I've been thinking about running a Pathfinder AP using alternate RPG systems.
It would be fairly straightforward to convert an AP to another OGL system, like 5e or Swords and Wizardry, or even another non-OGL heroic fantasy game like Fantasy AGE or Dungeon World.
But I'm thinking of taking the core plot of an AP as a guideline to use in a completely different system that's attuned to the AP's theme.
How about running...
"Strange Aeons" in Trail of Cthulhu?
"Council of Thieves" in Blades in the Dark?
"Serpent's Skull" in Spirit of the Century?
"Iron Gods" in Apocalypse World?
"Carrion Crown" in Dread?
"Hell's Rebels" in Comrades?
Thoughts?
Some of those systems, particularly Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark are specifically built to avoid having a GM railroad the plot, which is essentially what an AP requires at least to a degree.
Dread is probably too simple mechanically and the PCs are victims not heroes.
I think it would be easier to run a game of say BitD inspired by CoT and set in Westcrown but not closely following the AP's plot than to actually run the AP in that system.
You can convert an AP to another system but it needs to have a similar focus to Pathfinder 1e, ie: fighting monsters, heroic protagonists, and some sort of character progression.
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I ran Serpents Skull using Dungeon Crawl Classics (and have actually run fewer APs in Pathfinder than in other systems, now I think about it).
I think the key is to focus on the destination system’s strengths. It doesn’t need to be a strict transcription but should rather be approached as a translation. Elements of the AP that “fit” with the new system should be expanded and those which clash should be minimised.
"Hell's Rebels" in Comrades?Has this come out? Last I saw it was still being written.
In any event, it probably wouldn't go very well. Comrades was pretty much written by and for anarchists and communists, and Hell's Rebels does not accommodate that.
Comrades isn't fully out yet: the Kickstarter is still live, and playtest materials are available. I'm a backer, and have the most recent beta release.
In Comrades, the PCs are a cell of leftist activists and/or revolutionaries working against an oppressive regime that wants to crush them. Examples are the Bolsheviks in 1917 Moscow; the Sons of Liberty in 1776 Boston; Spartacus' slave revolt in the Roman Republic (1st century BCE); coal miner labor union activists in 1930s West Virginia; anti-Vietnam War activists in 1968; the Occupy Wall Street movement of a few years ago.
You probably can't run the whole AP, but I think you could certainly re-work the gist of "Hell's Rebels" to play using Comrades. The PCs are a cell of revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the oppressive regime of Barzalai Thrune.
Of the examples I thought of, this was the one that seemed like a particularly good fit...
Some of those systems, particularly Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark are specifically built to avoid having a GM railroad the plot, which is essentially what an AP requires at least to a degree.
Dread is probably too simple mechanically and the PCs are victims not heroes.
I think it would be easier to run a game of say BitD inspired by CoT and set in Westcrown but not closely following the AP's plot than to actually run the AP in that system.
That's more-or-less what I was thinking: Use the plot of an AP as a starting-off point and to drive some over-arching events that the PCs react to, but to let the PCs drive the story.
I've played a lot of "Powered by the Apocalpyse" games over the past three years, and I totally get that any PbtA game is not served by a railroad plot. I was thinking of distilling the themes of an AP into a set of notes outlining the various factions, a loose timeline of events that will occur if the PCs don't interfere, and notes on a few locations, villains, and set-piece encounters. Then, run the campaign as the game system intended: Let the PCs lead, draw maps/leave gaps, let the story drive the action. We'd probably end up with a very different storyline than the published AP, but with similar locations and themes.
That's pretty much how I'd adapt any Pathfinder AP to any narrative-focused RPG, such as Fate or Dungeon World.
As to Dread... I was primarily thinking of trying to run The Haunting of Harrowstone as a one-shot adventure using Dread instead of a heroic fantasy system. I woudn't try to run the whole adventure: I'd pull out some set-piece encounters and just build on the general Gothic spookiness of a story about murderous ghosts. I think it might be a very fun experiment!
Oh... and in case anyone was interested in Comrades...
Comrades Kickstarter (Already funded: Campaign ends 3/15/2019)
+1 Forward Podcast: Comrades (Interview with the author; includes a brief actual-play scenario.)