If you were going to play a story that was basically Westworld, but the resort was a dungeon and the guests are…

If you were going to play a story that was basically Westworld, but the resort was a dungeon and the guests are…

If you were going to play a story that was basically Westworld, but the resort was a dungeon and the guests are people going for a “dungeon crawl” vacation, which system or game could you play that story in?

64 thoughts on “If you were going to play a story that was basically Westworld, but the resort was a dungeon and the guests are…”

  21. I would say Beyond the Wall. The first session home town generation would be great for creating the resort and ancillary characters.

    Or

    I’m not a fan of the fate system, but it might work.

  22. I would say Beyond the Wall. The first session home town generation would be great for creating the resort and ancillary characters.

    Or

    I’m not a fan of the fate system, but it might work.

  29. The problem here is classes. Do you want the characters to feel like normal modern day joes in a Dungeon Park. Or can we assume they trained before going and are like uber SCA geeks in a Dungeon Park. If the latter, you could use Dungeon World and just mess with the set dressing. (Spells are fake, but the circuitry of the world makes the real-ish.) If the former, yeah. PTA or maybe Archipelago.

  30. The problem here is classes. Do you want the characters to feel like normal modern day joes in a Dungeon Park. Or can we assume they trained before going and are like uber SCA geeks in a Dungeon Park. If the latter, you could use Dungeon World and just mess with the set dressing. (Spells are fake, but the circuitry of the world makes the real-ish.) If the former, yeah. PTA or maybe Archipelago.

  37. I sort of did something like that as a game within the game of Over the Edge. So the main system was OtE, but I used a quick OSRish hack for player character abilities given through their personae in the dungeon crawl simulation. One character triumphed by using their OtE “everyday” skills.

    It was a bit surreal and bonkers.

  38. I sort of did something like that as a game within the game of Over the Edge. So the main system was OtE, but I used a quick OSRish hack for player character abilities given through their personae in the dungeon crawl simulation. One character triumphed by using their OtE “everyday” skills.

    It was a bit surreal and bonkers.

  41. If you want the PCs to be the guests and the game is about the horror they experience when the metaphorical holodeck safety protocols disengage, The Final Girl or maybe Dread seem like good choices.

    If you want the PCs to be dungeon denizens coming into their own and figuring out what to do with their newfound autonomy, use Masks. Influence and label shifts are natural fits for magical programming that is supposed to inhibit certain behaviors and make you respect the wishes of guests. I don’t think you’d even need to hack anything aside from maybe the ability lists, which are really just suggestions anyway. No Country for Old Kobolds could work too, depending on the power dynamic you want.

    If you want the PCs to be dungeon technicians (dungeoneers?) tasked with fixing the problem before it spirals out of control, use Our Last Best Hope. I think the rules would still work just fine even if the players decide to go for a diplomatic solution partway through. Or ahead of time.

    If, bless your brave heart, you want the PCs to be a mix of guests and residents, my gut instinct is Fellowship, though I don’t know who you would cast in the role of Overlord.

  42. If you want the PCs to be the guests and the game is about the horror they experience when the metaphorical holodeck safety protocols disengage, The Final Girl or maybe Dread seem like good choices.

    If you want the PCs to be dungeon denizens coming into their own and figuring out what to do with their newfound autonomy, use Masks. Influence and label shifts are natural fits for magical programming that is supposed to inhibit certain behaviors and make you respect the wishes of guests. I don’t think you’d even need to hack anything aside from maybe the ability lists, which are really just suggestions anyway. No Country for Old Kobolds could work too, depending on the power dynamic you want.

    If you want the PCs to be dungeon technicians (dungeoneers?) tasked with fixing the problem before it spirals out of control, use Our Last Best Hope. I think the rules would still work just fine even if the players decide to go for a diplomatic solution partway through. Or ahead of time.

    If, bless your brave heart, you want the PCs to be a mix of guests and residents, my gut instinct is Fellowship, though I don’t know who you would cast in the role of Overlord.

  45. That sounds kind of like the setup for Dream Park, but I have no idea how good an RPG that is.

    I’d be most tempted to use a straight-up, fantasy dungeon crawler like DCC or The Black Hack and just add the meta-layer that the rules of the game are also the rules of the ‘game.’

  46. That sounds kind of like the setup for Dream Park, but I have no idea how good an RPG that is.

    I’d be most tempted to use a straight-up, fantasy dungeon crawler like DCC or The Black Hack and just add the meta-layer that the rules of the game are also the rules of the ‘game.’

  47. The wierd thing about West World that I don’t think comes off in the games that emulate it is that the world is nerfed for the tourists. Except when it isn’t.

    You might be able to get away with that with a funnel system where the PC’s ridiculous antics work ninety eight percent of the time. The other two percent should be abject terror.

    Dread? Where most things don’t require a pull. A few things require a a single pull for mild stuff. Then, when the wheels go off the cart, almost anything requires three, four, five, or six pulls. I like it!

  48. The wierd thing about West World that I don’t think comes off in the games that emulate it is that the world is nerfed for the tourists. Except when it isn’t.

    You might be able to get away with that with a funnel system where the PC’s ridiculous antics work ninety eight percent of the time. The other two percent should be abject terror.

    Dread? Where most things don’t require a pull. A few things require a a single pull for mild stuff. Then, when the wheels go off the cart, almost anything requires three, four, five, or six pulls. I like it!

  51. PTA was my first thought. Dream Park conceptually seems fine. There are a lot of things, like how realistic it needs to be from a system standpoint. For example, it’s much easier for anyone to pull out a gun and shoot someone than to hit them with a melee weapon, or throw a spear, etc. So maybe there is a kind of training camp if you want to worry about such things. Like others have mentioned, Dread could be a fun more abstract way to deal with in-world threats.

  52. PTA was my first thought. Dream Park conceptually seems fine. There are a lot of things, like how realistic it needs to be from a system standpoint. For example, it’s much easier for anyone to pull out a gun and shoot someone than to hit them with a melee weapon, or throw a spear, etc. So maybe there is a kind of training camp if you want to worry about such things. Like others have mentioned, Dread could be a fun more abstract way to deal with in-world threats.

  55. I’m going to separate from the trend and suggest Savage Worlds and second CoC. The idea is to model “normal” folk in an extraordinary vacation setting that has gone (may?) go off the rails. PbtA would work, but you’ll end up building out moves and playbooks. SW offers a set of skills, Edges and Hindrances that can model a wide variety of average people very easily. CoC offers a very similar way to model work-a-day skills but adds the benefit of tracking sanity which, given the idea that the threat of actual injury and death is a surprise, is especially useful.

  56. I’m going to separate from the trend and suggest Savage Worlds and second CoC. The idea is to model “normal” folk in an extraordinary vacation setting that has gone (may?) go off the rails. PbtA would work, but you’ll end up building out moves and playbooks. SW offers a set of skills, Edges and Hindrances that can model a wide variety of average people very easily. CoC offers a very similar way to model work-a-day skills but adds the benefit of tracking sanity which, given the idea that the threat of actual injury and death is a surprise, is especially useful.

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