Best system to homebrew a metroidvania-like game? (also... is this even feasible?)
To begin with, I'm not trying to create an exact 1-1 recreation. I know that certain parts of metroidvanias just don't translate well to tabletop RPGs, especially in terms of combat and platforming and such.
What I'm more interested in is the world and the progression. I have a lot of ideas for an interconnected, diverse kingdom built within a single structure; Hollow Knight and Silksong are huge inspirations for this, I love the idea that all of these regions are so distinct but clearly connected to and influence its neighbors. I also really like the vertical design and would probably homebrew ways to make traversal possible. The map would probably be sort of simplified; i.e. is a simple map players fill out as they progress, solid colors with a few doodles suggesting what may be in that room (like the menu map in hollow knight)—this would allow me to both have set, pre-designed rooms and rooms where I have the freedom to make things up to fit the needs of the campaign.
I'm also interested in blocking off certain areas and encouraging backtracking. Some of this would be through items (and maybe abilities), but I also think there's lots of room for story-based "keys", like "this mechanism won't move until you activate its source, which is in another region", "these people won't let you inside their area (which contains the only path to where you need to go) until you take care of some greater threat keeping them secretive", etc. These things would have ripple effects—maybe activating that gear starts up a tram system, maybe solving the threat actually opens up multiple new paths, etc. Creative freedom and alternate paths/solutions would be allowed and encouraged, but there'd probably be a select few non-negotiable roadblocks.
Here are my biggest questions:
- My party would be 3-4 players I know very well, but metroidvanias are designed around single-player, and I'm worried about finding a balance between allowing the players to split up and make their own decisions while also making sure that they progress through the world as a single unit. I don't want Player A to use a lever in the east side of the map to open a door that's in the west, but player B is in the south and has no in-character reason to travel back up to the newly opened door, etc. Maybe some kind of limitation that allows splitting up but only staying in the same general area? I could probably work in some narrative explanation for that, but would that feel too restrictive?
- How do I keep the "in between" rooms - the areas between major points of interest, rooms that'd be just for combat or platforming in a game like hollow knight - from being boring and repetitive? This feels especially important for backtracking. How do I keep it from just being "we go back to this region" without encountering the same enemies over and over again? What about things like secrets, reasons to stop and look around in each area? How could those be adapted to a tabletop format? The total amount of these rooms would probably be much fewer than in an actual metroidvania because of the lack of platforming/fast combat, but I think there'd still be a need for at least some.
- What about classes and progression? I feel like a game like this would work best if progression was based on items and equipment rather than leveling. I feel like classes, also, don't really work as well if the whole group is meant to be progressing as a unit, but I don't want the players to feel like copies of each other either.
- What system would work best for this? Ideally something fairly open-ended. Should I just design my own? It'd be my first time attempting something like that.
- Am I just biting off more than I can chew with this concept? Is this flawed from the start?