Combining Two Systems Idea...

[anoblewolf]

Thank you in advanced for all your help.

I have an idea for a campaign that will take place in two different worlds. One being the real world and one being a fantasy world, having the players transported back and forth between the two. I was thinking that I would use d20 modern for the real world and DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder the fantasy world.

What do you all think?

Have any of you tried something like this?

Thank you again for your help.

[ekarney]

As like a .hack or Sword Art Online thing?

Where the "players" are based in d20 modern, and then their "characters" are based n 3.X/PF? However they use their same/similar classes and hit dice?

I did something similar in the very first campaign I ever ran, where a character from eberron was transported to a modern-esque setting. The issue I ran into was not providing the player with enough motivation to use modern technology, preferring to use his scale armour and bastard sword.

My advice: Limit the classes to classes that overlap and have them choose one class style. (I.e. don't be a fighter in d20 modern and a wizard in 3.5)
Also establish on how they travel between the two worlds, and what to do with feats and similar since.

Consider augmenting the abilities of the second world (the one the players weren't "born" in) to be better than the powers of them in the original world.

And personally, later in the campaign I'd advise some overlap between the worlds.

[anoblewolf]

As like a .hack or Sword Art Online thing?

Where the "players" are based in d20 modern, and then their "characters" are based n 3.X/PF? However they use their same/similar classes and hit dice?

I did something similar in the very first campaign I ever ran, where a character from eberron was transported to a modern-esque setting. The issue I ran into was not providing the player with enough motivation to use modern technology, preferring to use his scale armour and bastard sword.

My advice: Limit the classes to classes that overlap and have them choose one class style. (I.e. don't be a fighter in d20 modern and a wizard in 3.5)
Also establish on how they travel between the two worlds, and what to do with feats and similar since.

Consider augmenting the abilities of the second world (the one the players weren't "born" in) to be better than the powers of them in the original world.

And personally, later in the campaign I'd advise some overlap between the worlds.

Thank you MetaMyconid,

The Idea is that the players are in a modern/futuristic world and are playing a mmorpg like Sword Art Online when the game world and real world start to cross over into each other and the player are trying to figure out why this is happening. As campaign progresses the characters will start to have access to the abilities of the real world self and there game world self as the two worlds become one. The players will eventually find out that neither of the two worlds are the real world, that both worlds are part of the same virtual world and that they are actually in a form of suspended animation and that the computer system that is controlling this this virtual world is failing and has become corrupted causing all these strange events.

Thank you again for your help.

[Andezzar]

I wouldn't put a restriction on the class combinations. The virtual world should be independent from the real one. You might consider locking mental stats.

For further inspiration, Otherland is a very good novel series.

[Honest Tiefling]

I think it would be hilarious if the mental stats were not locked. A person of average intelligence becomes an outright genius in the other world. How is this possible? Would they be tempted to stay in the world where their minds are far more powerful? And then when the twist hits, it has the added impact that this virtual world has the power to turn everyone smart but chooses not to, or reduced the mind of a very intelligent person for its own goals.

[DrMartin]

when I read the OP i actually thought more of a Dark Tower kind of thing

with the very same characters travelling back and forth between the modern and the fantasy world

[Tohsaka Rin]

If you want another method of handling the real/otherworld, I suggest looking up the korean manhwa 'The Gamer'. You can find english translations pretty easily.

Spoiler alert: The plot has almost nothing to do with games, in spite of the title.

...But not in the way you're thinking.

[ngilop]

I did something very similar to this, only for me it was real world people being shunted to a alternate dimension.

what I did was make the standard D&D classes prestige classes (10 level ones). My players loved it, but Im no sure how to do an amalgamation of real/virtual world.

Maybe start to gestalt the two ?

[Mehangel]

What I did in a campaign I ran where there was travel between d20 Modern and Fantasy is the following:

In the Modern World:
o All D&D Spellcasters lost spell slots past Spell Level 5. (Thus no Level 6-9 Spellcasting)
o All D&D Magic Items emulating a spell over 6th level fail to work, they dont get expended, they just fail.
o D&D Minor Artifacts have a 25% chance of failing, Lesser Artifacts have a 50% chance of failing, Average Artifacts have a 75% chance of failing, and Greater Artifacts always fail.
o All D20 Modern FX abilities remain unchanged.
o All D20 Modern Items remain unchanged.

In the Fantasy World:
o All D20 Modern FX spell abilities become naturally affected by Maximize, Quicken, Persistent, or Widen Spell Metamagic feats.
o All D20 Modern characters gain Spell Resistance = 15 + the characters Defense Bonus.
o All D20 Modern Equipment have a chance of breaking equal to twice the item's purchase DC per use.
o All D&D Spellcasters remain unchanged
o All D&D Magic Items remain unchanged

[ekarney]

I wouldn't put a restriction on the class combinations. The virtual world should be independent from the real one. You might consider locking mental stats.

For further inspiration, Otherland is a very good novel series.

My reasoning behind was so that the players would only need one character sheet, and so that their fantasy and modern representations of each other would be representative of each other (Seeing as both worlds aren't the "real" one)



Good luck though OP, this looks like a very interesting premise.