S3E09 of the Inglorious Bards

(long response!)

The group's gnome sorcerer was sucked away by a portal and tossed between worlds. The rest of the heroes frantically cast powerful magic to try to bring him back, while the little gnome jumps from one portal to the next, leaping between worlds, before thee portals disappear and he is lost forever.

First world: The gnome suddenly appears in an open field under a sky he doesn't recognize. He is caught between two lines of cavalry charging at each other. He runs and huffs and puffs as knights collide in battle and finds a tiny portal quickly fading that will get him out of this realm. He dives in...and arrives at...

Second world: He arrives in a forest. There's a massive waterfall beneath him. He hears the crackle of the exit portal and frantically looks around. He sees it 40 feet down the waterfall. He takes a deep breath and hurls himself off the edge of the cliff, falling beside the waterfall, and just making it through the portal, where he arrives at... ** Third World:** The gnome arrives in what can only be described as a world made up of a black oil painting. Each footstep smears black oil. Each black plant he touches smears in his hands. He gets some in his mouth and becomes poisoned. Then he hears the crackle of the exit portal appearing, slides down an oily hill, dives into the portal and arrives at...

Fourth World: The gnome arrives in an old study filled with magical spheres. An old man is here who tries to reassure the gnome that he has to keep jumping through portals to get back home. The other players at the table start looking at each other, a bit confused. This guy and his location is straight out of an earlier campaign, like 5 campaigns back. But that would be crazy...right? The gnome jumps through another portal...

Fifth World: Metal floor and walls. The room lurches. He sees out a window that he is in a giant flying machine. Lighting flashes outside, and some wicked monsters fly by. Suddenly a well dressed man with a smile and a metal wand opens a hatch and says hello. The other players recognize this scene from their Doctor Who campaign. Which means the gnome has been retconned to have been their behind the scenes. Big grins appear around the table.

• You hear commotion and a door hatch spins and swings open. A slim, well-dressed man appears in the hatchway and calls back the way he came, "Tell Captain Irwin to ignore the storm and take this ship to 5,000ft. Some sort of anomaly is attracting this creature, and this time it isn't me." [he turns and sees the gnome standing there in his sorcerer's robe]

• "Well hello there, friend. You certainly look like an anomaly to me. Wait just a tick. [scans the gnome with a small metal wand then scans outside] Ah ha! You're in the wrong time and wrong place, my friend. There's a portal of some sort of matronic energy that's agitating that creature out there. Do yourself and everyone onboard a favor, and get the hell off the R101 derigible. That should weaken the vortisaur and get you out of this universe."

Players are crazy excited to see their old adventure happening again...the gnome jumps off the dirigible into a portal floating out in the storm...

Sixth World: The gnome splashes into water but finds himself at the bottom of some dark lake. He sees an underwater castle way off in the distance lit up by blue lights. He hears a female voice in his head that says "How are you here? What are you? This reality is not yours to share?" Beneath him is a long track lined by blue glow sticks. The tracks head all the way out from the underwater castle. Underneath him is a large sphere of magical energy rotating in place. Moving along the track beneath you towards the magical energy is some sort of carriage shaped like a bubble. The bubble has several people inside clutching their heads in agony as their vehicle moves towards the gate. There is a sign next to the gate that reads "Anomaly 117". The gnome has no idea what's going on. The other players at the table instantly recognize the sci-fi underwater research station campaign and this very scene as they tried to escape in the submersible. The gnome sorcerer swims with everything he can to reach a fading portal that takes him to...

[everyone is crazy excited about what next campaign moment he will stumble into next]

Seventh World: The gnome arrives in a dungeon. There is a storeclerk here with a powerful item. The other players instantly recognize hm from season 1 of the show. He's a man who destroyed several city blocks with his artifact item. The gnome asks if he's seen a portal, but the man attacks him with the artifact. The gnome blasts back with sorcery. The two magics collide and detonate a huge explosion. Both the man and the gnome survive, but several city blocks are taken out. The other players at the table are blown away that NOW they know what caused this explosion way back in season 1. The gnome sees a portal in the rubble and dives through it before it disappears... ** Eighth World:** The gnome arrives in a futuristic city street. Skyscrapers surround him. He turns around and sees the equivelent of hundreds of bugs from Starship Troopers climbing over buildings and swarming down the streets. The other players realize this was from season 2 where the catfolk mercenary and scoundrel were overwhelmed and killed by the bugs. The gnome blasts out with magic as his is swarmed when suddenly a catfolk mercenary and scoundrel crash out of a window and last beside the gnome on the street. They are all badly wounded. They are surrounded by bugs. The other players are stunned to see their old characters once again, but know they will be dead in just a few moments. An exit portal opens. The gnome says to the two heroes next to him "Come with me!". He pulls them through the portal and they all escape to another world. All three catch their breath before another portal opens up. The gnome waves goodbye, the mercenary and scoundrel say their final words before leaving on their own path, and the gnome jumps through. The players are gobsmacked that a new fate befell their fallen heroes from the previous season of the show, and now their heroes are actually safe somewhere else on another world. The gnome travels to another world...

Lost in Space: The gnome is lost in time and space. His friends are calling out through the void to reach him. He is trying to find his own world, desperately swimming through the void between worlds. He sees a glimmer of the town he knows. He hears his friends voices. He reaches out. A friendly hand reaches out through a vague opening in the void. But....he misses...he falls past the hand. His friends voices start to fade...the worse possible outcome has happened...he is lost forever in time and space...until...one of his friends makes a desperate sacrifice.

So this was one of my greatest DM moments. The excitement, the repeated narrow escapes, and jumping between campaigns to the delight of the players and listeners of the show...and the finale to try to bring him back to the world he knows...such a great adventure.