Games Based on Games [Archive] - Wizards Community

Games Based on Games [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rathje
12-07-05, 11:23 PM I've been puttering about this idea for a little while idly, but never seriously. I really enjoyed the game Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Calibur. It had a wonderful storyline. I'd like to try to run my players through the game, replacing Magnus Gallant's position. Major parts would stay (Holy Lodis Empire, the Progenitor stuff, etc.), some minor parts would stay (The tactician, Europea, etc.), some minor parts would change or be removed (Ankiseth would change, Diomedes would be removed). But I have some questions to ask players.

1) How do you feel about playing through a game based very heavily around a video game? Normally, I'd dislike this, but my personal rule stands for well known games (Final Fantasies, etc.). I don't have a personal rule to go by for lesser known games.

2) I'm looking for players who haven't played Ogre Battle. If you were playing through a game based very heavily around a video game, how would your opinion change by whether or not you've played through it? I'd like my players to be surprised by the outcome.

3) Any general comments, suggestions, ideas, or insults? I can roll with flames pretty well (or at least I like to think so), unless I'm in a really foul mood.
shadowrisae
12-07-05, 11:49 PM I've never run a game entirely based off of a video game, but I have taken elements from various video games. I don't think either option (basing off a game entire or partially) is bad. If you're basing your story off of it, you probably want players to not have played it. But if you're basing a portion that doesn't matter, then it's okay either way.

An example of a portion that doesn't matter whether they played or not: My last campaign started off with a modified version of the AD&D Challenge of Champions II adventure from Dungeon magazine. I knew it wouldn't take the entire session so I prepared another idea. In Final Fantasy VII, there's the Battle Arena in Gold Saucer. For those who have never played Final Fantasy VII, the monsters progressively increase in difficulty as you go along. Between each encounter, there is a roulette that spins and a status effect might be placed on you. As an addition to the Challenge of Champions, the party had to do a very Battle Arena battle called "Challenge of Heroes". I picked some monsters from various books of increasing difficulty. I also prepared a d10 chart that had various things that may affect the party between each monster encounter. Perhaps they'd take temporary STR damage. Or maybe magic did not work. Or maybe they'd get lucky and nothing would happen.

Out of my group of 5 players, 2 had played Final Fantasy VII. But the fact that they had gave them no advantage. My group loved the idea of this very much and thought it a worthy addition to the traditional Challenge of Champions, especially the 2 players who play for monster slaying near exclusively. They liked the Challenge of Champions puzzles but missed killing things. :)
OctoberRaven
12-07-05, 11:58 PM Ogre Battle 64 is awesome and a campaign based on it would be very sweet. The political storyline and plot twists really makes for an interesting campaign. I use Ogre Battle as an influence in my war/revolution campaigns all the time.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, or if you want a challenge, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem make good campaigns too.

A campaign based on a video game is a great idea and should definately be tried.
Lord Gwydion
12-08-05, 01:41 AM 1) How do you feel about playing through a game based very heavily around a video game? Normally, I'd dislike this, but my personal rule stands for well known games (Final Fantasies, etc.). I don't have a personal rule to go by for lesser known games.

I don't have a problem with using the setting of a game that I've played. Running your own original adventures in the world of a game everyone in the group is familiar with can be fun.

I don't have a problem with using the setting and plot of a game that I haven't played, as long as the DM realizes that things may end up playing out totally diferently from how the plot runs in the game.

Don't railroad your players just because such-and-such happened in a certain way in the game. Be prepared for things to go "wrong."

2) I'm looking for players who haven't played Ogre Battle. If you were playing through a game based very heavily around a video game, how would your opinion change by whether or not you've played through it? I'd like my players to be surprised by the outcome.

As I said above, as long as you aren't railroading them through the plot, it should work out okay. If the players have played through the game, I'd say it's a must to change things around. Use their expectations against them for plot twists, rather than copy the plot twists they already know.

3) Any general comments, suggestions, ideas, or insults? I can roll with flames pretty well (or at least I like to think so), unless I'm in a really foul mood.

In general, I find that borrowing elements of a game plot for a general campaign, or using the setting of a game but your own original adventures, work out well. Just don't try to copy everything that's in the games, or needlessly mess with the d20 mechanics to emulate the way things work in the game. Fewer headaches that way.
Rathje
12-08-05, 02:16 AM Thanks for the help!

I'm not messing with mechanics at all. It means sacrificing Doll Masters, but I can live with that. Maybe a Psionic could pretend to be one.

What I generally do is write out a timeline of what the "bad guys" are doing and when (or anyone). If they do something to screw it up, okay, what'll they end up doing to counter-act? I'm pretty good about letting players do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't take away from the game (read: no, you can't buy a tree of tic-tacs at the general store because you saw it on Penny Arcade). I'm already changing the plot of the game to suit the players by changing Ankiseth's role. No more father figure.

I am going to put alignment restrictions in place in hopes that it'll aim them in the general direction the game takes. I want them to end up on the side of the revolution, so merciful characters will be good. I'll remove alignment restrictions with very good backstory that suits what I'm looking for.
Rumple_Cragstan
12-08-05, 02:01 PM Ogre Battle 64 is probably one of the only video games that you could wholly base an entire campaign off of, without risking becoming a horrible rail-roader.

To be honest, I'm using the Platinian calendar for my CS. The Elem Pedra are major artifacts. The elemental gods are worshiped by druids worldwide. I've borrowed alot from this game, because it rocks.

My personal advice? Do not play the campaign as the game was played. Under no circumstances should you give your players thier character history. There's too many variables that could easily be changed that would screw up the game. What would happen if, when Dio challenges the main character to battle, the PC rushed forward and kills Dio before your advisor shows up to stop the fight? What would happen when the time comes about for Dio to save your rear right before Magnus defects to the Revolutionary Army?

Instead, just write down a time-line for the game and play through it that way. Of course, you'll need to start the game in Alba, but other than that, not much is needed. It would be much easier if the party was in the army, its not nessicarilly needed.

More advice. Do not try to addopt the Ogre Battle system for classes and equipment. The 3.5 system is great. Its actually, IMO, much more sensable and balanced than Ogre Battle. Just make some effort to make it into a good campaign rather than just trying to DM your very own video game.

All in all, be careful with how you do this. Its got potential, but don't forget that its got a high possibility for failure.

I find that much of the time, when a DM is trying to re-create a video game, one of two things are happening.

A) The DM is lazy and wants to have an awesome game without making an origional storyline..... so of couse he finds his old copy of FFVII and says "well Squaresoft did it..." In this case, the DM does little/no planning and gets really scared when something that goes against the game storyline happens (ok, Aeris is dead.... *Pheonix Down* ok whats next?)

B) The DM is obsessed with a certain game (and often Anime fits in there as well) and can't live thier life without some form of that media in thier lives. This is where Monks firing energy rays, fighters with 18 foot long swords (in one hand), and the idea that a massive *boomerang* is a viable weapon come from.

As long as you don't fall into one of those slack-ass situations, have a good one.
twad
12-08-05, 03:33 PM IMO a video-game-themed game should only be considered a setting where there are sometimes events/rumors/big explosions that happen even if the PCs dont have anything to do about it. The world is "alive", they are part of this world.

Btw, my personal favorites rpgs are Tales of destiny 2 (combat system is SO COOL!!), Chrono trigger and FF3.
Rumple_Cragstan
12-08-05, 05:01 PM <snip>FF3.

Beautiful concepts that could also be easily worked into D&D. One of the nations is techno-savvy IMC, and I'm borrowing quite a few nifty ideas from Figaro and Edgar. Go figure that its also a desert nation, much to my pleasure.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rathje 12-07-05, 11:23 PM	I've been puttering about this idea for a little while idly, but never seriously. I really enjoyed the game Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Calibur. It had a wonderful storyline. I'd like to try to run my players through the game, replacing Magnus Gallant's position. Major parts would stay (Holy Lodis Empire, the Progenitor stuff, etc.), some minor parts would stay (The tactician, Europea, etc.), some minor parts would change or be removed (Ankiseth would change, Diomedes would be removed). But I have some questions to ask players. 1) How do you feel about playing through a game based very heavily around a video game? Normally, I'd dislike this, but my personal rule stands for well known games (Final Fantasies, etc.). I don't have a personal rule to go by for lesser known games. 2) I'm looking for players who haven't played Ogre Battle. If you were playing through a game based very heavily around a video game, how would your opinion change by whether or not you've played through it? I'd like my players to be surprised by the outcome. 3) Any general comments, suggestions, ideas, or insults? I can roll with flames pretty well (or at least I like to think so), unless I'm in a really foul mood.
shadowrisae 12-07-05, 11:49 PM	I've never run a game entirely based off of a video game, but I have taken elements from various video games. I don't think either option (basing off a game entire or partially) is bad. If you're basing your story off of it, you probably want players to not have played it. But if you're basing a portion that doesn't matter, then it's okay either way. An example of a portion that doesn't matter whether they played or not: My last campaign started off with a modified version of the AD&D Challenge of Champions II adventure from Dungeon magazine. I knew it wouldn't take the entire session so I prepared another idea. In Final Fantasy VII, there's the Battle Arena in Gold Saucer. For those who have never played Final Fantasy VII, the monsters progressively increase in difficulty as you go along. Between each encounter, there is a roulette that spins and a status effect might be placed on you. As an addition to the Challenge of Champions, the party had to do a very Battle Arena battle called "Challenge of Heroes". I picked some monsters from various books of increasing difficulty. I also prepared a d10 chart that had various things that may affect the party between each monster encounter. Perhaps they'd take temporary STR damage. Or maybe magic did not work. Or maybe they'd get lucky and nothing would happen. Out of my group of 5 players, 2 had played Final Fantasy VII. But the fact that they had gave them no advantage. My group loved the idea of this very much and thought it a worthy addition to the traditional Challenge of Champions, especially the 2 players who play for monster slaying near exclusively. They liked the Challenge of Champions puzzles but missed killing things. :)
OctoberRaven 12-07-05, 11:58 PM	Ogre Battle 64 is awesome and a campaign based on it would be very sweet. The political storyline and plot twists really makes for an interesting campaign. I use Ogre Battle as an influence in my war/revolution campaigns all the time. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, or if you want a challenge, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem make good campaigns too. A campaign based on a video game is a great idea and should definately be tried.
Lord Gwydion 12-08-05, 01:41 AM	1) How do you feel about playing through a game based very heavily around a video game? Normally, I'd dislike this, but my personal rule stands for well known games (Final Fantasies, etc.). I don't have a personal rule to go by for lesser known games. I don't have a problem with using the setting of a game that I've played. Running your own original adventures in the world of a game everyone in the group is familiar with can be fun. I don't have a problem with using the setting and plot of a game that I haven't played, as long as the DM realizes that things may end up playing out totally diferently from how the plot runs in the game. Don't railroad your players just because such-and-such happened in a certain way in the game. Be prepared for things to go "wrong." 2) I'm looking for players who haven't played Ogre Battle. If you were playing through a game based very heavily around a video game, how would your opinion change by whether or not you've played through it? I'd like my players to be surprised by the outcome. As I said above, as long as you aren't railroading them through the plot, it should work out okay. If the players have played through the game, I'd say it's a must to change things around. Use their expectations against them for plot twists, rather than copy the plot twists they already know. 3) Any general comments, suggestions, ideas, or insults? I can roll with flames pretty well (or at least I like to think so), unless I'm in a really foul mood. In general, I find that borrowing elements of a game plot for a general campaign, or using the setting of a game but your own original adventures, work out well. Just don't try to copy everything that's in the games, or needlessly mess with the d20 mechanics to emulate the way things work in the game. Fewer headaches that way.
Rathje 12-08-05, 02:16 AM	Thanks for the help! I'm not messing with mechanics at all. It means sacrificing Doll Masters, but I can live with that. Maybe a Psionic could pretend to be one. What I generally do is write out a timeline of what the "bad guys" are doing and when (or anyone). If they do something to screw it up, okay, what'll they end up doing to counter-act? I'm pretty good about letting players do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't take away from the game (read: no, you can't buy a tree of tic-tacs at the general store because you saw it on Penny Arcade). I'm already changing the plot of the game to suit the players by changing Ankiseth's role. No more father figure. I am going to put alignment restrictions in place in hopes that it'll aim them in the general direction the game takes. I want them to end up on the side of the revolution, so merciful characters will be good. I'll remove alignment restrictions with very good backstory that suits what I'm looking for.
Rumple_Cragstan 12-08-05, 02:01 PM	Ogre Battle 64 is probably one of the only video games that you could wholly base an entire campaign off of, without risking becoming a horrible rail-roader. To be honest, I'm using the Platinian calendar for my CS. The Elem Pedra are major artifacts. The elemental gods are worshiped by druids worldwide. I've borrowed alot from this game, because it rocks. My personal advice? Do not play the campaign as the game was played. Under no circumstances should you give your players thier character history. There's too many variables that could easily be changed that would screw up the game. What would happen if, when Dio challenges the main character to battle, the PC rushed forward and kills Dio before your advisor shows up to stop the fight? What would happen when the time comes about for Dio to save your rear right before Magnus defects to the Revolutionary Army? Instead, just write down a time-line for the game and play through it that way. Of course, you'll need to start the game in Alba, but other than that, not much is needed. It would be much easier if the party was in the army, its not nessicarilly needed. More advice. Do not try to addopt the Ogre Battle system for classes and equipment. The 3.5 system is great. Its actually, IMO, much more sensable and balanced than Ogre Battle. Just make some effort to make it into a good campaign rather than just trying to DM your very own video game. All in all, be careful with how you do this. Its got potential, but don't forget that its got a high possibility for failure. I find that much of the time, when a DM is trying to re-create a video game, one of two things are happening. A) The DM is lazy and wants to have an awesome game without making an origional storyline..... so of couse he finds his old copy of FFVII and says "well Squaresoft did it..." In this case, the DM does little/no planning and gets really scared when something that goes against the game storyline happens (ok, Aeris is dead.... Pheonix Down ok whats next?) B) The DM is obsessed with a certain game (and often Anime fits in there as well) and can't live thier life without some form of that media in thier lives. This is where Monks firing energy rays, fighters with 18 foot long swords (in one hand), and the idea that a massive boomerang is a viable weapon come from. As long as you don't fall into one of those slack-ass situations, have a good one.
twad 12-08-05, 03:33 PM	IMO a video-game-themed game should only be considered a setting where there are sometimes events/rumors/big explosions that happen even if the PCs dont have anything to do about it. The world is "alive", they are part of this world. Btw, my personal favorites rpgs are Tales of destiny 2 (combat system is SO COOL!!), Chrono trigger and FF3.
Rumple_Cragstan 12-08-05, 05:01 PM	<snip>FF3. Beautiful concepts that could also be easily worked into D&D. One of the nations is techno-savvy IMC, and I'm borrowing quite a few nifty ideas from Figaro and Edgar. Go figure that its also a desert nation, much to my pleasure.