How do you make a Commoner From Earth become an Adventurer using magic in Faerun?

[Monkplayer]

My player's are plane shifting into D&D 5e Faerun right now, in order to save Faerun from disaster. All the PCs have character sheets that represent themselves based on their current skills and abilities. They all know that they will grow into being adventurers with special abilities/magic wielding/combat class, etc based on the decisions they make while in Faerun. Some will be a wizard, one likely a rogue, another a archer of some type, etc.

How can I turn the PCs into adventurers over 2-3 game sessions, that will make sense in 5E? There isn't per se a spell that will do it, nor a magical item that I'm aware of.

[nickl_2000]

It actually is canon that Earth is part of the D&D Multi-verse (I believe it is something Gary Gygax did at some point). So, there is no reason that a power celestial or some sort of Wizard couldn't planeshift the PCs onto Faerun as a last act before they were killed by the BBEG.

You could even have the PCs see the BBEG finish off the planeshifter as a start to the campaign and to help identify the BBEG early on.

[Anymage]

How are you asking this? RAW? The 3.5 spell Mindrape can turn any class levels (including commoner levels) into other class levels. Most plausible answer? The characters get a good bit of downtime between their being shifted in and their next major adventure to apprentice themselves to PC types and learn the lay of the land. The "justify it ASAP so the characters can get right to doing cool adventuring stuff" answer? The PCs pick up sentient magic items or interact with the souls of dead heroes, who can impart basic knowledge a'la the "I know kung fu" scene from the matrix. It all depends on how much you want to focus on a "realistic" amount of time for everyone to brush up on their new adventuring skills, vs. how much you want to use action tropes to get the characters to be all action hero-y shortly after they find their feet.

[Tvtyrant]

My player's are plane shifting into Faerun right now, in order to save Faerun from disaster. All the PCs have character sheets that represent themselves based on their current skills and abilities. They all know that they will grow into being adventurers with special abilities/magic wielding/combat class, etc based on the decisions they make while in Faerun. Some will be a wizard, one likely a rogue, another a archer of some type, etc.

How can I turn the PCs into adventurers that will make sense? There isn't per se a spell that will do it, nor a magical item that I'm aware of.

What about adventurers requires a magic item or spell? Unless you mean they immediately become level 5 adventurers, just have them be level 1 commoners and develop into level 1 X. In 3.5 they could be level X experts and slowly transition levels instead of leveling up.

[LibraryOgre]

If they're not married to being a wizard, secret heritage as a sorcerer would be very easy. Or a warlock pact. If they explicitly want to be Int-based (assuming that is even relevant to your system), something like Pathfinder's Sage Sorcerer could work.

Otherwise, you could even spec it as some sort of natural aptitude (they're not SORCERERS, but magical writings "just make sense" to them), or go with something like "possessed by the spirit of a wizard apprentice that becomes part of them".

[GalacticAxekick]

Most adventurers are normal people who later acquired powered.

Fighters practice. Wizards study. Clerics pray.

Your PCs can become adventurers by... going on increasingly difficult adventures.

[Tvtyrant]

If they're not married to being a wizard, secret heritage as a sorcerer would be very easy. Or a warlock pact. If they explicitly want to be Int-based (assuming that is even relevant to your system), something like Pathfinder's Sage Sorcerer could work.

Otherwise, you could even spec it as some sort of natural aptitude (they're not SORCERERS, but magical writings "just make sense" to them), or go with something like "possessed by the spirit of a wizard apprentice that becomes part of them".

The language of magic turned out to be English the whole time!

[Monkplayer]

Gamers I can see know that you need more info to answer my original question.
1) I've updated my original post to let you know I'm using 5E rules, and 2-3 sessions to start the player's transition into adventurers.
2) It doesn't have to RAW.
3) I can use previous 3.5, or 3.0 spells, and rework it into 5e rules, in order to justify the player's ability to now do "adventurer" things like spells or special abilities (low light vision).

I've read some good ideas already that have been posted, so hopefully this additional I've added will give more clarity.

[KittenMagician]

If they're not married to being a wizard, secret heritage as a sorcerer would be very easy. Or a warlock pact. If they explicitly want to be Int-based (assuming that is even relevant to your system), something like Pathfinder's Sage Sorcerer could work.

Otherwise, you could even spec it as some sort of natural aptitude (they're not SORCERERS, but magical writings "just make sense" to them), or go with something like "possessed by the spirit of a wizard apprentice that becomes part of them".

so i backed the Valda's Spire of Secrets kickstarter ans got a pdf version of it and in it it has a variant rule about spell casters using different ability scores for spell casting. essentailly everything in the classes spells/abilities changes to the new ability score and is given a new name

class-----------------------int--------------------wis---------------------------cha
Bard-----------------------Chronicler------------Skald-----------------------------
Cleric----------------------Archivist--------------------------------------------Evangelist
Druid----------------------Haruspex-------------------------------------------Totemist
Paladin--------------------Inquisitor-------------Templar----------------------------
Ranger--------------------Explorer---------------------------------------------Drifter
Sorcerer-------------------Magus----------------Mystic----------------------------
Warlock-------------------Cultist-----------------Medium-----------------------------
Wizard--------------------------------------------Oracle------------------------Magician


i just thought this could be cool. it presents this as a variant rule so that some character concepts are more achievable\doable

[GalacticAxekick]

I can use previous 3.5, or 3.0 spells, and rework it into 5e rules, in order to justify the player's ability to now do "adventurer" things like spells or special abilities (low light vision). I dont understand why you need spells to allow players to do "adventurer" things.

What is preventing a player from just training in martial arts, studying wizardry or worshipping a god?

[KittenMagician]

I dont understand why you need spells to allow players to do "adventurer" things.

What is preventing a player from just training in martial arts, studying wizardry or worshipping a god?

some of those things actually take some serious training. it is assumed that even a level 1 character has had a fair amount of training. i think OP is looking for a quicker way.

@OP. dnd can be whatever you want. you dont need some specific spell or magic item. just make something up. be creative.

[Cyclops08]

Let him bring a game controller from Earth to use in the place of magic training. He simply uses a special maneuver to bring about fireball. and he can spam Firebolt all day long.
~~All the rules of magic remain the same, he just uses a hand held gaming control.

[GalacticAxekick]

some of those things actually take some serious training. it is assumed that even a level 1 character has had a fair amount of training. i think OP is looking for a quicker way.OP specified that he wants to turn the PCs into adventurers "over 2-3 gaming sessions". That sounds, to me, like they have plenty of time to train.


Session 1 takes place when the PCs arrive in Faerun. They have a race (human) and a background (whichever matches their real world selves) but no class. The PCs know that they cannot save Faerun as commoners, and so the goal for this session is to find people who will train them in the classes of their choice.
Session 2 takes place after a few weeks of training. The PCs have all of the proficiencies that their classes offer them (as well as cantrips, if they are a spellcaster) but no other class features. The PCs are sent on a low-stakes quest to apply their newfound skills and prepare for the adventure to come.
Session 3 takes place after a few more weeks or even months of training, but before the training is complete. The PCs are forced to face a small disaster (the first sign of the greater disaster that is threatening Faerun). Under the do-or-die stakes of this encounter, everything the PCs have been practicing clicks, and they spontaneously gain the 1st level features.
After the small disaster is overcome, the PCs' mentors explain that there is clearly no more time to train, and that they must begin their adventure as they are. The PCs are each awarded one item/spell/boon from their mentor to help them on their journey, and the true campaign begins.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Isekai stories like this do a couple of things though I think the recent Tsukimichi has one of the better ones.

Earth is a place with staggeringly low magic levels. There might be a few places here and their but overall it’s like trying to breathe on the moon. As a result godly intervention is limited as well, so humans get by without magic or divine gifts. Humans that live and survive here, when sent to other worlds, immediately draw in ambient magic fortifying and strengthening them.

That explains how a kind of strong guy that suddenly goes to FR can now lift rather spectacular amounts with no training and carry them for a full day without exhaustion setting in.

How a near death experience like repeated stabbings can be entirely recovered from after a break for lunch.

Magic is also easy enough of the Wizard player has some manner of skill you can reasonably appropriate like computer coding, calculus, etc, or the aforementioned Sorcery is good, as is the “favor to be named later” Warlock Pact.

[noob]

The language of magic turned out to be English the whole time!

That would be a cool idea.
So magic texts makes sense for them because it is in English but then they do not understand people speaking common.
It is equally likely as normal dnd people talking English despite living in another universe and equally likely to having any English sentence look like a stream of the worst insults ever in common: it is all stuff done in fiction because it is fun/convenient rather than logical.

[Monkplayer]

SUPER great ideas from everyone!

GalacticAxeKick makes a lot of sense to me and is believable. I think this can be done but the training is condensed to a faster amount of time, due to the catastrophic events I already have planned that start right after they arrive.

GalacticAxekick,

"OP specified that he wants to turn the PCs into adventurers "over 2-3 gaming sessions". That sounds, to me, like they have plenty of time to train.

Session 1 takes place when the PCs arrive in Faerun. They have a race (human) and a background (whichever matches their real world selves) but no class. The PCs know that they cannot save Faerun as commoners, and so the goal for this session is to find people who will train them in the classes of their choice.
Session 2 takes place after a few weeks of training. The PCs have all of the proficiencies that their classes offer them (as well as cantrips, if they are a spellcaster) but no other class features. The PCs are sent on a low-stakes quest to apply their newfound skills and prepare for the adventure to come.
Session 3 takes place after a few more weeks or even months of training, but before the training is complete. The PCs are forced to face a small disaster (the first sign of the greater disaster that is threatening Faerun). Under the do-or-die stakes of this encounter, everything the PCs have been practicing clicks, and they spontaneously gain the 1st level features.
After the small disaster is overcome, the PCs' mentors explain that there is clearly no more time to train, and that they must begin their adventure as they are. The PCs are each awarded one item/spell/boon from their mentor to help them on their journey, and the true campaign begins."

BerzerkerUnit makes some valid points, see below;

BerzerkerUnit
Re: How do you make a Commoner From Earth become an Adventurer using magic in Faerun?

"...Earth is a place with staggeringly low magic levels. There might be a few places here and their but overall itÂ’s like trying to breathe on the moon. As a result godly intervention is limited as well, so humans get by without magic or divine gifts. Humans that live and survive here, when sent to other worlds, immediately draw in ambient magic fortifying and strengthening them.

That explains how a kind of strong guy that suddenly goes to FR can now lift rather spectacular amounts with no training and carry them for a full day without exhaustion setting in.

How a near death experience like repeated stabbings can be entirely recovered from after a break for lunch.

Magic is also easy enough of the Wizard player has some manner of skill you can reasonably appropriate like computer coding, calculus, etc, or the aforementioned Sorcery is good, as is the “favor to be named later” Warlock Pact.""


Also Noob likes this idea too of English being the magic language.

Originally Posted by Tvtyrant
"The language of magic turned out to be English the whole time!"

So let me sum up my your great ideas as I've run this campaign once before, but this time I was to improve some weak areas of the story;

The PCs have magically surpressed abilities because of living on earth. They have already encountered this in the plot because of the difficulty having Elminster (they don't know it's Him yet) trying to plane shift them into Faerun. Also my NPC special-needs son Daniel is a main antagonist due to his being from earth and purity of soul. My son's pure innocence and untainted soul allows him to hold the Harrow Deck and randomly throw the cards as attacks. The PCs are heading to Faerun to try to rescue my son, and they already know that their social and spiritual tie to Daniel is a key element. Now I add in the magical suppression as another element to why they're chosen to go to Faerun. The magical suppression the PCs and Daniel the NPC have on Earth, makes more sense due to BerzerkerUnit's idea as having Earth as a magically suppressed area.

GalacticAxeKick idea's of having them become full Adventurer's over 2-3 sessions makes sense by bringing in NPCs who are master's in their crafts, because the PCs will likely head to Cormyr to King Azoun's or Elminster's library to research the prophecy (not mentioned before), or why they saw a major 1 mile wide column of green fire blast up into the hemisphere (not mentioned before), right after they arrive. At either of these places I can have the appropriate NPCs train the adventurer abilities that the PC's choose.

Lastly, I can then divulge that the magical language is Earth's English, but the common language they can not understand.
How do I solve the communication issue of them not understanding Faerun's common tongue? The PC's arrival is expected due to the phropecy, so there are two monks (One is a Master Teacher and the other is a squire) from the Old Order awaiting their arrival in Tilverton's Scar.

[Eurus]

If the PCs arrival is expected, I'd have the monks just give them each a Pearl of Speech. Cheap (relative to most adventuring gear, anyway), convenient, and functional.