So, I'm curious if anyone on here has ever ran a campaign or played in a game that was a tabletop RPG but set in the universe of a video game?

First, let me say that I do generally prefer creating my own campaign settings most of the time but every once in a while, I would love to play in a game set in places such as Tamriel, Raccoon City, The Mojave Wasteland, the State of San Andreas, or Hyrule.

Personally, I love the concept as many video game tropes have their origins in tabletop gaming.

Also, many famous video game franchises originated as homebrew campaign settings for traditional RPG's. Both The Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy were conceived as D&D adaptations, while Fallout was originally inspired by a GURPS campaign (and was going to use a video game version of the GURPS rules at one point)

When I was a teenager, one of the best campaigns I ever played in took place in the world of Resident Evil, focused on the Raccoon City outbreak described in the second and third games of the franchise.

While I have posted this elsewhere on the site, I figured it would be more appropriate to share this here.

I am currently working on an idealized concept game based on the Grand Theft Auto series by Rockstar Games.

While my GTA concept is presented as the premise of a hypothetical video game, I do intend to use it as an actual tabletop campaign setting in the very near future. But enough shameless self-promotion, now onto the heart of the thread!

Who here has done RPG sessions or campaigns set in video game worlds? And if so, how did it go and would you do it again? Feel free to share your experiences and thoughts on the matter.

Also, in addition to my GTA campaign concepts, I've also considered one-shots based on Final Fantasy I (using D&D Rules Cyclopedia) and The Elder Scrolls (most likely using a modified D&D, although I have considered looking into RuneQuest)

As a huge fan of "Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game", yeah... I've definitely played sessions and campaigns set in a video game world. Back in '94, our 1st SF campaign was basically its own story with mostly its own set of characters, but characters from the video games did show up and Shadoloo played a sizable part. Over time, the campaign eventually led up to the Street Fighter 2 World Warrior tournament, the original downfall of Shadoloo, etc. The next SF campaign was our "Metro City" campaign, which pulled on material from the "Final Fight" and "Saturday Night Slam Masters" video games for characters, etc. A later SF campaign pulled upon lore from the Street Fighter EX games, with Garuda being a villain.

Anyways, those were some of the best campaigns of my life and I'd happily be up for doing it again. The Street Fighter/Capcom world has a lot of fun game-able material. Rolento chucking grenades, with his own mercenary company. Goofy ass Sodom, various gang members on the subway, etc. etc. Good stuff.

Quote from: NeonAce;1074688As a huge fan of "Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game", yeah... I've definitely played sessions and campaigns set in a video game world. Back in '94, our 1st SF campaign was basically its own story with mostly its own set of characters, but characters from the video games did show up and Shadoloo played a sizable part. Over time, the campaign eventually led up to the Street Fighter 2 World Warrior tournament, the original downfall of Shadoloo, etc. The next SF campaign was our "Metro City" campaign, which pulled on material from the "Final Fight" and "Saturday Night Slam Masters" video games for characters, etc. A later SF campaign pulled upon lore from the Street Fighter EX games, with Garuda being a villain.

Anyways, those were some of the best campaigns of my life and I'd happily be up for doing it again. The Street Fighter/Capcom world has a lot of fun game-able material. Rolento chucking grenades, with his own mercenary company. Goofy ass Sodom, various gang members on the subway, etc. etc. Good stuff.

I love Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game! It's tied with Vampire 1E as my favorite White Wolf game!

Have you checked out my GTA concept I linked in the OP? It has a whole major sub-plot involving a martial arts tournament and it is heavily inspired by Street Fighter, kung fu movies, and anime.

I just posted a massive major update to the thread just now.

Does a Civ 2 scenario count. I ran a D&D pbp campaign for a couple of years based on a fan-made mod. One of my first pbps, actually 3 different pbps, each a continuation of the last, made kind of a trilogy.

I did start one based on Might and Magic 7, but never got past the Emersld Isle scavenger hunt.

Quote from: Joey2k;1074714Does a Civ 2 scenario count. I ran a D&D pbp campaign for a couple of years based on a fan-made mod. One of my first pbps, actually 3 different pbps, each a continuation of the last, made kind of a trilogy.

I did start one based on Might and Magic 7, but never got past the Emersld Isle scavenger hunt.

That does count, yes.

We have a Skyrim campaign using 5E going at the library. I have been tempted to try Dragon Age TTRPG a couple of times. I hear the system is not bad.

I found a home made G.I. Joe RPG the other day on the internet. I have not had much time to spend with it but that would be next on my list that qualifies for this conversation. How on earth a good official G.I. Joe RPG flourish in the 80s baffles me. It seems like a no-brainer between the toys cartoon, and comic....

I absolutely adore the Borderlands series, and would love to play in a game with the setting.  But part of the joy is the sheer variety in the loot drops.  Not sure someone could make something remotely comparable.  I also enjoy the setting so over-the-top and the humor.  While both of those are stylistic choices and could be difficult to replicate, they are also intrinsic to the setting.

If you find a great PnP version of Borderlands that definitely isn't a Savage Worlds adaptation, let me know.  My group would never touch Savage Worlds.

I ran short-lived games in the worlds of Dragon Quest/Warrior I-III and Final Fantasy I back in college.

Shadowrun.

Hehe for real. My group met Shadowrun as a SNES videogame back in 1994 and was instantly hooked. THEN we found there was a tabletop rpg about it, so for us the videogame came first.

Other than that, we always wished to play In Phantasy Star, Ultimas and Sid Meier Alpha Centauri's world. Unfortunately it never happened.

Quote from: Imaginos;1074819I absolutely adore the Borderlands series, and would love to play in a game with the setting.  But part of the joy is the sheer variety in the loot drops.  Not sure someone could make something remotely comparable.  I also enjoy the setting so over-the-top and the humor.  While both of those are stylistic choices and could be difficult to replicate, they are also intrinsic to the setting.

Didn't D&D try the "loot drop" idea when they did the Diablo books?  I can't be arsed to dig out mine, but that seems familiar.

Quote from: Thornhammer;1074842Didn't D&D try the "loot drop" idea when they did the Diablo books?  I can't be arsed to dig out mine, but that seems familiar.

I seem to recall they did, but I don't remember being very impressed by it.

I admit that I always did want to run a game where the PCs were thinly veiled classic videogame characters.  A pair of rough and tumble working class siblings, a golem with an energy projection enchantment, a scion of a family of supernatural exterminators with a penchant for flails, that sort of thing.

Quote from: Manic Modron;1074844I admit that I always did want to run a game where the PCs were thinly veiled classic videogame characters.  A pair of rough and tumble working class siblings, a golem with an energy projection enchantment, a scion of a family of supernatural exterminators with a penchant for flails, that sort of thing.

...   Huh...  Most unexpected.

Quote from: Doc Sammy;1074676So, I'm curious if anyone on here has ever ran a campaign or played in a game that was a tabletop RPG but set in the universe of a video game?

Lots of times. Lately, Fallout 3.

I mostly run my own systems, and lately I've been planning a ruleset and campaign based on Captain N: The Game Master. A controller is your character sheet, and you have to assign what your buttons do. I'm rubbing my hands for the day when I can run it. Someday.

//Panjumanju