Dareth - an RPG Setting

When I started running a game of D&D, I created a world called Sarkon specifically in order to include a bunch of D&D stuff like the game's playable races and classes, and to give my spin on the medieval fantasy environment. Naturally, because it's me, I've got a world that has been that Medieval setting for a long time but is undergoing a rapid industrialization.

Of the "deep nerdy" setting, Medieval Fantasy (which, to be fair, has a lot of overlap with Ancient Fantasy - you can pretty easily use Greco-Roman temples and forums in place of medieval castles and the tropes still work,) Steampunk is the somewhat newer but quite popular alternative fantasy/sci fi setting. It's a divisive one, to be sure.

But I think I've generally found the kind of Mid-20th Century era as an aesthetic that I think could make for a really interesting fantasy setting. Obviously, the generation that founded RPGs is from this era, and so a time like the 1940s or 50s might seem less fantastical. But as someone born in the 80s, that period does have a kind of mythic quality to it.

For a long time I've found Noir and spy stories, as well as the conspiracy-ridden aesthetics of the whole UFO mythos to have the potential for some really interesting fantasy elements. My Otherworld setting is, technologically, basically at the same level as our modern world in the early 21st Century, but I think a lot of that mid-century aesthetic really appeals to me in its mundane weirdness. I think it's something that David Lynch has explored in really interesting ways in stuff like Twin Peaks.

Before I started building my D&D setting, and before I knew the rules of 5th Edition, I started brainstorming an RPG setting called Dareth.

Dareth, to be fair, is not exactly at a midcentury stage. It's really more of an Interbellum - the period between the World Wars. The notion is that there was a massive war in which magic and science were combined to create weapons far more powerful than had ever been seen before. But unlike in our history, where the first World War's primary fallout was national resentment and the Great Depression fueling nationalistic hatred, in this case the weapons unleashed have broken barriers to other planes, allowing horrible monsters of various different kinds to break through.

I've been thinking about how I might translate this setting.

I am far more familiar with D&D's rules system than any other TTRPG. I know there are a lot of other systems out there, and particularly those that might work outside of the medieval fantasy setting that is D&D's default. But I'm also tempted to take what I know and just apply it to this setting.

I think most of it could be the same - ability scores, proficiencies, and the basic rules of spellcasting. The real question would be specifics:

This would be a world in which gunpowder has been a thing for centuries, which historically has meant that heavy armor stopped being particularly useful. Yes, these days there's kevlar that can sometimes stop a bullet, but you don't see people walking around in full plate.

Admittedly, one could re-skin things like armor - maybe there's some in-universe armor that looks appropriate to the era but provides similar protection.

Another thing to consider is that melee weapons in a 20th-century-like era would be very rare. Some classes, like Paladins or Barbarians, are built entirely around the idea of fighting up close and personal with big weapons. So could you have a Barbarian in such a setting?

What I think would be tempting is to keep the abilities as they exist, but possibly create entirely new classes. You could cannibalize a lot of class abilities to create new ones - for example, you could have a "Soldier" class that borrows a lot of stuff from Fighters. Part of the lore of the world is a group called Crossbars that fight against the use of magic but actually use a bit of magic themselves, which could borrow heavily from Paladins.

The question is whether melee weapons and Strength as an ability really make a lot of sense in an industrialized world.

This would be a longterm project for me, to see if I can make this work in a 5th edition system. But it bears some thought.