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So I am going to make a game where my players play themselves, and find themselves on Golarion in the year 4705. The point of the game is for them to get stronger and to find their way back home to our world. The fun part of the game is that they can go through adventure paths if like because I will make them canon along the timeline of the world. They also have to think of what their own stats would be using 15 point buy, while thinking critically about which classes would work best for them, though there are restrictions on certain classes such as sorcerer nad oracle. I even figured that they could appear outside of Absalom and get the training they need by selling their cell phones to the society to become members.
What I am having problems with is the reason why they are there to begin with. I can think of some sort of Protean Lord, Qlippoth Lord, Elder Gods, Nethys or even Haagenti calling them as a part of an experiment. Or perhaps one of the Empyreal lords or Gods of good calling them to Golarion on the chance that they might be a powerful force for change and good. Maybe even having them there as being a delayed side effect of Aroden's death. But it all just seems a little hallow and predictable. So who do you think could take people from a different universe where their own universe is a game and why would they?
Also as a side question, if you found yourself in that situation what class would you be?
I would be a wizard.
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'Cause magic. 'Nuff said.
Another possible culprit: the Eldest. You're dealing the fey beings of immense power, unknowable motives, and whims. Maybe one is being curious about the advancement of humankind. Is one an incarnation of the Eldest associated with time (whose name I'm forgetting?). Who knows? They're from the First World, and the rules there are a bit different....
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@OP:
1. The scenario necessarily also involves time travel into the past, because
2. You're awfully optimistic if you think I am a 15 point buy character. . . .
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'Cause magic. 'Nuff said.
Another possible culprit: the Eldest. You're dealing the fey beings of immense power, unknowable motives, and whims. Maybe one is being curious about the advancement of humankind. Is one an incarnation of the Eldest associated with time (whose name I'm forgetting?). Who knows? They're from the First World, and the rules there are a bit different....
That actually a really good idea that a player could be an incarnation of Shyka. It's a little different, none of the players would expect it and you can even give said player Vesper's Rapier to hint towards it.
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@OP:
1. The scenario necessarily also involves time travel into the past, because ** spoiler omitted **
2. You're awfully optimistic if you think I am a 15 point buy character. . . .
1. The idea with that one is that it can give the players a simple way to get back to our world if they want to. Though they would have to be immortal or have the sun orchid elixir if they wanted to make it to our time.
2. I was going to have it that the training the society puts them through will raise their base stats to 15 point buy so they can alter themselves a little if need be.
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Denizens of Leng grabbed some easy slaves in the late 4600s A.R. after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Too late the Denizens round afoul of an aetherstorm or summat, plopping the lucky characters in wherever/whatever you're starting them off in. Fast forward a wee bit of game time for training as [insert class here], they're ready to go in 4705 A.R.
One thing you'll want to pay attention to is the "scripted timeline of events" leading up to 4705 and determining what that means they've heard about/been a part of.
4705 is a bit on the early side for the APs (since they start in game year of the 2000s A.D. = 4700s A.R.). RotRL starts in 4707, for example, whereas Hell's Rebels starts in 4715 A.R.
Have fun!
^You're off by 95 years. Per the Reign of Winter spoiler I posted above, 1918 AD on Earth corresponds approximately to 4713 AR on Golarion. So if you travel from Earth in 2015 AD to Golarion by instantaneous travel, you arrive in Golarion in approximately 4810 AR.
^You're off by 95 years. Per the Reign of Winter spoiler I posted above, 1918 AD on Earth corresponds approximately to 4713 AR on Golarion. So if you travel from Earth in 2015 AD to Golarion by instantaneous travel, you arrive in Golarion in approximately 4810 AR.
Publication dates corresponds to real-time calendar as I describe. In-game calendar corresponds as you describe. ;)
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Denizens of Leng grabbed some easy slaves in the late 4600s A.R. after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Too late the Denizens round afoul of an aetherstorm or summat, plopping the lucky characters in wherever/whatever you're starting them off in. Fast forward a wee bit of game time for training as [insert class here], they're ready to go in 4705 A.R.
One thing you'll want to pay attention to is the "scripted timeline of events" leading up to 4705 and determining what that means they've heard about/been a part of.
4705 is a bit on the early side for the APs (since they start in game year of the 2000s A.D. = 4700s A.R.). RotRL starts in 4707, for example, whereas Hell's Rebels starts in 4715 A.R.
Have fun!
The Denizens of Leng are really fun. They even appear in RofRL as well if memory serves. Fun part is that if they wanted to get back home they might have to go to Leng which is terrifying and awesome. That's a cool idea thanks.
By the way I am throwing them at 4705 so they would have two years to train and get the skills and ability scores they need to be a basic 1st lvl character.
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^Can I get a whole body transplant and complete rebuild? Right now, I am a really badly optimized Modern Necromancer Wizard Life Science Researcher whose main sin is Sloth, which is the wrong sin to go along with Necromancy, and my point buy is in the range -3 to +6. :-)
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How about...
Cultist tried to summon an extraplanar evil in a ritual that involved mass suicide. It failed, but brouht the PCs to Golarion from your universe.
That way, you give them an inicial bse of operations to work from 8the cultists'), and some initial gear in the form of loot both in the corpses and scattered through the hideout.
Conjuration magic can bring them back, but (asuming at least one is a spellcaster) they need to hang around for enouht time to gain enough power (levels) and knowledge (spell research) to be able to go back.
Sidenote: In real life, I think I'm a mindchemist. I call my mutagen "tea".
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Denizens of Leng grabbed some easy slaves in the late 4600s A.R. after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Too late the Denizens round afoul of an aetherstorm or summat, plopping the lucky characters in wherever/whatever you're starting them off in. Fast forward a wee bit of game time for training as [insert class here], they're ready to go in 4705 A.R.
One thing you'll want to pay attention to is the "scripted timeline of events" leading up to 4705 and determining what that means they've heard about/been a part of.
4705 is a bit on the early side for the APs (since they start in game year of the 2000s A.D. = 4700s A.R.). RotRL starts in 4707, for example, whereas Hell's Rebels starts in 4715 A.R.
Have fun!
The Denizens of Leng are really fun. They even appear in RofRL as well if memory serves. Fun part is that if they wanted to get back home they might have to go to Leng which is terrifying and awesome. That's a cool idea thanks.
By the way I am throwing them at 4705 so they would have two years to train and get the skills and ability scores they need to be a basic 1st lvl character.
Be sure to check out Poldaran's campaign journal here as the journal is primarily written from the perspective of the modern character carried to Golarion through space and time on the back of a CoC shantak, all in the interests of a pretty girl.
Depending upon the character class, training time takes a while, up to 12 years of game time. Something to keep in mind.
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How about...
Cultist tried to summon an extraplanar evil in a ritual that involved mass suicide. It failed, but brouht the PCs to Golarion from your universe.
That way, you give them an inicial bse of operations to work from 8the cultists'), and some initial gear in the form of loot both in the corpses and scattered through the hideout.
Conjuration magic can bring them back, but (asuming at least one is a spellcaster) they need to hang around for enouht time to gain enough power (levels) and knowledge (spell research) to be able to go back.
Sidenote: In real life, I think I'm a mindchemist. I call my mutagen "tea".
That could be fun. I would prefer it if my players didn't know why they were there, but that could lead to a potential invasion of the dominion of the black or the Night Heralds finding out that Cthulu is sealed away on our planet. Which would be terrifyingly awesome.
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Denizens of Leng grabbed some easy slaves in the late 4600s A.R. after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Too late the Denizens round afoul of an aetherstorm or summat, plopping the lucky characters in wherever/whatever you're starting them off in. Fast forward a wee bit of game time for training as [insert class here], they're ready to go in 4705 A.R.
One thing you'll want to pay attention to is the "scripted timeline of events" leading up to 4705 and determining what that means they've heard about/been a part of.
4705 is a bit on the early side for the APs (since they start in game year of the 2000s A.D. = 4700s A.R.). RotRL starts in 4707, for example, whereas Hell's Rebels starts in 4715 A.R.
Have fun!
The Denizens of Leng are really fun. They even appear in RofRL as well if memory serves. Fun part is that if they wanted to get back home they might have to go to Leng which is terrifying and awesome. That's a cool idea thanks.
By the way I am throwing them at 4705 so they would have two years to train and get the skills and ability scores they need to be a basic 1st lvl character.
Be sure to check out Poldaran's campaign journal here as the journal is primarily written from the perspective of the modern character carried to Golarion through space and time on the back of a CoC shantak, all in the interests of a pretty girl.
Depending upon the character class, training time takes a while, up to 12 years of game time. Something to keep in mind.
I have been reading that one guys story. It's very interesting and has given me a lot to consider. Thanks.
How about...
Cultist tried to summon an extraplanar evil in a ritual that involved mass suicide. It failed, but brouht the PCs to Golarion from your universe.
That way, you give them an inicial bse of operations to work from 8the cultists'), and some initial gear in the form of loot both in the corpses and scattered through the hideout.
Conjuration magic can bring them back, but (asuming at least one is a spellcaster) they need to hang around for enouht time to gain enough power (levels) and knowledge (spell research) to be able to go back.
{. . .}
Another possibility would be to go the GURPS Banestorm route, only not as spectacular. Cultists or even a desperate group trying to save the world make a last-ditch effort to bring in something to combat whatever they are up against (for instance, Wrath of the Righteous or Iron Gods went sour), but instead they end up summoning a bunch of nerds . . . .
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Hm. First post eaten by the void, it seems.
... almost like the truth was ruthlessly suppressed, as if something... or someone(s) didn't want the truth to get out!
... or the internet gave out on my phone. Suspicious!
Either way, my suggestion was (borrowing from some of the excellent ideas, here) was, essentially: why not a thirty-Xanatos-Pileup?
The basic idea goes thus:
- Denizens of Leng were doing their thing, and, due to prophetic reasons and insanity and stuff, hooked up a portal that let them go to "modern" earth, where they collected a bunch of slaves (including, but not limited to, the PCs; these would mostly go out as "missing persons" reports and such, back home, and would likely turn up nothing but human trafficking, insane or stupid people, and a few rubies)...
- The Denizens' had contact with mortals as part of this plan; a deeply confused set of cultists who, through ignorance, simply didn't understand the difference between kytons, shadow-plane creatures, unseelie (or "dark" fey), the dominion of the black, and Leng-related entities. Extremely intelligent idiots, in other words, and probably mostly third-generation fanatics...
- These cultists had, unbeknownst to the Denizens, contacted the Moon Beasts/Unseelie Fey/<insert preferred group here>... after all, they're basically the same thing, right? Said entities had, in fact, been vital in securing some of the resources the cult had used to assist the Denizens'. However, on this contact, the Moon Beasts and evil fey learned of "the shipment" by the Denizens' and decided to horn-in (chaotic evil, you know)...
- The cultists, for some reason or another, ultimately committed suicide and/or were eaten by something(s) they'd stupidly summoned (probably a bit of both). Their souls, naturally, having been part of so many malevolent contracts, probably went straight to... the First World. Things got a little confusing with that many contracts and such going on, you know. Due to being herself, the Green Mother gets a hold of them, learns of the plans, and contacts Shyka the Many, who learns that a future-past part of himself is going to be among the slaves. Using his expertise and power, he gets retroactively contacts the Green Mother before she informs him of the shipment, and uses her agents to set up a trap for the Denizens' as they are just returning...
- Of course, the forces of Good aren't entirely unaware of the Plan (and might have accidentally ended up with a cultists' soul), so they set up a rescue Operation to help stabilize the time stream...
... all of which leads into one of the most anarchic and confusing opening "scenes" - sheer, glorious anarchy.
Imagine, if you will, a horde of three-point-buy commoners (that's most of us), sprinkled in with a few warriors, experts, and maybe even an aristocrat or two. All imprisoned and enslaved on a ship from Leng... probably drugged and/or cursed to make more docile/trippy too.
As the ship arrives, it finds a massive battle between ice-and-plant themed fey, Moon Beasts, celestials, <insert group you want here>, and, naturally, Spiders of Leng, who'd just so happened to make a massive nest at exactly the coordinates the Denizens' just happened to be entering, and where all of the different groups had determined would be the best (and possibly only!) place for an ambush/to rescue/reclaim/steal the slaves!
The celestials may well even be mostly successful, too... getting most or even almost all (sans-PCs) "out" and "back" in time... but then again, even if they get most, they miss the PCs, and probably miss at least a few others who might be taken by the Moon Beasts, the Denizens', the Spiders (those are dead and eaten, practically immediately), <the other group>, and a few with the Fey (which, naturally, are not the future-past part of Shyka).
The PCs end up elsewhere... likely in a small under-sewer (but nonetheless mostly pleasant) place filled with dead cultists, that happens to be under Absalom...
EDIT: What I'm getting at, here, is that with the proper set-up, you could have limitless potential hooks...
Incidentally, you could also permit "strange" classes, like a sorcerer and oracle, which would otherwise be "off limits" - after all, having all that blood and viscera flying everywhere in a magically charged dream/nightmare (literally and figuratively, since Leng is involved) environment is certainly an "epic" way of having your sorcerer bloodline suddenly activate. Heck, throw in an enslaved or noble dragon, a deadly storm, and any number of extraplanar malevolence you want to instantly justify almost any "bloodline" (after all, there is more than, you know, the "one way" to get a bloodline, for example) - simply being "infected" by the nearby energy or elements could do that. The oracle can literally get "chosen" by any entity you want: the monstrous collision of "best laid plans" I described above is sure to garner some attention from a potential patron somewhere.
One of the interesting bits, is that you don't even have to throw out your original ideas: Protean Lords, Qlippoth Lords, Elder Gods, Nethys or even Haagenti calling them as a part of an experiment; one (or more!) of the Empyreal lords or Gods of good calling them to Golarion on the chance that they might be a powerful force for change and good; or having them there as being a delayed side effect of Aroden's death are all still viable. After all, it's possible the cultists merely predicted their arrival (not as in prophecy, but as in calculated probability), and fate has a funny way of making those kinds of things happen. Or maybe the Proteans just thought it would be hilarious to mislead the cultists. Or perhaps, just perhaps, the qlippoth were hoping to summon some demon slayers, and so whispered to mortals... bonus points if the qlippoth, after having gotten involved in mortal affairs in order to destroy demons became a demon himself. After all, all those sinful cultists souls had to go somewhere...
(Plus - and this is hilarious to me - you end up with a "What kind of monster hath I wrought?!" kind of situation... only it's by a demon, talking about paladins and such. Hilarious, I'm telling you. Look, no one said I was a brilliant comedian.)
Again: thirty-Xanatos-Pileups happen. And, in a world as vast and varied and interconnected as PF's... they happen frequently, by default.
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Hm. First post eaten by the void, it seems.
... almost like the truth was ruthlessly suppressed, as if something... or someone(s) didn't want the truth to get out!
... or the internet gave out on my phone. Suspicious!
Either way, my suggestion was (borrowing from some of the excellent ideas, here) was, essentially: why not a thirty-Xanatos-Pileup?
The basic idea goes thus:
** spoiler omitted **...
Wow, that is a shit storm of a plot hook. It's complicated and it has the potential to involve every part of the multiverse. I love it.
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Glad it suits you!
(My personal favorite bit was, "Their souls, naturally, having been part of so many malevolent contracts, probably went straight to... the First World." Heh. Classic prank on Pharasma! And nothing could go wwwrrrrrroooooooooooooonnnnn-)
So, anyway, I never quite got around to mentioning a key thing, though you might have worked it out for yourselves: no one, in that scenario, really got what they wanted. I mean, even if they did, it wasn't a complete victory. Everyone has reason to keep a lookout for the PCs after this.
Beyond that, one thing I'd suggest about Shyka is that,
What this means for you, as GM, is that you don't have to decided, or, if you do, you can edit later. After all, Shyka might have "guessed" at who it was, and guessed wrong.
Beyond that, as a reminder, Prophecy is... unstable. Reality isn't as sure a thing as it used to be before Aroden's death. And, in fact, Aroden's death could just be a symptom... though in this case, the death of a god of humanity just happened to permit a gateway through time to a world filled with nothing but humanity... hm...
Again, though, what this means is that even if you lean one way or another as a GM, the Power Players in this whole ensemble are not omniscient, even if they are really, really, really good at getting information and guessing. And, if you've set up a large amount riding on one PC or another, as I mentioned, reincarnation or raise dead exists... as does the fact that the Power Player could either have been wrong, or they could have been misleading some foe of theirs this whole time by noticeably giving all sorts of support to person X (guaranteeing they'll be the target/take the fall), when really it's person Y who's been the important. Naturally, if person X "makes it", than it's merely a matter that the Power Player in question was confident and knew their stuff all along... yep.
Oh, and, by the way, f'r s'r'sly, bro, you'll want those... at least the hourglasses, scar, and sliver. All of which could, incidentally, have been acquired,
Additionally, however the PCs escaped (likely in a kind of curse-and-or-drug-fueled haze), this container of these weird hourglass things (previously, unknown to the PCs, having been used to stabilize the time portal by the Denizens') happened to fall through with them. Oh, and, uh, it had some figurines too, or something. I dunno.
Also, I think I'm being a bit glib and silly right now for some reason, even though I'm, like, really excited by some of these possibilities.
Whatever! Wwwwwwwhhheeeeeeeeeeee~!
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@OP:
1. The scenario necessarily also involves time travel into the past, because ** spoiler omitted **
2. You're awfully optimistic if you think I am a 15 point buy character. . . .
Yeah, that's kinda an issue I once had with another game I didn't play in, and that was why. It was actually a White Wolf game but pretty much had an issue of either players were over-estimating themselves, or under-estimating themselves. But sticking to the character creation points? Nobody could really do it.
As to the OP... You could always do this to get them into the campaign. How many of your players would catch the source? Haha.
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@OP:
1. The scenario necessarily also involves time travel into the past, because ** spoiler omitted **
2. You're awfully optimistic if you think I am a 15 point buy character. . . .
Yeah, that's kinda an issue I once had with another game I didn't play in, and that was why. It was actually a White Wolf game but pretty much had an issue of either players were over-estimating themselves, or under-estimating themselves. But sticking to the character creation points? Nobody could really do it.
As to the OP... You could always do this to get them into the campaign. How many of your players would catch the source? Haha.
I'll take your first point under advisement. Maybe I will give my players an upward and downward limit to thier stats and a limit to the number of stats that are too high and to low. For example they can only have two stats that are higher then 14 and one stat that is lower then 10.
As for the opener you presented for me I don't think I will use it but I heard there is supposed to be a new D&D movie that is going to come out soon and I hope that is the opening for that movie.
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It's the opening for the ooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllld (and really terrible) cartoon show.
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Now I've really GOT to watch The Gamers (and its sequel).
YUS. Eeeeeexcellent film!
I WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME NOW.
Me: LG bard (archivist)
15 pt buy: STR 10, DEX 13, CON 10, INT 14, WIS 13, CHA 15
Human: +2 to CHA (bump to 17), bonus feat (see below), bonus skill (see below)
Feats: jack of all trades, spellsong
Traits: Hedge Magician, Propitiation;
Skills (6+2+1=9): bluff, diplomacy, disguise, escape artist, linguistics, perform (oratory), spellcraft, stealth, use device.
(Alt build is basically a very similar empiricist investigator.)
((Though if I could, I'd totally go for the "arcane casting" variant of the 3.5 erudite class or the 3.5 artificer [XP pool replaced by GP pool]. Hey: I know what's up.))
I'm not going to play this, though. Life is too insane right now.
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I WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME NOW.
Me: LG bard (archivist)
15 pt buy: STR 10, DEX 13, CON 10, INT 14, WIS 13, CHA 15
Human: +2 to CHA (bump to 17), bonus feat (see below), bonus skill (see below)
Feats: jack of all trades, spellsong
Traits: Hedge Magician, Propitiation;
Skills (6+2+1=9): bluff, diplomacy, disguise, escape artist, linguistics, perform (oratory), spellcraft, stealth, use device.(Alt build is basically a very similar empiricist investigator.)
((Though if I could, I'd totally go for the "arcane casting" variant of the 3.5 erudite class or the 3.5 artificer [XP pool replaced by GP pool]. Hey: I know what's up.))
I'm not going to play this, though. Life is too insane right now.
Finally, someone make stats for themselves, I have been waiting for that!
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What I am having problems with is the reason why they are there to begin with.
I think that there is an Eldest with delusions of greater power who dresses in a strange red outfit and breaks the fourth wall, who calls themselves "Dungeon Master" that might fit your needs. They tend to use roller-coasters in amusement parks as their vehicle for taking unsuspecting people from our world, if memory serves... (or maybe that was their arch nemesis "Venger")
Also as a side question, if you found yourself in that situation what class would you be?
An inquisitor of Cayden Cailean or Besmara.
-TimD