Video game universes that deserve a spin at the tabletop (and what game would you use)

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Year Zero is also a possibility, but I see teams of runners trying to supply, fortify, and expand their base and stay alive.
I really wanted to like Dying Light, but I played it for a couple of hours and was then violently ill. It's the only game to give me motion sickness.

I, uh, figure that wouldn't apply to a tabletop version.
 
I really wanted to like Dying Light, but I played it for a couple of hours and was then violently ill. It's the only game to give me motion sickness.

I, uh, figure that wouldn't apply to a tabletop version.

I used to have that problem, but thankfully as technology improved, it went away. Back in the old Quake days, we'd play for hours at work, me sick the whole time.

Thinking of that Quake has a much deeper story than they exposed in the beginning. It might make an excellent RPG also.
 
Apologies if somebody already mentioned it and I overlooked it, but I always thought the Arcanum universe would be a lot of fun to play around in.
107957-arcanum-of-steamworks-magick-obscura-windows-other.jpg


Sure it's got elves, and dwarves and ogres and whatnot, but it's the way that magick and technology interact that was so interesting; i.e. one being the presence of the other causes them to cancel each other out, or causes unexpected malfunctions. Not to mention, it really did a nice job of portraying a magical society going through an industrial revolution with all the difficulties you'd imagine that entails (secret ogre breeding programs, orc laborer unrest, etc.)

For the system my first instinct is to come up with a BRP take on it, but any skill-based system seems like it could be used to capture the mechanics used in the game. The tricky/non-trivial part would be coming up with a magic-technological interactions system, and finding a magic system that does a good job of emulating hierarchical disciplines (which I can't remember what they were exactly off the top of my head).
 
Apologies if somebody already mentioned it and I overlooked it, but I always thought the Arcanum universe would be a lot of fun to play around in.
107957-arcanum-of-steamworks-magick-obscura-windows-other.jpg


Sure it's got elves, and dwarves and ogres and whatnot, but it's the way that magick and technology interact that was so interesting; i.e. one being the presence of the other causes them to cancel each other out, or causes unexpected malfunctions. Not to mention, it really did a nice job of portraying a magical society going through an industrial revolution with all the difficulties you'd imagine that entails (secret ogre breeding programs, orc laborer unrest, etc.)

For the system my first instinct is to come up with a BRP take on it, but any skill-based system seems like it could be used to capture the mechanics used in the game. The tricky/non-trivial part would be coming up with a magic-technological interactions system, and finding a magic system that does a good job of emulating hierarchical disciplines (which I can't remember what they were exactly off the top of my head).
Great game. I finished it a couple times.

One of the few RPGs I've seen where, if you created a dumb char, your dialogue options reflect that ("Duh.. me don't understand"). I remember making a dumb Orc and being amused that any social interaction became very difficult. Also, it offered a bazillion ways to do quests, so different chars could go through the game in different ways. The only low point was the obligatory combat sequences, like that one inside a dwarven clan mountain halls.
 
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I know there's a Gurps supplement for it, but I would like to see a game built from the ground up to do it. One with generational play and mechanics to tackle it's themes.

I see Legacy Life Among the Ruins has a supplement called Planetfall which is basically it with serial numbers off, but I never played it so I can't say.
 
In my desperation to play Killer Instinct (Ultra d6!) I wondered how this might work. I did try writing a fight game rpg (or setting), but what I like about this one is that it's gritty rob liefield style 90's esque fun. It's not "silly" like Streetfighter (Sakura? Rufus? El Fuerte?), and it's not as shlocky as Mortal Kombat which, these days, is just gimmicky. I guess it would have to be a superhero style game: combat powers and codenames
 
Apologies if somebody already mentioned it and I overlooked it, but I always thought the Arcanum universe would be a lot of fun to play around in.
107957-arcanum-of-steamworks-magick-obscura-windows-other.jpg


Sure it's got elves, and dwarves and ogres and whatnot, but it's the way that magick and technology interact that was so interesting; i.e. one being the presence of the other causes them to cancel each other out, or causes unexpected malfunctions. Not to mention, it really did a nice job of portraying a magical society going through an industrial revolution with all the difficulties you'd imagine that entails (secret ogre breeding programs, orc laborer unrest, etc.)

For the system my first instinct is to come up with a BRP take on it, but any skill-based system seems like it could be used to capture the mechanics used in the game. The tricky/non-trivial part would be coming up with a magic-technological interactions system, and finding a magic system that does a good job of emulating hierarchical disciplines (which I can't remember what they were exactly off the top of my head).

Never played that, but that cover alone looks freaking awesome! :money:
 
Never played that, but that cover alone looks freaking awesome! :money:
It's made by the same developers who made the original Fallout (Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky). It's one of the most reactive, original RPGs I've every played allowing for a lot of different play styles. My only advice would be to get the unofficial patch which makes it much easier to play on modern monitors and it does a good job of preserving the original gameplay without turning into a "I know better than the devs" cycle of modder's stupidity. Highly recommended.
 
Overwatch - I've already stated out a lot of the characters which I posted at Classic Marvel Forever. Mind you I folded the Overwatch concept as a sub-division of SHIELD in my campaign. So I was just using the characters. But I would love to do a full blown Overwatch game.

Great write-ups Tenbones, and I'll be able to use them to benchmark whatever system I end up going with. FASERIP is like the lingua franca of superhero gaming!
 
It's made by the same developers who made the original Fallout (Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky). It's one of the most reactive ... allowing for a lot of different play styles.
And they haven't been surpassed, have they? I have the impression the industry ended up following the Baldurs Gate/Bioware "cool but linear story + lots of D&D-like combat" or Bethesda "fucking huge playground" models.

Witcher 3 seems the one who most approaches Black Isle/Troika reactivity, but I played little of it so I can't say (couldn't stand it's combat, coming from Soulsborne)
 
Great write-ups Tenbones, and I'll be able to use them to benchmark whatever system I end up going with. FASERIP is like the lingua franca of superhero gaming!

Yeah I tried to translate the Overwatch characters and their gear as closely to the video-game as lensed through Marvel as possible. I played Overwatch to Diamond Rank in season 1, so I had a lot of experience with the game. Was fun to do.

And it worked really good in FASERIP.
 
The City of Heroes setting was originally the lead developer's Champions tabletop game custom campaign setting, so it'd feel wrong to play it using anything other than Champions... but then I think of running Champions and my head starts spinning.
 
And they haven't been surpassed, have they? I have the impression the industry ended up following the Baldurs Gate/Bioware "cool but linear story + lots of D&D-like combat" or Bethesda "fucking huge playground" models.

Witcher 3 seems the one who most approaches Black Isle/Troika reactivity, but I played little of it so I can't say (couldn't stand it's combat, coming from Soulsborne)
Witcher 3 is still pretty linear, but it has a multi-branching side quest system, some of which actually refers to previous ones giving a sense of cohesion with the main story.
 
The City of Heroes setting was originally the lead developer's Champions tabletop game custom campaign setting, so it'd feel wrong to play it using anything other than Champions... but then I think of running Champions and my head starts spinning.
There's a nicely made BRP/Superworld take on it, somewhere. Imitates CoH's graphic style.
IMO, Superworld would do fine for the level of action I've seen in CoH... which I think is relatively lower and 'pulpier'.
 
Apologies if somebody already mentioned it and I overlooked it, but I always thought the Arcanum universe would be a lot of fun to play around in.
107957-arcanum-of-steamworks-magick-obscura-windows-other.jpg


Sure it's got elves, and dwarves and ogres and whatnot, but it's the way that magick and technology interact that was so interesting; i.e. one being the presence of the other causes them to cancel each other out, or causes unexpected malfunctions. Not to mention, it really did a nice job of portraying a magical society going through an industrial revolution with all the difficulties you'd imagine that entails (secret ogre breeding programs, orc laborer unrest, etc.)

For the system my first instinct is to come up with a BRP take on it, but any skill-based system seems like it could be used to capture the mechanics used in the game. The tricky/non-trivial part would be coming up with a magic-technological interactions system, and finding a magic system that does a good job of emulating hierarchical disciplines (which I can't remember what they were exactly off the top of my head).
I came to post that one.
Something like Aquelarre's Rationality/Irrationality would be rather useful to portray the magic/technological split. And something like GURPS magic can emulate the hierarchical disciplines, I suspect.
 
I used to have that problem, but thankfully as technology improved, it went away. Back in the old Quake days, we'd play for hours at work, me sick the whole time.

Thinking of that Quake has a much deeper story than they exposed in the beginning. It might make an excellent RPG also.
I never can tell what that :wow: response is supposed to mean. But I guess, that's the point, also.
 
I never can tell what that :wow: response is supposed to mean. But I guess, that's the point, also.
And since it was me who gave you that reaction, in this specific case it was "wow, I'd have never thought to turn to Quake for story, good job":grin:!
 
The Shadow Hearts series and its prequel done as either 3.5 with the XP-point buy system or first edition Torg with the axioms and workd laws stripped out, and gear having Eternity Shard-like stat blocks.
 
I played a lot of Quake (and Doom)... what was this 'deeper story' you speak of?
Each Quake sequel seemed to be disconnected from the previous.
What do you picture doing in it besides running and shooting? I don't remember any NPCs at all.

 
The first Quake had a Lovecraftian world they never fleshed out in the released game. An RPG reconstructed from the original notes would be a pretty cool inter-dimensional dungeon crawl.
 
The first Quake had a Lovecraftian world they never fleshed out in the released game. An RPG reconstructed from the original notes would be a pretty cool inter-dimensional dungeon crawl.
Do those notes exist somewhere?
I remember name-drops and... which was it, Shub Niggurath, as the final boss? But didn't get any sense of a larger story behind it all, just 'monsters invade'.
 
Do those notes exist somewhere?
I remember name-drops and... which was it, Shub Niggurath, as the final boss? But didn't get any sense of a larger story behind it all, just 'monsters invade'.
No! Sorry faulty memory, no detailed notes. It was the Quake 2 world, which had a comic that then retroactively explains Quake 1 a bit more. The maps would still be a good dungeon crawl.

There are early screenshots that show a dragon flying around the second set of levels and similar stuff, but I don't know if any detailed document etc remains.

Bit more about the dragon:
Quake as it turned out is not what Quake was supposed to be in either that original prototype (TFFJ) or in the original concept of what Quake1 was going to be. The idea completely changed and the only reason we didn’t change the name of the game is because everyone in the world already knew what we were working on.
Nope. Quake was one original idea that got changed 7 months before shipping to something totally different and the name remained because the world already knew what the game was called.
Our dragon was going to be a massive fly-by that traveled along a path outside the level, dropping in for some firebreathing every now and then. Mostly it was gonna be for a cool, huge character event. The Vomitus was going to be something disgusting that vomited small versions of itself that attacked you.
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There's a really good video on the Quake series that talks a bit about the games original intended design.

 
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Great game. I finished it a couple times.

One of the few RPGs I've seen where, if you created a dumb char, your dialogue options reflect that ("Duh.. me don't understand"). I remember making a dumb Orc and being amused that any social interaction became very difficult. Also, it offered a bazillion ways to do quests, so different chars could go through the game in different ways. The only low point was the obligatory combat sequences, like that one inside a dwarven clan mountain halls.
I made a half-ogre, and gave him a rapier, turns out that's a really nuts combination because the speed of the rapier and his strength make it REALLY useful. I got frustrated playing a magic elf because one of the spells turns you into a golem-thing, but ALL your gear is dropped. Which is a pain. I loved the game but never finished it, I may rebuy it and try again.
 
I believe I have Arcanum on Gog.com but never fired it up to play. I feel like I got burned out on the oldschool (and newschool for that matter) crpgs but should give them another shot now.
 
Is it just me that would like an FFG Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic book (or books)?
 
So many great suggestions, I have to dig deeper then:

Suda 51's Silvercase/25th Ward/Killer 7 kind of world (Unknow Armies, CoC or Mythras Imperative should work pretty well, a PbtA would work great as well).

The Yakuza series because it's awesome: a city-crawl with several factions and no firearms.

For a huge world, the Legend of Heroes series ( more specifically the one in Trails in the SKy + Trails of Cold Steel) would require a ton of work but that would be cool. I'd use something like Cartoon Action Hour 1st edition to avoid too many headaches.

The world of Front Mission (and the recent Left Alive shows what you can do outside of a mech). Mekton?

And many games would not require a full blown rpg but would make very cool adventures/campaigns: Red Faction, Prey (the one on Xbox 360), Zombie Army trilogy, Enslaved, Singularity...
 
The vast majority of my lifetime video-gaming was mid-'80s to early-'90s arcade games, so I would play in one of those worlds.

There is a Super Mario Brothers-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off setting for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.
 
Hooked up the ol' 5200 last week. How about this one? As far as system, I imagine something like Star Ace, but a little more mechanically fleshed out in the space ship department (to emphasize some of that "Fighting as best you can with some systems down" vibe of the vid game). I don't think it'd take an awful lot.

StarRaidersRPG.jpg
 
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Legacy of Kain actually is one series. The war between the ancient races, steampunk vampires and the parasitic god feeding on the wheel of life.

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The writing in that series is so good. I think a lot of people find it "purple prosy" but the thing is it was written like an entirely different medium. (They talked about how they patterned the writing style and conventions after stage plays, with the soliloquys and such.) Also the voice acting is top tier.

Too bad the story is never going to get finished ;_;.
 
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