D2020
July 2, 2001 in Articles
The Brand Manager’s henchmen were on me within minutes, and they pulled their blasters with interrupting speed. I was caught, but I still had a chance to counter. “Stop! Down on the ground, one-one.” I slunk down on the ground. I was still armed and dangerous, my pistol hidden in my ankle holster, and if I could inch my hand over before they saw… “HANDS DOWN!” one of them bellowed. No luck. I slapped my hands onto the wet pavement. “You move at all, you even twitch, and you’ll find yourself. Somewhere else. Punk.” He pivoted, swung around behind me, and grabbed the gun. “Yeah, like the graveyard,” the other one, a young grunt with a ponytail, sneered. “I figured that part was implied,” I replied. At least, I would have replied. A swift kick to the gut broke my train of thought before it could come out. My options were running thin. Maybe outright bribery would work; these guys looked strictly level one – mercenaries – and most of them are usually on the stack. “Couple guys like you, you’re under appreciated, we all know that. When’s the last time you got cover credit for a bust?” I was nervously speaking faster and faster. “I’m sure we can work something out. I know you’re not filthy rich. I got a few friends, I can make a few calls…” I slid my hand towards my wallet. “What were you thinking? You’ve got nothing we want, punk,” he sneered. “Except your hide. We don’t like your kind, and sooner or later, we’ll catch you all. You’re going to the guillotine, traitor.” So, until I think of way to escape these monsters, I’ve crashed and burned. It looks like my forbidden knowledge might not reach the Resistance after all. I was tapped out.
None of the monumental events in human history can be traced back to a single cause. It is ignorant and hasty to place responsibility for a cultural transformation on one decision, invention, or occurrence. Rome didn’t fall because of one emperor. The archduke’s death was but a catalyst for the First World War. America can’t be defined by its choice of presidents.
But the events between the year 2000 and 2020 are an exception. Socialism, monarchism, dictatorships, and even mighty democracy – all gone, replaced by the new regime of overwhelming power.
It has been clear from the beginning, twenty years ago, what the source of the New World Order was. What has changed the lives of the world’s people so profoundly that no equivalent to it can be found in the history of man. What was so strong it washed over every aspect of politics, economics, science, and society. What was so transforming it rewrote the way people worked and lived, what they believed in, and how they gamed.
D20.
It came with neither a bang nor a whimper, but rather a roll of a die and a standard set of rules.
Although it started less than twenty years ago, the history behind the rise to power of Wotc and the D20 revolution remains shrouded in mystery. The official Wotc history books are riddled with byzantine text and make little sense. Leaders promise new, revised editions of the historical records, though they are unlikely to shed an unbiased light on the past. History texts from rebel groups are rare and extremely dangerous to possess.
What is commonly known is this: Sometime in the first year of the new millennium, the D20 system was released. It went virtually unnoticed in the public outside of the gaming community. Some point to this as a reason the revolution met with such little resistance – few knew about threat before it was too late. Those who did were too busy waiting for movies about hobbits to care.
The System (as it is now simply known as) started slowly; it was seen as a boon to those looking for a universal set of rules for running games. Company after company in the adventure gaming industry happily converted to the System, in hopes of obtaining a small amount of the vast wealth the System brought with its arrival. The few grognard companies resisting the System soon found their games relegated to the back of the game stores or thrown away like garbage. Particularly stubborn publishers were sometimes found “taken care of” as well.
All advertising and sales from System-allied publishers indirectly led to increased sales for the Wotc, progenitors of the System, and they soon found themselves awash in riches. Domain over the game industry was absolute, as the System quickly took control of nearly every game market imaginable. As startling a world of D20 checkers, OGL mahjong, and hopscotch D20 was, the System was still seen as a passing curiosity in the culture of play and make-believe. Harmless.
Unfortunately, whether by a sinister guiding hand at the Wotc, or an inherent viral nature, the System slid its tentacles over much more than mere play.
In 2004, when underground dungeons were the fastest growing housing market, eyebrows were raised.
In 2009, after the Showdown Series eclipsed the World Series in ratings and the Super Bowl was renamed the AlphaBlitz, people were nervous.
By 2014, when Washington, G.C. (‘Gaming Center’) announced that the new president was to be known as the great Dalmuti, the unconverted realized the danger the world was in.
In 2018, as a sixth color for Magic: the Gathering finally appeared, it was already too late.
Setting
By the year 2020, the System has taken over the vast majority of world governments and religions, controlled by people known as the Wotc. The world has become a gamer’s version of an Orwellian nightmare, as the Wotc, its games, and the System have permeated every aspect of life.
Members of Wotc hold all authority; police officers, business leaders, and government officials are all part of the System. Known as DMs (‘duty masters’), they are entrusted not only with authority, but also to designate Classes and give Levels. Everyone in 2020 in assigned a Class at eighteen years of age, which is the blueprint for the jobs that the person can have during their life. There are a few dozen classes available, such as Doctor, Teacher, and Animal Handler. As (or if) a person succeeds at their Class, they raise Levels, are the determining factor for your rank in System society. A lowly office worker from the ‘bureaucrat’ class may be a level one or two, while a corporate manager or CEO can go all the way up to level twenty.
Paper money and other forms of traditional currency have been replaced in 2020 by the Experience Point. Different jobs offer different amounts of experience points given. DMs dole out extra experience to citizens, which allows them to buy things or raise levels faster.
Not everyone has allowed himself or herself to succumb to the System and Wotc rule. Pockets of resistance have sprung up all over the globe, refusing a class and level. Wotc have struck down millions of these individuals as heretics and branded them NPC (‘non-public citizen’) status. NPC status removes all rights from the individual in question, and they can be hunted down with impunity. Bounty hunting wanted NPCs is a common and lucrative occupation in the harsh reality of 2020.
Characters
The players are NPCs, rebels from System rule. The dirty, squalid, hazardous lives of cyberpunks as depicted in current literature would be nirvana to the NPCs in 2020. Eschewing a class and level leaves NPCs without any legitimate means of gaining experience, the sole currency in the System’s world. Bounty hunters hunt violent and/or politically active NPCs mercilessly.
Many NPCs band together for support and to wage war against the System. There are enough NPCs with sufficient power to effectively fight the Wotc, if they’d work together. Unfortunately, there are as many splinter groups of NPCs with their own philosophies as there are house rules for critical hits in D&D. (Okay, not that many, but still a lot.) Some of the groups’ members can work together for short amounts of time when they have a common objective. It’s in these individuals that the fate of the world may rest.
Each player’s NPC belongs to a faction of the rebellion. Here are just a few of the resistance cells that operate in 2020 across the world.
The Freeform – One of the most violent rebel groups, the Freeform are dedicated to destroying Wotc and the System at any cost. Extremely radical, they believe that no one’s life should not be governed by any rules whatsoever. To the Freeform, every individual has the right to define themselves and choose their occupation rather than it being decided for them. While many people, citizens and NPCs alike, sympathize with their mission, few can tolerate their brutal methods and their membership remains small.
The Jocks – A still-significant resistance movement against the System, the Jocks (as they are commonly referred to) disdain the System and work to regain the previous human habit of actual physical activity. Their power mostly resides in the fact that they have the largest percentage of followers that keep their body in reasonable shape.
“Universals” – The “universals” is a catchall to describe dozens of fragmented sects who wish to supplant the System with their own “better” one. The groups very widely, ranging from tiny cannibalistic card-based cults to large structured organizations supporting something called “pools.” Constant fighting and a lack of mutual respect for one another negates most of their usefulness resisting the System.
Tactical Soldier Revolutionaries – These individuals are a tiny offshoot of Wotc and the System. They are unique among the rebels in that they aren’t opposed to the System, but believe its laws and practices should adhere to the “true” doctrine, which they claim to possess. Outsiders purporting to have seen the true doctrine report it seemingly more rigid and convoluted than the System is now. While their central command is in a secret location in one of the few places far from System control, the rank-and-file members often work to advance themselves within the System and change it from within. The Wotc spend exorbitant amounts of time and energy rooting out spies from this group out of positions of power in the System. The Tactical Soldier Revolutionaries consider other rebel groups to be enemies of the highest order and clash with them constantly.
The Primal Order – An old group that some believe nearly predates Wotc itself. Little is known about this extremely small faction, though there are whispers in the air that say they could tip the balance in the rebellion against the System.
System
All you need is a brain, a deck, and a friend. No, really, use any system you want; just don’t use The System for once. Find a game that uses spinners or color wheels or hamster wheels or picking pieces of paper from a hat or something.
Adventures
Collaborating Queens
For years, the Wotc government has banned non-System based competition in all forms. Deep in an unforgiving jungle in central Africa, the world’s only chess tournament (as long as you don’t count chainmail chess, that is) continues to be run. The characters are hired by an American couple to escort them and their daughter to the tournament. The girl, eight years old, is a chess genius and is a shoo-in to win the adolescent’s division – if only she can get there alive. The characters must brave American and African security and the dangers of the hostile jungle to get her there. Oh, and the girl’s mother, an 8th Level Artist (Painter prestige class), is an informant with the System and is planning on leading Wotc forces to the tournament in exchange for 50,000 experience points.
Multi-Class Mayhem
George, a high ranking – 18th Level! – Waste Disposal Officer (he’s in charge of nuclear waste sites) has grown to great prominence in within the System. Unfortunately, he’s always wanted to be a truck driver. His twin brother, Rick, who died several ago in a terrible crash, was assigned the Class of Driver by their high school DM when they were young, instead of George. Committing the first treacherous act of his life, he desperately contacts the PCs (the PCs, who are actually NPCs… this could get confusing…) for help. The characters must break into a System Game Center, find the records for George and his twin brother, and switch the information to reassign George to be the goods-delivering man he’s always dreamt of being. They may even find out how Rick really died in the first place…
Dying to Have It
An NPC computer hacker the characters know stumbles into one of their apartments with his back riddled with bullets. His hand shakes as he gives the character an optical chip, and before he can speak, he dies. Immediately, Brand Manager goons storm the place in a hail of gunshots. Narrowly escaping with their lives, the characters must figure what’s on the chip, why it’s worth killing to get, and how they use it or get it off their hands. When they realize that the chip contains designs for the heralded “fourth edition,” the scruffy NPC characters realize they’re in way over their heads.
By the way, I do play and occasionally even enjoy games with magic Boots of Elvenkind Levitating on Speed and awesome alliteration in their names. Oh yeah, and ‘d20 System’ is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast. Mention of names of Wizards of the Coast’s products should not be construed as a challenge to their respective trademarks. Or something.