Video games and tabletop roleplaying games are obviously very different from one another. However, video games have been taking concepts from TTRPGs for a long time, and not just in RPGs. Some of these mechanics have become a staple in most games out there. After all, almost every game involves roleplaying a character.
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There are quite a few things from video games that can be used or adapted into games such asDungeons & Dragonsor other TRPGs, making them interesting for DMs. After all, a DM works similarly to the game itself, controlling the challenges the players will face.
5Balance
The point of any game is that it offers a beatable challenge for another person - or a group of people - to face. Sure, balancing a game like Dark Souls, where you’re able to die over and over, is very different from D&D, but it still shows you the basic ropes.
Any video game will offer you basic concepts of balance, with the first enemies being weaker and scaling difficulty as you go. Enemies don’t always take the best tactics because if they used good tactics such as focusing on the healer,the players wouldn’t have a chance. Balance also includes accommodating enemies to the group’s new powers, so they are necessary to win, while still making some bosses immune to certain effects so that it won’t be too easy.
Finally, balancing is also about adjusting the difficulty as you go. Many games have something called Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, which is when a game gets harder if you’re doing too well or, more importantly, it gets easier if you’re doing poorly.Adjusting things on the flyis one of the most important things a DM can learn from game design. Sometimes you might exaggerate your homebrew monster or mistakenly think the players are ready for an Ancient Dragon. So, it’s up to you to turn the 30 damage your monster received into a 40 for no good reason or ‘forget’ your Legendary Action breath weapon that could kill most of the group if you decided to use it.
4Non-Linear Choices
To be fair, TTRPGs taught that to video games. However, they can still be a good reference for those still learning to DM. Just because the party has to save a person from the evil Dragon doesn’t mean the only ending is with the Dragon dead. And we’re not necessarily talking about a bad ending where a TPK happened.
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The players could convince the Dragon to let the person go, do something for the Dragon in exchange, or not even care about the whole ordeal. Many video games offer multiple choices and endings, and you can do better here since you can improvise. You don’t even need to plan an ending to the story; you can just see what the players try and what consequences that will create.
3It’s Okay To Ignore Realism
Realism is an amazing tool to add more immersion to your game, and there are many rules and systems to add a nice amount of realism in D&D, even more so than in video games. You have to eat and sleep, which is already more than most video games out there. And though some groups will prefer more or less realism, being too realistic can actually be a problem.
For example, many stealth games consist of enemies with the worst attention span and peripheral vision ever seen. The reason is that otherwise, you’d be hunted to death non-stop simply because someone quickly noticed you moving from one place to another, and things would just escalate from there.It’s not realistic, but it fits the game’s proposed rules, and it’s consistent. It’s similar to when an overpowered character like Kratos can’t continue because of a wall he can clearly destroy. That’s just not how the game you’re playing works.
It’s also important to note that sometimes the rules themselves create weird situations. For example, sneak attacks in the middle of a fight aren’t really sneaky. But taking them away from Rogues wouldn’t make any sense; it would just severely nerf the class. If the mechanics work for the context of the game, then it’s all good. The lesson here is to be ok with playing around with realism so that it’s implemented in a way that works for you and your players.
2Use Video Games As References
Out of plot ideas? Are you not sure how to describe a certain spell? Do you need to improvise a character? Well, why not steal that from somewhere, like a video game that has all of those things and even more?
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You can even use references of balanced items and powers from video games to homebrew your own content. ‘How can I make Vergil’s Mirage Blades function in a D&D game?’ That can kickstart a whole concept just for your campaign. If you don’t simply use Magic Missiles for them, that is.
1Level Design
You enter the dungeon. You see a room with enemies. You kill them. You see two paths, each leading to a room with enemies to kill. You choose one, kill the enemies, and you see two paths leading to rooms with enemies to kill. Well, you get the idea; That’s pretty bad.
Designing a dungeon is not an easy task. There are many pre-made modules that can help with that, but so can video games, as they have many special areas with bosses to fight against. From creature ideas to the shape and design of dungeons and even the items in them, you may spice up your dungeon building with how games handle dynamic dungeons. You can even add in puzzles or other obstacles that will break the monotony of just taking turns beating one another with a random minion, using video game philosophy to create varied experiences.
Analyzing these patterns in video games also showshow and where to add rewards; Have you ever noticed those video games that conveniently add a few –insert item that recovers health– right before you enter the big room where a boss battle will clearly take place? Yeah, that’s no coincidence. If you make your players fight too much in a row, they’re going to need to recover, and though rest is an option, having the players doing nothing from one to eight hours in the dungeon could have consequences. So, don’t forget to spread some items along the way.
