Hang anyone used video game quests as side quests?

[MustacheManny]

My group is about to start a West Marches style game and we'll be sharing the DM responsibilities while one person is in charge of "main story quests". I was specifically thinking of some Neverwinter Nights quests to convert into tabletop quests. Has anyone had any luck with something like this? No one in my group has played NWN before so it will be all new to them.

[djreynolds]

Its not a bad idea, just experience point wise it would take longer and you have to remember that the games are often geared towards a few or even a pair.

Check out the Icewindale Games, those might be a good idea.

Also DM's guild has lots of stuff

[Unoriginal]

One of my DMs copy/pasted the Dragon Age video game to make an arc of his campaign, once.


IMO it's better to do a video-game inspired quest than just copy/paste it.

[Falcon X]

Oh yeah. Definitely. Here are some things I mined from video games:

Quest for Glory 4 - a GREAT series for mining, seeing as it was created as a literal fusion of D&D and King's Quest:
- The look and dialogue from Baba Yaga's hut. You walk in, she immediately either casts Hold Person in you or turns you into a toad, then discusses with her bat familiar (who you can't understand) the best way to eat you. The bat convinces her to send you on a quest to get her food in exchange for your life.
- The Leshy hiding in the plants (this was always a failure)
- the Elderberry Bush: a sentient bush with red berries and tentacles. You have to get the berries by either attacking it or making friends with it.
- The Gypsy prisoner: a gypsy is captured for killing the gravedigger, when actually the gravedigger just fell into a grave and a stone fell over the hole. You must free the gypsy and/or gravedigger and solve the mystery. In return: a quest into the gypsy camp.

Final Fantasy 5:
- a boss where there are 4 acolytes of different elements and only those elements will harm them. The elements also change every now and then and you can't visibly tell which is which.

Baldur's Gate 2:
- The Mephit Generator: from the opening rooms of the game, you get to a puzzle room where an engine shoots lightning and the lightning can also become mephits. Struggle against this while trying to find the key to the next room.

[Honest Tiefling]

IMO it's better to do a video-game inspired quest than just copy/paste it.

I kinda have to agree with this one. I don't think there's anything wrong with being inspired by Neverwinter Nights, but I think you should put your own spin on it. For instance, maybe the cure to the plague isn't from magical creatures, but relics. Except that the ritual to create the cure involves destroying an evil relic. Said religion of the relic have many, many, many ways to find out (I mean, it's probably hanging out in an evil shrine), and will come back later to create big problems that might hurt more people then the cure saved.

Also consider adapting the story to the player's own interests. Someone likes fey? Then all of the creatures needed for the cure are fey of some type, and this plague was invented by fey (since they are unaffected and drops of their blood can cure many), which leads to the question of where did it come from? Perhaps someone like intrigue, so throw in more intrigue elements. Perhaps tie it to someone's backstory.

Maybe change the character of Aribeth herself. She was very iconic to the story, so I would say if you want your own spin you'll need to replace her or do something else with the character. Also given her position within the story, people in tabletop will expect more chances to subvert or change her mind then a video game could ever give.

[Unoriginal]

Also by nature there are way more possibilities of actions and solutions in tabletop games than in video ones.

[MustacheManny]

You guys are right, taking ideas and themes from a game would be a lot better than just copying it wholesale. Thanks for the help!

[Herobizkit]

It also helps to crib from more obscure games. Depending on your age, that could be something like Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, or perhaps the Might & Magic or Ultima series. Knowing your player's "video game age" will help you avoid the recognition.

Me, otoh, I build into and appreciate nostalgic references. My DM, for example, totally stole Zapp Brannigan (who stole it from Captain Kirk) for a lovably inept navy Admiral who lost his whole fleet in an assault. He also stole Iron Man's AI and Mega Man and combined them into a Warforged "Butler-tron" for my PC.

Little did we know that, near the campaign end, we made the Zapp a hero, teamed him with Butler-tron and created the world's best spin-off (at our table, anyway).