What sort of changes would you make to the standard D&D formula to make a Zelda campaign?

This basically. The entire zelda formula revolves around you finding bunch of weird items in a dungeon and then use them to solve puzzles, navigate the environment, and beat up a boss. This largely won't translate well to an RPG campaign unless you spend a shitton of work meticulously crafting a bunch of items and dungeons and even then will mostly either end up overly simplified or fucking tedious when the PCs try to play trough it due to the nature of the game.

This also goes without saying at this point, but why the fuck do you want to use D&D for this.

I'd start with d20 Conan.

Step out of your comfort zone and look around the internet for better systems.

D&D is good for one thing: D&D.

Don't be the guy that tries to adapt D&D to do everything, that guy sucks.

Which edition?

Here is a hint: go to suptg or 1d4chan and type in "zelda".

>So if Ganon gets off his ass to do something, but there's no Link or Zelda at the time, someone else (Several someone elses) is going to have to fill those shoes.

But that's happened in the actual games a couple of times now. In the Japanese version of LttP, you're literally just some kid. Your name's not even suppose to be Link. WW Link is explicitly stated to really be just some kid who has no connection to any of the other Links at all. Even in Skyward Sword, its implied that the souls of the First Hero and Hylia are always alive in someone, so if Ganon pops up, their current incarnation is there to stop them.

Unless you're wanting to tell some epic story, just find an OSR with tons of items.

Masks and costumes seem to play a big role in Zelda. Obviously there is Majora's Mask, but then there is the situation in Wind Waker, where they decided if they just kept putting kids into hero's tunics, one of them would eventually be the reincarnation of the Hero.

But that's the thing; WW Link ISN'T a reincarnation of the First Hero. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I've heard the theory that, since WW takes place in the adult time line, there will never actually BE a reincarnation of the First Hero.

As someone who played in a Savage Worlds Zelda campaign, make the party ancillary characters trying to help link on his quest.
We were trying to help OoT Link prove that he had come back through time after defeating Gannondorf to stop the opening of the sacred realm, but he was getting nowhere as Navi was no longer with him, and Zelda had been waiting on a boy with a fairy.
Each of us had to be connected to a different element. There was a Sheika(stealther), a Goron(Rock Star/tank), a River Zora(Idiot), a Kokiri(Troll/face), and a Human(Paranoid Support).
It was fun until the campaign collapsed due to flakey players.

There's a 5e conversion floating around somewhere.

>You create a bunch of intricate dungeons with tricky puzzles and amazing artifacts
>The Barbarian flips his shit and Kool-Aid Mans his way through the dungeon
>The Wizard Stone-to-Muds everything
>The Druid clogs all of your death-traps with animal carcasses
>The Bard skillmonkeys his way around your magic seal, and convinces the boss that he's been transferred to the Water Temple and is already late
Every fucking time.

>I want to run another property as a D&D game
Just go read the DM of the Rings. It's a webcomic that should illuminate all of the problems with what you are trying to do here.

Why not assemble a party of Gorons and show off the gross under representation of a race that would be considered hideously broken in any other setting?

Go to /osr/ and grab a pdf of Basic D&D.

if you're going to be that guy that says "play a different system" it helps when you actually state a system

I for one agree with the other guys who say that you just can't do a zelda campaign in an RPG at all, nevermind in D&D.

Yeah, except that Ganon, Zelda, Link, and the Master Sword are inextricably bound together as mentioned in Skyward Sword.

Prophecy in Zelda seems to work a lot like prophecy in Elder Scrolls, where you sort of just need to meet certain requirements to be the chosen one in a lot of cases. In Tri-Force Heroes, there are three Heroes, because there were three people who matched the description of the Hero in the prophecy.

>all these people saying you can't run Zelda in Pen and Paper

OSR + West Marches: literally Legend of Zelda NES.

This user gets it. Come on over to the OSR general, we got you. Puzzles and shit over combat is our thing.

There is a Legend of Zelda homebrew that you can find on 1d4chan and sup/tg/.

I just want to be cute link going on cute adventures.

How cute?

Ranger in 5e
>but muh spells
You take the spells that specifically boost fighting rather than anything specifically magical if you're going to be autistic about it
>but muh tracking
minimap
>but muh wilderness survival
Then don't take the skill you fucking autist

Hunter, with dueling, colossus slayer, evasion and whirlwind. You also take shield master. High dex and middling strength, the master sword is basically a short sword, but he can also use longswords somewhat effectively.

Then don't play 3.5? If you're not a bitch DM, they're not going to get a single long rest in that dungeon.

run Princes of the Apocalypse.

most common comment about it in our group was "it's effectively Zelda

I would allow it if they somehow barricaded themselves in a room in a manner that prevents easy entry. Rather, i'd allow them to try.

If they just sequester themselves in a room they'd already cleared and think "Keeping watch" is enough, then they better be prepared to get ass ravaged.

Depends do you:

1) Want something similar to the gameplay of LoZ?

2) Be a pretty boy who runs around in a skirt and is surrounded by a large masculine men?

>if 1):
Make all PCs rangers with very heavily nerfed weapons and magic. The problem with D&D is that as you level up the amount of damage you can do rises massively, while in the games Link never really gets that strong (nor do the enemies). The campaign would have to be more about puzzle solving with everyone's levels kept low for the sake of emulating the games.

>if 2)
Start an ERP thread using 5e rules because if you're going to get take it in the butt you may as well let Wizards of the Coast have a turn as well.

you can't

Zelda is primarily about solitary exploration

D&D is essentially a social experience

they will never be able truly invoke the each other.

Not necessarily, D&D 1e was all about exploration over combat. OP can take 1e and either make the enemies weaker or the party stronger. You could keep all the PCs human (the easy way) or give athletic bonuses to Zoras and strength bonuses to Gorons in the party. Add the Zelda lore as a backdrop, have all magic be limited and something from the game (e.g. Din's Fire does a d6 of damage on 10ft circle centered around the character and it is the only offensive magic the characters are allowed to have), and presto you have a game.

Hi, I didn't read the OP or any posts in this thread.

LINK IS CUTE
CUTE

magical items needed for progression and esoteric puzzles are all just different ways of saying "Keys"
whether a literal key or a hook shot, the dungeons are a maze of locks and keys, and you have to figure out the proper "key" to pass a certain obstacle

so your party will need a series of challenges that cannot be muscled through using combat, but rather new and unique ways to circumvent an obstacle. this does require planning ways to prevent singular "i win" buttons from the wizard, but there should be equal chances for every party member to get through

perhaps there is a load bearing pillar that only the barbarian can support long enough for the party to get through, perhaps there is a door that only opens to a specific person, and the wizard needs silent image, perhaps you need magical music to persuade a magic statue

There's also a shitload of magic items, such as the wands and the magic arrows and a lot more. Really you have all the choices in the world.
Gotta think the old Zelda way, it wasn't all about puzzles back then.

...

In that case the setting will have to have to take into consideration the magical properties (reasonably nerfed of course):
>Fire/Ice arrows do extra damage and cause burning/freezing but use up a lot of mana.
>Mana can be restored via mana potions in every room but they will deplete quickly if the PC uses them too fast
>Light arrows only damage bosses.

Zelda items can be used but only under certain cases:
>The hook shot can only be used on things that are actually grabable (per DM's discretion), used to only solve puzzles
>Bombs are powerful and can explode through secret walls (again DM gets to decide which walls) but take two to three turns to blow up

One of old school Zelda's major draws is that even though the items are pretty powerful the enemies hit hard as fuck:
>Fairies instantly revive but relying on them to get you through a fight instead of dodging is a death sentence
>Lon Lon Milk heals you fully and buffs your defense but there are like a million orcs trying to kill you

Instead of increasing the PCs through levels you increase their HP via heart pieces and their magic only if the complete a quest for a fairy queen.

O S R
S
R

People get cool magic items and
>D&D is emphasized on combat
it's not combat-centric.

>and environmental obstacles.
This is a big deal. As is sneaking/negotiating/running.
>is emphasized on puzzles
Traps notwithstanding, this is not such a big deal.

O S R
S
R

This is a pretty good start but its far too 5e and not enough Zelda. Kokiri and Koroks shouldn't be playable as they aren't really meant to leave their respective Deku tree/forests. And also Gerudo should be gender locked as female and are really only meant to be playable in an evil campaign.

>>The hook shot can only be used on things that are actually grabable (per DM's discretion), used to only solve puzzles
You do realize that the grappling hook is already an item? It pretty serve the same function, it's just that the hookshot is better at it. Make it hard to find or something and boom.

>>Light arrows only damage bosses.
Bosses were recurring enemies in Zelda 1, so that point is moot.

Forthe milk, magic potions were a thing too and since you're going to play with a few people, scroll of revive or some shit like that can be used instead of bottled fairies.

A lot of the stuff is already *in* old school D&D, hell any retro clones for that matter.

Like said, pretty much.

>If we are loosing the main theme for the series, what's the point?
The main theme was originally exploration and dungeon delving.

The theme of the later games is dungeon delving and puzzles.
Pretty sure the newest one is advertising as an exploration game?

Something, something, play a dungeon delve.

That is one cute Link, I want to fuck him

>just find an OSR
There are two groups in this thread.

One group KNOWS that All Editions Of D&D are the same.
This group has never heard of "an osr" (is it tasty?), and won't (or can't) accept different plays types or worldviews.

The other group KNOWS that WotC slapped the D&D brand onto some half-baked Fallout RPG then started printing money.
This group doesn't need to be told to use OSR, because they already suggested it to OP.

What I'm getting at here is:
Rather than try to enlighten people, you should link a few of the better posts here in /osrg/ and try to start the discussion *there.*

would Link be a Battle-Master Fighter or a Hunter Ranger in 5e?

There's arguments for both. IMO the arguments against Hunter Ranger are generally retarded.

>IMO the arguments against Hunter Ranger are generally retarded

how so? I think that the ranger spells could easily be refluffed as the magic items he acquires.

Ranger having a limited selection for spells and the possibility to build it towards merely boosts to your abilities rather than obviously magic shit is why I don't think the arguments against ranger are good enough to reject it.

>Ranger having a limited selection for spells and the possibility to build it towards merely boosts to your abilities rather than obviously magic shit

well yea, If they pick buffs and stuff they are obviously building Link wrong. I think that the battlemaster is also good option with the maneuvers you can pull off

>D&D is emphasized on combat
Not the good editions.

2 but add in bossy women.

Same advice?

WW Link is a TES Style Mantling, I guess Japanese LttP is too. Most other Links are straight up reincarnations. (And the 100% ending to Majora's Mask is a Dragonbreak)

>I guess Japanese LttP

Does it differ significantly from the English version?

The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: Adventures of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening are all the same Link.
That last one doesn't really take place anywhere, but the first two have the First Quest map is even part of the Zelda II map.

c Expert Set is in the Trove, but for now read this.

I don't think that Link's Awakening has the same Link as the other two, I think he's the same Link as the ones in LttP and the Oracle games.

All editions of D&D have the same ridiculously long chapters for combat rules. The focus on combat in 3.5 and 4e is mostly down to garbage players and DMs having no other option than "let's have a fight". That has always existed.

>All editions of D&D
Why do you stop at 3 when counting backwards?

Because 3 is the first number in the numberbet.

Obviously.

I didn't stop at 3, I still have my dad's 1e PHB and my 2e core books. There is a hell of a lot of space dedicated to combat in all the AD&D books.

Dnd basic
>combat
>page 24 to 27
3 fucking pages on a small size non hardcover book is too much user?

Fuck you for pretending like you know shit about old dnd.

>name is literaly ADVANCED dungeons and dragon
>still thinks dnd started with adnd

>muh goalposts
The 0D&D classes are literally only combat statblocks.

>first number in the numberbet
>numberbet
I do believe you mean the threefour.

>0D&D
>zero
>the number
It's O for Original. Even then, only if you use supplements.
Without supplements, it's called the Little Brown Books.
c also, the last line of