Soul Reaver - Legacy of Kain

[RenleyRenfield]

So I want to run something kind of like Soul Reaver's ability to switch between 'worlds'. I think other games have done this too (Zelda maybe)

The general idea here is "You are in the real world, but you can switch to a spirit or immaterial or magic form and be in the "between" world. It's like the real world but not in every way, parts of it are like some other world. Its a Between place too."

- What can characters do there that they would find useful? (most important part i think)

- What can characters do there that will affect the real world in a helpful way? (second most important maybe?)

- What if we let characters take a bit from World A and pull it through the Between into World B?

- Other ideas?

 

[Simlasa]

I can see it useful as a way to hide from enemies, or maybe get past them... gain access to places (go through walls?).
Dragging someone else into it would be disorienting, so a way to pick off individuals from a group. or rescue someone.
It's a bit like having a teleport power.
Depending on the specifics maybe it could be used to spy on the 'real' world, or observe them magically/spiritually... as in Earthdawn where a sensitive person can see threads of magic and identify them.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

I never thought, silly me, of what it might be like to drag someone into the in-between against their will.... that's a interesting idea... gives mafia hiding bodies vibes...

saving them too... maybe if there is no "time" there, then someone can stay "dying" for years until a cure/spell is found?

I also like the idea of making this a "physically interactive scry" thing, that could be fun...

 

[Tonguez]

I havent played it but theres an adventure Lost in Shadows at DMsGuild that presents a Shadowfell parallel of the Lost Mine of Phandelver, it might be helpful or provide some ideas.

Soul Reaver is essentially shifting between the material and the border ethereal to exploring parallels forms of the same location, use pathways and bridges that are blocked in one side but accessible in the other. Maybe a flooded room where the ethereal side turns to dry, or a bridge that is crumbling as sections shift between planes causing the PCs to have to shift back and forth to navigate.

Etherealness can be used for stealth, except the ethereal creatures might be more deadly than the real world ones

also use mirrors and similar reflections to give PCs glimpses of the other side as clues to whats going on.

 

[TheSword]

Great series. Loved all four games. They were peak teenage years for me.

What about some creatures being powerful enough to have a reflection in the spirit world? Maybe this is spirit reflection is more descriptive of their soul. So a cruel despot might exist as an empty suit of spectral plate in the spirit realm. A devious courtier might be a tentacled octopus thing.

From a game sense you might require things to be done in the soul realm and the real world to defeat a creature.

 

[Theory of Games]

Like astral projection? There's a hundred rpgs that do that. Pretty much anything with magic or superpowers, right?

Usually the PC can't affect the real world or you end up with OP bathroom psychics that break the game.

The Matrix is like this too: see Shadowrun.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Great series. Loved all four games. They were peak teenage years for me.

What about some creatures being powerful enough to have a reflection in the spirit world? Maybe this is spirit reflection is more descriptive of their soul. So a cruel despot might exist as an empty suit of spectral plate in the spirit realm. A devious courtier might be a tentacled octopus thing.

From a game sense you might require things to be done in the soul realm and the real world to defeat a creature.

Oh i love this! This helps clarify some ideas others and myself have. The representation aspect really makes it work! Thanks!

As for Astral Projection = not quite? This is more like "you yourself can 'translate' from realspace into betweenspace", if this were sci fi, which its not, it would be kinda like when we star the enterprise have battles in warpspace, ish...

Like, lets say there are 5 "dimensions" and they are all connected via "the inbetween space" maybe its laid out in a pattern like a star, or maybe its all connected and you just gotta look for the right opening from one world to the other? dunno.

But the focus here is on the purpose of the 'inbetween'. and some unique things players can do there.

heck maybe even some of those things dont relate to any of the other places, maybe there are 'inbetween only' stuff?