Since their earliest days, video games and Dungeons & Dragons have been intertwined. Leveling, party interactions, inventory management, and sweeping narrative consequences are baked into the DNA of each. Some video games, like Divinity: Original Sin and the upcoming Baldur’s Gate III, proudly wear the influence of Gary Gygax’s seminal role-playing tabletop game on their sleeves.
It seems strange, though, that despite the years of shared history, few video games have been adapted into D&D campaigns. Obvious candidates like the Elder Scrolls, Witcher, and Final Fantasy series make sense, but with such a diverse landscape to pick from, there’s a lot of weird and wonderful games that would make excellent Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Here’s 10 that make the cut.
10 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Whereas previous Metal Gear games have been relatively linear, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain‘s sandbox world, mission structure, and base-building mechanic lend themselves incredibly well to a tabletop experience. While successful stealth checks would be critical (pun absolutely intended) to the early experience, players would feel like tactical geniuses and supersoldiers once they got to about level 6 or 7.
And while it may seem like an MGSV campaign would need to be relatively low magic at first, let’s not forget some the zanier stuff that appears in these games. Vampires? Check. Teleportation? Check. Finding love on the battlefield? CHECK.
9 Persona 5
Being able to create a party of Phantom Thieves that get to plan palace infiltrations their own way would rule. Players could either take pre-rolled versions of already existing characters (Ryuji would be a Cleric of the Tempest Domain, in case anyone was wondering) or create entirely new Metaverse travelers.
The social aspects of the game are perfect for role-playing, and Persona 5 already has a great selection of monsters and dungeons to choose from (not to mention that Mementos is basically Undermountain). As the DM, you better hope that the mobs all have a good passive perception, or otherwise… you’ll never see it coming.
8 Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn contains one of the most fully realized worlds in gaming, and seeing that translated to D&D would be incredible. The bestiary alone would constitute a great addition to any campaign (can you imagine getting ambushed by a Thunderjaw?), and the characters, factions, and lore in HZD give the DM a ton of options to play with.
Of course, any good D&D sourcebook should come with some cool new subclasses. Perhaps the best part of adapting HZD? Finally making rangers interesting.
7 Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is probably best known for its campaign, The Subspace Emissary, which is what gives it the D&D-candidacy edge over the other entries in, the Smash series. Like every Smash game, Subspace is full of wild crossovers, but, in this case, the surrounding story gives these mashups more context.
There’s even a decent BBEG in Tabuu! An adaptation of Brawl could also come with pre-rolled character sheets for each fighter (or at least a decent portion of them). While it’s always cool to come up with your own character, being able to play as a fleshed-out Samus, Dedede, or even Olimar would be wildly fun.
6 Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
The Assassin’s Creed series has never adhered strictly to realism, and by the time Odyssey rolled around that was pretty much thrown out the door. Which is perfect for D&D! Odyssey‘s fully realized Greece is an excellent setting, and some excellent feats could be made from the various nigh-supernatural abilities Kassandra/Alexios unlocks along the way.
Even if Odyssey itself doesn’t get adapted, it looks like Wizards of the Coast is going to be riffing on that same fount of inspiration with their next sourcebook, Mythic Odysseys of Theros. If Ancient Greek-inspired hijinks sound like a good time to you, it might be one to check out!
5 Red Dead Redemption
Lots of D&D adventures have a Wild West flair to them, but a campaign that goes full-tilt American Frontier would be a fantastic experience. Turning Red Dead Redemption into a tabletop game would allow players to step outside of John Marston’s shoes and into their own reckoning.
Just because it’s based on an actual time period in American history doesn’t mean it can’t get crazy, either! Imagine what RDR would be like if you could cast “Fireball” to deal with an angry grizzly or a group of desperados. If only John Marston had prepared “Plane Shift…”
4 The Binding of Isaac
For D&D players who aren’t big on social role-playing but love dungeon crawling, there’s no better game than The Binding of Isaac. Its procedural structure and addicting risk/reward mechanics make it perfect for a weekend run.
Enterprising DMs might also have really fun ideas on how to turn this into a recurring campaign, too! Maybe there’s a very good reason the party has to descend into Sheol other than just killing the devil. Maybe they’re hunting for a very specific magic item! What happens if they have to climb back out again? The Binding of Isaac offers up a world of possibilities for a DM and their players to explore.
3 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age shares more DNA with D&D than most of the entries on this list. Its characters slot into fairly neat classes, and you level up by fighting monsters and gaining experience. But what separates DQXI from other games of this ilk is the wonderful and creative world of Erdrea.
Erdrea is bright, wondrous, and any DM worth their salt should be able to make a meal out of describing it to their players. On top of that, the bestiary has lots of fun monsters to play around with, ranging from the iconic slimes to the outright terrifying mud mannequin.
2 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
While pretty much any game in the Legend of Zelda series would be a good candidate for D&D-ification, Wind Waker deserves it the most. It has all the trappings of a good campaign: memorable NPCs, vibrant locations, poignant story-telling, and (most importantly) pirates!
There’s a scenario where players in a Wind Waker campaign might not even choose to worry themselves with fighting Ganondorf; instead, they might roam the high seas as hero sailors or dastardly brigands. The Wind Waker itself is the kind of great magic item a party could really have fun with, and there’s no better playground than an aquatic Hyrule.
1 Bloodborne
While it might initially seem like an excuse for a DM to TPK their players over and over, setting a D&D campaign in Yharnam could really channel some of that Bloodborne magic into a tabletop setting. Even though boss fights might look like sending a party of Level 1s against a CR5 foe, the moment that eventual victory comes will have the party cheering.
Bloodborne also lends itself to a neat resurrection mechanic by way of the Hunter’s Dream. Death in D&D is already pretty impermanent, but by adding a way for players to pop back where they started and learn from their mistakes would be incredibly rewarding. Also, just think how nasty that bestiary would be!
