Before I can get into how society is affected by this whole new "you can have the powers of an rpg class" thing, I have to decide how those powers actually work and how they show up. I'm not sure where to start, so I figure I'll start with the process as an adventurer would see it.
The look of the BiFrost is important. If you couldn't tell from the name, it's kind of based on the rainbow bridge from Norse Legend of the same name. Now I don't want it to be straight up a rainbow; that idea lacks any fun and brings up too many leprechaun jokes. I also don't want to just completely copy the recent Thor movies and have it be a mineral of some sort. They way I've described it before is as a white light that has short streaks of other colors. Here a white-blue, a white-green, a white-indigo. It is always a column, and it bursts from the ground, creating rubble and scorch marks around it.
When you touch a bifrost you are teleported to a dungeon, however if this is your first time going through a bifrost you go on a detour. This is the choosing area. As I described it, it is a thick and heady area, that is meant to feel dreamy. There are three portals - a forest, a market, a temple - that eventually lead to four items per portal, twelve items in total. Each item represents a different rpg class, currently it represents those from the 5e PHB, but could easily be switched to Pathfinder or a different system. The forest leads to classes that have to do with the wilderness and chaos: barbarian, druid, ranger, and sorcerer. The market leads to civilized, but perhaps corrupt, classes: fighter, bard, rogue, warlock. Finally, the temple leads to classes of contemplation: cleric, paladin, monk, wizard.
I used to have all twelve items out, but that was overwhelming. I also thought about using the basic four classes only (cleric, rogue, fighter, wizard), but that really limits the options people have. Instead there are now four basic archetypes: warrior, expert, priest, and mage. Each archetype gets three flavors. Warriors can be barbarians, fighters, or paladins. Experts can be rogues, rangers, or monks. Mages can be sorcerers, warlocks, or wizards. Lastly, priests can be clerics, druids, or bards. Alright, the bard as a priest is a bit of stretch, but honestly I think entertainment is cathartic for most modern people. So currently you pick your flavor first, then your class. Do I like this? Maybe, I could switch it to where you pick your skill set first, then your flavor. I'll think on this, however currently I like the portals to items progression.
Alright, you pick your class. Boom, you've got its starting gear, along with anything you brought in with you. But what about guns? Use the gun rules from the DMG and make them simple weapons. What about other electronics? There is no service to satellites or anything and certainly no chargers, so a lot of things become useless. Can I drive a car in? No, it needs to be able to fit on your person. So you could probably fit some pretty big things, but likely not a car.
Alright, you are in the dungeon. You've got a weapon, you might have some spells, you might have some armor, and you've got your explorer's pack. What now? What does a dungeon look like?
Good question, I'll talk about that next time.
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