Greyhawk : D20 other worlds crossover

[Piratecat]

The FFG book Planes and Portals (by Mike Mearls) has some wonderful methods of variant planar travel. It's well worth picking up.

 

[nothing to see here]

Somebody should throw in a quick plug for Bastion Press' Oathbound setting.

Might as well be me.

While kinda out there for many more 'traditional' games -- Oathbound has the kind of unpredictable planespanning cosmopolitan goodness that would probably mesh well with the flavour of the campaign you're running.

Not only does it add a lot of exotic mechanical options (exotic races & classes, prestige races etc), that would surprise your players -- I find the Oathbound overarchning metaplot adaptible enough that you could tweak it to your own campaign.

In fact, tweaking an Oathbound within a "planescape plus" universe does sound like an intriguing idea. I should go ponder that.

As a secondary reccomendation I'd point out Malhavoc's Arcana Unearthed Setting, the Diamond Thronw. The "same yet different" feel of the alternate races and classes (and magic system) would definitely throw players a curveball -- and give them a new appreciation of the expansiveness of your plot

 

[sir_ollibolli]

I second Oathbound and would suggest
- Ravenloft
- Scarred Lands in Hollowfaust or near the Blood Sea
- Iron Kingdoms
- Fading Suns or Dragonstar
- Nyambe
- Deadlands (or Sidewinder)
- a good modern world (Greyhawk 2000, Urban Arcana or an adapted Shadowrun)
- Rokugan
- plus a cycle of Elemental worlds like the Death Gate Cycle...

(other mentions are Sundered Reaches from FFE and perhaps Dawnforge)
let the strange settings capture the characters.

Kalamar, Midnight, Dawnforge, Demon Wars, Karathis, Skull & Bones, Morningstar are too similar to make planar hopping.

Another way to go is the familiarity with the persons in the settings. Let them jump from novel setting to novel setting... Jordan's Wheel of Time, Pratchetts Diskworld, Brooks' Shannara, Martin's Saga of Fire And Ice, Williams Osten Ard, Feist's Riftwar, Eddings's, Burroughs, Tolkien (Hi Frodo, I need your ring... I'll bring it right back... bamf), Weis/Hickman's Death gate cycle (i know this is mentioned twice)... for some of these World's there is already lots of setting information available...

 

[enworldatemylogin]

Something I used in my Greyhawk game.

In the city of Greyhawk, in the merchant area is a tavern, called the Boar's Head Inn. It really isn't an inn, just a bar, but with an interesting secret.

The bar is usually filled with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Anyway, behind the kitchen, between it and the exit is an old storage room. The to the storage room is warped and difficult to open, but if you knock back a beer (that is the key), it will transform into a portal and let you "in" to the Infinite Staircase, (also known as the Celestial Stairway in FR). From there you can go where ever the stairs take you.

 

[Alzrius]

It really isn't an inn, just a bar, but with an interesting secret.

The bar is usually filled with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Anyway, behind the kitchen, between it and the exit is an old storage room. The to the storage room is warped and difficult to open, but if you knock back a beer (that is the key), it will transform into a portal and let you "in" to the Infinite Staircase, (also known as the Celestial Stairway in FR). From there you can go where ever the stairs take you.

This sounds an awful lot like the World Serpent Inn.

 

[enworldatemylogin]

This sounds an awful lot like the World Serpent Inn.

Oh nothing that spectacular, though that is at least 5 years after mine, which is inspired by Planescape, but that link is useful for others.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

I was going to run something similar, but never got round to it. I came up with the following destinations:

Kara-Tur or Rokugan
Zakhara (Al-Qadim)
The Caribbean in the age of piracy (Skull & Bones)
Jorune
Harn (low magic, but lots of interworld portals called Godstones)
Athas (Dark Sun)
Barsaive (Earthdawn)

Should be great fun!

Cheers


Richard

 

[Alzrius]

Oh nothing that spectacular, though that is at least 5 years after mine, which is inspired by Planescape, but that link is useful for others.

Actually, the World Serpent Inn is much older than that web enhancement...IIRC, it was first featured in Dragon #121 or so (the article was "Love & Ale" or something like that).

 

[Mark Plemmons]

Kalamar, Midnight, Dawnforge, Demon Wars, Karathis, Skull & Bones, Morningstar are too similar to make planar hopping.

Well, I have to disagree with the Kalamar part of that argument at least... It depends where the gate is, as to how similar it is to another setting. For example, Kalamar's Svimohzish Isle would be similar to Nyambe, which you do recommend. There are also dark evil theocracies, slaver nations, and hobgoblin nations, any of which could be used as a major departure from the norm. The tendency toward racial tensions and suspiciousness of strangers might cause problems, depending on the PCs' appearances. Also, the language challenge would be the real problem for visitors, since the KoK setting doesn't expect that everyone knows a "Common" language.

Anyway, some planar travel ideas for the Kingdoms of Kalamar, should it be used. These come from the core campaign setting book:

City of Ardarr-Norr: Having been to the astral plane once, the wizard Nabaddan is eager to return there. A close call with a hunting party of githyanki left him flush with excitement. Nabaddan does not sell items or services, but he will purchase magical items that allow extraplanar communication or travel.

The Riftmaster: This collection of stars forms a key. It is visible during the winter for two months. The Riftmaster illuminates the sky one minute before midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is believed to open extra-planar gates worldwide for one minute, allowing any creature to pass.

Village of Trarr: Sages insist that homely Trarr stands at a delicate juncture between the planes. While the juncture is not a dramatic threat to the world, it does mean that certain outsiders pop in and out around the city more often that the locals would like. Celestial and fiendish creatures appear among the local wildlife from time to time, as well as mind flayers, abishai, and ethereal filchers.

 

[diaglo]

you can tie in some other worldly goodness with Dungeon magazine too.

try issue 88... the Door from Everywhere by Roger Moore. part of it is included in the story hour in my sig.