So I'd like to run a setting where humans from our world end up in a fantasy setting and I'm wondering if there are any resources around or people with experience here in the homebrew board who have done anything similar before.
To avoid everyone having to play a bunch of NPC classes, the core idea is that their presence as interlopers/travelers imbues them with a sort of latent magical ability gifting them greater power than they ever experienced on earth. This lets them hold their own with the low level adventurers of this newfound world they stumbled into, much to the frustration of the native fantasy-landers. This might just end up being a one shot, but I'm really getting into it and I'd like it to take off (I'm close to hitting 30 pages of ideas in a google doc brainstorming about this!) Knowing the players, I have one main rule which is they can't play someone who exists in reality.
How would you guys handle this? I'm looking for any ideas from mechanics to story points.
Have you considered having everyone start with NPC classes, but with a mythic tier or two? It would seem to fit your story's flavor better.
I think a lot of the knowledge skills would be made useless or at least much more difficult.
This sort of thing is my jam!
Knowledge checks get them Wikipedia information rather than Pathfinder. Certain characters might use tvtropes or some other site to represent what they know.
It might be fun to do a character creation session where everyone starts with the earth character, and then figures out what class suits them for granted powers.
Consider character backgrounds in how you describe stuff if possible. Most people on these forums, if transported to a fantasy world, would think "Wow, it's like I'm in Pathfinder!" and we'd look for signs of that. Other people would jump to fantasy books, animes, movies, fairytales, or MMOs, and have explanations ranging from an alternate universe to an unexpected sort of afterlife.
Considerations -
Appraise - until they get a handle on the costs of various trade goods and general rarities, Appraise will be a useless skill. A day spent in a market and a DC 15 Diplomacy check to speak with vendors could 'unlock' this.
Knowledge - once a character has spent a day studying in a well stocked library, have them make a DC 15 Linguistics check to get caught up and allow use of the Knowledge skills. It does lock Knowledge behind a bit of a paywall, but there's a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Alternatively, a year in the world would unlock it automatically.
Linguistics - characters will need exposure to a language in order to learn it. The skill isn't locked, just the acquisition of languages. The right library could count as exposure.
Spellcraft - Keep track of which schools of magic they have been exposed to or read about, and limit their results to those schools.
Since generally Earth humans are not as super powered as pathfinder adventuerer's you could start them all off with the base NPC stat array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8) and then give them bonuses depending upon their class when they get transferred.
Since they're from another world, you could just say their abilities are higher because Earth people are relatively better on that planet. Maybe the air is richer and the gravity lower in the fantasy world.
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Since they're from another world, you could just say their abilities are higher because Earth people are relatively better on that planet. Maybe the air is richer and the gravity lower in the fantasy world.
Sure! The sun could trigger a photosynthesis-like process in their cells imbuing them, over time, with great strength, invulnerability, flight, the ability to shoot lasers from their eyes, and a vulnerability to glowing green rocks from their destroyed home world!
...Wait...their home world was never destroyed...
If the world acts according to how recognizable fiction works then it would make sense for people to recognize things. It really depends on how meta you want things to go.
I don't know about that. Would you call your office janitor an expert?
Since generally Earth humans are not as super powered as pathfinder adventuerer's you could start them all off with the base NPC stat array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8) and then give them bonuses depending upon their class when they get transferred.
Rules question: when using an NPC stat array, you still add in your racial ability score bonuses yes? Since they are humans they would add +2 to one ability score?
Since generally Earth humans are not as super powered as pathfinder adventuerer's you could start them all off with the base NPC stat array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8) and then give them bonuses depending upon their class when they get transferred.Rules question: when using an NPC stat array, you still add in your racial ability score bonuses yes? Since they are humans they would add +2 to one ability score?
Yup. You can check the creating NPC's section one of the SRDs: Creating NPCs
Note the difference between the Basic and Heroic NPC array is +2 to four stats and +1 to one other stat. It is also equivalent to a 15 point buy.
So I'd like to run a setting where humans from our world end up in a fantasy setting and I'm wondering if there are any resources around or people with experience here in the homebrew board who have done anything similar before.
To avoid everyone having to play a bunch of NPC classes, the core idea is that their presence as interlopers/travelers imbues them with a sort of latent magical ability gifting them greater power than they ever experienced on earth.
How would you guys handle this? I'm looking for any ideas from mechanics to story points.
I actually ran a game almost exactly like this back in 3.0, around 2001, I believe.
What I did was I had everyone start off as an NPC class and I chose their first level feat based on their backstory. The "Earth" part of the setting was Japan (because I was specifically going for a Rayearth/El Hazard feel). So, for example, if someone was in the Kendo Club, they could start as a Warrior and have a blunt wooden sword as a starting weapon (basically a club that used sword proficiency and feats) and weapon focus longsword. Or, if a character was at the top of their class and spent most of her time studying, she got Expert class and a feat to Wizard spellcasting (even though she couldn't use it yet).
I ran part of the first session on Earth before they got transported so that everyone could meet there first. Then, after the event that transported them to the fantasy world occurred, they had to survive the remainder of the first session with just the abilities from their NPC class and a slow reveal of other "powers". By the start of the second session, they'd "unlocked" their powers and got to "level up" - which both gave them 2nd level in a PC class, but also retroactively replaced their NPC class level with a PC class level. So Warrior 1 leveled up into Fighter 2. The studious Expert above, who had discovered she could cast a single spell during a terrifying battle, leveled up into Wizard 2 with far more spells. Another expert class character who was in archery club (and had started with a free longbow) leveled up into Ranger 2. The exception was that they kept their NPC class skill selections (very beneficial to the Expert characters) but had to follow class skill restrictions from then on (remembering that class skills were weird in 3.0).
Anyway, from then on they played as normal PC classes on their mysterious adventure in another world, with their main quest (initially anyway) finding out why they'd been brought to the world and how to get home.
This system was somewhat dangerous, particularly during that first session. We did have an early PC death, so I had that player roll up a character from the fantasy world and join the party in the roll normally assigned to a party NPC (so I wouldn't have to run such an NPC). I also had a PC leave part way through the game (due to not having time to play anymore) and replaced them with a new player in much the same way (I used her departure to introduce a major villain and (with the player's permission) had him graphically murder her character to prove how evil he was). The new replacement player then picked up one of the in-world characters I'd planned to make an NPC.
The game was very fondly remembered for many years thereafter, and is generally regarded as the best game I ever ran during college. While there are others that I personally liked better, I will admit, I've rarely seen a group get that into their characters.
Anyway, I hope that was at least a little helpful.