Matching the Campaign to the Right Ruleset

[Autumnal]

Yes, it can. And when there is any combat, it resolves very quickly. But characters can go getting into no more fights than George Smiley does.

 

[Reynard]

Yes, it can. And when there is any combat, it resolves very quickly. But characters can go getting into no more fights than George Smiley does.

Thanks.

I have played it a couple times but in both cases it had more of a Bourne/MI tone, and I did not know if the game was sort of locked into the technothriller genre.

 

[Malmuria]

I wonder if adapting Cthulhu Dark might work, with insight representing both how much they know and how close they are to being found out?

 

[Aldarc]

Okay. I have another one. I had a campaign idea that would play with old school and OSR tropes. The original concept was a reverse dungeon-crawl, where the point was getting out of the dungeon. It then morphed to players trying to escape a Greek-like Underworld, which became the core conceit. (Incidentally, Hades was announced not long after my first draft of this campaign concept. )

The idea for the campaign was that the characters are deceased beings in the Underworld. They have washed up on the shores of Orphanos, one of the lesser realms of the dead, namely the one for lost souls. The characters have lost their memories of who they are and without their memories, they can't achieve their proper place in the afterlife.

But the only way to get their memories is go looking for them outside of the safety of the Polis walls. So they grab what gear they can, venture into the underworld in search for memories, and literally discover who their character was by earning XP.

I also considered things like more diagetic loot progression (hello, @TwoSix), power shrines, and whether leveling-up would be a literal thing. Like when the character goes up a level, they literally go up a level to another realm of the dead.

I also was unable to decide whether death in the Underworld was a permadeath or whether the character would resurrect at the main shrine of the city but without some or all of their memories so they had to start over.

My contenders have been Black Hack, Into the Odd, Knave, and Index Card RPG, but I don't know if I am missing some other obvious options out there. Shadowdark could maybe work.

 

[Malmuria]

Okay. I have another one. I had a campaign idea that would play with old school and OSR tropes. The original concept was a reverse dungeon-crawl, where the point was getting out of the dungeon. It then morphed to players trying to escape a Greek-like Underworld, which became the core conceit. (Incidentally, Hades was announced not long after my first draft of this campaign concept. )

The idea for the campaign was that the characters are deceased beings in the Underworld. They have washed up on the shores of Orphanos, one of the lesser realms of the dead, namely the one for lost souls. The characters have lost their memories of who they are and without their memories, they can't achieve their proper place in the afterlife.

But the only way to get their memories is go looking for them outside of the safety of the Polis walls. So they grab what gear they can, venture into the underworld in search for memories, and literally discover who their character was by earning XP.

I also considered things like more diagetic loot progression (hello, @TwoSix), power shrines, and whether leveling-up would be a literal thing. Like when the character goes up a level, they literally go up a level to another realm of the dead.

I also was unable to decide whether death in the Underworld was a permadeath or whether the character would resurrect at the main shrine of the city but without some or all of their memories so they had to start over.

My contenders have been Black Hack, Into the Odd, Knave, and Index Card RPG, but I don't know if I am missing some other obvious options out there. Shadowdark could maybe work.

This sounds perfect for Whitehack. Whitehack even has an option for your character to have a ghost form

 

[Autumnal]

Thanks.

I have played it a couple times but in both cases it had more of a Bourne/MI tone, and I did not know if the game was sort of locked into the technothriller genre.

Reasonable; I imagine most people do play it that way. But yes, the game has an explicit dial for Le Carre, Deighton, etc <——> Bourne/MI, and it affects a whole bunch of mechanics and advice.

I wonder if adapting Cthulhu Dark might work, with insight representing both how much they know and how close they are to being found out?

I like the sound of that.

 

[Aldarc]

This sounds perfect for Whitehack. Whitehack even has an option for your character to have a ghost form

I have a copy of Whitehack 2e. I'll take a look at it again, but I remember bouncing off of it hard.

 

[Malmuria]

I have a copy of Whitehack 2e. I'll take a look at it again, but I remember bouncing off of it hard.

It's not an easy read, but the openness of the 'classes' make it easier to create whatever you want within its framework. At minimum you could steal the basic roll under mechanic and the way that groups work. Also the author is up to a 4th edition, available as pdf

 

[TwoSix]

The idea for the campaign was that the characters are deceased beings in the Underworld. They have washed up on the shores of Orphanos, one of the lesser realms of the dead, namely the one for lost souls. The characters have lost their memories of who they are and without their memories, they can't achieve their proper place in the afterlife.

But the only way to get their memories is go looking for them outside of the safety of the Polis walls. So they grab what gear they can, venture into the underworld in search for memories, and literally discover who their character was by earning XP.

I feel like something with random starting backgrounds and items, like ItO or Electric Bastionland, might work better for the "Shipwrecked on the shores of the Styx" feel. It gives the characters something to grasp onto right away, but the players also feel a little adrift as try to identify with their characters.

Might take a look at the Mythic Bastionland playtest as well.

Cairn might also be a good fit, themewise.

 

[Nitehood62]

Good Thread! As this issue happens a lot. I get an idea for a campaign and world to run it in and then what game system?
Or... you buy a RPG because of the exciting world setting or campaign and the rules are too complicated or too simple, or the rules system with it are too clunky and slow down the sessions.

I ran a game called Arrowflight (1e) many years ago and the system is clunky. My new players want me to run it again and continue the adventures, but I am trying to find the right system to play it in. The world has a "The Three Musketeers" type of atmosphere, with political intrigue, but its mixed with a bit of typical fantasy. Magic is not common like it is in D&D 5e, where every thing has magic.

When we played a session or two in 5e, and Castles and Crusades, it really took the "feel" of the world away.

I am looking into the WOIN system now for it.