A homebrewer has put together a set of DnD 5e rules that lets you play in a modern setting, with hackers, guns, and police chases. Disappointed that the Dungeons and Dragons d20 Modern system was never brought over to 5th edition, Reddit user GU1LD3NST3RN has gathered together all the modern DnD material they could find, done a little bit of homebrewing of their own, and put it all together in their own DnD book: The Modern Manual
Running over 100 pages in total, this text features everything the 21st-century DnD character could need. Conversion rules from gold to dollars, rules for guns, cars, computers, and more. For instance there’s:
- A unique subclass for each of the 12 DnD classes
- Eight new DnD backgrounds, from white collar worker to emergency services
- Nine DnD feats, like hacker and wheelman
- 19 DnD spells, including Electromagnetic Pulse and Find Vehicle
“This is mostly a work of editing rather than creation”, explains GU1LD3NST3RN in the Reddit comments, explaining that they’re “an ardent and obnoxious evangelist for the old D20 Modern system”, and that after “years of scouring the internet for ‘Updated D20 Modern’ and finding bits and pieces of rules, items, and ideas scattered all over”, they finally decided to put together everything they could find into one complete ruleset.
“My goal was to keep close to 5e rules but make it more or less setting agnostic,” GU1LD3NST3RN adds. “You can totally do Orcs in LA just as easily as you could do “75th Rangers in Avernus”.
D20 modern was a game system published by Wizards of the Coast in 2002. It did exactly what GU1LD3NST3RN’s Modern Manual does, providing a modern adaptation of the DnD rules (third edition). However, it was only supported until 2006, and wasn’t revived for fourth (or fifth) edition.
If you want to try a tabletop RPG in a modern DnD setting, we’d also recommend checking out the d20-modern inspired RPG Everyday Heroes – which also features modules for all kinds of action movies, from Rambo to Pacific Rim.