D20 Modern suitable for X-Files/Alias style game?

[synecdoche]

I have an idea for a game that is hardly original but sounds like fun. Basically what I'd like to do is a cross between Alias (as far as feel goes) and X-Files (as far as plots and conspiracies go). Would d20 Modern be a good system for this?

I'd even settle for something that'd do for a simple X-Files/Paranormal Investigators game. I just don't have a lot of money to spend, so if I could get it out of one book, I'd be happy.

I wanted to try it with Cthulhu but Delta Green seems to be a ways off yet and I don't want to wait.

Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Turanil]

Indeed d20 Modern seems a good way to go (I have the book and many others d20 sci-fi, it seems to be the best as far as d20 is concerned). I would nonetheless add the Menace Manual which is a monster book for d20 Modern, extremely well done. During 2004, Menace Manual was available for only 13$ on Amazon.com If this price still applies, I think it is worth getting it in addition to the core rulebook. menace Manual has what you need for plenty of conspiracy-alien adventures.

 

[yojimbo]

For the feel of Alias, I'd suggest Alderac's Spycraft (also d20).

d20 Modern may be more flexible in scope than Spycraft (which is primarily built for espionage & military games) but Spycraft offers excellent support for the spy/conspiracy genre.

I second the recommendation for the Menace Manual which has d20 stats for most typical folkloric creatures like Bigfoot and the alien Greys.

James.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Definately. Read my Dark*Matter story hour, below, for a taste of how an X-Files-esque game can run with just pure D20 Modern rules. It's fast, easy, and the tone is very very good for that sort of thing.

--fje

 

[jaerdaph]

RPGObjects' Blood & Relics 2nd ed. has a Relic Hunter Advanced class for d20 Modern.

If you are looking for cool Dark*Matter/X-Files type material for d20 Modern, Ronin Arts has an extensive collection of pdfs at RPGNow. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ronin Arts Modern pdf line IS the Dark*Matter d20 Modern campaign setting fans have been asking for.

EDIT: Oh wait you said Alias and I'm thinking of another show... Relic Hunter, I believe... I get those two confused with each other, and with Witch Blade too.

 

[Bobitron]

I think I prefer the D20 ruleset over the Spycraft rules, especially in regards to the base classes. But either would be a great choice. D20 Modern is a more complete book if you are looking to run the game from a single book.

Let me know if you run the game online, I'd love to play

 

[takyris]

Sounds definitely workable. You could add the d20 Menace Manual or Urban Arcana for certain aspects of the game -- monster specifications and good rules for incantations, which allow non-spellcasters to perform magical rituals. Blood and Relics has also gotten some great reviews (as has Blood and Fists, which might have a few grains of usefulness if one of your characters enjoys kicking butt like Sydney Bristow, martial-arts-wise). But if you used nothing beyond the core book, you could still be fine. It'd just be a bit more work on your part to make up the rules for how magic works and what the monsters stats are.

 

[wedgeski]

I have an idea for a game that is hardly original but sounds like fun. Basically what I'd like to do is a cross between Alias (as far as feel goes) and X-Files (as far as plots and conspiracies go). Would d20 Modern be a good system for this?

I know for a fact it is, 'cos I'm doing it. I have d20M, the Menace Manual, and Urban Arcana, and I can tell you now that the only one of those that has found any use as yet is the core d20M rulebook. The campaign is very fantasy-lite at the moment, though; there are feasible (if unlikely) real-world explanations for just about everything that's going on, and it won't be until the much later levels that anything really freaky steps out of the shadows. It parallels the early seasons of the X-Files in that respect. The Alias elements - gadgets, fringe organizations, mission-based scenarios, double-cross, triple-cross, etc. - are a piece of cake to work into any homebrew setting under any modern rules-set, but if you were looking for more Alias than X-Files, then Spycraft might be the way to go (I have limited experience of that system though).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I'm a little surprised the Menace Manual found no use in your campaign. A few of the organizations (eg FBI) and most of the NPCs (especially the generic ones) can fit in any campaign setting.

But YMMV.

 

[wedgeski]

I'm a little surprised the Menace Manual found no use in your campaign. A few of the organizations (eg FBI) and most of the NPCs (especially the generic ones) can fit in any campaign setting.

Two reasons: one, I've found all of the NPC's I need so far in the core rulebook (and have generated the rest from scratch), and two, the campaign is set in the UK so much of the information is too US-centric to be really useful. I'm sure this situation will change as the campaign level gets ramped up, but for now, this is how it's working out for me.