Any good military themed RPGs?

VGmaster9 · Apr 2, 2011

Are there any good military themed RPGs out there that bear a strong resemblance to GI Joe?

IronWolf · Apr 2, 2011

Twilight 2000. The initial premise is a bit dated now that we are in 2011, but still might scratch the itch.

Diamond Cross · Apr 2, 2011

Twilight 2000 is a good one.

I'd also recommend: Babylon 5 d20 and Stargate SG1 d20 as well.

Or Afghanistan d20.

For the Vietnam era I'd recommend Recon by Palladium.

From FGU I'd recommend Privateers And Gentlemen RPG for the Age Of Sail.

As far as I know there is no WW II rpg, except for Weird War II, but it's a supernatural style WW II and not historical WW II. But I'm sure you can take the supernatural elements out of it.

IronWolf · Apr 2, 2011

Diamond Cross said:
As far as I know there is no WW II rpg, except for Weird War II, but it's a supernatural style WW II and not historical WW II. But I'm sure you can take the supernatural elements out of it.

I think GURPS had a WWII branch.

jonesy · Apr 2, 2011

Twilight 2000.

Top Secret might work. You'd be playing special forces types anyway and the agents fit that bill.

For a newer work check out Blood and Guts: Modern Military for Modern d20 .

Nikosandros · Apr 3, 2011

IronWolf said:
I think GURPS had a WWII branch.

Yes, there is a linne of products for 3rd edition. Most of the books are available as PDFs.

Thunderfoot · Apr 3, 2011

jonesy said:
<SNIP>
Top Secret might work. You'd be playing special forces types anyway and the agents fit that bill.<SNIP>

It will DEFINITELY work. There was a supplement for Top Secret SI called COMMANDOS that outlined para-military, special forces and police backgrounds for agents, however the rules were so in-depth you could actually run a commando unit campaign (I did that when I was in the Army and 9 out of 10 Soldiers agreed, it was awesome.)

Since G.I. Joe is an elite unit of commandos taken from various organizations within the US Military, and eventually other parts of the world, that sounds like it would be right up your alley if you can find the rules.

Ahzad · Apr 3, 2011

GI Joe with the serial numbers filed off Strike Force 7 [Spycraft] Strike Force 7 - Super Genius Games | RPGNow.com

A review of it Modus Operandi Spycraft Review: Strike Force 7

It uses the Spycraft engine for its rules.

scourger · Apr 3, 2011

The best one we've played is Tour of Darkness for Savage Worlds (SW). The game is set in the Viet Nam war, which made it very accessible for my players having relatives who fought in the war and having seen all the movies we grew up watching. They really got into the story. Fewer fantastic elements might have been better, but it was fun. One player recently dubbed it the standard by which all other such games should be judged.

It is from their Weird Wars series, and Weird Ward II has now been released for SW. I think SW would make a fine military game with just the core book. The Explorer's Edition is only $10, so it is very affordable.

Krensky · Apr 3, 2011

Ahzad said:
GI Joe with the serial numbers filed off Strike Force 7 [Spycraft] Strike Force 7 - Super Genius Games | RPGNow.com

A review of it Modus Operandi Spycraft Review: Strike Force 7

It uses the Spycraft engine for its rules.

Crafty put out a PDF for GI Joe type games too, along with a Transformers one too if you want to do a comics style cross over.

I also found the Hammer's Slammers sourcebook for Mongoose Traveler to be full of awesome. It might be too gritty for some though, since a lot of the stories are influenced by Drake's experiences in Vietnam.