Anita Blake d20?

[WayneLigon]

Finally a real use for the Book of Erotic Fantasy...

I think you could do Anita Blake as a d20 game but it would be best served by the BtVS system, I think. The monster/human power level is closer there. Using Angel as the base system (more archetypes and the demonic power abilities) and The Magic Box supplement, you could do Anita Blake fairly well.

 

[Alzrius]

Another thing is that the Anita Blake series goes into some fairly disturbing themes that a lot of players might not like. By disturbing, I mean that the level of depravity that the monsters sink to when attacking people in each book seems to increase. People who've been skinned alive, babies being torn apart, people having their limbs sawed off and put in coffins while still alive...and that's not even counting that a lot of the tortures are sexual in nature.

I'm not saying Anita Blake d20 can't be done well, and be fun for people playing it. The theme of a corrupt, horrific world beneath the surface, that taints the people who delve into it, isn't anything new. But Hamilton's books have a Ravenloft-like feel to them; you can't truly win against the monsters, and the more you fight them, the more you start to become like them.

 

[Cheiromancer]

But Hamilton's books have a Ravenloft-like feel to them; you can't truly win against the monsters, and the more you fight them, the more you start to become like them.

That's a fascinating point, and one that holds true in standard D&D games; the more powerful the characters get, the less they have in common with ordinary people. It is kinda like the sanity/mythos tradeoff in Call of Cthulhu. Becoming powerful and knowledgeable makes you unfit for normal society. In Anita Blake's world, this is reflected by dating the monsters... sometimes several at once.

Does Ravenloft have a statistic that measures such things? A humanity score, or something?

P.S.

Just noticed the original date of this thread. Someone has been practicing Threadcromancy! But in a good way.

 

[Alzrius]

That's a fascinating point, and one that holds true in standard D&D games; the more powerful the characters get, the less they have in common with ordinary people.

I disagree with that being the province of "normal" D&D. High-level characters may be more powerful, and more famous, than NPCs, but they still relate to them the same; fighting goblinoids and demons hasn't changed them in any meaningful way (unless the player role-plays it as such).

Anita Blake, as a character, has been exposed to so much horror, and is constantly operating under the threat of more, that she's lost touch with the normal people around her. She desperately wants to reclaim what she's lost there, but at the same time can't give up the skills/powers she's acquired for fear of herself and her friends being victimized...nor can she forget the horrible things she's seen and done.

It is kinda like the sanity/mythos tradeoff in Call of Cthulhu. Becoming powerful and knowledgeable makes you unfit for normal society. In Anita Blake's world, this is reflected by dating the monsters... sometimes several at once.

LOL! I'm suddenly having visions of a table from Anita Blake d20: the higher level you get, the more monsters you have to be romantically/sexually involved with at once.

Does Ravenloft have a statistic that measures such things? A humanity score, or something?

Not particularly. Ravenloft's Outcast Rating is based on physical appearance (or using visual powers). Likewise, the Powers checks are based on knowingly and willingly doing evil. Neither are quite the same as what's in Hamilton's books.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Sigh, too true. Yet a very enjoyable series, overall.

It used to be an enjoyable series.

Now it is soft porn, and not very good porn at that. I have stopped reading Hamilton's work. Now a Harry Dresden D20 game...

The Auld Grump

 

[Staffan]

Hmm.

 

[Sir Brennen]

It used to be an enjoyable series.

Yeah, another problem I have with the series as it progressed is the "power-up" of the characters abilities each novel. Perhaps that aspect of the protaganist makes it a little more interesting from a gamer perspective (she's like a 10th level necromancer with a couple of PrC's and a few templates thrown on to boot.)

But it's starting to reach anime proportions (at least by the last book I read) and getting really repetative. And speaking of repetative, how many pages to we need dedicated to elaborate detail of what the character is deciding to wear and how she's going to accessorize with her guns and knives? (Sometimes I really wished the author had invested in a thesaurus.)

The books are at their best when they do the post-modern exploration/re-interpretaion of folklore and little know myths (like Bloody Bones and Obsidian Butterfly.) The World of Darkness porno knock-off the series devolved into really made me lose interest.

Would I buy a RPG based on this series? Maybe, but only if it really explored the whole world, the impact of "legal" supernatural creatures and such, and didn't try to create detailed rules on Anita's power and connection with her paramours

Actually, while it might make a good d20 Modern supplement, it reminded me of an old horror RPG called "Night Life" (Stellar Games), which styled itself as a "Splatterpunk" genre game.

 

[Axegrrl]

It used to be an enjoyable series.
Now it is soft porn, and not very good porn at that. I have stopped reading Hamilton's work. Now a Harry Dresden D20 game...

I agree, but for the fact that the author of the Dresden books really needs to look at a map of the Chicago area. Having lived in the city for a few years, I got sick of the complete disregard for actual city geography and demographics after about three books.

 

[Cam Banks]

I agree, but for the fact that the author of the Dresden books really needs to look at a map of the Chicago area. Having lived in the city for a few years, I got sick of the complete disregard for actual city geography and demographics after about three books.

Yes, Jim is fully aware that he takes gigantic liberties with Chicago's actual layout.

Speaking of Harry Dresden: http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/

I've known Jim and the two authors of the RPG, Rob and Fred, for about ten years. I think this will rule from orbit.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[EricNoah]

For some reason whenever I see this thread title, I hear Monty Burns saying, "Anita Bonghit."

That is all.