Good RPGs for killing Nazis

[S'mon]

I have Modiphius'1e Achtung! Cthulu and have played not GM'd it a couple times. It always seemed very scared to let the Nazis be Nazis. No swastikas anywhere; the Nazis summon Cthulu mythos creatures, but you don't ever see them really doing anything horrible. To me it came across as very bland.

In my Wilderlands campaign the Black Sun network of Neo-Nerath was very much inspired by Nazi and especially Neo-Nazi ideology, with the PCs typically playing the Altanian tribes targeted for genocidal extermination. Perhaps the most horrifying thing was how ordinary (not evil Necromancer Wizards) Nerathi people could be persuaded to support the regime through calls to past glories, historical betrayals, and the war crimes of their enemies (which were often reactive). I felt this approach allowed for a much more mature examination of the themes than an Indiana Jones or Achtung! Cthulu type setup.

 

[Black Dougal]

I've pondered Achtung Cthulhu for some time. Would you recommend the CoC, SW, or 2d20 version, and if the latter, what can you tell me about it?

Edit: Apparently there was a FATE version too?

I played the 2d20 version. I'm a fan of the 2d20 system as a disclaimer and realize personal tastes vary. Also, to be fair I have not played the other versions so really can not compare and contrast.

I find the 2d20 version to be really about the pulp, supernatural, and comic style super science stuff. If you prefer something where the war is at the forefront I'd avoid AC. The sorcery system is interesting and I found the characters more durable in AC than 2d20 Conan. I'm not real nitpicky with small things that can be easily homebrewed but a couple of the guys we l played with were a bit miffed by odd weapon ranges, very easy to tweak vs a broken system issue.

The magic is like a Celtic Rune based system and also has more psychic vibed stuff as well. Equipment/items includes the more mundane WW2 real world, then there is of course magic and even alien tech.

Characters use an attribute, skill, talents chassis and there is a random character generation system as well which I used.

I'm a fan of Modiphius products, I like the design and aesthetics their organization in some 2d20 systems drives me nuts. I feel like some of their games take twice as long to learn because they have an odd way of organizing rules. I did NOT find that issue with AC though.

I had a good time, I am an always DM so when I get to play I am really just looking for something quick and easy to learn and immerse myself in so I can enjoy myself. 2d20 AC worked for my purposes.

They have a Free Quickstart Pack on their site as well.

 

[aramis erak]

What else you got? Any suggestions?

Reichstar. It's set in 2300 in an alt-hist where the Nazis and Japanese won WW II... and Earth's a duopoly, under the Iron Cross or the Star of Amaterasu... and they've expanded into space with FTL drives...
System's a pretty solid one. GURPS players will find it, apart from the attribute ranges, familiar feeling.
It assumes players are going to be fighting the Nazis.

On a sillier note, there's a warhammer 40K inspired game, Warpstar... it's a sibling of Warlock. Both are inspired heavily by WFRP, but use a 1d20 roll high mechanic instead, and advancement is within careers. There are 2 attributes and 32 skills; advancement in skills is limited by the careers one's taken. "Career skills" are extra, being derived from the skills the career endorses for advancement. It's rules-light.

And on a dark note, there's Grey Ranks. It's a storygame using playing cards, and it is set in the Polish-Jewish ghettos in WW II... with PCs being part of the resistance. The endings of characters are, based upon the rules, often grim. But at least one can kill Nazis.

Justice Inc., is a Hero system supplement that should match, even if it is focused on 1920/30-era gangs, it should work fine for WW2 Pulp.

The 1984 edition is NOT a supplement, it's a standalone game. Hero Fans of 4th or later will find it does a bunch slightly differently... it's Psi rules are rather different from how they'd be bought under HSR 4+. Some of the Weird Talents are HSR4+ perks, others are powers...
Still, it's close enough that the play will be familiar to any Hero fan. And the PDFs are available legit.

Which leads me to ...
Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes. The PDF of Deluxe should still be available via DriveThru. This is a Tunnels and Trolls derivative with a skill system added. Every skill can be raised by use, and character advancement of attributes is slowed compared to T&T, but the mechanics are close enough to T&T that it's easy to cross-borrow. No telling if it's going to get a reprint of Deluxe. It's direcly parallel to Justice Inc in setting.

The module, Trail of the Gold Spike, for Justice Inc, includes conversions for MSPE, CoC, and Daredevils, hence the mental linkage.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While I can’t recommend the system, it’s 100% clear that The Coalition States in RIFTS is future Nazis.

 

[Umbran]

Timewatch, by EN World's own Kevin Kulp, is a time travel game, built in an action-oriented version of the Gumshoe system. It is nominally about bopping about making sure nobody uses time travel to take over the world. Bopping about punching time-travelling Nazis would be super easy.

 

[Umbran]

Spirit of the Century - 1920s pulp, FATE-based. Great for foiling proto-Nazi plots to take over the world.

 

[Mannahnin]

Eat the Reich

Eat the Reich by Rowan, Rook, and Decard.

You play Vampire commandos coffin-dropped into Paris to fight your way to Hitler’s zeppelin, docked atop the Eiffel Tower.

It’s meant to be a short mini-campaign of a few sessions. It’s pureNazi-hunting action.

Eat the Reich looks very cool. Already had debated this one, and sadly concluded that my schedule probably won't fit it, but I'm tempted to take another look.

 

[Spectral Anomaly]

Weird Frontiers clocks in at almost 1000 pages and weighs 10 pounds. That should be able to do some serious damage to a nazi.

 

[billd91]

Superhero games have included Nazi-beating ever since Golden Age Champions came out. For something more recent, Mutants and Masterminds had some 2nd edition resources that, if available, would still be easy to updated to 3rd edition. M&M: Golden Age and the Crooks sourcebook from Super Unicorn had some Nazi villains (I used them back in the late 20-teens not long after other, ahem, world events made them relevant).

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Eat the Reich

Eat the Reich by Rowan, Rook, and Decard.

You play Vampire commandos coffin-dropped into Paris to fight your way to Hitler’s zeppelin, docked atop the Eiffel Tower.

It’s meant to be a short mini-campaign of a few sessions. It’s pureNazi-hunting action.

Has anyone mentioned Night Witches yet? (link)

its all about killing nazis and building camaraderie....

from the site =
"There was a night bomber regiment in World War Two composed entirely of women. Natural-born Soviet airwomen.

These 200 women and girls, flying outdated biplanes from open fields near the front lines, attacked the invading German forces every night for 1,100 consecutive nights. When they ran out of bombs they dropped railroad ties.

To each other they were sisters, with bonds forged in blood and terror. To the Red Army Air Force they were an infuriating feminist sideshow. To the Germans they were simply Nachthexen—Night Witches."