vehicles (if attacking a vehicle, he can ignore some of it's hardness, which is a pretty straightforward conversion in GURPS, ignoring part of a vehicle's DR), or a techno mage which is the modern mage who can use his magic in new ways through magic/technology interaction (say, casting a sleep spell toward a camera, and have it travel to the control panel and affect the guy watching the cameras). Elves, dwarves, drow, goblins and such are now on the streets, but most people don't see them as they are. They just were taught from birth that monsters and magic don't exist, and try to rationalize it any way they can when they see magic and monsters. Some people are "aware", that is they can see the magic. Also, the new arrivals forgot the "Common" language of the old world, and had it replaced with the local language of the region they arrived in.

So let's deal with the obvious first: new arrivals suffer from the "Low TL" disadvantage (possibly TL-3 or TL-4, most D&D settings are either TL-3 or TL-4). They also have the "Zeroed" Advantage, have "Cultural Familiarity" with the culture they were born in (and given that inevitably, some people from their culture have arrived in the same town and set out to get together for mutual protection, they can probably find their culture easily), lack the "Cultural Familiarity" of the place they land in, have a "Claim to Hospitality" among their peers unless they committed serious crimes (elves with elves, dwarves with dwarves...). They have few resources but decided to stick together and can help people by giving them shelter for a day or two (exception: the drow elves. You all know most drow elves spend most of their time stabbing each other in the back). Also, new arrivals just dropped in the modern world with what they happened to carry on their backs, so I'm thinking TL-3/TL-4 level of wealth worth of equipment (including a few silver coins or some such that they could pawn at a jewelry store).

Most people from the modern world have the "Mundane Background" disadvantage, and people who would not be "aware" should have a disadvantage making them unable to recognize and admit the supernatural happening right in front of their eyes. In the Urban Arcana setting, anyone who accepts the existence of magic can learn any form of magic that can be learn, even people from the modern world.

Then, there should be templates for the most common D&D races, but I'm sure most of the work has already been done (Though I can't see the GURPS disadvantage for drow and orcs being blinded by bright lights like sunlights or halogens. It probably isn't worth that much since it can be ignored by common sunglasses.). So next there should be class conversions.

The Vancian Magic could probably be simulated by Modular Ability spell slots that are each single use, are set in the morning and replenished each day (how much would that be priced, I have no idea...). Converting the spells themselves would involve building them with abilities and apply the appropriate limitations I suppose. More exotic spells such as "Synchronicity" (For it's duration, all traffic lights in your path are green, you get a bus or taxi after 6 seconds of looking for it, you always have an elevator/waiter available when you need one, and people always let you pass without even noticing (allowing you to run through a crowd unhindered) could probably require more work...

I had plans on converting the arcane classes into "Arcane Paths", basically a set of supernatural abilities having the previous abilities as prerequisites (and for spellcasting classes, a spell slot would have a certain number of spell slots right below it as a prerequisite).

So, what does it look like so far?

12-02-2014, 10:54 PM	#1
WaterAndWindSpirit Join Date: Oct 2014	Urban Arcana conversion Hello all! I've been thinking about converting my favorite D20 setting, Urban Arcana, to GURPS. Urban Arcana is a D20 Modern setting, which is what happens if the D&D world starts leaking in the modern world. Your typical D&D mage who has to prepare his spells every morning (now he's not using a book, but a smartphone with a "Spellbook.PDF" file in it. :P ), your typical cleric with the ability to Turn Undead, but new classes like a pilot with a supernatural ability to meld his mind to the vehicle he's piloting and an uncanny ability to wreck vehicles (if attacking a vehicle, he can ignore some of it's hardness, which is a pretty straightforward conversion in GURPS, ignoring part of a vehicle's DR), or a techno mage which is the modern mage who can use his magic in new ways through magic/technology interaction (say, casting a sleep spell toward a camera, and have it travel to the control panel and affect the guy watching the cameras). Elves, dwarves, drow, goblins and such are now on the streets, but most people don't see them as they are. They just were taught from birth that monsters and magic don't exist, and try to rationalize it any way they can when they see magic and monsters. Some people are "aware", that is they can see the magic. Also, the new arrivals forgot the "Common" language of the old world, and had it replaced with the local language of the region they arrived in. So let's deal with the obvious first: new arrivals suffer from the "Low TL" disadvantage (possibly TL-3 or TL-4, most D&D settings are either TL-3 or TL-4). They also have the "Zeroed" Advantage, have "Cultural Familiarity" with the culture they were born in (and given that inevitably, some people from their culture have arrived in the same town and set out to get together for mutual protection, they can probably find their culture easily), lack the "Cultural Familiarity" of the place they land in, have a "Claim to Hospitality" among their peers unless they committed serious crimes (elves with elves, dwarves with dwarves...). They have few resources but decided to stick together and can help people by giving them shelter for a day or two (exception: the drow elves. You all know most drow elves spend most of their time stabbing each other in the back). Also, new arrivals just dropped in the modern world with what they happened to carry on their backs, so I'm thinking TL-3/TL-4 level of wealth worth of equipment (including a few silver coins or some such that they could pawn at a jewelry store). Most people from the modern world have the "Mundane Background" disadvantage, and people who would not be "aware" should have a disadvantage making them unable to recognize and admit the supernatural happening right in front of their eyes. In the Urban Arcana setting, anyone who accepts the existence of magic can learn any form of magic that can be learn, even people from the modern world. Then, there should be templates for the most common D&D races, but I'm sure most of the work has already been done (Though I can't see the GURPS disadvantage for drow and orcs being blinded by bright lights like sunlights or halogens. It probably isn't worth that much since it can be ignored by common sunglasses.). So next there should be class conversions. The Vancian Magic could probably be simulated by Modular Ability spell slots that are each single use, are set in the morning and replenished each day (how much would that be priced, I have no idea...). Converting the spells themselves would involve building them with abilities and apply the appropriate limitations I suppose. More exotic spells such as "Synchronicity" (For it's duration, all traffic lights in your path are green, you get a bus or taxi after 6 seconds of looking for it, you always have an elevator/waiter available when you need one, and people always let you pass without even noticing (allowing you to run through a crowd unhindered) could probably require more work... I had plans on converting the arcane classes into "Arcane Paths", basically a set of supernatural abilities having the previous abilities as prerequisites (and for spellcasting classes, a spell slot would have a certain number of spell slots right below it as a prerequisite). So, what does it look like so far?