DSCrankshaw
2022-01-29, 12:12 PM
I'm running a group through Rime of the Frostmaiden, and while I'm not planning a TPK, I figure it's a distinct possibility.
If that happens, I'm planning to give them an option to continue with the same characters, but a different campaign. In other words, I'm planning to isekai the lot of them.
If you're not familiar with it, isekai is a Japanese genre where characters travel to another world (similar to portal fantasy, but with it's own tropes). There are a number of different ways to do that, but a common one, which I'm leaning most heavily on, is that they die in this world and are reborn in another world with their memories intact. (See roughly 50% of recent anime, manga, or light novels for details.)
So here are some of my objectives for this:
I want the new characters to feel like they are in some ways the same character, but have changed a lot and have a chance to start over.
Isekai protagonists tend to be overpowered, so I want them to be at least a little more powerful than their previous incarnations, but I still need to DM their characters, so I don't want to make them too powerful.
I'd prefer to run them through a module, rather than having to homebrew a whole world. The problem I'm running into is most first-party modules are set in the Forgotten Realms, and I really want to emphasize the different world part.
Here's what I have so far.
Welp, that's it. TPK. The party is dead. But you've been given a second chance, and are about to reborn into another world.
The conceit is that rather than a new character, it's the same one, but reincarnated. This is based on the Japanese genre of isekai, so I'm borrowing liberally from that genre. In terms of character creation, it's more restricted, but overall more powerful. Since you were reincarnated, you will have been born and grown up in this world, so you may have a new race and class.
Race: roll d100 on the druid Reincarnate spell table to determine your race. If you roll odd, your sex is male; if you roll even, your sex is female. (If you prefer to pick your sex, I won't force you to use what you roll.) If you roll human, use the regular human rather than the variant.
Ability Scores: This is complicated, but overall more powerful. It will give you scores at least as good (but probably better than) your previous life, but you won't have complete control.
Figure out your initial ability score array from your previous incarnation, before racial modifiers or ASIs. (We used a 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8 array, so place those in the same abilities as in your previous life.)
Roll ability scores six times and apply them--in order--to Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha.
For each ability score, take the highest of the ability score in your previous life or your new roll.
Apply your racial modifiers. Feel free to use Tasha's customization options.
Background: You may either choose the same background you had in your previous life, or the new Isekai Protagonist background, described below.
As an alternative, instead of the same background, you can take 1 level of the same class you had before (if we're starting at higher than 1st level, it doesn’t have to be your starting class)
Pick your class: Pick any class. You may want to continue on the path you were on before, but this is a chance to start over and do something new. You should have ability scores at least as good as (and probably better than) your previous life, but you won't have control over where those ability scores are, so that may affect your decisions.
Languages: In addition to your usual languages, you know an additional language called Faerun Common. This is the common tongue spoken on your original homeworld. Only other people who have been there could possibly know it.
Pick a feat: The one who gave you this second chance has given you a leg up in the other world. You start the game with one feat.
You're dead. But that isn't necessarily the end. An enigmatic/friendly/incompetent divine being--a death avatar/angel/goddess (it's almost always a goddess rather than a god)--is giving you a second chance, and you're being reincarnated in another world.
Skills: Pick two skills you were proficient with in your previous life. You're now proficient with them in this life.
Languages: Pick a language you knew in your previous life. You now know it in this life.
Tool/weapon Proficiency: You are proficient with one tool you were proficient with in your previous life, or one weapon you were proficient with in your previous life.
Starting items: The tool or weapon you are proficient with from your previous life, 25 gp
Inexplicable attractiveness: You are considered desirable by members of both sexes, regardless of their usual sexual preference or your charisma or appearance. How much you take advantage of it is up to you, but you can usually parlay their attraction into minor favors, hospitality, and (usually chaste) companionship. Only important love interests would be willing to take real risks for you, however.
So, given all that, I could use some advice on the following:
Overall, does this approach work to help make characters feel the same, but significantly changed?
What method of rolling ability scores should I use? The fact that I'm not letting them assign ability scores as desired makes me feel like I should give them an option that gives stronger rolls, but maybe that's cancelled out by taking the higher of their new roll or previous ability scores. I've been considering the following:
4d6b3 (best 3 rolls out of 4d6) -- This gives the standard results. I feel like this is most likely to bump up their low stats, but unlikely to change which stat is their primary.
2d6+6 -- This is just a little bit better than 4d6b3, and gives similar numbers (the main advantage is that it avoids the possibility of really low rolls, but does that matter since it will be compared to their previous stats?)
3d6b2+6 -- This gives significantly better results, and I feel like it's probably too strong. But it's the most likely to give them a new highest ability score, which means that it creates a more significant choice for them.
What campaign module should I use? Right now I'm leaning toward Curse of Strahd, because that's pretty setting independent and one of the players has expressed an interest in playing it, but in that case it doesn't feel like the new world would matter as much as it should (I could have them reborn into Barovia, but it's a plot point that all residents of Barovia are human, except for a community of elves). Are there 3rd party campaigns I should consider instead? (I have the campaign book for Dungeons of Drakkenheim, for example.)
If that happens, I'm planning to give them an option to continue with the same characters, but a different campaign. In other words, I'm planning to isekai the lot of them.
If you're not familiar with it, isekai is a Japanese genre where characters travel to another world (similar to portal fantasy, but with it's own tropes). There are a number of different ways to do that, but a common one, which I'm leaning most heavily on, is that they die in this world and are reborn in another world with their memories intact. (See roughly 50% of recent anime, manga, or light novels for details.)
So here are some of my objectives for this:
I want the new characters to feel like they are in some ways the same character, but have changed a lot and have a chance to start over.
Isekai protagonists tend to be overpowered, so I want them to be at least a little more powerful than their previous incarnations, but I still need to DM their characters, so I don't want to make them too powerful.
I'd prefer to run them through a module, rather than having to homebrew a whole world. The problem I'm running into is most first-party modules are set in the Forgotten Realms, and I really want to emphasize the different world part.
Here's what I have so far.
Welp, that's it. TPK. The party is dead. But you've been given a second chance, and are about to reborn into another world.
The conceit is that rather than a new character, it's the same one, but reincarnated. This is based on the Japanese genre of isekai, so I'm borrowing liberally from that genre. In terms of character creation, it's more restricted, but overall more powerful. Since you were reincarnated, you will have been born and grown up in this world, so you may have a new race and class.
Race: roll d100 on the druid Reincarnate spell table to determine your race. If you roll odd, your sex is male; if you roll even, your sex is female. (If you prefer to pick your sex, I won't force you to use what you roll.) If you roll human, use the regular human rather than the variant.
Ability Scores: This is complicated, but overall more powerful. It will give you scores at least as good (but probably better than) your previous life, but you won't have complete control.
Figure out your initial ability score array from your previous incarnation, before racial modifiers or ASIs. (We used a 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8 array, so place those in the same abilities as in your previous life.)
Roll ability scores six times and apply them--in order--to Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha.
For each ability score, take the highest of the ability score in your previous life or your new roll.
Apply your racial modifiers. Feel free to use Tasha's customization options.
Background: You may either choose the same background you had in your previous life, or the new Isekai Protagonist background, described below.
As an alternative, instead of the same background, you can take 1 level of the same class you had before (if we're starting at higher than 1st level, it doesn’t have to be your starting class)
Pick your class: Pick any class. You may want to continue on the path you were on before, but this is a chance to start over and do something new. You should have ability scores at least as good as (and probably better than) your previous life, but you won't have control over where those ability scores are, so that may affect your decisions.
Languages: In addition to your usual languages, you know an additional language called Faerun Common. This is the common tongue spoken on your original homeworld. Only other people who have been there could possibly know it.
Pick a feat: The one who gave you this second chance has given you a leg up in the other world. You start the game with one feat.
You're dead. But that isn't necessarily the end. An enigmatic/friendly/incompetent divine being--a death avatar/angel/goddess (it's almost always a goddess rather than a god)--is giving you a second chance, and you're being reincarnated in another world.
Skills: Pick two skills you were proficient with in your previous life. You're now proficient with them in this life.
Languages: Pick a language you knew in your previous life. You now know it in this life.
Tool/weapon Proficiency: You are proficient with one tool you were proficient with in your previous life, or one weapon you were proficient with in your previous life.
Starting items: The tool or weapon you are proficient with from your previous life, 25 gp
Inexplicable attractiveness: You are considered desirable by members of both sexes, regardless of their usual sexual preference or your charisma or appearance. How much you take advantage of it is up to you, but you can usually parlay their attraction into minor favors, hospitality, and (usually chaste) companionship. Only important love interests would be willing to take real risks for you, however.
So, given all that, I could use some advice on the following:
Overall, does this approach work to help make characters feel the same, but significantly changed?
What method of rolling ability scores should I use? The fact that I'm not letting them assign ability scores as desired makes me feel like I should give them an option that gives stronger rolls, but maybe that's cancelled out by taking the higher of their new roll or previous ability scores. I've been considering the following:
4d6b3 (best 3 rolls out of 4d6) -- This gives the standard results. I feel like this is most likely to bump up their low stats, but unlikely to change which stat is their primary.
2d6+6 -- This is just a little bit better than 4d6b3, and gives similar numbers (the main advantage is that it avoids the possibility of really low rolls, but does that matter since it will be compared to their previous stats?)
3d6b2+6 -- This gives significantly better results, and I feel like it's probably too strong. But it's the most likely to give them a new highest ability score, which means that it creates a more significant choice for them.
What campaign module should I use? Right now I'm leaning toward Curse of Strahd, because that's pretty setting independent and one of the players has expressed an interest in playing it, but in that case it doesn't feel like the new world would matter as much as it should (I could have them reborn into Barovia, but it's a plot point that all residents of Barovia are human, except for a community of elves). Are there 3rd party campaigns I should consider instead? (I have the campaign book for Dungeons of Drakkenheim, for example.)