Modern RPG settings with a ton of fluff?

[Bingle]

My friend and I typically roleplay with medieval/fantasy settings (Warhammer, Warcraft, various home-brew things, etc.), and sometimes even mess around out west with Deadlands, but we're looking for something we haven't done before - something modern. The technology level can be up there, but I'm not talking space-age, traveling from planet to planet on a whim kinda stuff.

The main things we're trying to find are a setting that's:

• Modern.
• Has horror elements, or can have them with some fiddling around.
• Has more fluff than actual rules, as we rarely fool with the actual number crunching.

Does anyone know of any settings that even slightly resemble this that I can tweak? I've read the d20 Modern book, but that's more rules than fluff, as I recall. I'm having a great deal of trouble finding something that fits which is actually interesting. I know I could make up something entirely on my own, but it's so much less intimidating when I have a skeleton to work from.

 

[[OMENRPG]Ben]

If you don't care much for rules, what is stopping you from using real world fluff? If you want a very rules light game I recommend Dread.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you liked D20 Modern, look more closely at the Dark*Matter and Urban Arcana setting books. You might also like Green Ronin's Modern Magic for this kind of game, or even look at using SpyCraft with the same stuff.

Others to consider:

Call of Cthulhu + Delta Green supplement
HERO
GURPS
Shadowrun
The World of Darkness games: Mage, Scion, etc. (See also Monte Cook's nWoD)
Underground
Aberrant

 

[wingsandsword]

I'll put in another vote for Dark*Matter. It's pretty crunch-light. Get the original Alternity sourcebook if you can, it's much more detailed (crunch wise) than the d20 Modern one (which was also good). It's about as close to "X-Files: The RPG" as was ever made.

Also, if you are going for a crunch-light modern-day horror game, don't discount real-world non-gaming sources.

Urban legends, conspiracy theories, UFOlogy, real-world occult sources, pseudoscience, ect. is the "fluff" of that genre and it's all out there in non-gaming sources.

 

[Memnoch3434]

Call of Cthulhu is the best horror system I have played. There are tons of resources at your disposal (novels, system books, stories on this site). The Mythos is strange and deep, but at the same time it's contradictory and incredibly difficult to begin to comprehend. It's an interesting way to tell a story.

They also have rules for making the characters afraid even if the players are not. Sanity is a great thing.

GURPS is a decent option, as you can do whatever you like with it. Though I hear it is rules heavy you could always do something space-age with an Alien-esque setting. Should be pretty easy since you can do anything and everything with GURPS

 

[Nagol]

The uni-system is very strong at these areas. My three favourites of that system are

All Flesh Must be Eaten -- zombie apocalypse
Witchcraft -- modern day magic
Conspiracy-X -- X-files type universe with multiple alien agendas and the PCs are part of a covert group generally protecting the world.

The rulesets are (pretty much) identical and you can combine the systems with little work.

 

[Umbran]

I'll put in another vote for Dark*Matter.

As will I. I haven't seen the d20 version, but the original Alternity book is, imho, one of the best setting supplements ever made by anyone, for any game.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Alternity was a pretty good game that just got lost in the transition twixt TSR & WotC.

Amazing Engine was another good TSR game that just lacked traction, and it's setting book "For Faerie Queen & Country"- a Victorian setting with magic- might be updatable to a modern game with a little effort.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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[Dannyalcatraz]

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