[Movie Tie-Ins] Brave, the RPG

[gojira]

I just saw Brave last weekend. I saw it at the cheap theater before it disappeared from the big screen entirely. But I was wondering: how would you convert it to an RPG?

 

Tuala Morn is an obvious starting point for Hero gamers. There's some obvious changes to be made. Magic would be one of them. In Brave the protagonists are all warriors of one stripe or another. There's one witch, and she's largely just a plot device. However, this also might be kinda boring for the players, and a little spell flingin' would increase player options.

 

The biggest issue I think is comedy. Brave is a pretty light-hearted film. I've never attempted a comedy oriented RPG. It might be interesting, but it could be a mess too. I think I'd probably go for a light tone without actually trying for jokes or slapstick, and let the players supply any comedy desired.

 

Another big issue is the Fae, and monsters in general. Mystical elements appear very infrequently in Brave. Yet if they're absent from an RPG, plot options decrease. If you can't fight monsters, that leaves wild animals, and other people. Neither is going to be fun in a light-hearted RPG for long, methinks. I'd probably increase the mystical elements in Brave, but make them a long ways away. You'll have to travel a couple of days to the "wild parts" of Braveland (heh, I just made that up) to see monsters or Fae.

 

I think starting points might be another issue. Brave has fairly "normal" characters. Merida is pretty competent, largely due to her "princess training." However she's pretty inexperienced (she's what, 14? maybe 16 or so...), so many of her skills are going to be at starting levels and no more. She seems a crack shot with a bow, and an excellent horsewoman. Everyone else seems to have one weapon skill, tops (except for maybe her dad), and perhaps a couple of social skills. The rest is everyman skills (default climbing (kilts!), local area knowledge and history, etc.) So by and large characters are pretty simple. Players might chafe a bit but I think it might be important to maintain a fairly realistic tone and stick closer to the movie here.

 

 

Well this got a bit overlong, and I have to close it out quickly. What would you do for a Brave RPG using Hero, and what sorts of ideas as a player do you like, and what would you like to change?

[csyphrett]

Re: [Movie Tie-Ins] Brave, the RPG

 

I'm not much for fantasy campaigns, but destiny seems to play a large part of Brave. How do you work that in? Also the clans fought off invaders from other countries. Wars might be inevitable.

CES

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: [Movie Tie-Ins] Brave, the RPG

 

There may be a bit more mysticism in the Brave world than you think. After all, the central element of the plot would not be possible without there being a lot of ambient spiritual energy around. The NPC witch clearly has been meddling with some sort of great power, and it's usually come back to bite her.

 

Since the central theme of the movie is "Be careful what you wish for -- you might get it", everything you do, magical or otherwise, would have some sort of a price attached down the line. There is also a bit of stratification here -- there's room for women warriors of the sort Merida aspires to become, but women are not expected to fight so one who does would have to take a Social Complication because people would react to her differently than they would to a man doing the same things.

 

The main thing keeping the three Clans from continually fighting among themselves is the need to protect against external threats, so those threats are quite real. Fergus' prowess is another reason -- he's not a big, boisterous oaf; he's brave, charismatic and smarter than he looks. To hold the kingdom together takes a leader of his caliber. Merida might in time become that sort of leader -- she certainly has the talent and some of the charisma -- but it will take time and the willpower to pull down some of the barriers she faces. But by the end of the film she has clearly earned the respect of the Clans by her courage.