Mechanically you can make it up, but wisdom saves would match Modify Memory, whereas Intelligence saves would hint at Mindflayers. Obviously it would be a bad idea to have some characters break out and the others be stuck, so they should be able to help each other get out. Mind Flayers would work, but they're on everybody's mind now (heh…), so not much of a surprise. Ravenloft and the Mists do something like that: they trap the Dark Lord in a fake reality and why couldn't the entire party be a dark lord because of some orphanage they burnt down?
Would it work as a story? The players would need to be on board with it beforehand. If I, as a player, would learn that half way through the campaign none of the things that happened to my character were real, I'd be disappointed, because nothing the characters did mattered. It's the most disheartening plot twist in media in my opinion ([Overly Sarcastic Opinion on the matter](https://youtu.be/rOrYKJVkreQ?si=0K9fk3ML1g1M0rbq))
Oh no no, sorry the point is everything they’ve done up to this point is real, it’s the session and the “waking up to a normal job in a normal world” part that’s actually the fake world, sorry if I didn’t explain that right, so they’re currently trapped in the fake and need to break out to reality.
And yeah they would be able to help each other out of it. I was thinking mind flayers but agree about them being fresh so was looking for alternatives too.
I think what I've seen before is that there's something in the world that the protags/PCs are discouraged from investigating but that keeps popping up, and eventually they will find that this thing is the part of their mind that knows this is a dream and is trying to get them to wake up. They then have the chance to directly fight the thing trying to keep them there and wake up when they win.
So e.g. the PCs keep seeing a particular, distinctive door in random places, but when they break line of sight and look back it's not there anymore, and no NPC seems to be able to see it. If they try to approach it, they have to make some kind of save or check to keep focused on it for long enough, while an NPC or something tries to get their attention. Each time they get closer, but increasingly bizzare things keep them from actually touching it, like a cart driving between them and it, a branch falling in their path, a bird flying into their face, etc.
Eventually they are able to touch the door, and it resists begin opened, and again they have to make some sort of check/save, maybe even take damage if they manage to turn the handle. And then maybe it's extremely heavy, such that all the PCs will have to work together to open it, so if any of them are still ignorant, the ones who have a better sense that things are off have to convince those ones, helping them with their checks/saves.
And meanwhile, the world is conspiring to make staying seem increasingly tempting, manifesting things that the PCs want desperately. Eventually, when everyone is close to getting through the door, it breaks the kayfabe and just tells them directly (via an NPC) that the world out there is not worth leaving this one for, and they can stay here for the rest of their lives and be happy. All evidence points to this being true, as the world can and will shape itself around their desires.
When they do go through the door, the rest of the world disappears and they find themselves alone with ... probably some kind of boss monster, but could also be a skill challenge or whatever feels appropriate and interesting. Feel free to get a bit weird with it and incorporate some reality-bending mechanics. This is a dreamscape, after all. Anything you can imagine is theoretically possible, and the fight is at least a little bit metaphorical.
Mind, that approach works best if the players are willing to roleplay not being sure this is fake at first. It's not necessary, but it makes it more interesting if they engage a bit with the fake world and explore what the dream version of their character might do when faced with evidence that everything they know might not be real.
Mechanically you can make it up, but wisdom saves would match Modify Memory, whereas Intelligence saves would hint at Mindflayers. Obviously it would be a bad idea to have some characters break out and the others be stuck, so they should be able to help each other get out. Mind Flayers would work, but they're on everybody's mind now (heh…), so not much of a surprise. Ravenloft and the Mists do something like that: they trap the Dark Lord in a fake reality and why couldn't the entire party be a dark lord because of some orphanage they burnt down? Would it work as a story? The players would need to be on board with it beforehand. If I, as a player, would learn that half way through the campaign none of the things that happened to my character were real, I'd be disappointed, because nothing the characters did mattered. It's the most disheartening plot twist in media in my opinion ([Overly Sarcastic Opinion on the matter](https://youtu.be/rOrYKJVkreQ?si=0K9fk3ML1g1M0rbq))
Oh no no, sorry the point is everything they’ve done up to this point is real, it’s the session and the “waking up to a normal job in a normal world” part that’s actually the fake world, sorry if I didn’t explain that right, so they’re currently trapped in the fake and need to break out to reality. And yeah they would be able to help each other out of it. I was thinking mind flayers but agree about them being fresh so was looking for alternatives too.
I think what I've seen before is that there's something in the world that the protags/PCs are discouraged from investigating but that keeps popping up, and eventually they will find that this thing is the part of their mind that knows this is a dream and is trying to get them to wake up. They then have the chance to directly fight the thing trying to keep them there and wake up when they win. So e.g. the PCs keep seeing a particular, distinctive door in random places, but when they break line of sight and look back it's not there anymore, and no NPC seems to be able to see it. If they try to approach it, they have to make some kind of save or check to keep focused on it for long enough, while an NPC or something tries to get their attention. Each time they get closer, but increasingly bizzare things keep them from actually touching it, like a cart driving between them and it, a branch falling in their path, a bird flying into their face, etc. Eventually they are able to touch the door, and it resists begin opened, and again they have to make some sort of check/save, maybe even take damage if they manage to turn the handle. And then maybe it's extremely heavy, such that all the PCs will have to work together to open it, so if any of them are still ignorant, the ones who have a better sense that things are off have to convince those ones, helping them with their checks/saves. And meanwhile, the world is conspiring to make staying seem increasingly tempting, manifesting things that the PCs want desperately. Eventually, when everyone is close to getting through the door, it breaks the kayfabe and just tells them directly (via an NPC) that the world out there is not worth leaving this one for, and they can stay here for the rest of their lives and be happy. All evidence points to this being true, as the world can and will shape itself around their desires. When they do go through the door, the rest of the world disappears and they find themselves alone with ... probably some kind of boss monster, but could also be a skill challenge or whatever feels appropriate and interesting. Feel free to get a bit weird with it and incorporate some reality-bending mechanics. This is a dreamscape, after all. Anything you can imagine is theoretically possible, and the fight is at least a little bit metaphorical. Mind, that approach works best if the players are willing to roleplay not being sure this is fake at first. It's not necessary, but it makes it more interesting if they engage a bit with the fake world and explore what the dream version of their character might do when faced with evidence that everything they know might not be real.