So I want to run Borderlands in ICRPG

#1

I have been thinking of this for a while since replaying Borderlands 2 recently and wanted to see what people thought of my initial ideas.

  1. It has to have lots of random loot (Guns!). I think you could make up a really quick to roll table that would give you a unique gun like in BL with modifiers like Gun type, manufacturer, special statistics, etc. And the DM could always roll a few ahead of time for when you don’t want to slow things down at all. For the right player I think this kind of system would be really fun. Especially since ICRPG encourages destroying/losing loot.

  2. Gun types do different weapon effort (pistols are d4, submachine guns d6, and so on up to rocket launchers that do a d20).

  3. Energy shields would be a thing. Players can have a bonus heart in the form of an energy shield. Easily depleted by electric damage but auto recharges automatically with d6 effort if you avoid damage for a round. Like guns, shields could have different properties as well, things like Fast Recharge = d8 effort. Amp Shot lets you sacrafice shields for extra damage, or Nova shields that explode and damage all nearby enemies when depleted.

  4. Characters classes based on the Vault Hunters from the four games and enemy classes, each with an “Action Skill” they can trigger for a special ability, which then has a d4 cool down timer or something. Maybe some light skill trees as well for a bit of progression and choice.

  5. The game would probably be a little more tactical in nature than ICRPG is in the standard sense. I could see this game using battle maps that are a little less abstract, though I probably would not use a grid.

Anyway, I have some notes written up (very rough draft) on the loot concept. What do you think? Is this something you would play?

#2

Ahhh Borderlands… a warm place in my gaming heart…

Bunkers & Badasses is being made into an RPG…

and

Here is a savage worlds Borderlands that has some nice Gun generator tables.

#3

This is awesome! Thanks very much, I will have a look.

#4

I think it’s a great idea. Borderlands has a special place in my heart.

For me, I think you can run an ICRPG Borderlands game as easily as having everyone make a Warp Shell or Altered State character, using Ghost Mountain as a setting, and then pumping Welcome to Fyrestone through your audio system.

#5

I think it sounds awesome, and I’m definitely interested in hearing more about it.

#6

For the manufacturers, you could use tags like: “fire, explosives, demolition, loud, heavy” only available one one, while “cold, freezing, slowing, crystal, critical, one use, fragile” by other company.

#7

@Alex I haven’t picked up Worlds but that would probably be a great idea! I think I would still write up some character archetypes, but I would steal/re-flavor whatever I could from the existing materials.

@urfaes If I come up with anything I will be sure to post it!

@nullzero My thoughts exactly. I envision the tables being roll for Manufacturer, Roll for Weapon type, Roll for generic improvement, and then roll for manufacturer specific improvement. For example you could roll for a Maliwan Pistol that has a Scope and does Fire Damage. Or you could roll up a Dahl Shotgun that has a bayonet and does burst fire when you aim.

The real trick is defining all the various fiddly bits like what a scope means mechanics wise, or what extended magazines do.

#9

I hate plugging my own stuff, but Altered State would be a good resource too.

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#10

Haha, I love it! Borderlands is one of my absolute favorite series of games. :heart:

#11

Yes! I just finished my groups 5e Curse of Strahd campaign yesterday. Will be taking a break as DM but have already discussed running a short cyberpunk adventure and will be using Altered State. I am super excited for it!

#12

You might want to check with @Chuck_Lemons. I think he might have done this already…or am I thinking of someone else???

#13

@Jason_Scranton was doin et! (I thunk)

#14

@Paxx @GMagnus Awesome! I should have done a search before posting to see if there was something someone posted already haha.

#15

Lol damn I thought it was Keep on the Boarderlands. Sorry xD

#16

Haha no worries! I had seen that here before.

#17

But @GMagnus, it sort of kind of can be KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS! :smirk:

“Welcome to Pandora.”

#18

After rereading the post…no I don’t think anyone has built anything up.

I don’t know borderlands well enough to propose type, abilities, powers or augments as proposed in QS2. But it should give you a great example of weird angles you can take things.

As to tactical feel…a couple of odd limitations and you would add to the tactical feel.

Cover rules, (partial cover requires an aim to hit)
concealment rules. (Concealment requires effort to overcome)
less abstract movement distance.
Aim is a movement action with 0 movement.

And you have a more tactical game.

Add lethality, making it harder to heal (d4)…and you have very careful tactical game…but might loose some of the over the top fun!

#19

So, this is coming out:

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#20

Great ideas! What do you mean by QS2?

I think less abstract movement would have to be a thing, but you could mix it up. Like, pitched battles with lots of enemies have grid maps, but in between that you could still use the regular ICRPG zones/movement.

As for the lethality, I would actually want to lower it a bit. In Borderlands the dying mechanic is like this:

  • If you drop to zero hit points, you enter Fight For Your Life Mode; you have thirty seconds to live, can’t move, and can’t aim well. But if you kill an enemy, you get a second wind and pop back up with some health. A teammate can also revive you if you when you are in Fight for your Life.
  • When you die, your character gets resurrected back in town at the New-U cloning station for a portion of your money.
  • Finally, as I mentioned you can get personal shields that auto recharge as long as you don’t take damage.

I think adding these less lethal aspects could really ramp up the action and adventure aspect of the game and encourage that run and gun type feeling (which is what I would be going for). Combine that with lots of timers and keeping the table moving fast and this could be a pretty fun game.

#21

QS2 = QuickStart 2nd edition.

Reducing lethality with shields and such can make for very long combat sessions without much resolution. I personally am bored with combat after about 30 minutes. Other confrontations I think should be 10 minutes.

If doing shields…say 10 temporary HP…roll a d4 for recharge if not hit in last round…requires record keeping and after action calculations…
In essence it works but slows things down.
I would recommend charges, that need to be rolled…you have 4 charges, 1 charge = D6.

So, the charges, might be 4 temp HP or 24…but they Max out at ten, and I need to choose how and when to use them.

Or you can use charges just to augment any of your own rolls…or charge your shield…now the choice gets exciting!!!

At the beginning of every fight I have 4 charges…I can use them to add to my D20, add to my effort on something…or recharge my shield.

“I just hit the the big bad boss with my tiny dart shooter…I’m going to use all 4 of my charge dice on effort to make it hurt!!”

It goes off of intended IP, but makes the choices more impactful…risk vs reward calculations.