A multi-genre, multi-system campaign, a'la QUANTUM LEAP

[Dr Midnight]

A little idea has been nesting in my nugget. The idea is a campaign that revolves around a core of characters that for some stupid reason are plunged into different worlds and are given different roles in that world. Before leaving, they have to solve a problem... just like in SLIDERS, QUANTUM LEAP or the D&D cartoon.

Let's say you come up with four PCs. You give them stats, personality, names, and descriptions. That's it. At the beginning of the campaign, something (dimensional rift wrinkle cream? A magical talisman? A freakin' funhouse ride?) puts the group into an unfamiliar enviornment. They find themselves with new, strange abilities (hey, look, apparently I'm a wizard). They find out what's going on, and strive to overcome a problem before they can go to the next world, hoping to get "home" eventually. I know the formula's tired in the TV world, but who's used it in RPGs?

With the great wealth of D20 material out there, it's more than possible. Week one, you "fall" into D&D and each character is assigned (by choice or random) their class. The players make the sheets based on their PC's core stats. The characters adventure and win, then "fall" into Shadowchasers or Star Wars or Call of Cthulu or Mutants & Masterminds or Spycraft, etc... I think it'd be fun to run a game where one character could go from Rogue to Wheelman to Jedi, and so on.

Maybe, in the spirit of schlocky TV, there's a universal villain who's always behind things. Maybe there's a master multi-dimensional plan he's trying to pull off that the heroes are trying to stop. Maybe he makes the "falls" as well, or maybe each world has a version of him that just happens to follow a similar path in each life (for example, take Alan Moore's TOM STRONG or SUPREME comics, both have themed alter-dimensional character episodes).

Anyway, that's the idea. I'll probably try it sometime. Till then, I just thought I'd put this up for the two of you who haven't thought of something like it.

For Justice!!

 

[gunter uxbridge]

Been there, done that...

Actually, it was a generic role playing scenario system called Destiny Deck. It was put out about 10 years ago by a small group, but it is really fun. The deck consists of four decks, one with setting suggestions, one with mood suggestions, and one with a challenge. A fourth doubled as a one time use special power or magic item that a PC could use during the game. The DM would pull three cards and have a minute or so to come up with a mini-scenario for the PCs. (These could be really challenging for the DM. An example draw might consist of stopping a natural disaster at a sporting event. The mood is dignified. Depending on the rules you and your players decide on, you might be able to discard one card and redraw.) Individual games could last from a half hour of real time to an hour or whatever you wanted. At the end of the time frame the PCs get sucked into a vortex and off to the next adventure. The cards go to the next player who now becomes the DM, he draws a new set and the game begins anew.

Of course, there are other variations of the game. I use my deck from time to time to come up with one the spot adventure ideas if a game has gone off course or just to get the old creative juices flowing. It was one of the best DM tools I ever bought and could be used for fantasy games, science fiction, really anything. I wonder if the deck is still available??? Anyone else ever hear of it??

 

[Silver Moon]

A similar type of game is "Timemaster", which is a sci-fi system based heavily on Poul Anderson's Time Patrol series, similar also to the TimeCop concept. You are part of a team taken from various points of history (and possibly even various worlds) that must travel back in time to fix a point in history that an evil or greedy time traveler has changed. I've played several games of this at cons, and it is great. There aren't very many modules available however, due to the very extensive research needed to write one.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

My flatmate ran a campaign at one point that was multi-genre.

The concept was that when the creator created the multi-verses, he had bits left over from each, so he put them all together.

Now each year the emporer has to say the words of binding or they will fall apart.

Our characters came from different genres, but used the same rules. During the game we would move through portals to different settings.

It was a lot of fun.

Duncan

 

[Sniktch]

I've been slowly developing a campaign with the exact same premise, except that I planned on using wuxia rules and calling it "Saturday Night Kung-Fu Theatre." A bunch of crazy characters cut from Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, etc... type of movies constantly blipping from one mishap to the next

 

[hong]

Given the number of detail differences between D&D, d20 Modern, Spycraft, Star Wars, d20 CoC, and whatnot, I think this is an ambitious project. If you want to do a genre-hopping campaign, GURPS is probably still a better choice.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Sounds like a fun idea, though! Make it a fun house ride though, and remember, sooner or later they'll be a certain amount of humour whether you like it or not.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The idea is great - Torg did something similar, though the character "classes" didn`t change when changing the realities.

The main problem might be that you have to create new character statistics each adventure, so D&D is not perfect for this.

Perhaps it would better if everybody stays at his class, though maybe after each adventure, they might decide to add levels of classes usually specific to the scenario they lived in. (So, after visiting Forgotten Realms, someone might learn wizadry, which he than may use in the next scenario, a Starwars Setting after the Destruction of the first Death Star...)

There are many possibilities, and if you are a good DM and have creative players, you should give it a try

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Azure Trance]

Sounds like a fun idea, though! Make it a fun house ride though, and remember, sooner or later they'll be a certain amount of humour whether you like it or not.

If it was all jumbled together however, wouldn't it end up looking something similar to RIFTS?

 

[thundershot]

It's actually pretty easy now with d20 Modern. I haven't seen the SWd20 yet, but D&D and d20M are totally compatable. The characters can learn new skills and classes as they raise in level, and get to bring that with them when they "leap". Yes, they end up more powerful than the rest of that world, but you just adjust the challenges accordingly. A D&D character isn't going to have any ranks in Wealth at first, for example, so can't really buy anything. A modern PC in D&D wouldn't necessarily have magic, but can blow creatures away with a shotgun. It all evens out, for the most part.


Chris