BAE Video Game Concepts Left Behind
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One of the most important part of adapting a setting from media to a tabletop RPG (TTRPG) is deciding which parts to keep. Some things make sense in the context of the video game, but don't work in a TTRPG. So here are some notes, a FAQ of sorts regarding what you won't see in BAE.
Class Mods
When your video game has just a few fixed classes, Class Mods are a way to add versatility and customization to your characters. But a TTRPG gives you complete control over how to build and develop your character, so Class Mods simply aren't necessary.
Delayed Rocket Launcher Availability
In the video game, rocket launchers simply aren't available in the early game. Here, I instead made rocket launchers kind of suck (SBT only, high Reload) until they have their first few upgrades. If you get lucky enough to find a Purple or Orange one early on, it'll be decent, but White rocket launchers are crappy until characters hit Veteran.
Fast Travel From Anywhere
Look, even video gamers still argue over whether this ability (added in Borderlands 3) makes the game too easy. The ability to blip away from any situation is just a bit too much party power for a GM to plan for. So fast-travel stations definitely exist in the RPG, but they work like in Borderlands 1 & 2: point to point.
Hyperion Gun Shields
In the video game, the force-field generated by Hyperion guns uses the same rules as standard shields. This was changed to a flat Armor or Toughness bonus to avoid players having to track multiple Capacity values at the same time.
Shopping Lists
In the video game, vendors have a dozen pre-generated items for sale. Instead, this TTRPG conversion inverts that by having the characters "buy blind", putting in money and seeing what sort of gear they get. If it isn't obvious, this change was necessary to avoid having the poor GM roll up a dozen items every time the heroes glance at a vending machine. Seriously, that would suck. While this is a pretty big change, give it a chance; most players really enjoy the way it works.
Unlimited Healing
One of the tools the GM needs is tension. Without that, crafting anything resembling a "dangerous journey" is impossible. So field healing here is ubiquitously available, but limited to "your most recent Wound," as a compromise measure.
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