Christopher R Taylor Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I think it could be fun to work up at least a basic set of rules for a fantasy computer game series for Hero. I played EverQuest d20 a few times and it was a lot of fun as all the players had been EQ players. With a bit of tweaking we were able to make the characters work better (particularly spellcasters) and the setting is huge, rich, and well-done even if the game its self was essentially hostile toward players. It would be a bit of work and obviously not saleable unless someone worked out licensing issues, but it could be a a fun project for people on the boards to work up a package. What system(s) would interest people the most? (I only listed the ones I'm familiar with, so there's no Final Fantasy or Dragon Age, for instance, since I haven't played them at all). The basic core would be "class"/templates, unique monsters, spells and abilities, and unique equipment. The rest is pretty well written up already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhd Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 We dabbled a bit with the Warcraft D20 game, and especially the second edition (i.e. the "World of Warcraft" game) was pretty great. Making the wizard dedicated to blasting really helped with some of the inherent flaws of D&D. But if you're just asking me and not my way-too-young-and-ignorant player base, thou shalt converteth Ultima. Which would seem pretty easy, given that especially its laster incarnations were pretty lightweight. A few magic spells, and I'd try to work in the Virtues somehow. No playable non-human races, no weird class powers, no umpteen magic traditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I think the Elder Scrolls setting would be the most fun to build, personally, because it most closely matches hero in its flexibility and personalization (until the latest incarnations, at least). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhd Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Mechanically it has more to offer, sure. The setting itself, though... (CRPGs seem to operate on an early 80s level when it comes to settings and systems.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted April 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I think the Elder Scrolls settings have proved quite popular. If you're looking for something really different and odd, I guess Warhammer's dark interpretation of fantasy would do, or the "borrow from everything" tech/magic of Final Fantasy, although I've played none of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted April 18, 2015 Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 They are all pretty generic fantasy. any of them would work fine. But for my tastes I would prefer to see a conversion of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn campaign setting. it would be utterly fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 World of warcraft causr some gave me the books and I don't have the inclination to convert it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 I missed the Diablo series which I thought was a neat setting for Fantasy Hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 Hmmm... I got nothing. I haven't played a computer/console game in years. Valkyria Chronicles and XCOM were the last games I played, and before that it was an RPG on my PC when they ran DOS. These new titles don;t mean much to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted April 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 EverQuest and World of Warcraft have both been converted to d20 (3rd edition) with WoW being a bit too literal a translation, so they might be easier to build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Baker Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 EverQuest and World of Warcraft have both been converted to d20 (3rd edition) with WoW being a bit too literal a translation, so they might be easier to build. Diablo 2 had a D&D release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Xcom was fun. Missed that old game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted April 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 I never saw the Diablo d20 book, have to look around for that. I think picking one of these and brainstorming a conversion would be a fun project for the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Baker Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 I never saw the Diablo d20 book, have to look around for that. I think picking one of these and brainstorming a conversion would be a fun project for the board. http://www.amazon.com/Diablo-Tabletop-RPG-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/078691548X EDIT: And here's a fast-play PDF I just found: https://www.wizards.com/diabloii/Diablo2FastPlay.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhd Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 I never saw the Diablo d20 book, have to look around for that. It was just a crappy box, with a bit of terrain, some markers and a measly booklet. But to be fair, the main part of a Diablo conversion would probably be three hundred pages of random loot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted April 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Actually all you'd need is a list of the special named items, then the prefix/suffix system and a randomizer. All the basic magic loot in Diablo (and WoW) is just an item with a few random prefixes and suffixes added to it: the Elegant Longbow of Piercing. I actually swiped that system for some of my treasure randomizer (partial spoiler for upcoming book release). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted May 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 In this very small sample, Warhammer and Elder Scrolls are neck and neck so far. I have to admit I never found the Warhammer setting very compelling (too dark and twisted and lethal for me) but it is definitely a different take on the elves and dwarves and dragons, oh my. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 : the Elegant Longbow of Piercing That sounds like the sort of attack Sailor Moon would use. Or the sort of attack Sailor Moon's mother wishes she wouldn't use.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altair Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 I feel like you can swap out TES for Ultima based on the age of the gamer. I suppose I reveal myself, by saying that I never really got into Ultima, so Elder Scrolls is definitely what I'd want to see. The science fantasy weirdness of Morrowind remains one of the more compelling things I've seen in a fantasy setting. It's super regional that way - Cyrodill is basically stock Western-European fantasy, I think everybody knows about the fantasy vikings & dragons of Skyrim, Hammerfell is this interesting maritime imperial merchant riff on north Africa, and so on. When introduced to the hyper-customization of HERO, one of the first things my brain went to was TESIII: Morrowind's magic system, with its pile of stacking modifications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 From the list, I chose Elder Scrolls because I have played every game since Morrowind plus Redguard. I have not invested in Elder Scrolls online. I think the "online" part would ruin it for me. But I digress. Not on the list is the world from the Witcher series of games. I find it a nice, dark setting. Ultima would be a nice third alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhd Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 I always thought that TES had some great visuals and an interesting system for a video game, both of which aren't really that interesting (to me) for a tabletop game. Just like I'm quite fond of ability trees and random, frequent loot when hacking through some diablo clone (which seems to include ALL THE MMORPGs), but couldn't be bothered to sludge through that as a player (D&D 3E was bad enough). So Ultima was basically my one-eyed dude amongst the blind here. Britannia might not be the most exciting setting, but it beats Tamriel (again, ignoring the graphics, which aren't really that easy to translate to a purely verbal experience). What I've seen of Dragon Age didn't particularly excite me, either. Okay, elves are in ghettos, wizards are under watch of the Popethe church of whatever, but otherwise it's bog-standard quasi-medieval fantasy. Plus bad French accents. Note: I'm very bad at finishing games, so I can't talk about part 2 or 3 except from what I've seen watching my more zealous friends. I had the same problem with the Witcher series, but at least there I read some books ages ago. Setting looked more interesting, mostly because the premise was interesting (and exploitable) and because fantasy games often ignore the slavic parts of myths and medieval lore. The rest of the current RPGscape seems mostly focused on licensed stuff or "retro" experiences. So, no big conversion targets I can see. Haven't played that Baldurs-Gate-with-numbers-filed-off one that came out recently, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Converting any video game property to a P&P role playing game is going to come with some...loss of fidelity. They are a visual medium to be sure. However, a conversion of Skyrim (to pick a game) by a GM that loves Skyrim will usually mean that the GM will have more energy to portray that world with gusto. Perhaps the visual impact is lost but there is more than visuals to that world. I don't believe in the "generic" fantasy world because every group customizes the setting they are playing to different degrees. The Forgotten Realms world I ran was likely much different than the one Ed Greenwood created. However, if a setting doesn't interest you, it doesn't interest you. I could not, for instance, make myself like Turakian Age. Lord Liaden is a huge proponent of the setting and it is gratifying to see somebody enjoy a setting. I just couldn't get past some of my issues with it. I doubt I could play in the Game of Thrones setting as portrayed by both the novels and the HBO show. I love the intrigues, but I hate the constant, crushing defeat of anybody that appears to be morally just. That it also happens to the moral scumbags of the setting is of no consolation. I don't want to divert this thread too far from the main topic so I will stop philosophizing here. A parting shot however would be to add converting the setting from Birthright over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted May 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 I feel like you can swap out TES for Ultima based on the age of the gamer. I suppose I reveal myself, by saying that I never really got into Ultima, so Elder Scrolls is definitely what I'd want to see. The science fantasy weirdness of Morrowind remains one of the more compelling things I've seen in a fantasy setting. It's super regional that way - Cyrodill is basically stock Western-European fantasy, I think everybody knows about the fantasy vikings & dragons of Skyrim, Hammerfell is this interesting maritime imperial merchant riff on north Africa, and so on. Exactly, each different region is pretty diffrent, particularly Morrowind, which defies convention and the usual fantasy patterns almost totally. You can't really say "Elder Scrolls is dull and unoriginal" because it has so many different types of settings and cultures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 "Elder Scrolls is dull and unoriginal." Actually it appears that I can indeed say it. I don't believe it, of course. I just found the snark a powerful compulsion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 I agree that Elder Scrolls is dull and unoriginal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.