D&D/Real-Life ISOT crossover.

[SpaceMarine93]

I don't know if this had been discussed before, but I just got a crazy idea of a crossover.

Let's just say by some freak cosmic event, a continent from a Dungeons and Dragons fantasy setting (E.g. Faerun from "Forgotten Realms", Oerik from "Greyhawk", Eredane from "Midnight", Khorvaire from "Eberron" etc.) is removed from their original world and permanently displaced in Real Life Earth on 1st January 2009, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, displacing Hawaii and other islands while at it and causing widespread damage and devastation by earthquakes and tsunamis along the Pacific rim.

The ISOT event ("Island in the Sea of Time") also opens a permanent link to the wider Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, bringing with it Dungeons and Dragons magic, gods, demons and monsters (depending on which setting and which continent originated), as well as access to Sigil, the city of Doors, and in effect also the Inner, Ethereal, Astral and Outer Planes.

My overall question is - depending on which continent got displaced - how would real-life Earth cope with sudden appearance of a setting that is straight out of a Dungeons and Dragons game? How would things on both the teleported continent and the rest of the real world influence one another? How would RL Earth Humans deal diplomatically, politically, economically, culturally etc. with inhabitants and nations of the other setting? How would science deal with the sudden appearance of magic, monsters, gods, demons and other planes? How would magic influence Real-Life Earth and how would the D&D setting handle our technology?

What happens NEXT?

Edit: Just remembered Oerth is a planet, not a continent ON a planet.

[Raw Shark]

My overall question is - depending on which continent got displaced - how would real-life Earth cope with sudden appearance of a setting that is straight out of a Dungeons and Dragons game? How would things on both the teleported continent and the rest of the real world influence one another?

Our world is completely fucked. Our best experience in dealing with this kind of opposition (and let's face it, most of the beings native to these settings, even the "good guys," are quite aggressive and have some firm ideas about how the world ought to be run) is theoretical and only possessed by D&D players. The only thing that can meaningfully oppose threats native to the IitSoT, at least initially, are other natives of it.

How would RL Earth Humans deal diplomatically, politically, economically, culturally etc. with inhabitants and nations of the other setting?

Best case scenario, we immediately nuke the Island into glass. Even that would probably anger some of its gods, so best case scenario we're dealing with angry, visibly-active gods. Great.

How would science deal with the sudden appearance of magic, monsters, gods, demons and other planes? How would magic influence Real-Life Earth and how would the D&D setting handle our technology?

No meaningful scientific study can be undertaken because the entire infrastructure collapses as most everybody goes into a state of ontological confusion and freaks right the fuck out. Maybe a few people sell their souls to an active deity for Level 1 Clerical magic and some small measure of protection, but that just paints them with a bull's eye for that god's enemies so even they're fucked in the long run.

This scenario is bleak.

[Ahriman238]

Medieval tech we can deal with. D&D magic, including Epic magic, dragons and gods we likely cannot.

So magic becomes even more the desirable thing as legendary fighter after legendary fighter goes down in a hail of bullets.

At least we should be as wondrous and bizarre a world to them as they are to us. It should induce a healthy caution in all parties, and then we get trade and culture mixing started. Every physicist goes nuts trying to understand magic, but since magic (be it ever so nonsensical in other respects) follows it's own rules consistently it won't upset the belief that there is an underpinning order to the universe.

A generation of our youngest work hard to become Wizards, Clerics or Paladins. Or Psions, if we're doing a setting with that.

Religion goes nuts, partially over magic, partially because of inconsiderate cheater gods whose existence can be objectively proven. Also, there's a real hell. A couple, actually.

[Borgholio]

I predict the Japanese will go nuts over sky-whale and dragon meat.

[PKRudeBoy]

Genocide comes back in a big way. Elves, dwarves, even orcs and goblins we could probably live with. But shit like mind flayers, demons, and undead? Kill it, kill it now, and kill it with fire. The first amendment would need to be repealed, since freedom of religion is great and all, up until your neighbor tries to sacrifice you to Demogorgon to summon a demon.

Personally, I go deity shopping for the best afterlife, cash out all my assets into trade goods, and go learn me some magic and make physics my bitch.

[Tiriol]

Genocide comes back in a big way. Elves, dwarves, even orcs and goblins we could probably live with. But shit like mind flayers, demons, and undead? Kill it, kill it now, and kill it with fire. The first amendment would need to be repealed, since freedom of religion is great and all, up until your neighbor tries to sacrifice you to Demogorgon to summon a demon.

Why would the first amendment have to be repealed when simple case of "murder, 1st degree" would suffice?

Personally, I go deity shopping for the best afterlife, cash out all my assets into trade goods, and go learn me some magic and make physics my bitch.

I really doubt that "afterlife shopping" would get you much anything. Deities want worship, faith and loyalty, not someone who decided to pick one deity over the others because he/she/it offers the best toys once you kick the bucket. And depending on the world we just collided with... good luck with that magic learning part.

[Ahriman238]

Ah yes, and tens of thousands of geeks flood to whatever magic schools or apprentices this incarnation of D&D has, all under the alias "Pun-pun." Actually, a lot of cheese will be tried only for most people to find that not all sourcebooks apply to the reality, and not all relics or prestige classes are easily gained.

[Jub]

The population of Khorvaire is listed as about 16 million by the setting book, if we're generous we can say that there is an equal amount of stuff underground and uncounted bringing the total to ~32 million for the entire place. 90% of that will be non-magical NPC classes, fighters, and monsters that can be brought down with relative ease. The remaining 10% will still be mostly low level mages, clerics, and the like with maybe the top 2 or 3% being CR10 or higher stuff with magic that we should worry about pissing off. Even so that leaves a fair number of really nasty threats, but it's hardly as if that is one organized army waiting to come crashing down on us.

Plus, they don't have the kind of information gathering ability we have. Even a high level diviner can't gather the sheer amount of intel on them that we already have in the form of game manuals and what can be gathered by satellite and spy plane. So we'll start with the upper hand in that regard unless a significant number of them were given divine/arcane/psionic insight into our world and the ability to disseminate it.

Also, as much as this event will suck for us, they'll likely not have come through the rift unscathed themselves. So each side will have disasters to deal with and people questioning their faith and what just happened. As big as realizing that magic and monsters exists will be for us, think of them looking up and seeing a new sky or realizing that the planes no longer line up the way they should. They will have as many social issues as we do to deal with.

We also have one more advantage, with the exception of very small groups of exceptional people, the fastest means of reaching us from Khorvaire is by airships that top out at 20mph (32kph). We can reach them much faster than that and the US alone has more destroyers than they have airships, plus their airships are used for trade and transport so moving them ruins an emerging transport network for them.Given these facts if we so desire we can maintain a blockade at distances that they can't easily get to outside of a few elite magical strike teams, and this assumes that high level mages and psions care enough to want to fight us instead of trying to learn from us.

The real threat is what the flow of magic into our world awakens on the continents we already hold. What old ghost stories and monsters from our myths become real? What daemons appear to make deals with us? Does the prospect of 7 billion new followers spark Ebberon's seemingly apathetic gods into action, or does a new Pantheon appear based on how we already worship?

These questions are what will make or break things. Once we know these answers we can seek to train our own mages, setup trade with the new land, and start figuring out how these new changes effect our world view.

[lance]

I imagine shape changing and mind control will make things a little hectic. Succubusi and the like

[Jub]

I imagine shape changing and mind control will make things a little hectic. Succubusi and the like

Most demons and devils require aid on this side to come through and I doubt many people would have the talent or the knowledge to summon such beings. Even in D&D naturally stable rifts are rare and only the very powerful demons/devils can planeshift on a whim.

[LaCroix]

I forsee chaos when millions of D&D nerds try out various rituals out of the rulebooks, just to see if they work...

[Zwinmar]

I would be like trying to recreate quantum physics after studying general math and seeing a picture or two. Never mind that to intone a ritual as traditionally portrayed one must master a dead language. Either way, I imagine there will be suicides, the voluntary and involuntary kind. Looks a bit vague to me, though I do know there are source books that go into great detail.

Summon Monster I
Conjuration (Summoning) [see text]
Level: Brd 1, Clr 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, F/DF
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One summoned creature
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell summons an extraplanar creature (typically an outsider, elemental, or magical beast native to another plane). It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn. It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. If you can communicate with the creature, you can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.

The spell conjures one of the creatures from the 1st-level list on the accompanying Summon Monster table. You choose which kind of creature to summon, and you can change that choice each time you cast the spell.

A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them.

When you use a summoning spell to summon an air, chaotic, earth, evil, fire, good, lawful, or water creature, it is a spell of that type.
Arcane Focus

A tiny bag and a small (not necessarily lit) candle.