#if nobody makes that majora's mask brinkwood hack then I will have to do it myself

[theresattrpgforthat]

Any games that capture the weird and oppressive mood of tloz Majora's Mask? I realise this might be way too vague but I can't think of how else to put it

THEME: Oppressive Grief (Majora's Mask)

Hello friend. I thought about how to replicate the feeling of Majora’s mask, and I decided to focus on the elements of pressure, doom, grief, and defiance. These following games will have at least some of those elements, although not perhaps all of them. 

Afterlife: Wandering Souls, by Angry Hamster Publishing.

Afterlife: Wandering Souls is a macabre fantasy game set in surreal plane known as the Tenebris. You take on the role of a Wanderer—someone who died, but didn’t end up in Heaven, Hell, or any other traditional afterlife.  Devoid of any memories of your life on earth, you find yourself in an endless desert filled with gateways. Search different planes of existence for clues of your former life - or a semblance of one. Along the way you'll encounter strange inhabitants, alien cultures, and other humans who’ve lost all hope and are bent on destroying you. 

If you believe the theory that Link is dead in Majora’s Mask, then this game might feel similar. The creator draws from many surrealist art, including Guillermo del Toro, as well as Hayao Miyazaki. Just as Link meets people who resemble folks he met in his adventures in Ocarina of Time, players here could meet bits and pieces of their former life. This game also has a supplement called A Wanderer’s Guide To Limbos and Mirages, which dives further into the world of Tenebrae and asks you how your character will change as they venture into a world of weirdness and despair.

Stargazer, by Trollish Delver Games.

In the days of the sun's last gasp magic has returned to a ruined civilisation. The Song of Power can be heard on the wind: some believe it's the voice o the creator while others think the song is hastening the end of the world.  Memory-tattooed magicians delve into deep dungeons to uncover black music discs that hold the secrets of magic while hedonistic kings shower themselves in treasures. 

This game is much more dire than the other options on this list. As it is OSR, it will focus more on combat and dungeon-delving than connecting with the people around you, so I think it better reflects the corrupted dungeons of the different areas of Majora’s Mask, such as the poisoned waters of Woodfall Temple, or the animated dead of Ikana Canyon. 

Bleak Spirit, by potatocubed.

Bleak Spirit is a storytelling game where you and your friends create a brooding, cryptic tale about a stranger in a strange land. Everything is falling apart, crumbling, corrupted, and the wanderer carries the potential for a return to past glories – or the power to sweep away all that remains.

You will all take turns playing the wanderer – the destiny-wreathed individual who is going to bring change to the world, one way or another. The wanderer is the one who faces the dangers of the world, who discovers the lore, and who will ultimately leave things different to how they found them.

Ultimately, Link doesn’t belong in Termina - he’s come from somewhere else, and he doesn’t want to stay there, he want’s to go home. Bleak Spirit is a GM-less game that lets the table dive into a world that is wrong, in one way or another, both creating the details of the world and narrating how the lonely adventurer meets every challenge.

The World Is Ending And We Are Very Large Dogs, by Eden.

The world is ending in one week. This we know for a fact. It is too late to stop it. It cannot be slowed down anymore. Especially not by you, because you are just a group of large dogs. All you can do is try and make the final days as best as you can for those that are near and dear to you. Your owners, your community, the other wild dogs in the park, whoever you hold dear.

The World is Ending and We Are Very Large Dogs is a GM-less collaborative storytelling game for 2+ players, wherein the players work to weave stories of bright moments in the face of Armageddon. The mood, intensity and tone of this game are up to you, the players, to decide, as the adaptable ruleset is designed for anything from a pulpy Mars Attacks-esque alien invasion to a a dark, mournful, melancholic ending.

This game comes with a number of various scenarios to reflect the range of tone you can play with when it comes to facing the end of the world. The dogs’ goal of doing their best to make their friends happy in the face of inevitable doom feels very similar to Link’s quest to help the people of Termina find peace even though their entire world is about to end.

Ten Candles, by Calvary Games.

Ten Candles is a zero-prep tabletop storytelling game designed for one-shot 2-4 hour sessions of tragic horror. It is best played with one GM and 3-5 players, by the light of ten tea light candles which provide atmosphere, act as a countdown timer for the game, and allow you to literally burn your character sheet away as you play. 

Ten Candles is described as a "tragic horror" game rather than survival horror for one main reason: in Ten Candles there are no survivors. In the final scene of the game, when only one candle remains, all of the characters will die. In this, Ten Candles is not a game about "winning" or beating the monsters. Instead, it is a game about what happens in the dark, and about those who try to survive within it. It is a game about being pushed to the brink of madness and despair, searching for hope in a hopeless world, and trying to do something meaningful with your final few hours left.  

If you really want to replicate the doom and hopelessness that the Clock Tower residents feel as the moon falls, this is absolutely the game for you. 

Brinkwood SRD, by Far Horizons Co-Op.

This isn’t a game, but rather a system reference document for making your own game. I think this system is one of the best for creating a game similar to Majora’s Mask for a few reasons.

1. It’s built on Forged in the Dark mechanics, which give the players the ability to manage resources often at a cost. The players have to balance what is important and may have to make sacrifices to get what they want. 

2. Clocks. Clocks are also great at imposing a sense of doom, by putting the characters on a clock and showing them what happens as time runs out. You could also include a mechanic that reverses the clocks to represent going back in time!

3. Masks. The masks in the original Brinkwood game transform their wearers, making them unrecognizable when they go on forays. You could use this mechanic to replicate a series of masks, all containing powers of beings who have died, in a story about a doomed world that your party is trying to save. What’s really interesting about this mechanic is that the Masks act as a separate set of playbooks that can be swapped among the party members, so that players can try out different powers and skill-sets. This is the biggest reason why I think the Brinkwood SRD would be fantastic for a Majora’s Mask kind of game.

(PS: if someone make this game please tell me about it)

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

ARC, by Momatoes.

Legend of the Forgotten Ballad, by coolwayink. (bigger version of the game on the way!)