Best game for God of War-esque action?

RangerWickett · Mar 22, 2007

Here, read this:

God of War don't pansy around. Sure, the game ain't infallible, but it's a dang site more cool than most fantasy adventure games. Now what I'm wondering, my friends, is why the hell I can't be like Kratos (the protagonist of God of War) in my D&D games, without having to roll tons of dice and add ridiculous stat modifiers.

Let's see, Kratos dual-wields flaming falcata that can swift at a moment's notice into 20-ft. long flaming lashes, which he can use to stab the bodies of his foes and pull them around the battlefield, sometimes hurling his foes into each other. He can rip men's bodies in half, can tear the heads off medusas, and has enough strength to grapple a colossal hydra. He can channel the magic of the gods (though arguably these are magic items, not class abilities), and has managed to come back from the dead twice, albeit with some divine assistance.

His Balance check sucks. Kratos's one fatal weakness is having to walk on narrow things.

I can't imagine trying to run God of War as a D&D game. D&D just doesn't let you have fun with throwing and snapping the same way God of War does. Maybe Mutants & Masterminds? Exalted? What do you think?

Imaro · Mar 22, 2007

RangerWickett said:
Here, read this:

God of War don't pansy around. Sure, the game ain't infallible, but it's a dang site more cool than most fantasy adventure games. Now what I'm wondering, my friends, is why the hell I can't be like Kratos (the protagonist of God of War) in my D&D games, without having to roll tons of dice and add ridiculous stat modifiers.

Let's see, Kratos dual-wields flaming falcata that can swift at a moment's notice into 20-ft. long flaming lashes, which he can use to stab the bodies of his foes and pull them around the battlefield, sometimes hurling his foes into each other. He can rip men's bodies in half, can tear the heads off medusas, and has enough strength to grapple a colossal hydra. He can channel the magic of the gods (though arguably these are magic items, not class abilities), and has managed to come back from the dead twice, albeit with some divine assistance.

His Balance check sucks. Kratos's one fatal weakness is having to walk on narrow things.

I can't imagine trying to run God of War as a D&D game. D&D just doesn't let you have fun with throwing and snapping the same way God of War does. Maybe Mutants & Masterminds? Exalted? What do you think?

1.) Exalted could do this pretty well, and with the stunt-bonuses and knockback rules as well as the ability to design your own artifacts from the get go, you could make a character very similar to Kratos, just create a Dawn Caste Solar and pick the charms you feel exemplify Kratos.

The only negative I see is that you will be rolling huge amounts of die(it's a dice pool system). But if that doesn't turn you off it's very doable with Exalted

2.) My personal choice for this would be BESM 3e. I just purchased it and have to say I'm pretty impresed. It allows you to build any ability you want for your character, depending on how many points your GM allows. It is a character-heavy game, in that creating your actual character may take some time(though it has "keeping it simple" sidebars that if followed make this a way quicker process). However it would certainly allow you to make a character like Kratos, probably moreso than exalted(lacks the in-game mythos of Exalted). It would also allow for the construction of "God of War" antagonists in the vein that you describe.

The actual in-play system is simple and fast, it only uses two six-siders for every action. It has "keeping it simple" sidebars for play as well and can be "upgraded" with things like combat maneuvers, Shock, Knockout, Tactical actions, etc. but is perfectly playable without this level of granularity and instructs the GM on how to play without them.

Another bonus in my book for BESM is that it really is a "complete" game, in one book for about $40 or 20-something on amazon, that allows for a wide variety of genres, settings, etc.

Piratecat · Mar 22, 2007

I could easily fake GoW2 with Feng Shui, but it might not feel really satisfying to me as a GM. FS is far more about looking cool than tactics -- and Feng Shui might be a little too free form for a God of War game.

I, too, thought of Exalted.

Umbran · Mar 22, 2007

I think of Marvel Superheroes - and the base system (FASERIP) is going to be OGLified soon...

Shazman · Mar 22, 2007

You might be able to pull some of this stuff off with Book of Nine Swords plus PHB II and some other books.

jasin · Mar 22, 2007

My first though was Exalted too.

My second thought was Tome of Battle, since this is often my next thought after I think of Exalted, and vice versa.

But from my limited experience, I'm not sure Exalted is that much simpler. D&D has bigger numbers, Exalted has more dice.

The main advantage of Exalted is that it encourages crazy flashy action where D&D simple encourages what works, since Exalted will give you bonuses for being cool. But you could easily implement that in D&D. Give +2/+4/+6 bonuses for style, and I'll be you'll be seeing people trying all sorts of crazy

that by default just gets you "yeah... that would be cool, but you're better of simply full attacking".

Imaro · Mar 22, 2007

Just a quick question, are you trying to run the game or are you looking for a game that would allow this type of character in it so that you can play?

RangerWickett · Mar 22, 2007

I want a game that is awesome, so I can run it and be an awesome GM. Awesome-er, I guess, since I'm already pretty d*mn swanky.

Imaro · Mar 22, 2007

RangerWickett said:
I want a game that is awesome, so I can run it and be an awesome GM. Awesome-er, I guess, since I'm already pretty d*mn swanky.

Then yeah I say go for BESM 3e. It's a "japanimation" based game(yeah I know it's an asthetic not a genre.) that allows for the feel and real emulation of alot of the powers and abilities that you see in manga, anime, video games, movies like 300, wuxia, etc.