Cyberpunk / Hard Sci-Fi hack of DCC?

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Dr. Meat
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Cyberpunk / Hard Sci-Fi hack of DCC?

Post by Dr. Meat »

I love DCC, but my players are just not that into fantasy (we're science nerds and would prefer to see awesome things happen as a result of advanced, complicated tech rather than inexplicable, ineffable magic). Think Numenera "magic = nanotech", but good [zing]. Shadowrun is OK, but it still has that fantasy/magic baggage and you can forget running in the matrix. Eclipse phase has a great setting, but the d100 system is crap. The next closest thing I've tried is Mongoose Traveller - and it's awesome, but kinda dated and missing the frenetic wildness in the feel of the setting and system that you get from DCC. Also, the MGT character gen system is a game unto itself, sort of along the same lines as DCC, which is tons of fun.

My question - does anyone know of or have a hack of DCC into a cyberpunk or hard sci-fi setting (I'm looking at you Harley Stroh)? If, hypothetically, one were available... might be excellent fodder for another Kickstarter. I'll bet Reddit would love it.

Also, power armor. Sentient, symbiotic power armor.
DIBBON, N, Gatherer, S10, A14(+1), Sm6(-1), P8(-1), I12, L13(+1), AC: 11, HP: 1, Knife 1d4, Speed: 30, Init: 1, R 1, F -1, W -1, 4 cp, Fortunate date Missile fire atk +1
Crowbar, Basket of vegetables, Rations 4x, Large sack, Torches 7x, Flint & steel, Strange-looking rock, Oil flask

WILLOUGHBY ROSENCRANTZ, L, Hunter, S13(+1), A15(+1), Sm10, P9, I8(-1), L15(+1), AC: 11, HP: 1, Spear +1 1d8+1, Speed: 30, Init: 1, R 1, 15 cp, Survived the plague Magical healing +1
Small Hammer, Animal pelt, 10' pole, Hand-sized mirror, Wolf pup, Rations 4x, Small sack, Torches 7x

KREX, N, Hunter, S11, A14(+1), Sm14(+1), P13(+1), I9, L11, AC: 10, HP: 2, Spear 1d8, Speed: 30, Init: +1 Will: +1 water skin(5sp), animal pelt(31 cp), Bountiful Harvest +1hp/lvl

BITTERBREW, C, Brewer, S7(-1), A7(-1), Sm11, P9, I15(+1), L14(+1), AC: 9, HP: 1, Club -1 1d4-1, Speed: 30, Init: -1, Ref: -1; Holy symbol(25 gp), Skin of beer(31 cp), The Broken Star Fumbles +1, Common +1

RIP Barbul the Halfling and Dead Rabbit
Golgothmog
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Re: Cyberpunk / Hard Sci-Fi hack of DCC?

Post by Golgothmog »

As someone who really enjoys Eclipse Phase and Traveller (classic) I'm not sure what you see in DCC that makes you think it would improve on those for 'hard scifi'.
I mean, I love DCC to death but that's because of how wild and crazy it can get, surprising and unexpected stuff happening from moment to moment. The magic system is a HUGE part of what gives it its flavor.
I suppose you could make a start with Crawljammer, which is space fantasy DCC... and drop the overt fantasy bits/races claim the magic is 'sufficiently advanced. I don't know much about Numenera except that it sounds an awful lot like the Viriconium stories... which are kindasorta science fantasy. I'm pretty sure I could use stuff from the various DCC zines... Crawljammer, Crawling Under a Broken Moon, Metal Gods of Ur Hadad... to approximate that sort of setting.

There was somebody on here a while back who claimed to be working on a 70s scifi hack of DCC but I haven't heard anything more about that. It didn't sound like an optimal fit to me.
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Clangador
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Re: Cyberpunk / Hard Sci-Fi hack of DCC?

Post by Clangador »

Well DCC does seem rather easy to modify for other settings. I'm considering running Paranoia using it.
~Clangador

I'm not a wizard but I play one in DCC...

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finarvyn
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Re: Cyberpunk / Hard Sci-Fi hack of DCC?

Post by finarvyn »

Maybe my terminology is confused, but to me "hard scifi" would be more like Traveller or other real and gritty science fiction. Seems like cinematic scifi would work better -- stuff like Star Wars.

I'd have to ponder what sorts of tweaks would need to happen in order to make DCC fit better with hard scifi.
Marv / Finarvyn
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DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
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