Also titled :
Into Hyrule : Electric Zeldaland
Because why not ?
So this is a simple, some would say braindead, conversion of Into the Odd (hereafter ItO) for the video game series Zelda. Who doesn't want to play OSR Zelda, I ask ??
Ability scores are renamed Virtues, after the three divine attributes that regularly theme some challenges for Link.
Strength becomes Power,
Dexterity becomes Courage,
Willpower becomes Wisdom.
They otherwise work the same.
Starting equipment will need a rewrite, but this is just a quick post to get the idea out of my head.
Traditional Zelda items become standard or rare gear, or Arcana. You may give them limited uses (as Zelda's magic gauge), and they could be replenished or upgraded by Great Fairies or other benevolent beings / recipients of good deeds. That way, players get powerful relics, but not too powerful, and keeping and upgrading them is a source of adventure.
The goal of the game isn't to accumulate treasure, but to solve local problems by going into dangerous places, aka dungeons. "Local" here can range from the individual (being cursed, for example), to the village, to the kingdom. Heh, perhaps "you've been cursed" could be Zelda's equivalent to ItO's "you're in debt", a good, urgent starting point for most adventurers / heroes.
The treasure gathered along the way is mostly comprised of : useful consumables, arcana offering temporary bonuses, rare artifacts (à la important Zelda items), collectibles that can serve as crafting components / potion ingredients / elements to unlock diegetic upgrades given by NPCs who seek those collectibles. You can even set up exchange quests if you're so inclined.
There's also money, which should only be used to replenish rations and common consumables, repair stuff maybe, and can be stolen / eaten by monsters, or even consumed by some magic armors and weapons. Excess treasure shouldn't be a thing, and if it is, you could soak it with a translator willing to decipher treasure / dungeon maps for a hefty price (hello Tingle !), and with investments in shops and other main base / community-related improvements.
Of course, money is made of rupees, colorful gems which value is precisely determined by their color.
Perhaps there's something to be done with bosses and mini-bosses being the only ones able to inflict (Bastionland's) Scars, or with them dropping magic "hearts containers" that both increase HP (pardon, hearts) and give a minor mutation, boon, curse or transformation.
Small fairies can be bottled to give back x HP upon reaching 0 HP, thus preventing STR / Power damage from occurring too fast.
The setting can even be made to work in an eerily similar fashion as Bastion : Hyrule City is the only city that matters. Its underground is dungeon-like and houses many secrets. The city itself is weird and full of secrets, small findings, shortcuts and passages, colorful NPCs, including animals and hidden little people, etc. Weird, anachronistic pieces of technology abound, especially in the city and in dungeons. And the countryside gets weirder the further you stray from the city : tortured landscapes with constant path interruptions, weird monsters and machines, fish / rock / plant people, and you can even end up in other provinces or dimensions, or travel though time.
To wrap this up, what else would a Zelda ItO hack need ?
- Zelda item conversions
- starting packages rewrite
- an example of a starting dungeon / adventure
- a Zelda dungeon generator ? I've got one in the works...
- perhaps Mythic Bastionland would be a better suited ruleset, given its theming and rules ? To be continued...
Welp, I say that's an honest starting point for this concept. Tell me what you think !
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