Bloodborne dungeon crawl ?

[Vinicius Lessa]

In my yearly playthrough of BB on PS5, and it reminded how awesome it's setting is. In special, the "the tomb of the gods" as this old Eldritch civilization ruins central to the setting, that every faction tries to explore for it's mysteries and riches, from early Byrgenwerth University and it's scholars, to later Healing Church and it's hunters, and Cainhurst and it's "knights", etc. Such imagery evoking this awesome mesh of D&D + CoC + Raiders of Lost Ark to me. Or a "Victorian Delta Green" of sorts. I mean, look at this "Tomb Prospectors" attire and tell me it doesn't come from some basphemous Indiana Jones spinoff..

Spoiler

So, how could one adapt this experience to tabletop? What kind of rules would do justice to it's thematic elements? The superpowered "elder blood" saught by everybody, the different groups and their philosophies, workshops and signature weapons? The dream planes? Is there any game or ruleset that is halfway there already? Give me your ideas!

P.S: I'm thinking in something focused on the dungeon crawl (or Chalice Dungeons) aspect here, with a session in town here and there for rest and ressuply (and politics, shadow plays, etc), but feel free to throw anything you feel interesting!

 

[Bacon Bits]

I think the major problem you're likely to have is that cosmic horror TTRPGs tend to focus on relatively powerless PCs, while modern dungeon-crawling games tend to focus a lot on combat. Those two things don't mix, typically.

You might try something like picking up the Cthulhu Dark Ages setting book (set in the 9th century) and using something like Shadowdark since it's a dungeon crawler. But maybe include the CoC Sanity rules?

Honestly, I almost feel like the best option would be something like the forthcoming Gloomhaven TTRPG. With card-based abilities, you'll have options in combat that you can't really control. And you'll be able to give the PCs a real sense of tactical options, but also maybe wipe the PCs and reset them to sanctuary more easily. IDK.

It almost feels like you're looking for a Darkest Dungeon TTRPG. I know there was a board game KS for it a few years back.

 

[grankless]

https://rowanrookanddecard.com/hollows-is-coming-soon-and-you-can-playtest-it/ Check out Hollows! It's extremely Bloodborne and all about the slow loss of yourself and also sick-ass boss fights.

 

[jdrakeh]

It almost feels like you're looking for a Darkest Dungeon TTRPG. I know there was a board game KS for it a few years back.

Said Kickstarter was bungled very, very, badly (backers charged multiple times for shipping, many still awaiting rewards, etc).

 

[Bacon Bits]

Said Kickstarter was bungled very, very, badly (backers charged multiple times for shipping, many still awaiting rewards, etc).

Oh, gross. I didn't back it, but that does explain why the website for the apparently associated company was so weird.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I might go with the Dark Souls 5e RPG. It would be easy to take the firearm rules from core D&D and use them with it.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

It's not exactly this, but... setting-wise, I'm running a Drakkenheim campaign with the Bloodborne aesthetic on it, given how it's a ruined city as a mega-dungeon that was destroyed by an alien presence.

 

[RangerWickett]

I ran a Halloween one shot for a group of friends who'd never played Bloodborne. The PCs were father, stepmother, cruel uncle, witchy grandma, heroic brother, and creepy neighbor, and they rode for Yarnham to take the family's sick young daughter for treatment at the Church, where the girl's real mother (and the father's first wife) had gone to be a nun for mysterious reasons. The family made traditional wine on their vineyard, and hoped to trade it for the famed magical healing.

The plot was

1. Come across a slaughtered group of travelers on the road, and face off against a single wolf.

2. Get into the city and see people boarding up houses, because tonight there was going to be a hunt for the pack of ravenous wolves that had made it into the city.

3. Hand over the girl to the church, where she'll receive treatment from her mother the nun. She needs to stay overnight to be purified.

4. Stay the night at the house of their merchant friend who would broker the wine deal. Except the guy has been partaking of the new blood, and when the moon rises he transforms and sets the house on fire, forcing the family to flee

5. From there, survive the city as it goes mad. Flee more werewolves, head for the hunters lodge, cross a bridge right as the blood moon begins and a bunch of weirdos in strange hats try to 'make contact,' get swept up in a nobles banquet at a 'safe' manor (where they realize everyone is a vampire or a victim), get rescued by a hunter, and then arm up for the final push into the old city to go rescue the little girl.

6. At the church, the nun mother is doing a rite to transform into the cleric beast, but first she reveals that she left here because the uncle threatened to kill her when she refused to sleep with him, and that she found poison in her daughter's blood. This kicks off a battle as the other acolytes try to kill the intruders, and the now monstrous mother tries to kill anyone who would take her daughter away from her.

When I ran it, it ended with the family escaping, but they stranded the uncle behind, with the understanding that the whole city would go mad. The last image was the uncle finally bursting out of a cell in the cathedral basement, stepping outside, and looking up to see an eldritch horror clinging to the roof of the building, watching him with countless unblinking eyes.

 

[jdrakeh]

Oh, gross. I didn't back it, but that does explain why the website for the apparently associated company was so weird.

Yeah, The GM Witch covers it pretty thoroughly on YouTube:

 

[Dimitri Mazieres]

Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt is very very Bloodborne-inspired. Delivery of the physical book should begin in the near future (it's 9 months overdue, but that's nothing crazy for a KS) but the pdfs are already out for backers. If you can get a hold of it, I think you'll find plenty of interesting ideas to use.