If you were going to build a Studio Ghibli/Zelda-flavored campaign, what elements would you include?

[Parmandur]

I wasn't thinking of Mononoke specifically. Nearly all the Ghibli movies would count as fantasy films and have a vibe distinct from traditional D&D.

For me, the primal Ghibli films are Nausica and Castle in the Sky, and I'll even throw in The Hobbit, Return of the King, Last Unicorn, Wizard of Oz and Flight of Dragons from the same animators...so, some compatibility with Ye Oldde Sckool D&D or even Gamma World.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I can't imagine using D&D for either setting.

Zelda to me feels like it would be better suited to using The One Ring instead of D&D. Both settings are typically about scattered light vs monolithic dark, and they're both settings that are very focused on journeys and exploration over just combat. The One Ring has several mechanics that reinforce and reward that behavior from the players. They're also both deeply musical settings.

For Ghibli... honestly, I think Call of Cthulu or Delta Green or Savage Rifts would be more suited than D&D. Something skills-based, with PCs that are typically just normal people, with support for wildly alien and powerful creatures, and an underlying thread of psychological horror elements that seem to challenge the agency and identity of the characters. As much as I don't like the systems, I'd want something Evil Hat or something PbtA for it more than D&D.

The main issue I have with D&D for these things is that no matter what you do you always end up feeling like standard D&D characters wandering through a museum exhibit of whatever setting you've chosen. That's fine if you want a funhouse dungeon, but I feel like the abilities of the PCs themselves would constantly break verisimilitude.

 

[overgeeked]

Yes, it seems like every day there's another one of these coming to Kickstarter, but if you were going to start said campaign before September, and thus couldn't wait on any of the campaigns to be fulfilled, how would you do it?

What elements would make a roleplaying game feel like Zelda or Studio Ghibli? A lot of it is about tone, obviously, but when adding/subtracting things from a typical fantasy game, how would you get it closer to what fans of the two franchises (I know, not the exact right noun here) would be looking for?

(I may have just volunteered to run a campaign for a bunch of coworkers. It's probably 5E, but maybe not, hence this being in TTRPG General.)

I start by looking into Dragon Quest, honestly. It's a JRPG video game series that, to my mind, overlaps both. Anything from Zelda and/or most fantasy Ghibli films would fit well in any one of the DQ worlds. DQ is an anime-style fairy tale. That's tone and themes, etc. Check out the TVTropes pages for any of those and you'll find a lot of useful stuff.

For mechanics, Fabula Ultima is the one that jumps out at the top of the list. It's a newish tabletop RPG that's specifically designed to emulate JRPGs. If that's too different a system, then check out Sword World 2.5. It's originally in Japanese...but there are fan translations about. Then there's a long list of "generic" systems I'd suggest before any D&D edition or derivative. Cortex Prime, Fate, etc.

There is an anime-themed 5E sourcebook out there, I forget the name. That might have a fair amount of useful stuff for a 5E game pulling from Zelda and Ghibli.

 

[Undrave]

For mechanics, Fabula Ultima is the one that jumps out at the top of the list. It's a newish tabletop RPG that's specifically designed to emulate JRPGs. If that's too different a system, then check out Sword World 2.5. It's originally in Japanese...but there are fan translations about. Then there's a long list of "generic" systems I'd suggest before any D&D edition or derivative. Cortex Prime, Fate, etc.

There's also Ryuutama that might work as a basis.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There is an anime-themed 5E sourcebook out there, I forget the name.

There are so, so many now. Anime-inspired RPG books are on track to replacing grimdark 5E settings on Kickstarter at this rate.

 

[Aldarc]

There are so, so many now. Anime-inspired RPG books are on track to replacing grimdark 5E settings on Kickstarter at this rate.

Nowhere close IMHO.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Nowhere close IMHO.

I'm seeing new projects announced weekly on Kickstarter, while the grimdark folks seem to be finally taking a break (or have realized the market is saturated).

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

As was previously mentioned, food and cooking have to be a part of it. I'd add that the values of peace and tranquility should be emphasized. Perhaps overcoming monsters without combat provides more XP than with combat?

As for tranquility, maybe short and long rests require more narrative...like, if a person wants to take a rest, they have to say what they are doing to rest - whether it's just watching the fish in the underground lake, eating a good meal around the campfire, or spending time in a sauna.

 

[aramis erak]

Yes, it seems like every day there's another one of these coming to Kickstarter, but if you were going to start said campaign before September, and thus couldn't wait on any of the campaigns to be fulfilled, how would you do it?

What elements would make a roleplaying game feel like Zelda or Studio Ghibli? A lot of it is about tone, obviously, but when adding/subtracting things from a typical fantasy game, how would you get it closer to what fans of the two franchises (I know, not the exact right noun here) would be looking for?

(I may have just volunteered to run a campaign for a bunch of coworkers. It's probably 5E, but maybe not, hence this being in TTRPG General.)

The two are VERY different from my point of view.

Ghibli - protagonists as fish out of water, but relishing it. Positive thinking leads to positive outcomes. Continuity is not even in the top five priorities... Non-violent solutions should dominate; I'd go for a system with much opportunity for auto-success. Tho' there are a few games grounded in Ghibli already in print, at least 2 in English...

Zelda - The videogame is dex and puzzles. Plus keyed items. System needs to be fairly light, not «class and level», and be able to distinguish the various kindreds - Hylian, Zora, Goron, Koroks, Kokiri, Rito, Gerudo, Shiekah, Subrosians... goals which are at odds with each other unless using a vagueness-using mechanic like 2d20 Traits or Fate aspects. (Other games with aspects that I've read make them far more concrete and setting definitional.) It needs to be a system that gives tactics better than the videogames' «walk up and swing»... Combat can easily overrun it. I've looked at a bunch of attempts to do it in existing games, but, being grounded in the top-downs, having finished only the original and windwaker - and both of those twice... (I hated TLoZ:TP... the only one I hated.) Favorites to play now are WW and Skyward Sword, but if I can find OoA and OoS, those will get replayed. (Forgot - I did finish 4-sword... both alone and coop.)

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Robust dramatic interplay between characters (PCs v NPCs).

Depending on how much combat I wanted, I'd consider either Burning Wheel or Wanderhome (Wanderhome would be great for a Kiki's Delivery Service type game for example; whereas BW would be great for Mononoke as those characters have so much drive that the artha system could play right into that). Or even Blades in the Dark for Lupin!

Also, writing that last paragraph, I came to realize the Ghibli movies while aesthetically have a lot of common design themes, story/plot/action wise are mostly very different, and would require different games for most of them

(I know nothing about Zelda - I heard its popular)