Pen and Paper versions of PC RPG's?

[Hostisafk]

Hey guys. I was wondering if anyone has taken the time out there to transfer the stories and campaigns (pretty much 1:1 on detail) from the DnD 3.5 rule PC games? I'm basically curious if I can ever hope to DM something like Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, or even KOTOR around the table. Thanks!

[Knaight]

As far as I know, there's nothing like that. It's also not a particularly feasible idea - while those games could be made into modules easily enough, there's a lot that tabletop games do which is lost and would still be lost, and a lot regarding the storylines that wouldn't transfer well.

[goto124]

Video games are generally more linear than tabletops... did I get that right?

[Firest Kathon]

The PC game Temple of Elemental Evil is based on a Pen&Paper-Module of the same name.

[EccentricCircle]

I've played in a pen and paper version of the original Baldr's gate game. but as I hadn't played the video game I don't know how true to the story it was. We escaped from the destruction of candle keep by a dragon and fought our way through some old tunnels beyond the city, then sought out a wizard who had been an associate of the master of candlekeep. Unfortunately it didn't get far beyond that.

More recently I've played in a skyrim game, and the DM did an amazing job of conveying the world and events to us, to the point where (having never played the video game) I can easily have long and in depth conversations about the places we went and things we did with people who have.

While i've never adapted a video game I once ran a game using the plot of the awful D&D movie. Half the group had seen the film before, half hadn't so it was very amusing watching them unknowingly come up with similar plans and excuses to those used by the film's characters on some occasions, and going in completely different directions in others. Suffice to say the players were far more competent than the film's protagonists.

[Psyren]

You can transfer the storylines to modules easily. You may have to do a little "what-if" to predict the points where your players might try to go off the rails, and then subtle ways to nudge them back on.

[dysprosium]

While i've never adapted a video game I once ran a game using the plot of the awful D&D movie. Half the group had seen the film before, half hadn't so it was very amusing watching them unknowingly come up with similar plans and excuses to those used by the film's characters on some occasions, and going in completely different directions in others. Suffice to say the players were far more competent than the film's protagonists.

Did any of them try to throw a rock to try and distract the beholder?

[Mr.Moron]

You can transfer the storylines to modules easily. You may have to do a little "what-if" to predict the points where your players might try to go off the rails, and then subtle ways to nudge them back on.

I agree with this post. So long as the players are mostly good at following plot hooks, just about any video game adaption should work somewhere between okay to well.

I wouldn't do it with players who are familiar with the source material but it could be fun to try one of my favorites I know my player base hasn't tried, just to see how it turns out.

If you've got the kind of group that mostly disregards hooks. Like this:


Player: "Man. I'm broke. I got to go looking for ways to make money. What are my options?"
GM: "Oh, well you notice a few postings:
- There are few jobs to guard merchants heading to the next town over. Looks like it pays well.
- The mayor is also looking for some extra hands to unload supplies for the upcoming festival, it's easy work at twice the normal rate.
- Looks like there is a wanted criminal in the area. Seems he stole something from one of the local nobility. They're paying handsomely for his capture but only if he's taken alive."
Player: "Boring! Sounds like that criminal had the right idea. If that guy can steal from him, I certainly can! Where does he live?"

You're probably best off not doing anything that tries to follow a plan.

[Hostisafk]

As far as I know, there's nothing like that. It's also not a particularly feasible idea - while those games could be made into modules easily enough, there's a lot that tabletop games do which is lost and would still be lost, and a lot regarding the storylines that wouldn't transfer well.

Yeah I see what you're saying and you're probably right. The majority of Baldur's Gate is spent in the overworld pushing aside fog of war, grinding goblins, and making sure your party has all the best equipment. Maybe a 1:1 transfer would kinda suck at the table.

[Hostisafk]

I've played in a pen and paper version of the original Baldr's gate game. but as I hadn't played the video game I don't know how true to the story it was. We escaped from the destruction of candle keep by a dragon and fought our way through some old tunnels beyond the city, then sought out a wizard who had been an associate of the master of candlekeep. Unfortunately it didn't get far beyond that.

More recently I've played in a skyrim game, and the DM did an amazing job of conveying the world and events to us, to the point where (having never played the video game) I can easily have long and in depth conversations about the places we went and things we did with people who have.

While i've never adapted a video game I once ran a game using the plot of the awful D&D movie. Half the group had seen the film before, half hadn't so it was very amusing watching them unknowingly come up with similar plans and excuses to those used by the film's characters on some occasions, and going in completely different directions in others. Suffice to say the players were far more competent than the film's protagonists.

Hey the Skyrim thing sounds pretty interesting! Is it on the Internet, or did your DM just have all the information himself? And that sounds pretty close to Baldur's Gate in respect to central plot points and Proper Nouns.

[Hostisafk]

I agree with this post. So long as the players are mostly good at following plot hooks, just about any video game adaption should work somewhere between okay to well.

I wouldn't do it with players who are familiar with the source material but it could be fun to try one of my favorites I know my player base hasn't tried, just to see how it turns out.

If you've got the kind of group that mostly disregards hooks. Like this:


Player: "Man. I'm broke. I got to go looking for ways to make money. What are my options?"
GM: "Oh, well you notice a few postings:
- There are few jobs to guard merchants heading to the next town over. Looks like it pays well.
- The mayor is also looking for some extra hands to unload supplies for the upcoming festival, it's easy work at twice the normal rate.
- Looks like there is a wanted criminal in the area. Seems he stole something from one of the local nobility. They're paying handsomely for his capture but only if he's taken alive."
Player: "Boring! Sounds like that criminal had the right idea. If that guy can steal from him, I certainly can! Where does he live?"

You're probably best off not doing anything that tries to follow a plan.

Those players are the reason I drink. Not alcohol either. Gasoline.

[LibraryOgre]

Well, I did a version of Mass Effect in Savage Worlds.

I personally think that you can do a great job of Quest For Glory I: So You Want to be a Hero using Hackmaster, and the Frandor's Keep adventure covers a lot of that quite well.

[Mr.Moron]

Well, I did a version of Mass Effect in Savage Worlds.

Hmm.

Nothing in there about having mandatory visits from Casey Hudson or Mac Walters as a guest GM to introduce a new random NPC to resolve everything without the PCs in the last session. Are you sure you based that off Mass Effect? I know it seems similar, but without that it seems it is hard to imagine you're sticking to the original artistic vision of the universe.

[Psyren]

Player: "Man. I'm broke. I got to go looking for ways to make money. What are my options?"
GM: "Oh, well you notice a few postings:
- There are few jobs to guard merchants heading to the next town over. Looks like it pays well.
- The mayor is also looking for some extra hands to unload supplies for the upcoming festival, it's easy work at twice the normal rate.
- Looks like there is a wanted criminal in the area. Seems he stole something from one of the local nobility. They're paying handsomely for his capture but only if he's taken alive."
Player: "Boring! Sounds like that criminal had the right idea. If that guy can steal from him, I certainly can! Where does he live?"

You're probably best off not doing anything that tries to follow a plan.

Heh, yep. But if you're clever you can get them back on the rails there too.

"Okay, the Noble's address is XYZ. You may want to go at night."
*Players sneak in, and some time later are ambushed by City Guard/hired mercs because reasons, and overwhelmed or surrender.*
*Players are brought before mayor in irons.*
"I hereby sentence you to community service. You will help unload supplies for the upcoming festival under guard. The bulk of your earnings will go towards restitution to {noble} but you may keep whatever small amount is left over. Next!"

Hmm.

Nothing in there about having mandatory visits from Casey Hudson or Mac Walters as a guest GM to introduce a new random NPC to resolve everything without the PCs in the last session. Are you sure you based that off Mass Effect? I know it seems similar, but without that it seems it is hard to imagine you're sticking to the original artistic vision of the universe.

Sounds like you'd be a fine addition to the Mass Effect thread over in Other Gaming

[goto124]

Railroading is not good- surely we've read plenty horror story of railroading DMs, especially in the worst DMs thread. If you adapt a video game to a tabletop, you'll have to come up with a lot of things yourself. Unless you agree beforehand with the players, to never go off the rails.

[Raimun]

One important thing to note about 3.X PC games.

They don't have most of those nifty utility spells such as Fly, Dimension Door, Teleport, Overland Flight etc.

Tabletop RPGs have those. I'm just saying.

... And summons can be used for so much more. In fact, the players will be slightly more powerful if they have both imagination and can do some tactical thinking.

[Roxxy]

Railroading is not good- surely we've read plenty horror story of railroading DMs, especially in the worst DMs thread. If you adapt a video game to a tabletop, you'll have to come up with a lot of things yourself. Unless you agree beforehand with the players, to never go off the rails.

Railroading is a spectrum. It comes in differing degrees and styles, and unless the world is a true sandbox it exists in some amount.

If I'm running Pathfinder, I typically run it for government agents. Part of being a government agent is being handed a mission. That right there is a form of railroading, but it doesn't have to be bad. It certainly can be bad if I'm dictating how the PCs carry out their mission, but not so much if I back off and let the players decide how they want to approach their mission.

One important thing to note about 3.X PC games.

They don't have most of those nifty utility spells such as Fly, Dimension Door, Teleport, Overland Flight etc.

Tabletop RPGs have those. I'm just saying.

The GM can say no to those spells prior to character creation if it poses a problem. I already do that. We have trains for long distance transit, and I don't like designing around flight or teleportation thematically or mechanically.

[Psyren]

Railroading is not good- surely we've read plenty horror story of railroading DMs, especially in the worst DMs thread. If you adapt a video game to a tabletop, you'll have to come up with a lot of things yourself. Unless you agree beforehand with the players, to never go off the rails.

There's a middle ground between "full sandbox that will either be paper-thin or take the DM weeks of work to plan out for every hour of playtime," and "the players have no choices at all." Most threads that complain about "railroading" aren't actually complaining about the story having one broad path - they're complaining about noticing it has one broad path. And this goes double for the topic of this thread in particular, because if you're starting from a CRPG as the base, the storyline of those campaigns does assume certain inescapable events happen at specified times. In Baldur's Gate for instance, your mentor Gorion dies near the beginning and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. You end up investigating an iron shortage, and in doing so, find yourself at odds with the Iron Throne organization. You are later charged with the slaughter of the IT leaders and arrested, whether you actually committed the deed or not. And so on.

The fact that those events always take place does not make Baldur's Gate a bad game - indeed, it is routinely held up as a shining example of D&D translated to digital format for future generations and editions of the game to learn from. In tabletop, the party has more freedom to deviate from these occurrences, but the DM has to come up with the consequences of that - "If they decide to sod all this Iron Throne business and say 'let's go find a dragon,' then do I make one for them to find? Do I want the Iron Throne to come after them later? Is Sarevok still out there? If the protagonist doesn't face him, will he go after the PCs instead, or simply consolidate his power and worry about them later?" etc.

[Knaight]

There's a middle ground between "full sandbox that will either be paper-thin or take the DM weeks of work to plan out for every hour of playtime," and "the players have no choices at all." Most threads that complain about "railroading" aren't actually complaining about the story having one broad path - they're complaining about noticing it has one broad path. And this goes double for the topic of this thread in particular, because if you're starting from a CRPG as the base, the storyline of those campaigns does assume certain inescapable events happen at specified times. In Baldur's Gate for instance, your mentor Gorion dies near the beginning and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. You end up investigating an iron shortage, and in doing so, find yourself at odds with the Iron Throne organization. You are later charged with the slaughter of the IT leaders and arrested, whether you actually committed the deed or not. And so on.

A lot of the time, it's pretty clear that the path in question isn't even remotely broad. Then there's the matter of agreed upon constraints, which can easily produce smaller scale player directed campaigns. Transferring a CRPG campaign over gets you both the narrower world that produces a small sandbox, and the railroading that means you don't actually get the sandbox. It's lose-lose most of the time. The strengths of the CRPG format are lost, and the strengths of the tabletop RPG format are pretty largely avoided.