Are there any original, non-fantasy non-scifi worlds in ttrpgs or tt wargaming?

[deuxhero]

The Ace Combat series of video games is known for solving the problem of having modern military powers fight without everyone just nuking eachother and letting the player slaughter hundreds without concern of triggering an international outrage by using its own unique planet, with its own continents and countries but mostly contemporary technology (some a bit ahead, while others, most notably nuclear weapons, are far behind). Has there ever been a tabletop game that did this? I can think of plenty of fantasy settings, plenty of contemporary/recent past settings that are "Our Earth but X", and a few sci-fi worlds, but I can't think of any original settings that only have roughly earth technology and no magic. Are there any in the medium?

 

[Risewild]

I have no idea if this fits with what you're asking (since I never played it or even read the source books), but I heard that "Spycraft 2.0" is supposed to be like a modern-day setting. Without fantasy or magic (I think there's a separate variant called something else where there are fantasy races and stuff like that though).

 

[MartinK]

You mean wholy fictional world except the physics is the same? To my knowledge there’s nothing like that out there. I was briefly working on somehtng like that few years back but that project fizzled out quickly as I was more focused on look and feel of electronics, machinery and military hardware that followed slightly divergent path of development and blue skin coloration in primates rather than the parts hypothetical players care about.

 

[JamesDixon]

There was James Bond 007 by Victory Games published in 1983.

Twilight 2000 by Game Designers Workshop is always a classic. I prefer 1st edition myself.

Finally, the granddaddy of all Post-Apoc games would be Aftermath! by Fantasy Games Unlimited. It required a flow chart for combat, but the world building was top notch. That was released in 1981.

You have GURPS and Hero System for homebrew worlds in genres of your choosing. I prefer Hero System but that's due to me writing for it.

 

[luj1]

Tekumel?

Gamma World?

Metamorphosis Alpha?

 

[Nathaniel3W]

I think I get what you're looking for. I've never played a TTRPG in such a setting that I actually liked. There was a Vietnam War RPG that sucked, but officially it was a fictional setting. I remember it had something like alignment, but it was how gung-ho you were about the war, and you could RP a character who just kept his head down and maybe fired his gun in the direction of the enemy just so his sergeant wouldn't yell at him. Character creation was "roll a d100 for your score" and then skill checks were "roll a d100 under your skill." The fictional United States in this setting was just referred to as "Stateside."

I also remember some Avalon Hill games that were built around the real world, but a fictional conflict, or a real conflict that could play out differently or that took place under alternate conditions. There was an Avalon Hill Desert Storm game that I tried once, where there was a closeup map of Iraq and a bigger map of the surrounding area. The US side had to manage popular support for the war and didn't have access to nuclear weapons unless Iraq used them first. Most of the US airpower came in from aircraft carriers. If Iraq could sink an aircraft carrier, then the US player could only fly missions from Diego Garcia, which severely limited his options. Once again, not a really fun game. This was back in the day when Avalon Hill games had an actual dense rulebook--not a booklet--and your units were little cardboard NATO symbols and not plastic miniatures.

 

[JamesDixon]

I think I get what you're looking for. I've never played a TTRPG in such a setting that I actually liked. There was a Vietnam War RPG that sucked, but officially it was a fictional setting.

That would be Recon by Palladium. I had forgotten that pile of steaming excrement until now. The system is more broke than Mexi on cheap beers night at the local Juarez cantina.

 

[MartinK]

I think I get what you're looking for. I've never played a TTRPG in such a setting that I actually liked. There was a Vietnam War RPG that sucked, but officially it was a fictional setting. I remember it had something like alignment, but it was how gung-ho you were about the war, and you could RP a character who just kept his head down and maybe fired his gun in the direction of the enemy just so his sergeant wouldn't yell at him. Character creation was "roll a d100 for your score" and then skill checks were "roll a d100 under your skill." The fictional United States in this setting was just referred to as "Stateside."

Oh my, that reeks. They had just enough common sense to know how distatseful this is (combining both stolen valor and misery tourism in one neat package), but the setting is too close to the real thing to make it comfortable for anyone.

 

[deuxhero]

You mean wholy fictional world except the physics is the same?

Yes

 

[Alex]

The Ace Combat series of video games is known for solving the problem of having modern military powers fight without everyone just nuking eachother and letting the player slaughter hundreds without concern of triggering an international outrage by using its own unique planet, with its own continents and countries but mostly contemporary technology (some a bit ahead, while others, most notably nuclear weapons, are far behind). Has there ever been a tabletop game that did this? I can think of plenty of fantasy settings, plenty of contemporary/recent past settings that are "Our Earth but X", and a few sci-fi worlds, but I can't think of any original settings that only have roughly earth technology and no magic. Are there any in the medium?

I am not sure about that, but you can find several games that have an alternate historical take. The world is still our world, but the actual history breaks up with ours at some point.

Aces & Eights setting is a good example of that. It is an old west game, without any kind of fantastical elements (no steampunk gadgets, no magic, etc) but set in an alternate timeline where the american civil war didn't end with the south being forced to rejoin the union.

 

[Kev Inkline]

You could always use Cthulhu Now and leave the mythos completely untouched for that cutting edge late 80s technology setting.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

You could always use Cthulhu Now and leave the mythos completely untouched for that cutting edge late 80s technology setting.

I played an old edition of Legend of the Five Rings that had options for playing in Rokugan as kind of an alternate-history Japan without all of the magic and martial-arts superpowers. It was pretty much the same idea.

As for your idea, it would be really sad to play a Cthulhu game and leave out all the mythos. That's the entire fun of losing your sanity. If you really want an adventure with a bunch of former academics who have lost their minds and are now living on the streets muttering to themselves, you can just take a walk around San Francisco.

 

[Kev Inkline]

You could always use Cthulhu Now and leave the mythos completely untouched for that cutting edge late 80s technology setting.

I played an old edition of Legend of the Five Rings that had options for playing in Rokugan as kind of an alternate-history Japan without all of the magic and martial-arts superpowers. It was pretty much the same idea.

As for your idea, it would be really sad to play a Cthulhu game and leave out all the mythos. That's the entire fun of losing your sanity. If you really want an adventure with a bunch of former academics who have lost their minds and are now living on the streets muttering to themselves, you can just take a walk around San Francisco.

Well, I agree, but OP was asking for a TT setting without fantasy nor scifi with mostly contemporary tech.

 

[Silva]

Dark Souls.

Probably the most original pieces of "fantasy" in a long time. In comas because most typical fantasy cliches are absent from it.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Dark Souls.

Probably the most original pieces of "fantasy" in a long time. In comas because most typical fantasy cliches are absent from it.

OP: wrote "I can't think of any original settings that only have roughly earth technology and no magic. Are there any in the medium?"

Your answer: Dark Souls

 

[rusty_shackleford]

To be fair, that's how dark souls fans answer any question.

 

[Silva]

Dark Souls.

Probably the most original pieces of "fantasy" in a long time. In comas because most typical fantasy cliches are absent from it.

OP: wrote "I can't think of any original settings that only have roughly earth technology and no magic. Are there any in the medium?"

Your answer: Dark Souls

Ok, you have a point.



Bloodborne then?

 

[Storyfag]

The Ace Combat series of video games is known for solving the problem of having modern military powers fight without everyone just nuking eachother and letting the player slaughter hundreds without concern of triggering an international outrage by using its own unique planet, with its own continents and countries but mostly contemporary technology (some a bit ahead, while others, most notably nuclear weapons, are far behind). Has there ever been a tabletop game that did this? I can think of plenty of fantasy settings, plenty of contemporary/recent past settings that are "Our Earth but X", and a few sci-fi worlds, but I can't think of any original settings that only have roughly earth technology and no magic. Are there any in the medium?

What would be the appeal of such a setting in TTRPGs or TT Wargaming?

 

[deuxhero]

Symmetrical war with contemporary technology can occur constantly without straining plausibility (one of Ace Combat's exceptions is nuclear weapons being behind the real world's) and without having any plot bias toward any side. Sides can also have an arbitrary mix of equipment (contemporary, but not from the same side) as required by balance and symmetry.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

There was d20 Modern back in the 2000s. It also had spin offs for historical settings, scifi, urban fantasy, psychic espionage, paranormal investigations, etc. It had WotC backing but they eventually stopped when 4e came out. I can’t speak for how well it sold, but in my extremely unscientific opinion games with non-fantasy settings just don’t sell well. For whatever reason, most people play D&D. So if you’re trying to find fantasy settings, there’s a huge variety of them. Anything else, not so much.

 

[deuxhero]

All of d20 Modern except d20 Future (which is multi-planet scifi) falls under "Earth but..."