Name me a system: Modern Horror

Ok, I have an idea for a game that basically boils down to this:

What if Ghosthunters actually, ya know, found stuff?

A group of paranormal experts go around to haunted places (houses, asylums, victorian mansions) and confront ancient evils, satanic cultists, vampires and werewolves, and other bump-in-the-night ghoulies.

My criteria for the game-system:

• Simple system; d20 preferred but I'm open to other systems.
• It should allow for combat and adventuring, nothing "too" realistic
• A nice magic/psychic power system
• A nice beastiery of monsters like ghosts, vampires, and demonic forces

I've tried d20 Modern for a different game, and it didn't sit too well with me (Combat is too lethal IMHO) but if someone can convince me to try it again, I might.

Suggestions; GO!

I haven´t read all off it, but perhaps you should give a look at Monte Cooks "World of Darkness" D20.

I think you could mine it for what you have in mind.

Olli

ExorSystems, Inc TM Core Rulebook - Octavirate Games | DriveThruRPG.com

I used this to run a sucessful Ghotbusters game for about a year. It was really great.

Episodic version of Dread would prove awesome .

Imagine that the directors film their show based on Ghost Hunters (or that crappy MTV series FEAR from a few years back) for those who want to take a walk on the wild side. You get people from all walks of life signing waivers, paying $50,000 dollars to come on the show... and find where they settle in .

You get player loss (catastrophic failures cause madness, character death, etc.) but each player generates 5 'understudies'. Each episode is watched by a public enraptured by the idea; lots of press has occurred over the launch of the show, people questioning whether things are real or fake. Anyone who submits the initial application is vetted, found to be safely 'unattached' (no one is coming after the production company) and they pay the cash forward. The production is insured for damaged equipment but even that is becoming difficult to cover simply because there seems to always be a busted camera, or some other equipment.

You could easily have the understudies represent camera men, on-site crew, etc. which the players can go 'retrieve' or otherwise try to protect. The 50 grand is used to pay off various bribes and expenses... no one really knows who is filming.


A game like this SCREAMS Dread. It's an excellent system for a game like this, and an episodic structure where bad things can happen, players can die, things go bump in the night... Dread is what you want.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Unfortunately, in the d20 department, d20 Modern (or Modern 20, from RPG Objects) is pretty much it for modern-ish games. If you're open to other systems, however, I recommend Against the Darkness, Blood, or Chill (now OOP). Indeed, Chill matches your description exactly. You can pick up the core book pretty cheap at places like Noble Knight. I'd go with the Mayfair edition if at all possible.

Esoterrorists by Robin Laws might be worth a look

I have 2 games I like for modern horror. Both GURPS and World of Darkness handle this well, but they aren't d20 so they may not work for you.

Check out Call of Cthulhu d20... It's extremely lightweight, although still d20. It's basically class-less; there are still feats and skills, but that's about it. It's similar enough to 3.x that the system really just disappears if your players already know how d20 games work. I can even send over some of my house-rules if you'd like, put together from a few years' experience running it.

While you might want to avoid the Sanity stuff for the kind of game you're looking for, it's got enormous sections on how to run a modern-day horror game. You could use the monsters pretty easily, too.

Psychic abilities are handled through feats. Their use drains Sanity and deals ability score damage. They aren't insanely flashy; the beefiest one is psychokinesis.

Spells, too, cost Sanity and ability score damage. They tend to be less flashy, but still quite powerful.

I think you could easily make it work, especially because 3.0/3.5 monsters are 100% compatible; I've pulled in giant scorpions just recently, as a substitute for eurypterids.

-O

You might like, "All Flesh Must Be Eaten." It's a zombie survival horror system that includes options for more heroic characters (instead of fragile, realistic ones). It's not d20-based but it is very easy to pick up.

2nd vote for CoC d20. My group has used that book for a variety of creepy styled games, usually with great success.


love,

malkav