How to switch campaign settings without being corny.

[Calico_Jack73]

Okay here's the problem. I've got a gaming group that is currently playing in the Forgotten Realms because that is the setting that I am most familiar with. However, since I started the game I discovered the Midnight setting which looks really cool. I also looked through some of my old Scarred Lands books and FR is starting to taste very much like vanilla compared to these two settings. They don't want to start with new characters and I'd like to use one of these settings but I need a cool way to bring them into a different setting since they aren't powerful enough to do it themselves yet. As I understand it in the Midnight setting the Astral Plane (and pretty much every other plane) is cut off from the Prime. Is there any way for characters from other settings to get there? Scarred Lands seems pretty normal as far as astral travel goes but I still don't want it to be corny. :\

Ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Switching from FR to Midnight is a big move and to me would be easier starting fresh. FR to SL should be no problem.

Ideas to get players over:

Through the Looking Glass - mirror plane, the players are reflections adjusted to the new setting.

Death - The players die and are re-born into the new setting, even cloned.

IF the players have been tied to a "small" campaign area you can just add that area to the setting you want to use, both Midnight and SL has lands unknown.

 

[kenjib]

Is it the plot hook of Midnight that you like, or the setting details? If the former, how about instead of bringing the players to Midnight, bringing Midnight to the players? An evil force (take your pick or make them alien invaders) takes over FR and cuts off the Astral plane using powerful magic to prevent divine intervention...

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Is it the plot hook of Midnight that you like, or the setting details? If the former, how about instead of bringing the players to Midnight, bringing Midnight to the players? An evil force (take your pick or make them alien invaders) takes over FR and cuts off the Astral plane using powerful magic to prevent divine intervention...

Because certain dieties in the FR pantheon have the Prime as their home plane (for example I believe Torm is one of them). Also, the forces of good are powerful enough in the Realms that I just don't see the world becoming conquered like in Midnight. I mean being the DM I could do pretty much anything I like with the setting but if I am to be honest to the setting I'd have to believe that heros such as Elminster and Khelben would raise an army of other powerful heros to help them against the new threat. Heck, even the City of Shade would most likely join with the forces of good rather than be conquered. From the beginning the races of Midnight are a conquered people and the players are the resistance.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Suddenly, in the middle of the crowded market where you are buying supplies, there is an explosion of heat and light. Screaming people are hurled out from what appears to be some sort of magical disturbance. Shimmering rainbow-colored lights are twisting and converging in a circular area near the center of the area, slowly settling down to a vague, shimmering patch on the ground. In the center of the effected area stands a man in robes - his face horribly twisted as though he were in incredible pain. He looks around, seemingly amazed, then shouts out, "Help! I need help! Somebody! I only have a few minutes! They're killing everybody!" He then collapses in a whimpering mass.

Or is this cheesy? As the players render aid or otherwise investigates, the magical effect starts up again, pulling them and the robed man back to his home plane. Something Bad is happening there, and the man is a high-level cleric who cast a Miracle to send him to where there were people who could help him. The planar transport was the result. Of course, the priest dies in the attempt - it was too much for his feeble heart - and now the characters are on their own on another world with Something Bad going on around them.

Of course, your characters might not go for the hook, or not all of them....

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I have to agree to Hand of Evil: Turning a FR campaign (or pretty much every campaign) into a Midnight Campaign isn't easy. I strongly advise you not to do it.

Not only have you to come up with something to get them through the veil - which even the gods can't pierce! - but the game rules are quite different there! Most of the classes that are viable in the FR won't work in Midnight, the races are different, magic is extremely different.... And the "mood" of the game world is extremely different. I wouldn't make that step, better prepare new heroes (give them a higher starting level if they don't want to start with 0 again)

 

[Henry]

Keep in mind that the ONLY WotC setting with more planar gates than Faerun is Sigil in the Planescape setting.

It should be no trouble to fabricate a reason that your players want to enter a planar gate that takes them to Midnight. Before that, supply them with a clue that there is a gate in their destination that returns to Faerun, but ONLY at a certain time and place. If they miss it, they've got to find another way out. Run them through a plot in the Midnight setting, but be sure to leave them time to get to the exit hole if they choose to. That way, if they feel the need to "take up the good fight" in Midnight, they can be all heroic and sacrifice their way home, to make a small difference in that plane.

Want them to do a double header? The planar gate is cyclic; it shifts through Midnight, THEN though Ghelspad in the Scarred Lands. Give them a task to do there to find the time and place of the next gate, and then throw the full glory of the Titan-scarred setting at them. That way, you've exposed them to the settings, and if they don't like them, there IS a way home eventually. You get your creative urges sated, and they get at best a cool new setting, and at worst, a brief vacation in Hell making them appreciate Faerun more.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Wow! The posters here are ENWorld never cease to amaze me with their wonderful ideas!

As for Midnight I was thinking of something similar to MerakSpielman's idea but have the escapee die in Faerun after telling a high ranking leader in the Church of Torm (or Helm) of the plight of the people in Aryth (the Midnight setting). Torm being the god of paladins or Helm as the god of guardians would appear to the PC's a dream stating his intent to send a champion to this unknown realm to rescue the innocents but is unable to do so directly. Instead, there is an incredibly powerful artifact in an evil demiplane (Ravenloft) known as the Rift Spanner which is able to open portals on even that unescapable plane. The party would have to find a way to Ravenloft, locate the Rift Spanner, and then use it to pierce the veil of Midnight. Who knows, after they've spent some time on the Demiplane of Dread Midnight may seem to be a welcome change. Anyway, the intent of this is to make the entire quest a hero's journey so that even if the PC's aren't powerful enough to make a difference when they set out on the quest by the time they get to Midnight they will be powerful enough to challenge the Night Kings and Izrador.

Too cheesy?

 

[Desdichado]

TPK. The players are reborn in Hell ala Midnight.

Or involve them in some big time planar politics in FR. Godwars and the like. Should be easy enough to morph that into Scarred Lands.

Really, though, you're probably just better off starting over.

 

[Shemeska]

What Henry said, the City of Doors has portals that go anywhere. I'd suggest treating a different campaign setting such as Midnight like another prime material world, just largely sealed off from the planes ala Darksun. Once you're through that portal you're there, but getting back out might not be so easy. Doors from Sigil aren't always two way things. Ravenloft is a good example of getting into a place easily but not being able to go back with any level of ease.