[3.5] Vidjagame One-Shot

[Deth Muncher]

I come on here from time to time, and have all sorts of crazy ideas which I spout to you guys, and you have input on them, and then the thread dies when the interest dies, and much sadness is to be had by all. I don't want that to be the case this time. This time, it's personal. Wait...no, that doesn't make sense.

This time around, I'm taking a break from planning my regular campaign (which you guys have done great with helping me flesh out the baddies, by the way, so thanks for that) - this time, I'm crafting a one-to-three-shot adventure for some fellow game store employees (I work at a store that specializes in selling games - let's see if you can guess?). With the exception of one of the four, the other three players are all leaving in one way or another - two of them are engaged, except one is going into the military and the other is moving in with her parents until her fiance is out of the service, and the other is going to grad school. So I felt it my civic duty as a friend to them to make the best damn one-shot adventure for them I can provide. Since we're all employees of a store which peddles videogames, I see no reason not to make this entirely themed off of videogames.

Now, in true old-timey game fashion, I'm planning on making their quest take place over 6 or 8 dungeons, of which they can travel to in any order, though having certain weapons from other levels might make it easier/they might find things in one dungeon that won't make sense until they get something in another dungeon. As it stands, the levels in my head are as follows (caution - wall of text attack):

-Megaman: The Megaman dungeon will have lots of construct enemies, and will involve much jumping and climbing to get to the end of the level, and possibly floating/moving platforms, with jump checks required. The final battle will be, most likely, versus my version of Zero and X, who will drop a Z-Saber and quite possibly the X-Buster, of which I will post stats to in my homebrew page later. Other possible upgrades from the level might include an Energy Tank, which would basically be a very, very large potion that would restore the user to full health, and could be refilled with 3 CMW potions. I'll post a build for Zero and X later, once more things have been fleshed out.

-Mario: This would be a very lush level, in which I'll probably have to homebrew some Goombas and Koopas. I'll probably go take a look back at the Mario & Luigi games on GBA for ideas, but ultimately, this battle will end with them versus a large, fire-breathing dinosaur. I'm not entirely sure what I want in this level, other than more jump checks of hilarity - though I DO know I'll have mushrooms that grant Enlarge Person throughout the level, as well as flowers which, when consumed, give you the ability to use the Produce Flame spell for several rounds. A possible random upgrade from this level might be Yoshi as a mount, with the ability to eat any Small or smaller sized enemies if he succeeds on a ranged touch attack of 10ft (I may go look at the Giant Toads in Oriental Adventures for more ideas on how that works).

-Castlevania: This game already lends itself very well to this kind of thing. This level would be against primarily undead creatures, with the occasional fishmen thrown in. It's been a long time since I've played the older ones, though, so I need to refresh myself on what monsters would be perfect. The final battle will be versus Dracula, of course, possibly with Death either as a companion NPC or as a miniboss earlier on. Actually, more levels should have minibosses, come to think of it. Hm...anyway. The reward item for this level will be the Belmont whip, which will have its other upgrades available in other levels. I can't really think of anything else that would be appropriate.

-Mortal Kombat: "Wait a sec, Deth Muncher," I hear you cry, "weren't you sticking to mostly adventure type games?" Well yes, but I've actually spent some time statting up Mortal Kombat characters lately (that thread is around here somewhere, though please don't Necro it), so it's finally a good place to use it! I may do it as a 1v1 type match, or I may have it be an all-out fight pit. I'm not sure yet. Regardless, people defeated would grant different upgrades to other dungeon's items: you might get an Ice shot for the Z-Buster (or...well, you'll see next), or perhaps get Scorpion's chain whip thingy. I already listed in the other thread which characters I was making, so I'll try and repost that here.

-Metriod: This one will likely LITERALLY be a dungeon, with people going deep underground to beat the bad guys. I'm actually considering this be the true Final Dungeon, and as such make them come back with all the items in order to get through the different rooms. If not, though, I'll definitely have to have minibosses in this one, with the final boss being Ridley. (The guy going into the military really, REALLY likes Metroid, but has stated that he's died against Ridley at least once every time he's fought him. It's only appropriate.) The cool item in this level will be Samus' suit. This one will have upgrades scattered throughout the other levels for sure.

-Zelda: This one is pretty self explanatory - go around, kill the mooks, get to the dungeon, and complete puzzles. The puzzles are going to range from the difficulty of Very Easy (kill the Skeletons, get the key to the door) to rather difficult - I'm trying to think of puzzles that were slightly less intense than the OOT Water Temple. Final boss would likely be Gannondorf. The cool weapon for this level will, of course, be the Master Sword. Both it and the Power Suit have been done at the DanD Wiki, so I'll likely yoink those. Or maybe not. Who knows. Many of the enemies in this one, though, will likely just be reflavored from other standard ones, but I don't know which.

-Mass Effect: In order to sate the desires of the fiance of the guy going into the military, there's got to be some ME in here. Most likely, I'm going to do some Spelljammer-type things for this part - though I may throw in some Star Fox as well and make them actually do a space-fight. At this point, though, I've not beaten Mass Effect, so I'm not really sure how the endboss should be - probably more construct enemies (like the Geth), but I don't know. I'm thinking the item from this level will be the Krogan Shotgun - an item that does a d10's worth of d6s of damage, with a critical meaning they get bumped to d10s. I'll write the stats for that soon too.

-Valvelandia! This will take place in the collective world of Portal, Half Life and Left 4 Dead. (Possibly with hats everywhere, as a nod to TF2.) While none of these really have bosses, it may be a more "survive to the end" style like in Left 4 Dead, but possibly with sublevels within the level representing different parts - for example, have part of the level be covered with acidic puddles and Headcrabs/HC Zombies, with another part of the level being straight up L4D zombies, with possibly another part having those secret police guys from Half Life guarding the end. Possible drops are going to be a Crowbar, MAYBE the Portal Gun, Pain Pills (granting temporary hitpoints) and a chainsaw. As a further nod outside of the Valve-verse, I may include a shotgun in this level as a drop which will only function after yelling "THIS IS MY BOOMSTICK."

So what do I need from you guys?
-Suggestions for loot to drop in each level.
-Suggest favorite puzzles/parts of dungeons from each game.
-Possibly point me to some homebrew, be it for certain enemies, races or items.
-Suggest me that last level! I'm seriously, seriously at a loss here. LONG LIVE VALVELANDIA
-Help suggest things that while they may not technically be canon to one of those games, would at least be thematically appropriate (like the Metroid level should probably use some things from Dungeonscape, etc).

The characters, by the way, will most likely start at level 10 and end at level 18. I've opened it up to all books and classes, which may mean that some characters stomp through certain levels - THAT'S OKAY. It's about having fun, and sometimes the fun comes from level-breaking, as any longtime player of Castlevania or Metroid will tell you. Trust me, the levels will be in such a way that one character will not win every level by default.

[Zaq]

Hmmm. If you want stealth, you can always go for Metal Gear, preferably Solid. There's some comedy gold there. I'm a big fan of the Mystical Ninja (Goemon) series, so maybe something based on that? An MMO might be funny if you think you can swing it.

Honestly, just pulling anyone from Smash Brothers and basing a level on them should do the trick . . .

[prufock]

I'm not sure how relevant this will be, but I did a M&M game where each player was a video game icon (Mega Man, Chun-Li, Link, Samus). They traveled through video game worlds investigating why their worlds were all apparently becoming unraveled and intersected with each other. There was no loot dropped, really, but they went through:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Street Fighter
Mega Man
Mario/Donkey Kong
Shadow of the Colossus
Pac Man
Pong
Tetris
SHODAN - final boss!

Part of the fun was having the players race to guess which world they were in as it was described.

Pac Man might be a good endgame. Ghosts, power-ups, a maze, and a giant yellow... thing. It's classic.

EDIT: And Pac-Man himself should have improved grab if he hits with a bite, improved grapple, swallow whole, and some sort of internal acidic biochemistry.

[Big Fau]

Use IWTBTG. Google the acronym if you don't know what that is.


Your players will never forget.

[Amnestic]

[SPOILER]

-Castlevania: This game already lends itself very well to this kind of thing. This level would be against primarily undead creatures, with the occasional fishmen thrown in. It's been a long time since I've played the older ones, though, so I need to refresh myself on what monsters would be perfect. The final battle will be versus Dracula, of course, possibly with Death either as a companion NPC or as a miniboss earlier on. Actually, more levels should have minibosses, come to think of it. Hm...anyway. The reward item for this level will be the Belmont whip, which will have its other upgrades available in other levels. I can't really think of anything else that would be appropriate.


In addition to the undead/mermen, constructs are a common enemy in castlevania (animated armour, animated objects, things like that) along with a plethora of demons/devils, a few Celestials, werewolves, monstrous humanoids (fire breathing pig men?) and things like that. If you don't include the Medusa Heads at some point, you're not doing the games any justice :smallcool:

For the record, Castlevania-lorewise, any non-Belmont will eventually die if they use the Vampire Killer too much :smalltongue:

[marcielle]

Okami - Help a goddess regain her power by cleansing her temples and get her help to destroy an epic-level Orochi( a colossal 8-headed hydra might be a good starting point)

Warhamer - Let them choose: aid the Chaos invaders(worshippers of far-realm abominations) or the paladins and clerics of Sigmar.

Psychonauts: Start off by fast forwarding to the future. PCs are all epic and have just wiped out the Big Brainy-thing of a mindflayer city. The psychic backlash sends them all to a world formed from their collective subconcious and they must face their own inner demons to get out. All sorts of RP havoc.

Dnd - Sorry this is for the lols. Throw in famous Dnd lore figures (Elminster, Drizzt, Cadderly, etc.) and just go wild.

[Deth Muncher]

Hmmm. If you want stealth, you can always go for Metal Gear, preferably Solid. There's some comedy gold there. I'm a big fan of the Mystical Ninja (Goemon) series, so maybe something based on that? An MMO might be funny if you think you can swing it.

Honestly, just pulling anyone from Smash Brothers and basing a level on them should do the trick . . .

Believe it or not, I've never played a Metal Gear game. :smallfrown: I never had a Playstation growing up, so I've not had the chance to play them ever, so I feel like any references I make would fall flat. I've never heard of Mystical Ninja Goemon though. An MMO parody might actually be entirely silly.


In addition to the undead/mermen, constructs are a common enemy in castlevania (animated armour, animated objects, things like that) along with a plethora of demons/devils, a few Celestials, werewolves, monstrous humanoids (fire breathing pig men?) and things like that. If you don't include the Medusa Heads at some point, you're not doing the games any justice :smallcool:

For the record, Castlevania-lorewise, any non-Belmont will eventually die if they use the Vampire Killer too much :smalltongue:

Of course there are going to be Medusa Heads. :P They're the most awful things in existence, I can't NOT have them. But you're right about the constructs. I might have a few animated armors of normal and Large-Huge size. I can't believe I'd forgotten how ever-present the other kinds of enemies were - this might be a fun place to just throw in random fiendish/celestial monsters I've always wanted to see in action. And if they end up using the whip a lot (as in, get it early in the order) then I might have it start doing damage to them. Not a lot, or maybe none at all - maybe they're secretly of the Belmont clan and they never knew.


Okami - Help a goddess regain her power by cleansing her temples and get her help to destroy an epic-level Orochi( a colossal 8-headed hydra might be a good starting point)

Warhamer - Let them choose: aid the Chaos invaders(worshippers of far-realm abominations) or the paladins and clerics of Sigmar.

Psychonauts: Start off by fast forwarding to the future. PCs are all epic and have just wiped out the Big Brainy-thing of a mindflayer city. The psychic backlash sends them all to a world formed from their collective subconcious and they must face their own inner demons to get out. All sorts of RP havoc.

Dnd - Sorry this is for the lols. Throw in famous Dnd lore figures (Elminster, Drizzt, Cadderly, etc.) and just go wild.

I think Okami might work well, actually - have the weapon be a morphic weapon that changes between the shield (for close up) or beads (for far away). I think making Orochi the final final boss to everything might be kind of amazing. I do love Warhammer, though. Psychonauts would be absolutely silly, especially if I made each player give me one thing their character is scared of well beforehand. But making this a D&D game about D&D would be way too meta. :P


Use IWTBTG. Google the acronym if you don't know what that is.


Your players will never forget.

Isn't that I Want To Be The Guy? Doesn't that kill you, all the time? You're a terrible person.

Or maybe I'm not a cruel enough DM...

[Big Fau]

Isn't that I Want To Be The Guy? Doesn't that kill you, all the time? You're a terrible person.

Or maybe I'm not a cruel enough DM...

It'll be like the Tomb of Horrors. Only funnier!

[Deth Muncher]

It'll be like the Tomb of Horrors. Only funnier!

I should implement a 100gp per Extra Life system in that event. :P

[Tvtyrant]

I only really got into it when the apple fell up... It was all downhill from there.

Also, for the Megaman one you need disappearing blocks.

[Deth Muncher]

I only really got into it when the apple fell up... It was all downhill from there.

Also, for the Megaman one you need disappearing blocks.

While amusing, it will be difficult to implement in a D&D setting if no one really invests in Jump.

[Big Fau]

While amusing, it will be difficult to implement in a D&D setting if no one really invests in Jump.

And becomes obsolete when they start flying regularly.

[Deth Muncher]

And becomes obsolete when they start flying regularly.

This is a fair point.

[Tvtyrant]

And becomes obsolete when they start flying regularly.

Unless you make a gust of wind pushing downwards come into play whenever there is a cube; so you would be thrown into the spikes unless you fly to the next block anyways.

[SleepyShadow]

Final Fantasy 7. What better way to wrap up a video-game themed adventure than having them face off against the ultimate BBEG himself: Sephiroth! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcUulyx5HM0)

[Deth Muncher]

Final Fantasy 7. What better way to wrap up a video-game themed adventure than having them face off against the ultimate BBEG himself: Sephiroth! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcUulyx5HM0)

What, with his sword that has a 140 square reach?

[SleepyShadow]

What, with his sword that has a 140 square reach?

What? He's just Monkey-Gripping an oversized Katana. It would actually be fairly easy to build him in 3.5 stats.

[Deth Muncher]

What? He's just Monkey-Gripping an oversized Katana. It would actually be fairly easy to build him in 3.5 stats.

Spoilered for size.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7BU--yyQmVE/TNryAiMXPoI/AAAAAAAABMw/dicDUUCoUOM/s1600/Sephiroth_Crisis_Core.jpg

Okay, seriously, there is no way you're telling me that doesn't have at least 10ft reach, if not 15. Though that might be an amusing item drop for the final boss.

I probably will have to do Final Fantasy as a level, though I don't know which one to reference most. I'm much more partial to 4, 5 and 6, though I did love 7 growing up (I've actually not played past that, come to think of it...), but to be entirely honest, Final Fantasy is kind of...well, it IS D&D, if you look at it - it's an RPG, you go fight the bad guy after completing your long quest full of sideplots, character development...it IS D&D. It also seems too easy. I liked the Pac Man idea from earlier - it may be too silly though, I'm not sure yet.

[SleepyShadow]

Spoilered for size.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7BU--yyQmVE/TNryAiMXPoI/AAAAAAAABMw/dicDUUCoUOM/s1600/Sephiroth_Crisis_Core.jpg

Okay, seriously, there is no way you're telling me that doesn't have at least 10ft reach, if not 15. Though that might be an amusing item drop for the final boss.

That sword of his looks about as long as he is tall. The two-handed Claymore is about 4 and 1/2 ft. long. Sephiroth's katana is not much longer than that, probably about 5 and 1/2 ft. - 6 ft. long. Not the 10' long blade of awesome that it is made out to be. I suppose he could have 10' reach in D&D terms, but 15' is just silly.


I probably will have to do Final Fantasy as a level, though I don't know which one to reference most. I'm much more partial to 4, 5 and 6, though I did love 7 growing up (I've actually not played past that, come to think of it...), but to be entirely honest, Final Fantasy is kind of...well, it IS D&D, if you look at it - it's an RPG, you go fight the bad guy after completing your long quest full of sideplots, character development...it IS D&D. It also seems too easy. I liked the Pac Man idea from earlier - it may be too silly though, I'm not sure yet.

Well, you think Final Fantasy is too close to actual D&D, why not another classic, albeit in a different genre? Silent Hill would be a very interesting setting to end the adventure in, and Pyramid Head would make a good end-boss regardless of what level the party was.

[Zaq]

Well, you think Final Fantasy is too close to actual D&D, why not another classic, albeit in a different genre? Silent Hill would be a very interesting setting to end the adventure in, and Pyramid Head would make a good end-boss regardless of what level the party was.

I respectfully submit that characters as powerful as D&D adventurers have no place being in a Silent Hill game. The entire point is how normal and powerless you are, which D&D does not model even a little bit.

[SleepyShadow]

I respectfully submit that characters as powerful as D&D adventurers have no place being in a Silent Hill game. The entire point is how normal and powerless you are, which D&D does not model even a little bit.

Convert those monsters to 3.5 stats, and the PCs will be fighting tooth and nail every step of the way. Besides, the puzzle-solving is a more important aspect of the games than the monsters that you can fairly easily avoid.

[Zaq]

Convert those monsters to 3.5 stats, and the PCs will be fighting tooth and nail every step of the way. Besides, the puzzle-solving is a more important aspect of the games than the monsters that you can fairly easily avoid.

Well, I also meant that most 3.5 characters have many, many ways around obstacles, puzzles included. My point is that it's very much not an easy translation.

[SleepyShadow]

Well, I also meant that most 3.5 characters have many, many ways around obstacles, puzzles included. My point is that it's very much not an easy translation.

If the players just want to avoid all the battles, puzzles, and role-playing encounters, what's the point of the game regardless of genre? :smallbiggrin:

Anyway, another good game would be Resident Evil, more specifically pulling from 4 and 5. The characters are far less vulnerable and helpless in those two games, closer emulating a 3.5 character (at least in terms of sheer carnage). Wesker would make for a fun BBEG :smallcool:

[Deth Muncher]

If the players just want to avoid all the battles, puzzles, and role-playing encounters, what's the point of the game regardless of genre? :smallbiggrin:

Anyway, another good game would be Resident Evil, more specifically pulling from 4 and 5. The characters are far less vulnerable and helpless in those two games, closer emulating a 3.5 character (at least in terms of sheer carnage). Wesker would make for a fun BBEG :smallcool:

To be fair, I expect a certain amount of level breakage due to abilities that just weren't accounted for in each game - Megaman didn't compensate for flight until you got the Rush Jet, and even then that let you get around things you probably shouldn't have. Or at least made the level easier. But on that note, though, I'm not going to build each level to be entirely bypassable by one item or ability, and even if a certain trap might be avoidable to one member due to their item/ability, that's not to say they all will.

Resident Evil might be interesting. It's another Undead level, which means that if they do it after Castlevania they'd be better equipped for undead. But likewise, I'd love to make them fight Wesker...but what items would work for drops in that level, other than...well, firearms?

[Jjeinn-tae]

Touhou. :smalltongue:

Nah, I'm not serious there, though it would be amusing... Maybe I should do that sometime... "The nine-year-old girl throws a large energy projectile, it moves forward about 10 feet before bursting into 256 smaller ones, she throws five more."

Hmm, Half-Life, Kirby, Doom, Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot, Dungeon Siege, Wizardry... Quite the variety there.

Though actually, seriously look at the old Wizardy game, I've wanted to make a recreation of that game for a while now.

[SleepyShadow]

Resident Evil might be interesting. It's another Undead level, which means that if they do it after Castlevania they'd be better equipped for undead. But likewise, I'd love to make them fight Wesker...but what items would work for drops in that level, other than...well, firearms?

Grenades: Alchemist Fire, Holy Water, Acid Flasks, etc.

Spinels: Gems of various values.

Herbs: Stuff to get the PCs high :smallbiggrin:

[Deth Muncher]

Grenades: Alchemist Fire, Holy Water, Acid Flasks, etc.

Spinels: Gems of various values.

Herbs: Stuff to get the PCs high :smallbiggrin:

You're so silly. But the grenades would be interesting...I'm just thinking of what could actually be included as large drops like in the other levels. Then again, maybe not all the levels need to have awesome drops. Maybe some levels just have to have neat consumables.


Touhou. :smalltongue:

Nah, I'm not serious there, though it would be amusing... Maybe I should do that sometime... "The nine-year-old girl throws a large energy projectile, it moves forward about 10 feet before bursting into 256 smaller ones, she throws five more."

Hmm, Half-Life, Kirby, Doom, Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot, Dungeon Siege, Wizardry... Quite the variety there.

Though actually, seriously look at the old Wizardy game, I've wanted to make a recreation of that game for a while now.

I actually know nothing of Tohou, other than it's a bullet hell shooter maybe? Half-Life would be amusing, and getting a crowbar as the level's item drop would be silly, but I dunno - headcrab zombies might get boring after a bit. Then again, if it gets set in Valveland, that opens up the Portal gun as well as hordes of zombies to deal with. Doom/Wolfenstein/Duke Nukem was a thought I'd had, but it might start to get boring with the whole "You turn a corner! There are three enemies. You run up and kill them. You turn the corner! There are three..." Ratchet & Clank/Crash Bandicoot/Jak & Daxter (they're all Naughty Dawg, right?) would be something to think about, but Crash is slightly TOO silly, and the other two are a little too...I don't know. I feel like I'd need to spend a lot of time with each area to make it true to the game, which we don't really have. Never heard of Wizardry though.

[SleepyShadow]

You're so silly.

Having fun is serious business lol


Then again, if it gets set in Valveland, that opens up the Portal gun as well as hordes of zombies to deal with.

That's it! Left 4 Dead! By the burning hate of Pelor, you've struck gold, man! I've been wanting to somehow incorporate L4D into my own game at some point in time, but you have the perfect theme for it!

If you are willing, I'd love to help stat out the special infected :smallsmile:

[Jjeinn-tae]

Yeah, Touhou is a bullet hell, really probably would only be suitable for a comedy campaign, and to the only people who would appreciate it... it would be like trying to play The Holy Grail.

Ratchet and Clank is Insomniac, but they were "friendly" with each other, characters crossed over, so close enough. Ratchet and Clank would essentially be explosions, but yeah, Jak would be hard to pull off without immersing yourself in it.

Wizardry dates back to computer games before graphics, its rather D&Dish in a way, you created a character, and went through whatever that game had you doing. The original dealt with the terrible wizard Werdna who stole an amulet from the king and hid in a 10-level dungeon below the king's town. The party had to go get it back. Very trap heavy, and kind of the usual D&D fair, though with animated coins and bats. Werdna himself was very difficult though, could level even a great party in 2 rounds... That tiltowait spell (essentially: Nuclear Explosion, that's actually what the instruction booklet calls it I think...).

[Deth Muncher]

Well, it's decided then. I enjoy the idea of Valvelandia as the final level, and I'll update the first post with item drop ideas.

EDIT: DONE

[Deth Muncher]

So now I need help with monsters. The Mortal Kombat level is done, in that respect - or if not done, very close to. The first bit I need to know from you all is if you KNOW of anyone who has done any homebrew to monsters pertaining to Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Left4Dead/Half Life, Mass Effect, or Megaman. Castlevania I can probably swing on just Monster Manual things. (Might look in Libris Mortis.) Monsterwise, I'm probably going to need (not necessarily all from other people, but just in general):

-Goombas
-Koopas
-other various Mario foes
-Octorocks
-LikeLikes
-Those spinny spine things
-Jellies (probably doable by reducing the power of existing slimes)
-Wallmasters
-Probably going to look through bosses from the first Zeldas and find things usable as a miniboss.
-I don't actually remember any names from the Metroid monsters, but there's the ones that drop from the ceiling, the little guys that just crawl around, the jumpy guys, the things that come out of pipes, the little hive things...wow I'm bad at this. :smallredface:
-The special Zombies in L4D. I'm probably going to leave the Jockey out of this just because he's annoying to the point the PCs would probably be angry, but the others are kosher. Including the witch.
-Headcrabs/headcrab zombies of all flavors.
-The Geth race from Mass Effect, and any of their minions.
-Megaman...hm. Probably any enemies, honestly. I can throw them in a mishmash and it won't matter.

If I get no hits here today on homebrew, I'll be off to do it myself.

[Amnestic]

I'd use Warforged as a base for the Geth, with most of their difficulty coming from the tactics they employ (after all, they're supposed to be 'smarter'/more efficient the more of them are linked in close proximity). You'd likely be looking at mostly ranged characters (refluffed warlocks work well for this I would wager) with a few Large Sized characters who focus on Bullrushing and Tripping.

Boss monster could be a Collossus (http://www.supercheats.com/guides/files/guid/mass-effect/m3-getharmature.jpg), which would be a Huge four-legged construct with multiple ray attacks per turn and a larger delayed attack (say, once every 3 rounds or so?). It should have a 'regeneration' mode too if they don't kill it fast enough, at which point it collapses in on itself, gains DR Lots/- and SR HighNumber (or even spell immunity) until it regenerates to fully HP.

Just a few thoughts. I'm not nearly adept enough at homebrewing monsters to come up with the full statblocks myself ;p

[Jjeinn-tae]

I made a Super Mario RPG system a while back, though lost it when I switched computers. I imagine it would probably be the "easy" dungeon really.

An idea for Goombas:

Goombas 1d4 HD's 20ft move, small size.
~14 Strength, 16 Dexterity, 10 Constitution, 8 Intelligence, 6 Wisdom, 4 Charisma

15 AC, 11 Flat-Footed, 15 Touch
0 Fort, +5 Ref, -2 Will

2 attacks, though they cannot use both on a full attack.
First is an attack by bullrushing, dealing 1d4 damage for each 5 feet they move their opponent. Double damage if they slam their target into a hard wall.

Second is a leaping headbutt (as Goombario and such). 10ft reach, can be used in coordination with a charge, 1d4 bludgeoning with explosive dice (roll a four, roll some more damage). Puts them next to their opponent at the end.

If any of those can be used as an AoO, I'd say it would be the bullrush, but I'd say just don't make them threaten.


I'm not entirely sure what level your players will be at, but I imagine goombas only really posing too much of a threat at low levels. They have the capability to deal some good damage should a player leave themselves open, (though with d4's) but they should have some low HD, probably breaking the rule of HD !< CR. The players are first level? Give the goombas one hit point, I'd give them 1 HD for every level after 1st. That keeps them cannon fodder.

[Dsurion]

I come on here from time to time, and have all sorts of crazy ideas which I spout to you guys, and you have input on them, and then the thread dies when the interest dies, and much sadness is to be had by all.I sadfaced when I realized your campaign journal wasn't being updated anymore, especially after that thread that was essentially you and BRC batting ideas around until you wound up with some awesome foes.

But anyway, there was this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179190) thread a while back about playing a Left4Dead-themed game. Maybe that can lighten your homebrewing load?

[Deth Muncher]

I sadfaced when I realized your campaign journal wasn't being updated anymore, especially after that thread that was essentially you and BRC batting ideas around until you wound up with some awesome foes.

But anyway, there was this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179190) thread a while back about playing a Left4Dead-themed game. Maybe that can lighten your homebrewing load?

Aw, someone read it! Sadface, I'm sorry I disappointed you - I thought no one was reading, and then we didn't play for three weeks due to exams and stuff and I was like "Eh, no one cares anyway." If you care, the samurai had to leave due to his (now ex) girlfriend nagging at him, but not before giving the party a plot point, the party traveled through the Plane of Shadow and retrieved the Shadowstaff (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/artifacts.htm#theShadowstaff) and the Flail of Everfrost (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Flail_of_Everfrost_(3.5e_Equipment)) (currently referred to as the Giant's Drink Mixer), got OUT of the Plane of Shadow and into Eberron due to both a planar rift as well as the alternate rules that say that the Plane of Shadows links multiple Material Planes, Jacques Le Clap now has a Shadow and the Skeletroll at his command, and they're currently finding lots of nifty things in Xen'drik, though they may have to finagle their way into keeping them since they made a deal with House Orien. (Or Lyrandar, I can't remember. Probably Orien.) They're currently level 6. Oh, and the Fail Druid has a Fleshraker as his companion.

Anyway, sorry about that diversion. I'll read through the L4D thread - thanks for the heads up.

[Deth Muncher]

So, the first batch of homebrew is up. I still need to rewire the links in the thread, but you can get there via the homebrew link in my signature. Go take a look! Or don't. But I'd like it if you did. Once I get a little more done, I can start talking about levels!

Actually, screw it, we'll talk about levels now. What're some fun/iconic level designs for any of the aforementioned levels? My thoughts thus far:

-(SUPAFIGHTINGROBOT) Megaman: Disappearing blocks, pits with spikes, annoying flying enemies, general platforming.

-Mario: Pits, underwater bits, long jumps, general platforming. Thinking more of the newer ones, (like galaxy, or even just any of the 3D ones), exploration for hidden stuff.

-Castlevania - So much platforming. And inability to access things until you've completed an objective. Also, mook spam.

-Mortal Wombat - This one I actually have down - Each of the rounds is going to take place on a different stage. Namely, The Pit (http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/MIGGO_ZERO/Video%2520Games/mortalkombatw.png), The Coliseum (http://media.onsugar.com/files/2011/05/19/0/1659/16595909/d3/MK9_reptile_SubZero_TagTeam_Sektor_Coliseum_WEB.jp g), and...uh, that acid pit I can't remember the name of.

-Metroid: Environmental hazards (lava, etc), lots of climbing, lots of secret ways through things via breaking walls.

-Zelda: Traps, logic puzzles, enemies that require logic.

-Mass Effect: Chest high walls/lots of cover.

-Valve Games: Mostly urban areas, lots of platforming, environmental hazards.