Which system to use?

[LordEntrails]

You like 5E, stay with it. Just add in things like lingering wounds, insanity from the DMG, the UA Greyhawk Initiative and such. Then add flavor and You'll be fine.

 

[Arilyn]

Savage Worlds FTW.

Seriously. The scenario you described is almost like a marketing promo for "Game scenarios for which Savage Worlds is a perfect fit."

Pick up the Horror Companion and/or the Accursed campaign setting, and you're good to go.

I agree, Savage world's sounds like a good fit. What about Shadow of the Demon Lord or Lamentations of the Flame Princess? I think they might work well too. Both do dark and gritty.

 

[Greybird]

Savage Worlds FTW.

Seriously. The scenario you described is almost like a marketing promo for "Game scenarios for which Savage Worlds is a perfect fit."

Pick up the Horror Companion and/or the Accursed campaign setting, and you're good to go.

This was my first thought as well. It reminded me of the Evernight Savage Worlds setting when I first read it.

 

[Ratskinner]

The PCs are normal schmucks? Or will they be turning into heroes. I mean, survival horror is kinda tough to draw out into a campaign. Depending on you playgroup style, I have to believe there's at least one Apocalypse Engine game that would fit.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using EN World mobile app

 

[MatthewJHanson]

This sounds like a job for Dungeon Crawl Classics, no?

That was my first thought too. Here are a few reasons why:

There is a lot in common D&D so it will be easy to pick up. It has a 1st edition feel with modern design ideas.

It's more lethal than D&D, and I believe survival horror stops being survival horror if nobody ever dies. Use the a 0-level "funnel." Players each start with 4 0-level characters and hope that one survives to reach 1st level.

There's an element of "strangeness" already built in. Wizards slowly become disfigured by the magic the wield. Lost of random table to roll strange monster appearances on.

 

[Wystan]

Gods Fall - Monte Cook Games (Cypher System setting)

 

[Charon'sLittleHelper]

It seems depend largely upon how gritty you want to go and how badass you want the PCs to be.

Berserk (besides the magic system) would work pretty well in D&D, just giving nearly all non-PCs the weak NPC classes, but Darkest Dungeon's vibe should be something with much higher attrition and likely sanity issues.

 

[chaochou]

Have never played it...care to give me the rundown?

At it's heart WHFRP 1st ed is a percentile system. Attacks and skill rolls all made on d100 and checked against weapon or ballistic skill or a relevant attribute.

It uses a career lifepath system and players roll their starting career randomly. No starting career is glamourous but some lead to more promising careers quicker. A career will offer a range of improvements to attributes, skills that can be taken (each improvement costing 100xp) and details what moves that can be made into new careers (100xp to change).

So you might start as a rat-catcher and spend some time taking a bit more weapon skill and a boost to dex and some resistance to disease before deciding to move on into something else, which offers different improvements. Starting careers are suitably grim - beggar, rat catcher, smuggler, apprentice, footpad. Advanced careers are suitably gritty - templar, witch hunter, assassin, spy, those kind of things.

I don't recall much about magic as I didn't play the party wizard. But it's essentially like early editions of Warhammer - four levels of Wizard spells and nothing stupidly overpowered. There's no quadratic spellcaster problems, and we had no problems playing with a predominantly martial group - magic is not the presumed solution to the party's problems.

Most characters will start with between 3 and 6 wounds (HP). Weapons do 1d6 damage, and sixes explode (roll again and add, and keep going until you stop rolling sixes). Dropping below 0 wounds means you start rolling on increasingly nasty criticals tables to see how badly it messes you up. The -1 table is survivable. The -6 table ranges from a variety of permanently crippling injuries to instant, messy death. Combat is brutal, rather than attritional. If you hit something and it stays standing... you get worried fast.

The world, as envisaged, is a dark brooding fantasy Europe of mistrust and superstition, chaos and corruption. The original Enemy Within campaign was really, really good. But the scenarios which comprised it are hard to find and very expensive now.

 

[TheIdeaOfGood]

Thanks but I was talking about Dungeon Crawl Classics I already know WFRP

 

[TheIdeaOfGood]

Hmmm...at this moment, I am torn between either Shadow of the Demon Lord or a modified D&D 5. Shadow has a lot of the intended grittyness already built-in...but I know D&D 5 really well and love the system. Plus, i got so many beasties for 5, I won't run out for a long, long time I would have to modify 5e, though...Sanity and Madness rules, Fear and Horror and lingering injuries...not sure about a new initiative system or grim and gritty rest...
Also, if I use D&D 5, I'll probably say that you cannot heal madness with low-level spells as it is not exactly an injury but the mind turning in on itself...