Requesting help with a Legend of Zelda campaign

Oh, I certainly wasn't intending for Link to be a snowflake DMPC, or even originally show up in the campaign at all if I'd rolled with the 'trapped spirit' idea. Assuming the campaign went as planned, it would probably end on the note of "You freed the Spirit of Courage, so Link can do his job when the time eventually comes. Good job! Credits roll."

I like your fleshing-out of that idea to having freeing Link simultaneously free Ganon more than that, though. The theme of mirrors is nice, though Twilight Princess did it as well. Maybe it could tie into Twilight Princess in having the 'mirror-world' Ganon is trapped in be the actual Twilight Realm? Twili are a playable race in the tabletop game, so it could theoretically work.

Parts of the triforce are split pretty often so they can be hidden, right?

Perhaps this time, the triforce of courage split but each part manifested in some way in different people.

The party can't wait for link.
The party is link.

I like your train of thought, but that idea in particular unfortunately conflicts with the mechanics of the tabletop game itself. I explained it more in-depth here.

It's true that the triforce has a tendency of being as fragile as paper-thin glass, though, so that could play a part in the game. Any other ideas on that front?

Ah fair enough, missed that part.

Maybe Courage is split, and the party are trying to find the parts to prepare for the coming of Link in the near future, since prophecy says that evil will soon rise.
Soon could be next week or next decade though - prophecy is so imprecise. There's no particular rush usually, but, when they get a lead things tend to happen fast. Other people try to prevent them, the piece might be moved. So you have a slow ranging campaign with bursts of urgency

They journey out to collect the pieces so that when the legendary hero returns, he can get right on with world saving and preparing.
Theyre actually being manipulated by a servant of Ganon who wants to reunite the courage pieces so Link doesn't get them

While we're mulling over ideas for who the players are in the context of the story and who/what they'll encounter, let's dive into the meat and potatoes of what makes Zelda fun: items.

The great thing about items in the Legend of Zelda RPG is that they aren't +X swords or shields or cloaks-- they're (usually) tools used to solve puzzles and potentially help in combat, and they're generally what the characters are going to be collecting in place of experience points, since experience is not a mechanic. Spells and items (as well as Songs) are generally interchangeable in terms of usability and how/when the players are supposed to get them, so they all fit into this category. I grilled my players about what sorts of items they'd like to see, and the answer was rather unanimously "new". So, making items unique to this game is probably going to be a big part of the think tank that this thread is intended to be, I think.

I had a vague idea of going with a theme of the five senses for the items, but I doubt I'll actually roll with it. It's getting late, but I'll share everything I have so far!

First, the Master Scarf! Found in a dungeon rife with Wall/Floormasters and dropped by a mini-boss that's an amalgamation of dozens of the things, this long scarf is actually alive, and clings to the character that equips it. In addition to being able to stretch a long ways away to pull items or characters around, it can even equip a weapon or shield! It can even reach through spaces too thin for normal hands, which is intended to be later used against the "Mastermaster" dungeon boss to pull its core outside of its body without touching any of the wallmasters that litter the arena.

Mechanically, this item fills the purpose of the usual hookshot/clawshot/whip/lasso item in the LoZ series, in addition to functioning as a third arm when equipped in. Why is that important? The Legend of Zelda RPG actually places heavy importance on what hands a character is using at once, and has a rather strict "one action per hand per turn" rule, which makes having a third hand available quite...handy.

It can be later upgraded to function as two extra arms instead of just one, as well as having a longer reach.

Very nice OP, I've been considering running a campaign in this soon as well
I did make a few threads about it but none of them got very far, so I can only assume the original creators aren't around anymore

My problem is the opposite of yours, however
I figured out a plot without much difficulty, and how it can be altered by the actions of the PCs, and so on and so forth
But what I want to run is a 1:1 of the GB/C games' style, to such a degree that i'm making maps of the overworld and dungeons using the Oracles' tilesets, which has been pretty fun & cute so far

The REAL difficulty surfaces when I wonder just how much it'll be playable like that, with puzzles amounting to 'work together to push these blocks' or 'figure out how to use this item to unblock your path,' with maybe a sprinkle of 'stand on switches simultaneously' because that probably deserves a spot in a non-single-player group
Combat in this system seems like it can very easy become a clusterfuck, and I'm worried that having multiple PCs and multiple monsters fighting simultaneously could make fights take forever and detract from puzzle-solving funtimes and potential Majora's Mask-style NPC interaction (which I've been looking forward to)

I assume you haven't tried demoing the combat to make sure it won't be a slog or anything, OP?
Just a suggestion, because so far your plot sounds solid enough to work, and you sound genuinely excited about it which means a lot as a GM
I'd post my own ideas but, unlike yours, I know my soon-to-be players absolutely do browse Veeky Forums and it's more likely than not they'll see it sooner or later

(Deleted this originally because I fucked up and forgot to add the image)
Second, the Hungry Handbag! Yes I know it looks just like the Spoils Bag from Windwaker, shut up, it's different. Another sentient item, this satchel/purse thing has a magic stomach and an endless appetite. It can hold any two items inside, and when I say "any two items," the list is...not quite as large as you think it is, but it's still pretty expansive. In addition to functioning as two Magic Bottles at once, shaking the bag around makes it queasy, and what it spits up sometimes isn't what you remember putting in...

Mechanically, the Hungry Handbag is the players' introduction to their personal crafting system. Put two items inside, shake the bag around, and it might spit out a combination of the two (or swallow them both if it's an incorrect combination). It's largely experimental in nature, and it's dangerous to try mixing in an important item without knowing what you're doing. The players can discover recipes/hints for unique item combinations as the campaign progresses, or just dick around and see what mixing various odds and ends does.

It can be later upgraded to hold/mix five items at once instead of just two, as well as giving it the ability to eat Mooks (a specific enemy type in the game) and spit out the hearts/rupees/items they would have dropped.

I did demo combat a bit! It takes a little (a lot) longer than I'm used to since everything is timed "per action" instead of "per turn" and every turn has three actions. The game does its best to streamline this by not having every player take their actions in sequence, and I ended up getting into the rhythm of it eventually. It sounded something like:
>"Take your first actions."
>"Take your second actions. Okay, you're attacking that guy, roll for it. He didn't bank a reaction, so he doesn't reduce it. And you're casting a spell, make your roll."
>"Take your third actions. Okay, he rolls to Block...it reduces your damage by two successes. And that one tries to dodge, but fails, so you deal full damage."
>"Alright, their turn. Declare if you're using any banked actions against any of this."
And when the enemies finished with their turn it would roll back to the top. It helps slightly that there's no difference between the roll to hit and the roll to damage, at least.

Ah, so the Spirit of Courage shattered and is trapped in the Mirror shards.

>(though I'm hard-pressed to think of a villain who's Virtue is Courage).
Challenge Accepted!
Each temple boss could be a corrupted being whose courage is being evilly twisted in different ways by the fractured power of the Triforce.
The Coward: Terrified coward empowered by the power seeks to frighten everyone that ever threatened him.
The Warrior: Gladiator challenges all and crushes the weak.
The Daredevil: Reckless loon endangers others with stunts.
The Paladin: Idealistic fool opens Pandora's box to face the horrors within.
The Lover: Lovestruck champion brings a kingdom to it's knees in pursuit of his love.
The Hunter: Hunter incites the wrath of beasts in his pursuit of fearsome prey.
The Mage: Dangerous magical forces are being unleashed as a fearless mage explores untested powers and primal forces.

And so on.

Okay, I see, that's one of the ways I was imagining it would be
As in, either "DM barks orders and whips the players into shape" or "it becomes a clusterfuck and everybody forgets whose action/turn it is within seconds"
But I guess at least it wouldn't be hard to get the hang of, which is reassuring

THIS, though, I'll warn about
The idea is adorable by itself, but crafting is always a dangerous beast, ESPECIALLY when the players just make the choices and the DM has to come up with results
I've felt the full pain of this in a campaign long ago where I gave the players a robot who would gain powers and a personality through a combination of different discs, and instead of actually doing anything productive they would spend hours and hours trying out every combination and expecting me to list every single change
never again

You sort of have preemptive damage control by saying it'll swallow ingredients if you don't know what to do with them, sure, but I feel that to some degree, all players are the same
And all players have a natural sense of curiosity that surfaces when faced with something like this, meaning they will waste massive swaths of time dicking around and forget there's even a plot
Not that I'm saying you shouldn't use it- just to be careful doing so

Third, and probably last for tonight, the Piko Hammer! Found in the ancient/advanced Iron Thorn Stronghold, this two-handed hammer, while high-tech and menacing-looking, is actually largely incapable of directly harming someone. Named after the shrill "SQUEAK-a" sound it makes when it connects, the Piko Hammer absorbs and imparts the momentum in its swings into whatever it connects with, and after charging it up enough (usually by spinning) it can send people, boulders, and even giant dodongos flying!

Mechanically, this is the standard "move huge objects" item, akin to the Power Bracelet or Silver/Golden Gauntlets, with a dual purpose of being a weapon. Instead of dealing damage, however, it deals Knockback, which can still indirectly deal damage if the players want to be clever with it.

It can be later upgraded to store/impart more momentum (Knockback) than before, as well as the ability to store the momentum indefinitely instead of having to use it immediately.

I would honestly keep link completely out.

If you really want to, go the 4 swords kind of direction. Maybe something happened where someone shattered Links soul, hoping it would take him out of the picture, but instead it just ended up in several individuals.

It is also a nice framing device for how the heroes meet and stick together. They just feel a spiritual bond of some kind, without even fully knowing why.

I still think, for a Zelda esque game, you want to keep it at least slightly open world. Zelda has always been about exploration and adventure, more So than just dungeon crawling to kill a baddy. So really, focus on the vastness of the world, and have a lot of travelling and adventuering. The dungeons are small parts of the overall game, it is all the time leading up to it that has importance.

My idea of a perfect Zelda game, even as an RP, starts out as a "everything is mostly fine, but some weird things are happening.". The first threat is local.

After ramping up the presence of a global threat, and about 2-4 dungeons, hit the world with a metaphorical hammer, and fuck the world over. They now have to unfuck it somehow.

And dont give them ways to get back to the old world.

This gives a different feel. Like, if they spent a hell of a lot time saving the people here, trying to prevent disaster from striking... and suddenly they find themselves 5 years into the future, where everything has gone to hell. If they can stop the threat and bring back the old world, that they had time to get to know, and enjoy, then that is just more motivation to push through.

Bitchin, this is probably going to make it into the game in some way. I love the idea of showing all the ways the virtue of Courage could be corrupted or applied to people in ways you wouldn't expect. Would be a nice touch for every piece of the mirror to be held by people who had the best in mind but ultimately used their newfound courage for the wrong reasons. Could make for interesting NPCs!

>THIS, though, I'll warn about
I see where you're coming from; I imagine at least half a session is going to be dedicated to shoving things in the bag and seeing what comes out when they first get it. With hope, it'll be made obvious early on that 'correct' combinations are few and far in-between unless you're working off of hints, recipes, or some semblance of logic. I'll do my best in that regard, but if the players enjoy dicking around with the crafting system (and giving me more time to prepare), who am I to judge? I mean, I'll definitely judge them, but silently.

Good points all around (save for "the fragmented Spirit of Courage is reincarnated into the individual players", there's a post earlier tackling that issue, sorry), start slow and relatively low-key, fill it with lots of travel and lighthearted adventure, ramp it up slightly, suddenly drop the shitstorm on them, and make the problem clear. Standard LoZ equation, which is perfect for what I need.

It's been a great night for ideas, anons! I'm going to bed, and if you somehow keep this thread alive until tomorrow, we'll tackle the subject of NPCs, locations, items, and puzzles. And waifus, if that keeps the thread alive. If it's not alive tomorrow...well, I'll start another thread and do that anyway, because I'm stubborn like that. Night, gents!

Personally, since any time I've ever explored Hyrule has been from a hero's perspective, with great responsibility and a great destiny looming, I would be most interested in a game set in Hyrule with more personal stakes.
An abandoned mine has been flooded with monsters, but the Goron you're travelling with heard rumors of an ancient statue inside that could worth thousands of rupees, plus whatever valuable ore is left over from the mining operation. So the motivation is riches or something, rather than there being a great evil on the rise that needs defeating.

>An abandoned mine has been flooded with monsters, but the Goron you're travelling with heard rumors of an ancient statue inside that sounds fucking delicious, plus whatever edible ore is left over from the mining operation. So the motivation is good food, rather than there being a great evil on the rise that needs defeating.
ftfy
do you even goron

I think this is the thing that I liked least about Breath of the Wild.
It was a really fun game, but man, I wanted to explore Hyrule castle town, I wanted to visit the ranch and interact with those villages. But they'd all been gone for a hundred years.

The game was great but I really wish I could play a prequel to the calamity.

>Would be a nice touch for every piece of the mirror to be held by people who had the best in mind but ultimately used their newfound courage for the wrong reasons. Could make for interesting NPCs!
It occured to me that it might be compelling if the PCs knew the people before they transformed, but that would require working in a time jump forward into the plot or game.

Don't you die on me.

What are some of your favorite items from the games? How would you stat them?

There's a Goron in Breath of the Wild who comments that the ore and gems you can find in the world don't taste good to Gorons so are only worth crafting with or selling.
It changes with game to game, seemingly. The Goron's Ruby in Ocarina of Time is treated as though it would be a potential delicacy.

I've considered doing a Hyrule tabletop, but I wouldn't want to do it where any player has the chance to consider themselves the Hero in the same way Link is. I would have to set it at a time when evil wasn't at a high point and there wasn't a need for the Hero. It'd probably just end up being dungeon dives for treasure or similar one-shots unless I decided to set it during the Hylian Civil War.

To be honest, this is how I would have liked to run it as well. More small-scale in terms of danger, and really play up the travel/exploration aspect of the game. But the players unanimously agreed that being Big Damn Heroes of Prophesy was their jam, so it looks like I'm running a Big Damn Heroes of Prophesy game.

That's unfortunate, bud. I'd be totally down to play an explorer/merchant Goron in Hyrule acting on rumors and clearing dungeons to get those sweet stacks of rupees, no "BBEG" required.
I'm sure you could still have fun with it, but it's definitely gonna be harder since it sounds like they all wanna fucking play Link basically.

I'm surprised the thread has lived for this long while I was gone. Like I promised yesterday, lets move onto talking about NPCs! Specifically the important named ones that the players will find and help/need help from over the course of the campaign, like the roles Syrup the Witch, Darunia, Ruto, and the like serve. I particularly liked the idea that posted, and unless a better idea pops up, the current running theory is that each shattered mirror shard holding the Spirit of Courage is currently possessed by a previously-troubled person who, while usually having the best intentions in mind with the newfound willpower their mirror shard granted, ends up using it for the wrong reasons and being corrupted into using Courage wrongly.

I'll start listing any character ideas I have going in my mind, and feel free to suggest any ideas you have as well.

First off, this little guy. The art is from Shenanimation's tumblr, as will probably be a couple pieces here since I like the style.

voted for the villain to be a moblin wizard, and so it shall be. This guy lived his life as a nameless mook before deciding life as cannon fodder wasn't for him, and he got bigger plans. Having stolen the miniboss item from the dungeon he was supposed to be guarding, his Coil Rod lets him cast entrapment spells that wrap his foes in ethereal snakes! He used a magic spell to bind the Spirit of Courage to a mirror, and then shattered the mirror itself so the Hero of Time could never reincarnate for the next time Ganon came around, casting the shards around the world and keeping one piece of it to make sure the mirror could never be repaired.

Thinking he would be rewarded to serve at Ganon's side as more than a nameless mook, he was terrified to discover that when The Big Boss Himself finally revived, he'd accidentally bound the Spirit of Power to the same mirror, trapping Ganon inside as well! Knowing repairing the mirror would let both of them out, the moblin wizard now wreaks havoc across Hyrule under Ganon's tutelage, who speaks to him through the mirror shard he keeps. Their new plan is to make sure the world is well-fucked and the Triforce collected BEFORE releasing the Spirits of Power and Courage from the mirror, so the Hero of Courage has no chance to stop Ganon this time.

He's not the smartest villain, being a moblin, but he has a wicked cunning (his mechanical virtue is Wisdom), and the mirror shard he keeps (bound to Ganon and Link) grants him both incredible Power and Courage in the face of adversity. He serves Ganon and hopes to be feared and respected despite his meager past life as a lowly minion. The running joke is that, despite hating being called a mook, he never gets the chance to say his name, and is forever nameless.

(I just realized I fucked up, Moblins are the fat ones, Bokoblins are the little ones)

Anyway, the second is this guy, a big dumb brute that serves as a minion to the moblin/bokoblin wizard's schemes, and is known as the Beast of Faron. In reality he was originally a hylian knight who was cursed into the form and intelligence of a beast, and the mirror shard he has allowed Ganon to corrupt his mind and vision until he believed an old statue in Faron Woods is Princess Zelda herself, as well as giving him retard strength. He believes everyone in Faron is a threat to his master and 'defends' her with his life, and is unable to be reasoned with until the mirror shard he holds is taken from him.

The Beast of Faron serves as one of the earlier bosses for the players to overcome, and after defeating him and taking his mirror shard, his vision returns to normal and he realizes his mistake. While his form and memories sadly cannot be returned to him until the moblin wizard's staff is destroyed, he has the disposition of a golden retriever and is more than willing to help the party if they forgive him, though he cannot leave the Faron Woods until his curse is broken. He then spends the rest of his time tending/talking to the statue of Zelda and protecting Faron Woods.

Art is from "Puyo Puyo!! Quest" if you're curious.

(Seriously someone tell me if these sound like they're any good or not, I'm just making these up and could use the feedback.)

Third is the self-proclaimed sheriff of Lon Lon County, a place that started as Lon Lon Ranch before growing into a whole wild-west section of the map that borders the Gerudo Desert. Originally a cucco rancher, she feared the bandit problem that plagues Lon Lon County and was helpless to defend against the raids on her livestock until the moblin wizard approached her with an offer of employment, in exchange for a magic shard of mirror that would grant her the Courage to face down the bandits and the Power to follow through. She obviously accepted, and used her newfound magical power to wipe the bandits from the face of Lon Lon County. Ganon's power corrupted her, however, and her bravery to face down the bandits has since turned into foolhardy pride and obsession with the eradication of all evil from her land. Now the people of Lon Lon County live in fear of their 'sheriff', terrified to leave their homes and risk being accused of banditry for something as innocent as littering or loitering.

The Sheriff of Lon Lon serves as another boss for the players to eventually overcome, and she controls the most dangerous force in all of the Legend of Zelda canon: an army of deputized cuccos. After defeating her and taking her mirror shard, she realizes the error of her ways and tries to right her previous wrongs by *actually* becoming the formal sheriff of Lon Lon County, having learned not to rely on cheap powers or fake courage. She is aggressively southern.

Art is from Shenanimation again, for those curious.

Next is...this guy. I don't know who he is yet, but I like his picture, and the players wanted the Rito (Breath of the Wild version, not Windwaker) to be a playable race, so I'm using him somehow. Seems the type of person to be incredibly rich or entrepreneurial, but I'm not sure how he could have come across a shard of the mirror that's trapping the spirit of Courage, what he ended up doing with that power, or how it corrupted him to the point of needing to be dealt with by the party. Any thoughts on the subject?

Hmmmmmm.

Gonna come clean OP. I once converted Zelda into D&D5e for my players and posted it here. Not sure if you're still here, but I want to just say, I'm lurking.

I'm certainly still here, just mulling over ideas and hoping for any anons to suggest theirs. Any chance in hell you have an archive link for that thread? I'd be more than happy to plagia- I mean take inspiration.

dropbox.com/s/lsjsfdekte0iiga/new map antique.png?dl=0

dropbox.com/s/9mru2aqtdhfj01e/Zelda 5E Master's Guide.pdf?dl=0

dropbox.com/s/lexzdcugan6m0vu/Zelda 5E Player's Guide.pdf?dl=0

Have at it!

Mmm, that's some good shit, user. Thanks for the help.

No worries. Good luck with your game!

On the topic of villains, there's the crew from Hyrule Warriors and some of the villains from the DS games.

Alternatively you can use one of the very minor villains that has returned for one reason or another with a bigger role, such as the Phantom Ganon from 64's Forest Temple that Gannondorf banishes to the 'space between realms' or something.

Mirroranon here.
I dig these boss ideas.
They seem to have the right theme and LoZ charm.

And yeah, pic related is a Moblin.
I just wanted to see one of these guys as an intelligent magic user.
Although still remaining a nameless mook is pretty funny and awesome too.