Modern/Fantasy Plot help

[Seramelea]

The campaign setting is actually two settings, one modern and on fantasy. Both worlds run "parallel" to eachother, and the PCs have the abillity to go between the two worlds (though they do not know this yet, and it wont be for a while they will be able to control it).

The PCs started out in the modern world setting, got arrested for commiting a crime (they were set up though), and were charged with the death penalty after trying to escape. They met a man in the holding area though, and he brough them into a dungeon. The PCs worked their way through the dungeon, where they had the option to go through a portal or back to the holding cells. (go through the portal or back to certain death...) They went through the portal and got transported to the fantasy world. Now obviously the "major" storyline is to get back to the modern world. The way they do that is pretty long and involved, but since the campaign actually runs in both worlds at once, someone had mentioned i should also run two seperate story-lines that are world specific. I have one started for the modern world, since they got arrested and set up that would lead to a few interesting avenues, but im really hung up on a storyline for the fantasy world.

The real reason im really hung up on it is because the fantasy world is at war (of course, arnt they all ), and id rather kind of get away from the "save the world" theme, and put something kind of interesting and out there in as this worlds storyline, that has nothing to do with the PCs goal to get back to the modern world.

Most of the PC's time will be spent in the fantasy world, so im trying to also come up with something that is worth really expanding on.

I dont know if this is the right place per se to look for help, but any ideas thrown out would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and im always looking to improve any idea so if you have anything not partaining particularly to the fantasy story-line im having troubles with atm, then feel free to shout them out

 

[jefgorbach]

off the cuff ...

1. perchance the person who introduced the PCs is actually the unknown individual who set them up the first place, knowing first-hand experience is the only real way to convince them of the alt/n world's reality. He's arbitraging otherwise low-value goods in each as exotic goods in their respective counterpart - however now that he's established his interworld trade route, needs assistants to meet the growing demand on both sides of the portal?? He's secretly keeping tabs on their whereabouts with the intent on contacting them again once the Modern authorities consider their case a lost cause and stop seeking them.
Meanwhile the local Craft/etc Guilds, concerned about the influx of modern goods, soon learn the PCs are knowledgeable about such and after initially blaming THEM for the influx, unintentionally send them on a series of wild-goose chases for potential portals back to their own world which ultimately prove false. (eventually they discover one of the Guild's upper ranks is secretly working with Mr.X and was intentionally keeping them busy away from the main city until given the ok to bring them in for debriefing)

2. the person who revealed the portal is NOT who framed the group, however suspects who did resides on the fantasy side, thus the only way to fully clear their names (should they want to) is by locating and somehow bringing him back across to the Modern world to face justice.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Sources to mine for Modern/Fantasy fusions:

1. C.S. Lewis' Narnia
2. Piers Anthony's Split Infinity series
3. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
4. Simon Green's Nightside and Secret Histories novels
5. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels
6. Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas books
7. Joel Rosenburg's Guardians of the Flame novels
8. DC Comics' Fables series
9. The D&D TV cartoon series

Modern PCs in a fantasy world will react to a fantasy world in a different way than natives: they'll have unusual ideas (like democracy) and insights that might almost seem supernatural. And, of course, some of their ideas may be 100% wrong- diseases we think of as being caused by germs, bacteria, and viruses may actually be caused by "evil air" (malaria) or undead spirits.

 

[Seramelea]

The thought of some interworld trade between the two worlds, and the fantasy world guilds growing concerned about this rise of tade, could turn into some very interesting and akward situations for the PCs, especially if the Trader wants to use them for help...

As well as the thought of modern diseases being caused by things that most people think do not exist can also bring about a lot of ideas.

I have read Narnia and Odd Thomas, will flip through some of the others and check them out.

I appreacite the help!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A couple of others popped up in my mind:

1. Barbara Hambly's Darwath books
2. Clive Barker's Imajica
3. Harry Turtledove's Darkness books
4. Mercedes Lackey's Elves on the Road/SERRAted Edge books
5. Terry Brooks' Knight of the Word series is the pre-apocalyptic lead-in to his Shannara books, set in the near-future of our own world. (Sorry about the spoilers!)

The first involves humans from the modern day going through a time/space warp to a time when humanity is endangered by The Dark (a kind of demon).
Imagica is kind of a darker take on C.S. Lewis' Perelandra books- the hero is trying to undo the effects of the fall of man, reuniting Earth with the other, more magical/mystical planes of existence. Lackey's stuff is pure fantasy in a modern age...Elves with racecars!

Brooks' books are pretty cool, showing us a magical apocalypse that ends our technological world. (Come to think of it, that would dovetail nicely with Hambly's stuff...but it would be one of those "Save the World" plotlines you said you don't want...unless saving the world isn't possible...)

The Darkness books are WW2 in a fantasy world as opposed to a true modern fantasy, but its an interesting take on magic as tech.

 

[garrowolf]

Reverse the save the world plot. They find out that they are not in a fantasy world at all. They are in an experiment in a mental ward that is using death row inmates. In order for them to escape they have to destroy elements from the fantasy world in order to ever leave. But this may be a lie as well...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Here's a source that could be interesting: Larry Niven & Stephen Barnes' Dream Park series. In that setting, LARPs have become a major televised sports show, kind of like American Gladiators, with the games backed by the full force of high-tech robotics and holoprojected skins, etc. behind it. Think of it as a gamer's take on Westworld.

Now, imagine that the pathway between the worlds is occurring within a Dream Park setting, so that there is leakage between the tech and fantasy worlds. (This is similar to an idea that shows up somewhat in the aforementioned Piers Anthony Split Infinity series.)

 

[Electric Wizard]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned The Talisman by Steven King and Peter Straub. It's a novel centered around an evil businessman's scheme to exploit a parallel fantasy world and a boy's quest for an artifact that will cure his mother's terminal illness.

A lot of interesting concepts from The Talisman can be adapted to your worlds for inspiration. For example, almost everyone in the real world has a double (called a "twinner") living in a parallel fantasy world. Although the twinners may be completely different in social status or personality, they are bound to each other. If something bad happens to a twinner in the fantasy world, something bad happens to the twinner in the real world. Major events also effect both worlds. The nuclear testing in Arizona and New Mexico back in the 40's and 50's created a bizarre wasteland that covers most of the fantasy world's western regions.

Another important concept is that most items "translate" into other forms when they pass between worlds. So your handgun might turn into a crossbow, or your laptop might turn into several volumes of encyclopedias! Objects that maintain their form are usually heavily enchanted and were created to serve some great purpose.

A parallelism between the two worlds could create a lot of engaging connections. If the players defeat a monster terrorizing a village in the fantasy world, it could "translate" to a brutal drug lord getting arrested in the real world.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Never read that one...might have to check it out.