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hacks-and-heroes · 6 years

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Hacks and Heroes #3

For those who are unaware of it, Dishonored is a series of first person action stealth games developed by Arkane Studios. It is well known for its Victorian-style setting, and its intricate and Lovecraft style lore. Dishonored is one of my favorite game series to come out in the last couple of years. If nothing else, the art and design of the series as a whole is breathtaking and unique. One particular special thing is its “Whalepunk” technology; big, bulky wrought iron devices and ships, powered by the oil of speared and skewered whales. All of this and the way it captures magic and gods makes for an enthralling setting.

So how do you translate all of this to tabletop games. Dishonored hasn’t been fully hacked by anyone that I have ever seen online, not for lack of people asking about it. I suppose as a whole it isn’t a complex setting to convert. Most games you play will have the pieces, they may just need a bit of rearranging. I’m gonna start by talking about general ideas that apply to all games, and then delve into a few specific games.

World Building

Firstly, as mentioned Dishonored is of a subgenre of Steampunk, Whalepunk. Truly the only thing in the subgenre is Dishonored itself but the point stands. So what defines Whalepunk? Well like Steampunk it is all about technology tinged with magic. Everything in Dishonored is bulky and harsh like the whaling ships that enable the technology. There are also a lot of Tesla-like devices that are apart of Dishonored’s world. The Wall of Light and Arc Pylon are two whale oil powered devices that produce electricity in a way that would make Tesla very proud. Other important things about the technology of Dishonored’s setting is the use of a railway-like system, with carts and boxes on elevated rails that loop through the cities.

Let’s talk about some of the themes of the story telling in Dishonored. The main games hold a lot of themes about family, royalty and responsibility. As well, the subjects of political discourse and poverty are also made apparent in the world building. It helps when our main characters, particularly of Dishonored 2 when you play the Empress Emily, are they themselves royalty. In the DLC and spin-off games, more is put towards themes of loyalty, survival, and revenge. The first novel also has the classic theme of being unable to change the past.

So now I’ll get into the specifics of making a Dishonored game.

Magic

Magic is complex in the Dishonored world. All magical ability stems from The Void. The Void is another world. The mirror to the tangible. Inhabited by giant floating leviathans and ancient otherwordly beings. There are several ways to receive magical ability in the world of Dishonored. The most prime and prominent answer is to receive the Mark of the Outsider. A godlike being who roams The Void, the Outside may bless anyone of his choosing with a mark on the back of their hand, that grants them various powers, unique to them. If you were to wish a character to have an array of magical powers in a Dishonored game, this would be the easiest way of doing so. That being said, the powers tend to be limited and do not go beyond five or six powers (and a small array of supplemental powers). As well, the bearers of the mark tend to not be mages themselves, often being rogues and warriors who use the powers to add to their repertoire. For example, a Pathfinder “Magus” class may be an example of someone such as Daud or Corvo. However, this isn’t a perfect example, and a better way to portray this in a game with classes would be to allow character class of choice, and offer the powers in a separate way such as Feats or Abilities.

Another way to gain powers in the world of Dishonored is to have them bestowed upon you by the bearer of the Mark. Some holders of the Mark can share their abilities with underlings, giving them access to some or all of their powers. This is how it is in the case of Daud and Delilah Copperspoon. While this is more apparent in Daud’s assassins, whose powers are more clear cut, the Brigmore Witches seem a bit more uncertain. Their powers are different from Delilah in a number of ways and manifest differently from witch to witch. That being said, I’d say there is something to be said of Witch Magic that is certainly aided by the Outsider’s influence. In a game, I’d offer up Witch magic as its own entity that could be aided by Shared Power. Once more in a class system I’d offer Feats like the Mark, but with the caveat that the power can be lost if the giver dies, retracts, or loses their own abilities.

One more source of magical power lies in the Dishonored world. That is Bone Charms and Whalebone Runes. Runes in the games have always been away of improving your abilities, so in an RPG terms, these could possibly be conduits that aid your growth through perhaps ritual. The bone charms are a more interesting tale. There have been several characters who used bone charms to great effect. In the video game, they aided your current powers or gave you small buffs and abilities. However other characters, such as the gang leader Paolo made use of several bone charms and a powerful artifact that gave him Mark-like powers. The character Zhukov from the first Dishonored novel has several powers granted to him through the use of corroded bone charms and a magical dagger. These powers began to take a toll on him in their own right, however he is one of the most powerful people in the series at large. From a gameplay point of view, Bone Charms should range from weak magical items that provide small buffs and bonuses to powerful items that can bestow new powers themselves onto the wielder. As well, they should be able to be combined with other magical artifacts for even greater effect.

A small aside about religious power in the Dishonored universe. While the Abbey of the Everyman is vehemently against the Void and any kind of dark art is met with execution, they themselves make use of some Void magic. To begin they have in their control special Music Boxes that play a song that nullifies all powers in the area. There is also the point of the Oracular Order, a group of women within the Abbey suspected to have powers that allow them to make “prophetic visions”. They seem to be more in line with real world monks, highly educated, trained in battle, and viciously cunning rather than truly magical. However, one may say that through the use of hallucinogens and possibly magical substances, their powers become truer.

Equipment

Much of Dishonored’s base technology is in line with real world tech of the late 1800s to early 1900s. The second game sees the advent of an internal plumbing system throughout the cities. As well, city lighting is through the use of street lamps, and news is pumped through a mix of hanging metal speakers and newsprint.

When it comes to personal equipment available to your party, there is a series of options for sure. Firearms lie pretty much in the realms of pistols, though it is not hard to imagine rifles or blunderbusses existing as well. They are primarily wooden-hafted weapons, functioning like flintlocks and wheelocks. Emily’s pistol from the second game appears at later upgrades to become more of a break-action revolver deal. From a gameplay perspective, these weapons have a one shot magazine without upgrades, and require an action to reload. They also have a small spread when fired, hitting a small five foot cone with shrapnel (half damage to even just 1 damage). Other options for ranged weapons include crossbows (the protagonists all use intricate rotating hand crossbows, or similar wristbows). There’s also several options for grenades, special ammunition, and devices for distraction. The tallboys of first Dishonored game also a type of compound bow, making them an option available to your party as well.

As far as melee weapons go, the games show primarily sword usage. Each faction tends to have a unique weapon. As with the pistol, I believe this primarily for simplicity and design standards. In RPG form, it is within reason to see weapons such as axes and spears, though spears will be more rare, as they became in real life.

Other weapons include several forms of landmines, including the infamous springrazor. Essentially a short range landmine filled with spring loaded razorwire. There are no real options for vehicles besides personal boats (such as Amanda’s boat in the sequel) and if characters are nobles, a personal railcar, though there’s not much one can do with the railcar besides traveling around the cities specific pathways. One could possibly also obtain some of the Tallboy armor, which is a strange mix of armor plating and massive stilted legs. Most modern miscellaneous items should be available within reason. Things such as internet and tv are clearly out, but gramophones and cameras aren’t.

Things such as Walls of Light and Arc Pylons should be treated as traps and obstacles. The arc pylons function within a certain range, and automatically attack a single target in range with a high damage electrical arc. The wall of light is only passable by those attuned to the wall or if the wall is disabled. Those that pass through should either take a high amount of damage, or just to make a safe to be instantly killed. Regardless, if a person survives a wall of light (never seen in the game, but there’s room for cool things like that) they should come out maimed and horrificly damaged.

Specific Game Conversions

So I’ve talked about the ideas that are pertinent to game run in Dishonored’s world. So let’s now talk about what you have to do in specific games to replicate that feeling.

Dungeons and Dragons 5e/Pathfinder

So converting settings to class-based systems like these two can be complicated for a number of reasons. Such as the fact that in Dishonored as a whole, there are numerous characters who have magical powers who would definitely not fit into the roles of Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Bard, etc. So how do we remedy this. Well as mentioned earlier, feats are a possible remedy to these issues. In Pathfinder something like the Drow Magic feat progression offered to Drow players is possibly option, with steadily gaining more magical powers as time goes on.

For example:

Outsider’s Mark

Prerequisites: 5th level or higher, Iron Will, must be contacted by the Outsider and bestowed this power

Effect: Allows the use of Dimension Door and one other 4th or lower Spell of choice up to 3/day.

Some players may be opposed to this though, as this robs them of feats they may feel fits their character better. In Pathfinder this is a completely understandable as feats are a major piece of what makes up your character. Now since feats in 5e are optional, this is a more viable option, if your players meet said prerequisites. You can always decide to give these feats and abilities for free as the story progresses, as long as you are okay with your players having an edge against other characters. That’s really all you can do in these particular systems without being restrictive. If you want, you could also just give the Marked players a choice of spells from their mark and they have a certain number of uses, like other casters. Since the Mark tends be based on the strength of the wielder, Wisdom or Charisma wouldn’t be too off.

One more thing of mention for D&D/Pathfinder; the options for classes should be restricted to primarily martial classes unless under specific circumstances. I could see a point made for things such as Warlocks and Bards for the for former, and a handful of the latters. However, direct magic users, such as clerics, druids, paladins, sorcerers, and wizards should be kept to a very limited number to preserve the setting.

For Pathfinder, there is plenty already around to represent the setting of Dishonored. You may have to come up with some miscellaneous items, but not stuff that’ll have much bearing. For 5e, I highly recommend the Steampunk Compendium and the Urban Arcana Modern Magic Subclasses. Both fit fairly well, give equipment examples and a possible class, the gunslinger.

Savage Worlds

So Savage Worlds is pretty easily one of the best games for hacks and conversions. Not just Dishonored. I have seen hacks for Savage Worlds from Star Wars to Weird War to Conan of all things. So if you are looking for something to do Dishonored in, Savage Worlds is quite good.

So about players and building characters. Giving your players the Outsider’s Mark, or another form of magic, all they need is the Arcane Background edge. From there they will have to take the power edges to gain new powers and points. Any of the Arcane Background edges fit the setting really, even weird science could be put towards characters like Jindosh or Sokolov, but that may be a bit much. However using powers in Dishonored is almost always a force of will scenario, I highly recommend making them Spirit based. With the rate that characters gain powers using power edges, you may think that may too slow for your game. If that’s the case, don’t be afraid to either throw your characters extra powers or advance them a little faster to compensate.

From there it’s just about getting gear and equipment right. The core book does have some stuff that will work. However, if you’re unable to due with those, both The Widening Gyre and Rippers have a mix of settings that you can pull from to build. Rippers especially will have a lot setting appropriate miscellaneous items to pick from.

Aaaaaandd…

Those are the best systems I can think to run a Dishonored based games. That being said, there are a plethora of other systems that can do the job but I did not list for the reasons that will follow!

Point-Buy Games

Both Mutants and Masterminds and GURPS could run this game. I’m not kidding when I say Mutants and Masterminds has been made to run weird. Seriously take a trip over to the Ronin Army forums and look under the pages for characters made using that system. Literally made characters from sitcoms. My sole advice for M&M is that you keep the PL a little higher for your players. This way they will have a reasonable amount of points and limits for their powers.

On GURPS I can’t say terribly much. I’m sure there are plenty of Steampunk settings for GURPS given its age, so you should have no problem hunting stuff down for it.

Story-based Games

So this is anything along the lines of FATE. Very minimal dice rolling, primarily a talkative situation, and self-described abilities and skills. For anyone who prefers a more story heavy game, and isn’t a big fan of the mechanics of other RPGs, check these out.

And that’s where I’ll wrap it for the week! Let me know what you all thought, send me your feedback. I know this is a lot talking and there aren’t really any hard conversions from myself this week. If would like to see actual statistical conversions of things from Dishonored or other settings, let me know and I’ll post some stuff up. Now with this, I bid you adieu. Next week we’ll be taking exchanging our Whalepunk aesthetic for an art deco dieselpunk and travel beneath the waves to a world of...Rapture.

#dishonored #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #tabletop rpgs #rpgs #savage worlds #rippers #fate #gurps #mutants and masterminds #hacksandheroes #hnh #dishonored 5e

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