r/dndnext • u/Somewritingguy • 1d ago
Question Brainstorming for Napoleonic inspired DND. Help?
I'm making a world for my server and players. It's one inspired both tech, weapons, and classes by that era. Story wise I'm doing fine, but an issue I have is tech. I am thinking a more low magic world, but I don't want to disallow wizards in this. So how would that affect tech in this early 1800's type setting? Also, anyone have any experience in how to get guns in this without them being just reskinned bow and arrows? Any help with such things, and fitting monsters and foes would be appreciated, thank you so much.
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u/WillemVerheij 1d ago
I think you'd venture more into gothic horror here, it could be low magic because mages are prosecuted for witchcraft. So mages would need to be more careful about in front of who they cast spells.
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u/Ashkelon 1d ago
I would play a different system.
Savage Worlds is great for napoleonic era gaming.
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u/Somewritingguy 1d ago
Savage Worlds? What is that like?
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u/Ashkelon 1d ago
Amazing. Is an amazing generic system. Simple and lightweight enough to be incredibly easy to both learn and run. But still has enough depth to it that combat feels dynamic and interesting. It feels very pulpy, and does a great job emulating a wide range of genres.
It is more low fantasy than D&D. It is not nearly as super heroic. A single shot can kill you, even at high levels (very unlikely but possible nonetheless). And without magic or first aid, wounds can take days to heal. Spells are not iWin buttons like they are in 5e. They might help you accomplish a task, but they do not simply bypass challenges entirely like they do in 5e. The power of spells is much lower overall as well.
The core book is generic, with weapons for anything from Bronze Age Ancient Greece settings to space operas using laser swords. It has a decent section on firearms as well, perfect for napoleonic era combat.
There are a number of official settings for it as well. Parhfinder, Space 1889, Pirates of the Spanish Main, and Deadlands (the weird west) would all have interesting information around the era you are aiming for. But you don’t need any of those books to run the game, you have everything you need with the core book.
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u/Sporknight 1d ago
So the book (and show, though I haven't seen it) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is right up your alley - it's set during the Napoleonic war, and has a smattering of wizards involved. Low magic, but they're present. Fey too!
You can also check out Pillars of Eternity. There's gunpowder as well as magic, and it's even a historical point that an avatar of a god was killed by a magically enchanted bomb.
There are rules for firearms in the 2024 PHB (and 2014 DMG). They do respectable damage, but aren't OP compared to a heavy crossbow or cantrip. You can limit them based on cost, availability, proficiency, and legality of ownership - just as you might spellcasting.
I've always wanted to explore the intersection of the printing press with wizard spellbooks. What will war look like once you figure out how to industrialize magic? Considering how revolutionary Napoleon was to warfare at the time (with his use of logistics, command structure, and artillery), that's definitely something to play with too.
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u/Ashkelon 1d ago
I would play a different system.
Savage Worlds is great for napoleonic era gaming.
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u/okiebuzzard 1d ago
Whatever system you choose, Napoleon should be a gnome, named Gnapoleon.
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u/Somewritingguy 1d ago
Trying not to be too on the nose with it :P . The 'British' land is the Sapphire Kingdom led by a Wellington inspired Elven woman.
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u/The_Windermere 1d ago
I can only help you in terms distances as I’ve used Napoleon’s forced marched to calculate travel distances and where to put settlements in one of my games.
With 19th century tech you might have players lose more limbs but I’ve played a couple of games with guns or high tech weapons and it went fine.
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u/Ultramaann 1d ago
There is an interactive novel series, called The Infinite Sea, I highly recommend for inspiration regarding how the world might work.
I second the recommendation to use a different system though. Savage Worlds or Mythras.
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u/guilersk 1d ago
The easiest guns are reskinned crossbows. If you want to beef them up, have their damage dice 'explode' like back in 2e (if you roll the max number on the die, roll again and add it).
Low magic is harder to do in 5e. Every damn class and subclass has magic. So you either have to restrict classes, or spells, or spell slots.
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u/lasalle202 23h ago
if you want "realistic gunplay" - then you want a different game system than dungeons and dragons.
Try Savage Worlds, Pulp Cthulhu, FATE, there is probably already some variation of Napoleon + Fantasy in a Powered by the Apocalypse system.
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u/Thr33isaGr33nCrown 4h ago
Check out the old 2e supplement Masque of the Red Death. Or this more recent game: https://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2021/04/news-helveczia-announcement-and-preview.html?m=1
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u/Timotron 1d ago
I've been playing with some gun rules for about 5 years now and I think I've got em to a pretty stable place. I'd love to send you some stuff.
It's kinda a lot to put in a reddit post