I love the setting of Brancalonia. I love the humor, I love the folklore, and I am currently learning Italian in evening classes to boot, so this is basically a perfect mix.
But I do not love that the authors picked D&D 5E as the rule system for this setting. Don’t get me wrong, I find D&D 5E perfectly acceptable for heroic fantasy campaigns (and, in fact, I am running such a campaign right now). And I can understand this choice from a business perspective - it makes a lot of sense to tie your setting to the most popular RPG system out there.
However, Brancalonia PCs are not supposed to be great heroes, but fairly unimpressive never-do-wells. The rules deal with this by capping character level at 6, but I feel that this leaves the PCs with too little room to grow and removes much of the proper D&D experience. I’d rather use a rule system that was intended for weaker protagonists, rather than trying to distort D&D into something that is not.
So, what alternate system would you use for Brancalonia?
I’d maybe go the other way and embrace the comedy. Use Powered by the Apocalypse in the same way Pasion de las Pasiones does. Replace the soap opera elements with whips made out of spaghetti or something.
@juergen_hubert Fire Ruby’s Warlock! which is a WHFRP retroclone. The style matches Brancalonia much better.
Check out legend in the mist, new system that just dropped recently. Seems like this would mesh well with the rustic fantasy motif it has going on and its also easily adaptable
The Cypher System is great for everything, but especially underdog scenarios like yours. It also helps the GM be a participant in the game rather than an adversary or a god. It’s such a rich, rewarding system.
Gotta say I got the opposite feeling when I DMed it a while back. It’s a clumsy system that badly needs a 2nd edition where they fix all the papercuts.
That said, it is somewhat easier to DM than 5e (which itself is heavily simplified compared to older systems).
This! Such a fantastic system for storytelling by the players rather than against them (fuckin’ Gygax), and years before its time, too. 🤘🏼
Maybe use some GURPs, or FFG’s system might actually work really well here.
I’d recommend Pathfinder 2e’s combat then, though I haven’t played Brancalonia to know if it’s a perfect fit.
Pathfinder 2E has a very similar power curve as D&D 5E. In fact, it might even be worse for Brancalonia as characters basically get their level as a flat bonis on everything.
PF2e has proficiency without level for a grittier experience, but even then I don’t think it’s the best option for low lives and ne’er-do-wells unless you limit it to about level 3. Might be worth looking at Hopefinder, which is a PF2e hack, but the default setting is a zombie apocalypse and I think it relies a lot on short stories.
There’s a rule variant called proficiency without level which removes the flat bonus.
If your bonis flat, talk to your doctor.
If bonis not flat for more than four hours, talk to your doctor.
I hear good stuff about Blades in the Dark, but I’m not too familiar with it. I wonder if that would work.
BitD is extremely focused on thief/assassin gameplay. It’s nicely setting-agnostic, but it isn’t a system suited to rural gameplay.
