Best System for Berserk

[Boregar]

Apart from the 'combat is common' bit, that list looks like Call of Cthulhu to me. So perhaps you could adapt the rules from that, or maybe even the d20 version?

 

[Chrono22]

Apart from the 'combat is common' bit, that list looks like Call of Cthulhu to me. So perhaps you could adapt the rules from that, or maybe even the d20 version?

I guess the big difference would be- you can punch Cthulu... but he punches back. A lot harder.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Savage Worlds.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I guess the big difference would be- you can punch Cthulu... but he punches back. A lot harder.

Sounds like CoC d20, somewhat. . .

 

[JoeGKushner]

The thing to remember though in terms of gritty, is that it's not really gritty. It has the apperance of being gritty.

For instance, in his fight against the 'snake man', Guts is playing posseum. He's essentially got the whole thing under control.

Whle not quite as true in his fight against the Count... well, it is true.

Many of the encounters Guts has with the 'apostales', are very controlled until Guts is essentailly cutting through the minions and generally only having issues when he lets his own 'soft heart' get in the way of things.

In addition, the later volumes of the series, get into some very high magic bits. There is a witch, ritual caster in most ways, as well as magic items for Gut's new 'group' if you will. In many instances, this new group is heads and shoulders above the old human Band of the Hawk in that they have magic items, they are experienced with the supernatural, and they are willing to follow Guts lead even if it takes them down dark and torturous routes.

Most of that, to me, is involved in the role playing aspects of the game. Where if you dont' have player buy in, it ain't gonna work.

 

[ValhallaGH]

What system can offer the excitement, sense of risk, and overwhelming feeling of despair that characterizes berserk?

None. That's all on the players. No system can force a certain type of emotional investment, no matter how hard it tries.
Ravenloft (a D&D setting) probably comes the closest, stylistically, of any published setting.

One other approach is the Cthulhu Mythos parts of Conan. Weird, dangerous, very dark, but beatable by men of courage and skill. (Didn't know that Conan was part of the Mythos? Go read more of Howard's stuff. Conan deals with elder evils and dark gods as much as, or more than, your random fish-man of Dagon. But Conan faces them in a manly fashion, and either kicks their slimy butts or runs away because he doesn't need to fight them, he already did what he came to do.)

So, what I'm looking for is:
A system where combat is common, even necessary.
Combat is deadly.
The enemy outnumbers you, and is in a better strategic position and/or is vastly superior to you in raw power if not ability.
You have to strive to survive the environment, and not a day goes by without encountering some new deadly threat or risk.
Your sanity is at stake as the physical and emotional strain begins to erode your will.

That's not a very good description of Berserk. It may be a good description of how it looked to you, but it's not a good description of the series.
Combat is common and potentially fatal. Enemies outnumber you and tactics are important. Fear and madness are hazards of the road. Check.

The thing is, the enemies stand the usual Pulp chances against the protagonists: get slaughtered or only get to incapacitate the heroes long enough to meet the big bads. They have to come in huge waves to be interesting but those waves are mostly minions, mooks, extras, and scrubs that will be slaughtered by the end of round two. The only challenges are the named evils, and those are beatable.
Due to the nature of predestination, characters literally cannot die before their appointed time (which remains unknown to them). They also cannot live past their appointed time. Which means they can survive some truly insane things (like sharing a pack of smokes with Cthulhu and then setting Big-C on fire before hitting him with a French fishing trawler; loot that corpse-pile, baby!) as long as they aren't supposed to die yet. Berserk is "DM won't let us die until we reach the big-bad" gaming. Allies fall constantly but the central character(s) move on. Only when you've reached appropriate narrative points can main characters die.

So, my advice is to use whatever game system you want to and focus on the story-telling. You've had some good advice elsewhere in this thread, but ultimately system won't matter much. I could see this campaign being done with anything from vsMonsters to Mutants & Masterminds to Dungeons & Dragons to Savage Worlds to various Call of Cthulhu systems. Any of them could do it, but the combat-oriented ones will do a much better job of it.


Good luck.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

Second savage worlds. It really is a great all purpose system.

 

[Cactot]

WHFRP was my first thought, though shadowrun (1e/2e/3e) with the tech stuff stripped out could work well too.