Musing on Modern Fantasy.

I've recently been trying to get back into Dungeons and Dragons with the release of 5.5e, or whatever they're officially calling it, and a part of that has been looking into settings with which a game can be run in.

Maybe I just have high standards, but there's a whole lot of 'modern' settings for D&D that just don't really click with me. Hell, a lot of Modern Fantasy doesn't click with me in general. And I think It's because of a shared pitfall that a lot of these types of things fall into; That "Modern" has to equate with "Realistic."

To be more specific, I feel like a lot of modern settings try a bit too hard to match the aesthetics and functionality of regular human society. I've seen a lot of attempts to jam firearms into the ruleset, and I always think to myself: "What is a gun, if not a really advanced crossbow?"

If I look at the future of the Sword Coast, I don't imagine an army rolling out for trench warfare with shotguns slung over their shoulders; I imagine a world where military advancement has made magical staves pre-charged with minor spells more accessible to the layman. That is to say, a pistol that fires an eldritch blast rather than a bullet. 

Why would this world bother creating digitized security systems, when any 3rd level Wizard with sufficient funding could do the same by arcane-programming some Magic Mouths to whitelist people into a building?

I see a Warlock beholden not to a traditional patron, but the very concept of a particular corporation and the power that it holds over the city it's based in, bound by literal contract. Said corporation could hire a Rouge, not for simple burglary, but for corporate espionage.

A boxing ring with divisions allowing and forbidding the use of Ki, separating the Fighters from the Monks for the sake of spectacle. A Paladin Doctor who derives their power from their Hippocratic Oath; A Druid who keeps a watchful eye over the city park, acting as it's ranger.

Have you ever had a moment on social media where you're given an anniversary post, and you think "No way have I been on this site that long" or "I don't remember doing any of that?" Imagine an insidious plot by Illithid Mindflayers, adapted to newfound tendencies of their prey. "Brainrot" in the most literal sense: a Social Media website designed to literally eat away at a persons intelligence as they mindlessly doomscroll their feed.

I imagine a society that revolves AROUND the fantastical, rather than a society that simply INCLUDES the fantastical. I feel like there's a lot more you can do than putting magic into a real human city.