Victorian Steampunk Monster Hunters - Best System?

[cangrejoide]

Hvae you seen Rippers for Savage Worlds?


Its a plot point book/campaign.

http://www.studio2publishing.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=85

 

[jdrakeh]

vs. Monsters is very impressive for a game designed in 24 hours, but it just doesn't have the depth I want. 4 attributes, "stuff", and no equipment doesn't really give my players a lot to hang their hats on. That kind of stripped-down system works for a game like Nobilis, where things are so far into the realm of myth, but I think I need a more robust system to get a really gritty feel. I think it would be a cool pickup game, but I couldn't stretch it into a campaign.

You might want to check out the Deluxe version, then, as it includes edges and hindrances for characters, as well as detailed equipment and weapon rules, while the PDF expansions include several optional rules. That said, I've run a wildly successful vs. Monsters campaign using only the Deluxe rules -- but it actually started as a pick up game.

Basically, the vs. Monsters game was a one-off, improvised, pick-up game that we played one night when two other players couldn't make it for the C&C campaign. The following week, the players had all discussed it amongst themselves and told me that they wanted to continue with vs. Monsters instead of the main C&C campaign*.

So, we did. . . I actually had a campaign journal at one point in time. I'll see if I can't dig up a link for you in the Wayback Machine.

*The campaign that I had built an entire website and wiki for, while spending months on end building setting information

[Edit: No dice on the campaign journal, sadly. The internet archive must not like Tiddlywiki.]

 

[Ambush Bug]

Victoriana is what you want. Or Castle Falkenstein (uses cards, Victoriana uses dice instead).

Castle Falkenstein would be a great choice for a group that likes a mechanics-lite game. Depending on your backstory needs, you might end up ignoring their alternate Europe backstory with its Seelie Court and occasional dragon wandering about. But the gameplay is solid and moves very fast, and it's designed for steampunk Victorian fun.

 

[greyscale1]

This is a worthy thread.

I would love to follow some of these suggestions, but we just got finished with out 3.5 campaign in Ebberon which was basically this (it went well).

 

[stonegod]

GURPs Steampunk has lots of Steampunk goodness; great as a resource, though you'll have to convert to your system of choice.

Steam and Sorcery is an old 3.0 product from FFG (I think) that has some specific rules. It was okay, but could be adapted for whatever.

 

[jdrakeh]

GURPs Steampunk has lots of Steampunk goodness; great as a resource, though you'll have to convert to your system of choice.

Now that you mention it, though it's not really a system GURPS Screampunk might be a good value for him, as it's less than $10 (or was) and offered a lot of good advice for running Steampunk Horror.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I use Etherscope for all my steampunk gaming needs. It's a surprisingly robust variant of d20 Modern that includes just about everything you'd want out of the genre and then some. It may be a little more fantastic than you're looking for, but I've found it easy to tone down.

Second that.

 

[Andor]

GURPs Steampunk has lots of Steampunk goodness; great as a resource, though you'll have to convert to your system of choice.

Steam and Sorcery is an old 3.0 product from FFG (I think) that has some specific rules. It was okay, but could be adapted for whatever.

Speaking of GURPs, isn't GURPs Girl Genius supposed to be out soon? Surely that would be a goldmine for the kind of game he wants to run.

 

[jdrakeh]

Speaking of GURPs, isn't GURPs Girl Genius supposed to be out soon? Surely that would be a goldmine for the kind of game he wants to run.

I think that it's been "Coming soon!" since mid to late 2005. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to appear in the near future.

 

[AtomicPope]

I recommend New WoD. It provides that gritty, gothic realism that a good Steampunk game demands. I've played D20 Etherscope and it has the same problems of other D20 games - less than cinematic. WoD can provide a morality system. It also possesses great rules for social roleplaying, a necessary requirement for the class concious Victorians.

The mechanics enforce more realistic choices. Lethal combat is deadly and players know it. It forces players to consider the consequences of their actions. It's because the game relies less on hard numbers. A player cannot say, "a dagger does 1D4+Str so I can still take four good hits." They're more likely to say, "I don't want to risk getting stabbed."

I highly recommend the New World of Darkness. Since you're playing all mortals you should consider using Armory for additional rules on military weapons and armor. Also, you might want to pick up Second Sight. It's a really well built splat book containing simple rules for hedge wizards and psychics using merits. Second Sight could be used to capture the feeling of sudden social changes that were beginning to stir in the U.K. that would give rise to Alester Crowley or the Order of the Star.