Plots ideas for "virtual" fantasy worlds meets "real world" rpgs.

Von Ether · Jan 2, 2005

Wanted to spin off an idea from the "Combining multiple D20 Systems" thread ...

Could a GM who wants to do a modern day campaign reach a happy medium with a bunch of players who want fantasy only? (I've been stuck in this boat several times.) One idea would be to play two interlinked campaigns where the fantasy world is some sort of V.R. set up and the players have to occasionaly "upload" back into the real world to get some of their missions done.

Off the top of my head several book series have toyed with this idea:
*hack.sign
*Otherland
*Dream Park

Any suggestions on the sort of plots and set ups you'd think would mesh this "metacampaign" together?

I can also see where d20 Modern could shine for the modern side of the game. While you could have a group that all shared a Hacker class of some sort, I’d get a better feeling from a group that was like Hacker 2/Smart4, Hacker 1/Tough 4 and Hacker 1/Fast 4 than Hacker 2/Techy 4, Hacker1/Solider4 and Hacker 1/Rogue 4. YMMV.

Cergorach · Jan 2, 2005

Hack. has some good ideas, investigating in the real world who's behind what character or even who or what runs the virtual world. People who in the real world aution off in game items on ebay (or ebay like) sites, finsnces can go both ways (from virtual to real and from real to virtual). Dealing with the reality that 'living' in the fantasy world has realworld consequences,like health problems, financial and social problems. Can damage in VR damage you in real life (look at some Cyberpunk sources for things like black ice), can VR bleed into reality? VR personas becomming sentient and realising they are characters in a VR environment, hitching a ride in a characters consiousness, interfacing with realworld aplliances, etc.

It kind of depends on how 'mystical' you want to get...

Krieg · Jan 3, 2005

Von Ether said:
Off the top of my head several book series have toyed with this idea:
*hack.sign
*Otherland
*Dream Park

Don't forget Caverns of Socrates by Dennis McKiernan - Long live the Black Foxes!!

The film The Thirteenth Floor is also a nice source of ideas/inspiration.

Any suggestions on the sort of plots and set ups you'd think would mesh this "metacampaign" together?

It is going to depend on what role the "virtual" world plays within the game.

For example a game in which the characters are virtual players within a popular televised game might have to come to terms with the fact that someone is killing off the players. Is it another player trying to eliminate the competition? A competing game network trying move into the scene. A stalker fan? Murder mystery mayhem ensues...

On the other hand in a world in which nations fight their wars on a virtual battlefield, the players/soldiers might might be stunned to find their base has been overrun with real world commandos & they must save the day without the benefit of their holo abilities...

I can also see where d20 Modern could shine for the modern side of the game. While you could have a group that all shared a Hacker class of some sort, I’d get a better feeling from a group that was like Hacker 2/Smart4, Hacker 1/Tough 4 and Hacker 1/Fast 4 than Hacker 2/Techy 4, Hacker1/Solider4 and Hacker 1/Rogue 4. YMMV.

Grim Tales would work perfectly for this setup as it was designed to cover both archaic & modern genres. It would help make the transition between worlds seamless.

You might also want to take a look at the The Second World Sourcebook by Second World Simulations. It is essentially a toolkit that lets you set up continuity between multiple worlds with different "realities".

Runesong42 · Jan 3, 2005

wot's the dif?

My players don't know it yet, but I am running a concurrent d20 Fantasy/Modern/Future campaign.

They are based in Modern, and have created Modern characters. I used the Urban Arcana plot as written (with my own finesse), found in the back and starting on p. 288. They're doing the whole experience -- D&D Monsters running about in reality.

The plot hints at a being that can travel to and from the "realm of Shadow", so I thought, wouldn't it be nice if one of the PC's inherited the ubiquitous "mysterious item" that could accompish the same thing?

Next thing they knew, they were standing in a pre-made adventure ripped right from a Dungeon magazine, with all their modern gear intact. They saved the day, rescued the damsel, whaddya whaddya.

This happens a few times here and there. The big advatage to this is when they haul their loot back to reality, they can convert (with as much difficulty as you like) the GP value of their coins to a Wealth Bonus.

But wait! There's more...

Little do they know that BOTH realities are in fact "simulated".

As it turns out, in "real" reality, they have been "taken" by an alien race (to be determined) for study. They are in a spaceship, some distance from Earth, somewhere. They are being held in suspended animation and, to protect their psyches, their collective memories have been dumped into a simulated "Modern day" (yah, we've seen the movie, I know).

However, their "Neo" is actually a scientist aboard the vessel, and the PC's are in fact members of his research team. They don't know it yet, though. A master programmer, this gentleman (Let's call him 'Z' for now) has "hacked" their psyches in oder to make them blend in with the rest of the mobs. The PC's are clever, though, and they are slowly learning more and more about themselves and the strangeness of their location.

I haven't fully fleshed out the finale as of yet. The GREAT part of this idea is that, once the PC's find a way to re-unite their psyche with their bodies, they will have a pre-made character set for a brief glimpse into d20 Future!

The main problem will involve a sentient computer trying to destroy the consciouness of the PC's and the other humans with daemons (monsters, specifically fiends and devils and potentially monsters from Diablo II: To Hell and Back) and the PC's staving off the infection with magic, cyberware, and an array of arcane and futuristic weapons. It should be a treat.

In short, the fantasy/modern crossover works perfectly fine. Find out what it is about fantasy that they prefer to Modern and adjust accordingly.